Chelsea On The Cheap

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Cheap eats in Chelsea: The best places to nosh on a budget

Cheap eats abound in Chelsea, but which stand out from the rest? Fuel up at our critic-approved budget food spots.

Chelsea, New York, guide: The best of the neighborhood

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Whether you want to line your stomach before hitting the bars (or soak up the damage afterwards) or grab an inexpensive bite while shopping, there are plenty of cheap eats in the neighborhood. Among our favorite cheap eats are the cult slice at Artichoke Basille’s Pizzeria and the eponymous Asian snacks at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar.

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to Chelsea, New York

Artichoke Basille's Pizza and Bar

• Critics choice

The owners of the perpetually packed East Village slice shop have expanded to Chelsea.

1. 457 W 17th St, (at Tenth Ave)

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City Bakery

• Critics choice

Pastry genius Maury Rubin’s loft-size City Bakery is jammed with Chelsea shoppers loading up on unusual salad-bar choices (grilled pineapple with ancho chili, bean sprouts with smoked tofu, excellent salmon salad). There’s also a small selection of soups, pizzas and hot dishes. But to heck with all that: The thick, incredibly rich hot chocolate with fat house-made marshmallows is heaven in a cup (replaced by fruit-infused lemonade in the summer), and the moist “melted”

1. 3 W 18th St, (between Fifth and Sixth Aves), 10003

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Joe the Art of Coffee

• Critics choice

West Siders have experienced a restaurant revolution, and now they can boast grade-A espresso too, thanks to the most recent location of the boutique-coffee chain. In addition to espresso-based drinks, a single-cup, drip-coffee bar dispenses a rotating selection of brews, while baked goods from companies like Ceci-Cela and Donut Plant provide just the kind of snacks a coffee drinker needs.

1. 405 W 23rd St, (between Ninth and Tenth Aves)

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Rickshaw Dumpling Bar

Kenny Lao’s concept for a dumpling bar was a winner in a business-plan contest at NYU’s Stern School of Business, so he’s put it to the test at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar. Annisa chef Anita Lo developed the menu, which includes six different dumplings, each inspired by an Asian cuisine and matched with its own dipping sauce: classic Chinese pork and chive with a soy vinegar, for instance, or Thai chicken with peanut satay. If you want a full meal, pair your dumplings with a big

1. 61 W 23rd St, (between Fifth and Sixth Aves)

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Tia Pol

• Critics choice

In Spain, grazing on tapas is as much a social celebration as a culinary one, and leisurely Tia Pol embraces this tradition con gusto. Seating is on high stools, with spill-over at the bustling bar, where handsome diners stand cheek-by-jowl while guzzling fruity sangria. Reaching crowd capacity at Tia Pol isn’t tough: It’s as slender as the white asparagus that garnishes some of its dishes. The memorable menu is one part classical, two parts wholly original: Munch on superb

1. 205 Tenth Ave, (between 22nd and 23rd Sts), 10011

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"Ya' Gotta Have Art" The Affordable Art Fair NYC

AFFORDABLE ART FAIR New York City

New York City
April 3-6, 2014 with
Private View on April 2

A fun four-day event hosting 78 galleries and a huge array of contemporary art, the spring edition of the Affordable Art Fair New York City will take place from April 2-6 at The Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.

The concept is simple, yet unique: an inspiring and friendly atmosphere in which you can find thousands of original paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs all under one roof, ranging from $100-$10,000, with more than half priced under $5,000. The work of young, emerging artists hangs alongside some of the biggest household names, while our Recent Graduates Exhibition provides a chance to snap up work by a future art world star.

Private View
Wednesday, April 2, 7pm-10pm
Join us for this opening night party and get first pick of the works on view!  This is the can’t-miss event of the fair, pulsing with energy and certainly a place to see and be seen!  Wine will be served courtesy of Hogue Cellars.
Tickets:  online: $65 ($125 for two) or at the door: $75 each*
*Private View tickets are valid for Wednesday night event and all public hours

AAF After Dark
Thursday, April 3, 8pm-10pm
A Thursday night party for young collectors who want a late-night look at the fair. Browse contemporary art while sipping cocktails by Slow & Low Rock and Rye.
Tickets: online or at the door: $30*
*AAF After Dark tickets are valid for Thursday night event and all public hours

Take a You Tube Tour of what Affordable Art Fair is about

Chelsea NYC - America's first Suburb ?

from wikipedia:

A rendering of the Mansion House of the Chelsea estate by Moore's daughter, Mary C. Ogden. made for the first color edition of A Visit from St. Nicholas (1855)

Clement Moore's estate, Chelsea, was on the west side of Manhattan island above Houston Street, where the developed city ended at the time, and was mostly open countryside.  It was once the property of Maj. Thomas Clarke, Clement's maternal grandfather and a retired British veteran of the French and Indian War. Clarke named his house for a hospital in London that served war veterans. The estate was later inherited by Thomas Clarke's daughter, Charity Clarke Moore, and ultimately by grandson Clement and his family.

When New York City laid down the street grid called for in the Commissioner's Plan of 1811, the new Ninth Avenue went through the middle of the estate, causing Moore to write and publish a pamphlet which called on other "Proprietors of Real Estate" to fight the continued development of the city, which he saw as a conspiracy designed to increase political patronage and appease the city's working class. He also decried having to pay taxes for public works such as creating new streets, which he called "a tyranny no monarch in Europe would dare to exercise."

Despite his protests against urban development, eventually Moore began to develop Chelsea, dividing it up into lots along Ninth Avenue and selling them to well-heeled New Yorkers. He was in effect planning the first suburb in the United States and created its first planned community.

He also donated to the Episcopal diocese an apple orchard consisting of 66 tracts for use as a seminary, construction on which began in 1827. This became the General Theological Seminary, where Moore served as the first professor of Oriental Languages. The Seminary still exits and part of it was converted into a hotel - The High Line Hotel.  Together the Seminary and The High Line Hotel occupy most of the block between 20th and 21st Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues.

Townhouses in Chelsea; much of this Manhattan neighborhood was originally part of Moore's country estate

A Visit from St. Nicholas 

This poem, that made Clement Moore famous, was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on December 23, 1823. Moore later acknowledged authorship and the poem was included in an 1844 anthology of his works at the insistence of his children, for whom he wrote it. 

A Visit from St. Nicholas is largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and the tradition that he brings toys to children. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. The poem has influenced ideas about St. Nicholas and Santa Claus beyond the United States to the rest of the English-speaking world and beyond. 

Clement Moore

“Twas the night before …”

Hear those four words.  What happened?  Did you get a flash from your childhood?  Or remember seeing in another child’s face that moment of great joy mixed with almost unbearable anticipation?  Even though you know the rest of the poem by heart, did you relive a moment of uncomplicated urgency and impending joy?

 

You can go there again.

That is the spirit of the Manhattan neighborhood called Chelsea.   It was in this neighborhood that Clement Moore wrote his famous poem.   Chelsea is a neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan bordered by Hell’s Kitchen to the north, the Flatiron District to the east, the Meatpacking District to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. The western area of the neighborhood houses many of New York City’s great art galleries, as well as the famous park The High Line.   Chelsea includes theaters, shops, and several top-rated restaurants and food markets.

“Twas the night before “is a blog dedicated to the distinctive things to do and see in this neighborhood, and how in the midst of all that is Manhattan, it is in Chelsea that you will capture “moments of uncomplicated urgency and impending joy.”

'Twas the night before.'..in Chelsea