I shop this market often and buy my lunch there at least twice a week, so I know what to buy.  Give your friends/guests the list below and  tell them your friend Eric gave you the inside scoop on what t get. Not each vendor is their each day, but they will do good with this list.

NYC Picnic Shopping List

Bread

Hot Bread Kitchen. All the bread is made up in Harlem. The bakers are all immigrant women making bread from where they are from. Authentic is the name of the game. My favs are the Ms’men (flaky and buttery), the Nan-E Qandi(round, fluffy interior, made with milk and honey), and the raisin-walnut. They have other styles, like whole grain loaves. You can also check out Our Daily Bread.

Cheese/cured meats

Millport Dairy. Run by the Amish. Good cheeses most Cheddar and Jack. All tasty. They also sells pickles and cured meats.

Lynnhaven Goats Milk Cheese. chevre logs, feta plain, herbed, with roasted peppers. They have them all.

Hudson Valley Duck Farm. Not just raw duck, they have duck salami, duck proscuitto and pate. They are the highlight of any picnic.

Cato Corner. Mostly cow cheese, they have semi strong, stronger and stinky. Cheeses are outstanding. They are cool about tasting before you buy.

Crunchy

Martin’s Hard Pretzel – You can buy as few as three and as much a big bag. Get the big bag so you have some for the ride home.

Mountain Sweet Berry – Mini potato chips made in several different flavors like brown butter or curry. They let you try before you buy.

Dessert

Terhune Orchards. Cookies, pients, fruit crisps. They are all good and not expensive

Baker’s Bounty. All sorts of baked treats changing with the season and some old standbys.

Of course since is a farmers market, there are loads of fruits and veggies.  Buy what you live as it is all good.  There are organic vendors for those who want that and they are clearly marked. There are also vegan and gluten free bakers.

Enjoy your day our in NYC and have a food adventure.  For more ideas for what to do in NYC, visit www.btsq.com

The Upper East Side of NYC, the gold coast, where the very rich, some famous some not all live. The tourism centerpiece of the Upper East Side is Museum Mile which is the stretch from 82nd to 105th Street on 5th Avenue. There you will find the Guggenheim, The Jewish Museum, Museo del Barrio, Neue Gallerie, Copper Hewitt National Design Museum, and others. You have streets of brownstones and mansions with Central Park as the border of it all.

I recently had the pleasure of spending an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with a walk through Central Park to get there and then time to walk Madison and Lexington Avenues afterwards. It was a nice day for me and my companions; it might make a nice day for your clients that have free time.

We started on the Westside by the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Historical Society. Both are great and you could visit either one before you venture to the Upper East Side. If you want to eat lunch, go to Café Storico at the Historical Society, it is very much the place to be. You will find more locals than tourists and a simple NYC menu offering satisfying Italian eats. You might decide to sip a beer or wine while you linger.

We walked through Central Park entering around 77th Street. Being that the Metropolitan Musuem of Art is on 83rd Street and 5th Avenue, the walk can be pretty direct, but a few detours are worth it. As we entered we went south so we could walk through the Ramble. The Ramble is like taking a walk through a woodland area, away form the city and its sounds. You hear birds and sticks break under your feet. If you begin to walk north in the Ramble you will stumble upon Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond. The castle is usually open, so go to the top for some good views and photo ops. It is not very big, so the walk to the top is pretty easy. As you continue your walk east, look a bit north for an Egyptian obelisk. Called Cleopatra’s needle, it is really from Egypt and is 3500 years old. Check out the link to this map to help guide you:

http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/cpc_central_park_map.pdf
The Met is open from 9:30a to 5:30p Tuesday – Thursday and Sunday and from 9:30a to 9:00p on Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Monday. The Met is big, and it would take months to see everything on display (and they have even more in storage). There are some useful ways to get around the museum to make your visit more enjoyable. You can hop on one of the free museum tours for individuals, as we did. Our guide Martin was outstanding. He spoke loud, in layman’s terms and did not just explain the art, but helped us enjoy it.. I asked a lot of questions and he welcomed them. Another option is to get the audio tour for $7.00 and follow the director’s highlights tour through the museum. Finally if you want to go at it alone, grab a map and do as you please. We did go on our own to the American Wing (which recently reopened) and found it incredible. It is not just art, but American history. There are so many images of famous Americans you saw in text books as a youth and now they are staring right back at you. We had a great time.

But there is only so much of a museum anyone can take and my limit is between two and a half to three hours. So now it is time for food and/or drink. You will notice that on museum mile there are not many places to congregate. The only places are in the museums, and I know some secrets about those I want to keep to myself so they do not get too crowded. (Sorry, but us New Yorkers have to be a little protective). My advice isto walk over to Madison Avenue. Depending on the weather you might want to get a cup of hot chocolate at La Maison du Chocolat or Vosges Haut Chocolat, both close by on Madison and both with seating. Both also sell great chocolate, but the pastries and macaroons are La Maison du Chocolat are extra yummy. If you are looking for something with more kick, go to Bellmans Bar on 76th Street in the Carlyle Hotel. It is classy and not cheap, but you are on vacation so splurge (not many things on the Upper East Side are cheap, but the Metropolitan Museum is pay what you wish, so depending on your conscience you might save a bit). For some eats there are many restaurants on the side streets and some good diners on Madison. If you walk a few blocks east to Lexington there are two places I like to recommend for something original. One is the Pastrami Queen and the other is Farinella Italian Bakery. Both are outstanding.

Well that day will keep you busy.

Enjoy

Eric

We all know how expensive it can be to have your group stay right in the middle of Manhattan.  Some groups can afford it, but those who cannot usually stay in New Jersey and that solves the price problem.  Now you have a new problem:  Your clients do not have the freedom to come and go as they please.  It could because your coach is not operating when they want, or that your driver needs to rest or the public bus is not running or it is full of commuters and your clients can’t get on.  It can be anything and it is all your headache.  I hate headaches.

I know you also hate headaches, so I am going to make sure you do not get one.  Beyond Times Square and the Westin Jersey City have partnered and the outcome is a program not just with a spectacular price, but it includes easy and reliable 24 hour a day transportation to Midtown and Lower Manhattan with plenty of seating that just two short block from the front door of Westin Jersey City.  This is the PATH Train System*.   PLUS it is only a 10 minute train ride from the hotel to Carlo’s Bakery (The Cake Boss) in Hoboken. That is a big deal and I know because so many guests request to go there.

To get started all you need to do is fill out the form below.

Sounds great, but I know you are thinking, now I have to get all the information for my clients on how to use the PATH train.  NO YOU DON’T.  WE DID IT FOR YOU. We will give you all the information on how to use the PATH, the schedules and even a travel card so your clients do not have to think at all, just enjoy. Plus we give them a list of things to do in NYC located near each PATH station. What it boils down is we are doing all the research, all the nitty gritty, so you can feel super confident, have no headaches and go out and sell this incredible program. It could not be any more turnkey.

The only time you are going to need your coach is for the four hour city sightseeing program we offer with one of our expert tour guide so your groups will feel even more comfortable getting around NYC when they are on their own.

To get started all you need to do is fill out the form below.

So here is what you get on The NYC Deal You Cannot Pass Up:

- Two nights at the four star Westin Jersey City (adjacent to the Newport Center Mall)

- Two Continental breakfasts

- $20 Metrocard good for use on the PATH trains to/from NJ to NYC, NYC subway and city buses.

- NYC Map, guide book, PATH train schedules and simple step-by-step instructions

- A professional licensed NYC tour guide for five hour to get your guests familiar withManhattan

- Passes for the new 9/11 Memorial

- Hotel taxes and porterage of one bag per person

- Coach parking

Now here is the best part…The rates are really incredible.  They are valid from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012 for arrival on Thursday or Friday and depart by Sunday (three night stay maximum).  Based on a group of 30 guests with one free tour leader in a single room the unbelievably low rates are:

Single          US$411.00 per person

Double        US$299.00 per person

Triple           US$245.00 per person

Quad           US$229.00 per person

To get started all you need to do is fill out the form below.

You can make the program your very own by adding some options:

- Group Dinner at a local Irish Bar in NYC

- Dinner Cruise

- Food Tour

- Broadway Theater tickets

- Harbor cruise

- Top of the Rock

and anything else you might like to add.

We look forward to showing your clients a good time and making you look like a rockstar.

PS  Do not let this go to waste.  I know it is going to fill up, so fill out the form above and  book your dates.  Remember the trip includes a four star hotel for an unbeatable price.

* The PATH Train is an underground rail system connecting the popular commuter location on the New Jersey Side of the Hudson River with the business/tourist districts of Manhattan.  It functions very much like the NYC Subway system except the trains follow a schedule so it is easy to catch the train you want.

But I also enjoy is street/platform performance (I HATE when people perform in a subway car.  I think it is an invasion of my personal space because we are all trapped).

Street/platform performance has to be something I like or different, as I had had enough the guys with the flutes from Peru (no disrespect)

There are some performers that have permits from the city to play at a specific date and time and there are others that set up shop away from the eyes of the police.  I like the Japanese rap guys in Union Square, or the banjo players on a few of the Brooklyn subway platforms (banjos have become very hip, along with an over abundance of facial hair and a lack of bathing, but that is another discussion), and my favorite ever when was a group of boys from Chicago would start playing their brass in front of Whole Foods on 14^th Street.  They were called the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble http://www.hypnoticbrassensemble.com/ and even though they played venues, they would pop out a few tunes at what seemed to be an impromptu location. Of course there is always see the lone sax or guitar player and for me they are always welcome.

All of these performers are part of the soundtrack to the city, along with sirens, horns, talking, cursing and footsteps. Come take a listen

I never hear anyone mentioning “commune with urban”. I never said it either, until about two weeks ago. I have recently started biking more around Manhattan and Brooklyn and I really enjoy it. There are peaceful times when I am pedaling on a quiet street in Carroll Gardens or the crazy times in Chinatown when I am riding with a dump truck in front of me, a cab behind me, and five cars blocking the bike lane so it is useless. But in all these situations, I become one with the city. On the Manhattan Bridge early in the morning I am bird gliding over the city and imagining what is going on down below, on each corner and behind every window. When on the streets competing with cars, buses, people, and hot dog carts, I am a rat dashing in and out seeing where I can steal space just for a instant only planning a few seconds ahead because you do not know what will be around the next turn. I am the tranquility and the lunacy. “I” no longer exist, I am part of the larger organism I live in.

I arrive at my destination and I step back into my life with a feeling of attachment to something greater.

At last count there were almost 100,000 hotel rooms in New York City and the number is still growing.  Our job is to help you wade through the maze of hotels and decide o the best one for your group.  At Beyond Times Square we always see what is new on the hotel scene, but we also have a preferred list of properties that we work with.  Our list covers properties in New York City, Northern New Jersey, Long Island and the Hudson Valley.  We inspect the hotels we work with once per year and keep up on things like renovations and other service changes.  When new hotels open and if we feel they will be of benefit to our clients, we meet the management, inspect the hotel and then decide whether or not to add it to our lists of preferred hotels. Some of the criteria for new properties (in no particular order, because we have to keep some secrets) are:

• Location
• Room Size
• Group friendly policies
• Public areas
• Quality of staff and management
• Value for money
• Amenities

We want to make sure your group has the accommodations that suit them best.

If you are thinking about booking a group or have a question, email us.