I’ve been walking across the Williamsburg Bridge lately to explore Williamsburg and meet friends at various spots in the neighborhood that is now so famously transformed. I lived on Driggs and 7th street the summer of 1995, right after I graduated Bard, before I found my permanent homestead in the East Village. The neighborhood consisted of Polish delis, the L Cafe and Planet Thai in a tiny shoebox of a spot where a small bar sits now. I still don’t recognize the neighborhood the way it is now from what it was then but I love the transformation and can’t get enough of it. I love going for $1 oysters at Maison Premier, which happens every day, Monday thru Friday 4pm to 7pm and on weekends from 11am to 1pm. Make a left on Metropolitan and watch great indie films at Nitehawk Cinema, where you can also order drinks and food while you eat (it’s not as disruptive as it sounds for all you purists, I swear). On the same corner is a great local bar where you can buy a Campari on the rocks for $6 along with $3 beers and $7 fresh burritos. It’s so local that after doing that three times in the last few weeks I still can’t remember seeing the name of the bar anywhere. Just trust me, it’s there. They play live music too. Clearly, I was not meant to be an investigative journalist. The rooftop pool of the McCarren Hotel just opened last week, where you can book a pool day for $30 and the bar at The Wythe Hotel is beautiful at night, with perfect views of the city by the water. Saturday mornings, 10 am till 4pm the Brooklyn Flea is just a block away on Wythe and 11th street. The best thing to do is just walk around, there seems to be an endless amount to explore and stumble on, with the usual suspects of clothing stores, vintage, restaurants and bars. The walk from the lower east side across the bridge takes about 20 minutes and is the perfect excuse to indulge after your “workout”. I haven’t been this in love with NY since I was fifteen.
