PlanetEye

Springtime is perfect for changing your wardrobe and freshening up your apartment's interior.  So clear out your tired threads, sweep away the dust bunnies, and tear down those fraying posters.  In Manhattan's West Side, the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood encompassing West 34th up to West 59th Street, and 8th Ave. over to the Hudson River, contains Manhattan's highest flea market density.  

The Annex/Hell's Kitchen Flea Market (39th St between Ninth and Tenth Aves, 212-243-5343)   Open 10:00 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. & Sun.

Up to 170 vendors have been offering great bargains since 1976 from books to broaches...vintage clothing to Victorian couches....a healthy taxidermy inventory and everything in between.  Some tips for hunting down your coveted booty: Show up early because some vendors start packing it in at 4:30 pm; step up your efforts if the weather is lousy since sellers can be more desperate; the more things you buy from a vendor, the less you'll pay on the entire bill; and don't be shy about haggling.

The Antiques Garage (112 W 25th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves, 212-243-5343)  Open 6:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Sat. & Sun.

The Hell's Kitchen Flea Market shuttle ($1 per ride) moves you right on to The Antiques Garage attracting thousands of shoppers each weekend since 1994. More than 100 vendors packed into a two-story parking garage sell mid-century antiques, 1950's & 60's Americana, vintage clothing, furnishings, as well as a large selection of back issue magazines.  More unusual items include campaign buttons, pillbox hats & horn-rimmed glasses, and old specialty photos of pop culture icons.

West 25th Street Market (W 25th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-243-5343  Open dawn to dusk, Sat. & Sun.

Only steps away from the Antiques Garage, 125 vendors sell antiques, collectibles, and other types of vintage and retro decorative art. More avant garde of the three, there's a back alley filled with bins of rusty tools, cheap hard-to-find vinyl (the music variety), and offbeat knick knacks like carved stone statues and hand crafted wooden tribal masks.

Maybe you've driven over it, you might have walked over it soaking in the magnificent views, and you've most definitely seen it either in a picture or in person.  It's the Brooklyn Bridge of course!  Upon completion, the Brooklyn Bridge symbolized the beginning of modern New York. A monument to extraordinary engineering and perilous construction forged in steel and stone spanning the East River, its 125th anniversary celebration begins May 22 through Memorial Day weekend.  Join the party and revel in the following must-see, unusual, and entirely free events at Brooklyn Bridge Park:

Thursday, May 22

Celebration Kick-off: Concert featuring the Brooklyn Philharmonic followed by fireworks. A lighting ceremony illuminating the entire Bridge will remain lit every evening from 9pm-11pm through Memorial Day. Concert starts at 7:45pm.

The Telectroscope: A Window Through the World:  Did you know that a secret transatlantic tunnel now connects London and New York? After more than a century, it is now complete and as part of the festivities, Artist Paul St. George's public media project entitled the Telectroscope, an optical device installed at both ends of the tunnel, will allow viewers in Brooklyn to see all the way to London. (May 22 - June 15)

Friday, May 23

Film Series: Enjoy a picnic dinner and view the sunset at the foot of Brooklyn Bridge as DJs spin tunes. Stay for an open-air showing of two historic shorts:  Panorama from the Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge (1903) and Manhatta (1921) followed by Enchanted, a modern-day fairy tale set in Manhattan. Music begins at 6pm, film starts at 8:30pm.

Think Bud and pizza is the only way to go in pairing your favorite cold one with cheese? Every other Tuesday at 7 p.m. starting May 6th, Bierkraft in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood hosts a free beer and cheese tasting.  Just get there before 6:30 to score your free ticket!  Brews like Ommegang, Butternuts Porkslap Pale Ale, or Lakefront New Grist Gluten Free Lager are matched by a handful of their 250-plus artisanal cheeses including Lincolnshire Poacher, Stilton with Mango and Ginger, or the Stinking Bishop.  Move over Chardonnay and Merlot! Bierkraft puts a well-stocked wine cellar to shame with a tasting room and Bud-free selection of more than 600 brews, arranged geographically from Louisiana's Abita Purple Haze to the Yuengling Lord Chesterfield.  For other countries, check out the listings on their website.  Perhaps you're in the mood for dessert....Bierkraft also has an extensive selection of chocolate bars as an accompaniment to what's on tap.  And again, these aren't Hershey bars or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Try a Dagoba lime or lavender bar and if you're feeling in the mood, a New Tree Sexy Chocolate. The flavor combinations are endless!  No worries for the unalcoholically inclined. Bubbly ciders, Ginger beer, and snacks like Asiago crackers and Zapp's potato chips are in stock.

At first glance, an Irish presence in the heart of Woodside in Queens appears to be an anomaly in this heavily Latino enclave.  But look closely and you'll still find ties to the ol' sod.  Donovan's Pub with its dark wood trimmed white stucco exterior is one such holdout.  Just pull open the heavy wood door and you'll step into Ireland for a wee bit.  You can either rub elbows with the loyal and sometimes boisterous bar patrons or head into the Celtic labyrinth of dining rooms lit with stained-glass windows and candlelight along with a fireplace for those chillier days. Pick out a tall dark-wood booth, listen closely, and you'll probably detect some brogue in the conversations around you.  Jack Donovan, a former detective, has managed the place since the 1960s.  More than an old-school pub with an extensive whiskey selection, classic Guinness and Smithwick's on tap, and piping hot Shepard's pie, Donovan's consistently City-wide renowned burgers are the must-eat menu item.  These juicy, char-broiled half-pounders, served with home-cut steak fries are miles away from fried fast food variety.  Pieces of New York strip steak are mixed with ground chuck, loosely packed to a 1.5 inch thickness, and slow broiled to retain the juices. Other menu highlights include fresh caught seafood dishes like broiled scallops, sole, baked clams, and their chunky pan-sautéed crab cakes. 

Open daily from noon to 4 a.m.  Cash only
57-24 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside 429-9339

The first warm days of spring have arrived, flowering trees and tulips are in full bloom, and you want to see some good art.  Not up for spending hours in the sanctity of the indoors plowing through gallery upon gallery of lengthy exhibits?

Then take the N or W train from Manhattan to the Broadway stop in Queens and walk eight blocks to Vernon Boulevard on the East River. Straight ahead, a large metal sign spans the entrance to Socrates Sculpture Park.  It's almost impossible to imagine that this 4.5 acre riverfront park with sunset views of Manhattan was once an abandoned landfill and illegal dumpsite. In 1986, a coalition of artists and community activists led by artist Mark di Suvero, transformed this wasteland into a neighborhood park with an outdoor open studio and exhibit space for large-scale sculpture. Here the process of creation is on display as much as the finished product.  You'll see artists in residency wielding power tools amongst piles of iron and wood creating their masterworks. Feel free to touch, photograph, and even climb on the sculptures or let your dogs run around them. Look closely because sometimes it's hard to distinguish the intentional art from intriguing river debris. A good example is The Peat Moss Sculpture; an enormous chunk of wood, wire and rebar covered in algae and gently submerged at the edge of the river, where it blends in with the nearby pilings and driftwood.

Based on the belief that reclamation and creative expression are essential to humanity and improving New York's urban environment, the park offers extensive outreach programs to local schools, summer activities including free outdoor film screenings, live music, and sculpture and art classes for all ages. Open 365 days a year from 10am to sunset, admission is free.

Not up for spending hundreds of dollars on a tiny nondescript hotel room in Manhattan? Don't want to economize by staying the night in a closet?  Keep that wallet in your pocket, hop on the free Staten Island Ferry, and sit back for a 25 min. ride through New York Harbor grazing past the Statute of Liberty and Governors Island with continual views of lower Manhattan's skyline.  Upon disembarking into the Island's brand new glass walled terminal graced with 2 large aquariums teeming with colorful tropical fish, break through the wall of cabbies waiting to scoop you up at the exit door.  You my friend only have to walk 3 blocks until you reach 22 Fort Place, home of the Fort Hill Bed and Breakfast. Walk straight across Richmond Terrace up the stairs along City Hall and continue straight up the hill to St. Marks Place. Make a quick right and then a left onto Fort Place. You'll see the property's distinguishing white and green edifice to your left on the corner of Montgomery & Fort. 

Once inside this Victorian classic built in 1864, a large sun porch greets you perfect for lounging or cracking open that novel you always wanted to start. Ornate marble fireplaces in each room, multi-hued wood floors, tin ceilings, and 8 foot tall wooden carved doors may give you pause that perhaps you're on a historic home tour rather than checking in for the evening.  Industrial Designer and Artist Paul Gorlach along with his wife Patricia restored this gem in 2005 and have been running it as a B&B since 2006.  Paul's own colorful paintings hang on many of the walls beckoning for a closer look.  The downstairs room has a bed large enough to fit 4 people and the upper floor rooms feature a skylight bath with views of Verezano Bridge.  Don't expect a lavish breakfast but a continental spread including plenty of fresh bakery bread is delivered to you on a tray each morning. 

NYC's largest farmers market is open year round Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8 AM to 6 PM sprawling over most of Union Square Park. During peak seasons, more than 250,000 customers visit per week but it wasn't always this way.

Believe it or not, back in the 1970s, New Yorkers had few fresh produce options with iceberg lettuce, unripe tomatoes, and unseasonable fruits being the norm. Regional farms were going bankrupt and getting paved over. In 1976, twelve farmers took over an empty lot with makeshift produce stalls setting the foundation for a city-wide Greenmarket system that exists today.  Now the largest regional food network in the country, this win-win arrangement helps small family farmers stay in business, preserves farmland for future generations, and supplies neighborhoods and City chefs with an ongoing supply of organic, naturally-grown local produce and other farm products.

Take a walk through and you'll see that this market doesn't just cater to upscale vegetarians. In addition to browsing over 1,000 varieties of fruits and vegetables including 8 to 10 varieties of potatoes, bushels of heirloom apples and pears, and a mind boggling selection of mixed greens like mesclun, red mustard, arugala, tat-soi, bok choy, broccoli raab, and broccoli sprouts, prime cuts of grass-fed beef and pork, breakfast sausage, pork chops, and spare ribs await. Try pairing some gourmet brick oven bread, sunflower millet, sour seeded rye, or exotic Focaccia with artisan farmstead cheeses like Brigid's Abbey (a nutty Belgian Trappist).  For some extra energy at breakfast, take home some maple or cinnamon butter, fine honey from the Albany-Saratoga region, or a poppy-prune coffee cake.

Best of all, you'll get a chance to meet the farmers behind it all at your own pace and know that end-of-day unsold produce is donated to City Harvest, a cooperative that distributes food citywide to pantries and soup kitchens.