This year’s holiday shopping suggestion is one of my favorite stores in New York, and I highly recommend a visit to everyone, especially if you’re searching for a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift. Located in the shadow of the Empire State Building, Fantasma Magic is tucked away on the third floor of 421 Seventh Avenue, and other…
Last week, I was scouting some studio spaces in a Chelsea office building when I happened to notice a vacant office across the hall. Normally, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, except something in the room happened to catch my eye… …was that a subway car inside??
In my travels through the city, I’ve driven down the northern end of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn roughly eight billion times… …and I have never once given a second thought to the nondescript office building at Dekalb, part of the Long Island University campus. And I don’t think I ever would have if I hadn’t…
I was up scouting the Columbia University campus last week… …and in the spirit of Halloween, I decided to swing by the building nestled just beside Low Library. If you take a moment to stare at it, you’ll realize this little brick building doesn’t really match the surrounding Beaux Arts architecture. In fact, the longer…
Though I always try to keep Scouting NY as positive as possible, I have to make an exception with this post. Yes, New York is safer than ever, but there are still a few dark byways and shady buildings that can get you into trouble – hell, these are the places I refuse to go….
For the longest time, I’ve been wondering about a legend I heard involving the Players Club, a New York social club founded by actor Edwin Booth (brother of John Wilkes) in 1888… …the legendary David Carradine, who you know from such movies and TV shows as Kung-Fu and Kill Bill… …and Robert Carradine, David’s paternal…
The other day, I received an email asking if a bus station, dating to the 1930s, still existed at the Hotel Carter. A hidden bus station from the 1930s? In Times Square?? I’d never heard of this before (in fact, I only knew of the Hotel Carter as one of the dirtiest hotels in America)…
So here’s a mystery. A few months ago, I got an email from reader Matthew J. advising me to check out Brothers Hardware at 26 West 38th Street. The shop is pretty unassuming from the outside… But go inside…
One of my favorite ways to drive into New York is via Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. As you head south from Yonkers, both sides of the road are overgrown with beautiful green foliage. To the west is Van Cordlant Park…
I’ll never forget the first time I walked into an art deco apartment building in the Bronx. I was taking pictures of a mural on a Grand Concourse building, when a passerby suggested I check out the interior. I headed through the nondescript entrance hallway… …into what has to be one of the most beautiful…