New York Minute

For a holiday weekend, the big apple was rather quiet the last few days. While Oshadi, Margot, and myself were not out clubbing every night, there was still a winter chill that I think kept the rats at bay. As some of you know, most of last year’s creative outlet revolved around the making of a zine called Kizuna. This process was illuminating in more ways than one, and I am incredibly proud of myself, as well as my friends that embarked on this journey with me.

Our girls trip was spurred on by one simple desire: To get outta town! In reality, it was a serendipitous jaunt. Oshadi is a fellow mod for the zine, it was MLK weekend, and Sidney was hosting a zine party at Thayer coffee in NYC. Couldn’t draw up a better play than that.

So what did we do with our forty-eight hours in the city? A lot for two women arriving somewhere knowing their only planned outings would be finished their first night in town. I want to give a huge shout out to Pilar for letting us stay in her apartment for the weekend. Very Kizuna.

When we arrived, we made our way down to the financial district, dropped out shit and beelined for bagels. We went to Liberty Bagels, which is a chain, and we realized the one we picked was a popular spot. It’s right by the Wall Street bull? Unsure why I didn’t know that bull was a tourist attraction, but people were lined up for days to take a photo with that thing’s rear end. Wonder what our bull butt is in other countries? The bagels themselves were great! However, in sandwich form it was not the best. Can’t win em all. We then added some gloves and beanies to our ensembles and headed to battery park to hopefully take a photo of Kizuna with the Statue of Liberty. Unbeknownst to us, the park is under construction so we were not able to walk along the water as we’d hoped. We did stumble upon a cute art installation where you could ride in these merry-go-round fish. We did not join in but we watched them go round and round and listened to the sounds. Other than that we took a load off at the apartment and got ready for dinner/zine party.

Eel Bar was a spot I really wanted to try, and after a peek at the menu, Osh was also in for it. My fav chefluencers, Hailee and Chuck, had posted their plate from the week before with an Eel Bar tag and I instantly knew I needed to go there. Once I saw they had pil pil on the menu, it was game over. As you know, Mer and I became obsessed with pil pil while traveling in South America, but it’s actually a sauce originating in the Basque country. Maybe little Madeline tried it back in 2014 in Bilbao? I say she did.
Side Note: All of my fav chefluencers are around my age, and are Capricorns. It’s a sign.

The restaurant was set up in such a fun way. You walk in to a small vestibule and all you can see is a thin building with people standing along the wall and a beautiful bar. When you make your way past the host stand, you look left and realize there are tables and then also another room behind the bar. And what appeared to be a mirror behind the bartenders was actually a hole that allowed you to see through to our dining area and the bar patrons. Very dim lighting and nice vibes. The staff was attentive and knowledgeable.
The meal went as such: Fried mussels on the half shell (delish), Fried green tomatoes and goat cheese with piperade (yum), Satsuma mandarins with preserved lemons (refreshing), Rainbow trout and mushroom pil pil (bomb), and Warm caneles with fig (heavenly).

After dinner, we hit a hot girl walk and made our way to Thayer to meet up with Sid a little early before the Zine Party!!

Do yall want some context on the zine? I thought so. What is a zine? A zine is usually a compact, independently produced booklet or magazine. It explores diverse subjects such as personal narratives, artwork, poetry, social critiques, and specialized interests. A zine, pronounced like “zeen,” can be whatever you want it to be. You can get them printed by a printing company, which is what we did for Kizuna, or you can join your pages together with a glue stick. There really are no limits to what you can create and call a zine. Sid’s zine is so cool, The Velvet Pool Party, which is a compilation of her art in black and white that she held together with binder rings that you can flip through and even color in if you’d like. So cool. As I mentioned, our zine was quite the learning experience. I started to write about that process here, but realized it would make this post way too long, so I will create another one for those interested.

The Zine party was great. After hours at Thayer, aka VIP night, with five dollar beer and wine, a make your own zine station, and then Sid had a station and Osh and myself had a station. Helen and Chance stopped by and brought friends, which meant so much to me! Love them! Also, it was incredible because this was the first time we sold a zine to someone that has no direct connection to any of the mods. Just some New Yorkers that popped in and took interest in what we created. Felt really special. One man who bought one said his daughter works for “some publishing company” and then proceeds to reveal its Random House! Give her a copy of Kizuna sir! Another fun sale was to a man named Freddie. He bought a zine and also bought some stickers for his daughters. He sat and read the zine in the shop that evening, and even asked us questions about the creative process, and our reflections. Really meant a lot. Oshadi’s friend, Michael, who resides in NYC and lives close to Thayer, stopped by the event. He ended up staying the whole night and hanging out with us and it was so sweet seeing two college besties get to catch up. Michael had already bought an everything bundle of our zine, so he certainly didn’t have to stop by. Quality human right there. After the party we strolled, grabbed a new york slice, and subwayed back down to our weekend home.

We subwayed all over the place. We made a pact to never set foot in a car the entire weekend. Pact? Held. Including to and from the airport. As we walked around, we both made a point to mention how it felt like there were less cars on the road. While we don’t frequent the city on a regular basis, even from what we remembered from a visit one year prior, the streets felt less congested with cars. Osh mentioned she read something about a new law, or some sort of change that had just gone into effect: Congestion Pricing. To us, we thought it was nice, less cars whizzing by, and the subway still didn’t feel overcrowded. I did read a few articles about it though, and seems like the city has mixed feelings on the change. MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) said “Vehicles are now being tolled to enter the Congestion Relief Zone…The Congestion Relief Zone includes local streets and avenues in Manhattan south of and including 60 Street, excluding the FDR Drive, West Side Highway/Route 9A, and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel connections to West Street…The MTA is phasing in the toll structure over a six-year period with an initial $9 peak toll for cars. The toll will increase to $12 in 2028 and then $15 in 2031.” Stupid Dope says, “New York City’s congestion pricing program, launched in January, was meant to revitalize the city’s ailing transit system. Approved federally, the tolls promised to raise $15 billion for the MTA’s construction budget, funding essential repairs and upgrades to the subway and bus network. However, many residents and small businesses argue that the program has created more problems than solutions, placing an unfair financial burden on New Yorkers…For many, congestion pricing has become an unavoidable expense, adding hundreds of dollars in monthly costs. A gym membership now includes an additional $270 in tolls for city access, while caregivers ferrying loved ones to essential treatments face a $240 monthly surcharge. For small businesses relying on regular trips into Manhattan, these fees are devastating, cutting deeply into already narrow profit margins…One of the program’s original goals was to reduce traffic in Manhattan’s busiest areas. Yet, critics argue it has failed to address the root causes of congestion. Factors such as double-parked vehicles, poorly enforced bus lanes, and the proliferation of bike lanes remain unaddressed. These issues, combined with the volume of taxis and rideshare services, continue to clog city streets.”

I find this take interesting because hitting the town on a holiday weekend and visibly and physically feeling a positive change from a visit nine months prior makes one wonder. However, we did not step foot in a car, so perhaps we just missed the streets causing problems. Either way, this will be interesting to follow.

Saturday was a go where the wind blows day. We woke up and made our way to La Cabra, a coffee shop near Michael and his girlfriend Staša’s apartment. We got a couple pastries (almond croissant and a traditional cardamom bun – quite tasty) and Osh got some beans to take home. I took a couple vids and pics for some R&D for Rebel back home in Denver. After all, this is a business trip. We then scarfed them down like a rat on the street and walked to see Michaša’s Casa. Oshadi hasn’t been there yet since they just recently moved in, and Staša’s parents were also there. We met them, as well as their new kitty cat and it was all so sincere. Made me feel welcome even though I was an outsider. Should finish the book by the end of the month. Once the rain subsided we made our way to lunch. We stopped in Muji, which was a neat store, and then made it to Tonchin for some ramen. Funny enough, I realized this was the place I got ramen last year with Natalie when I was in town for the Climate Reality Leadership conference. Also, we ended up not getting ramen this time. What we did get was delicious! We had an edamame appetizer that was not the typical spicy garlic. Instead, it was a bowl of chilled edamame, basil, plum, red shiso, and olive oil and it was addicting, seriously. Such a refreshing bite and the basil was so unique I was impressed. We also got an order of the Gyoza that were round, and came sizzling in a cast iron, like a fajita moment at a mexican restaurant. We also got the kinoko buns, which were filled with grilled mixed mushrooms, sukiyaki sauce, egg salad, yuzu kosho, romaine, and scallions. For the main meal, we shared the ban ban chicken. A warm noodle dish, with spicy ban ban sauce, slow cooked chicken, bean sprouts, scallion, cashew nuts, and fried garlic. This entire meal was such a cohesively beautiful experience with unique flavors and left a warm comforting feeling in our bellies and hearts. Great for a rainy afternoon. Then we thought, let’s go to a museum!

Us, and every other person in the city. We thought about going to the interior design museum, but it was going to be too far of a trek for our circumstances, so we landed on the MOMA. Big place, lots of floors, awesome art (stumbled upon the starry night), saw the real thing for a piece of art Osh and her roommate had in their apartment in college, we saw a new Klimt I loved, as well as one portraying motherhood and pregnancy that really spoke to us. There was also a two floor giant visual art instillation that was super powerful, Otobong Nkanga: Cadence. However, the museum was crowded and toasty, so we got Osh an agua and then looked around a little more but decided to call it quits for the museum portion of our trip.

We decided to get Pilar a little gift for letting us stay in her spectacular apartment, but that journey proved longer than anticipated. At last we made it to a mall of sorts, super mega fancy mall, near the One World Trade Center. We got her a candle from a place I have now forgotten the name, Jo Malone I think, but don’t quote me. Then we got back to the apartment after stopping once again to look in the memorial pools. During the day they feel vast but during the night they feel more, everything really.

After a brief reprieve, Sid met up with us at the apartment and then we headed out for dinner with Sarah! I love any chance I get to meet up with Sarah. She’s such a genuine person with a vibrant personality, a little jokester, and also a realist who I just vibe with. We had dinner at Casa Carmen and I really loved how spacious the table was and how much arm room I had. Not sure why that stuck out, but it did. A restaurant is always silly when you get one chip per person and it’s extra for more…you know what I’m talking about, but otherwise it was yum! For an app we got a fideo seco, which was like a mexican spaghetti, and it hit. We also got an app that was not what we expected, even though we knew the ingredients. Empanadas de plátano con frijol, but the actual empanada wrapper was the plantain, so it was sweeter than anticipated. Good but not what my mouth had been craving. For my main dish I had a chile relleno and it was a good one without a doubt.

We bid Sarah and Sid farewell at the subway station and all made our ways back to our respective residences. Oshadi and I organized and tidied up the apartment, then settled in for one last hang (watching tv and doing vampire weekend trivia with Reagan via facetime) and reflected on our weekend. That pretty much concluded out weekend adventure.

The next morning we woke up, packed up the rest of our stuff, and headed to JFK via the E line, if I’m not mistaken. Now I am not sure if it’s Not Mistaken or Not Mistaking. You tell me. Either way, that was it for our girls trip! I did end up changing my flight home to avoid the snow/a potential delay, so my flight went all the way to Park City and was five hours long so I watched two movies! Anatomy of a Fall and Marcel The Shell With Shoes On. You’ll have to follow me on letterboxd if you want to know my thoughts on movies.

I feel so lucky to have a friend like Oshadi ❤