Russian styled dumplings with toppings of dill and sour cream
by Rakeeb Alam
It’s lunchtime and you’re starving. The café you frequent is too far away, but the scent of a gyro food cart drifts down the street and solves your lunchtime dilemma.
Your favorite food cart down the block has always been serving up tasty food when you need it, but how exactly did it get a permit to do so?
Every food cart or vendor must meet certain health standards to get a permit issued by the City of New York.
That permit is then displayed on the cart, and another, smaller copy must be worn by the worker.
The permit itself costs up to $200 when obtained from the city. However, despite the city ruling that renting permits out is illegal, vendors may pay exponentially higher for those permits.
“It’s easy to sell once you get a permit,” said one worker of a smoothie food cart, “But, the permit cost me $12,000.” He declined to say where he obtained his permit.
The city issues a limited amount of permits per year, a total of around 5,100 according to the New York City Health Department.
Yet there are many more applicants than there are permits, and so the cost and competitiveness required to get a permit is monumental.
“It was five years for me [to obtain a permit],” said one worker at a Sabrett hot dog stand. He also said his stand has been in business for 10 years. His main customers are the droves of tourists that filter through 6th Avenue and 53rd Street.
The processes of getting one directly from the city is very lengthy, due to the large pool of applicants trying to vie for 5,100 permits.
Many of the allowed permits for the year have already been issued, creating long waitlists for a single permit.
Some of those issued permits only allow for seasonal vending and produce sales, or specialized vending such as ice cream trucks.
The city has attempted to curb the number and density of food carts in the city, instead promoting open markets and fruit carts with more easily obtained permits.
Another way to avoid the long wait list is to obtain a restricted area food cart permit, where a seller can vend on private property with specific permission from the owner of the property.
An overcast Day in Union Square with the George Washington statue in the background.
By Spencer Brown
In Union Square Park on beautiful summer day, the abundance of things to do is pleasing to see in New York City.
In the morning, business people are walking through the park to their commute. The chess players are just setting up their boards. The police officers are arriving with coffee in hand.
In fact, coffee is an important aspect of most people’s mornings, and there are quite a few options.
“Personally, my place for coffee is Joe Coffee, it’s a good place and they have delicious pastries,” said Jillian of Harlem.
Joe Coffee isn’t the only place for high quality coffee, Think Coffee, Wayside, The Coffee Shop are all great options for ones morning coffee.
“I’ve been coming to get a coffee more often then before due to this heatwave, especially an iced coffee,” said Andrea, a frequent coffee drinker.
For the brunch people, The Pavilion offers different styles of organic eggs as well as its savory pancakes and its eloquently delicious french toast. Along with its wonderful menu it also offers the perfect location of Union Square Park itself.
During the lunch hours, a flock of business people bring their lunches to the multiple benches in the park.
“Its a very relaxing place to be and to sit down and enjoy my lunch. Plus the fact that its right near my office” said Josh, 27, of Brooklyn.
According to an unofficial survey, 60% of the people that eat their lunches in Union Square Park bring their own lunch.
This is not due to their being plenty of options for food in the surrounding area for food; it’s the cost of the food at these restaurants.
“I find that there are very few cost effective food options in this area, so i’d rather just bring my lunch four days and eat out one day,” said Angela, of the Lower East Side.
A couple blocks away from the park, there are restaurants such as Dos Toros, Glaze Teriyaki, Bruno Pizza and plenty of other options stretching a wide range of cultures.
From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. is when the park really starts to fill up. People come and eat their lunches, the chess players start having more people playing them, and the street performers show up to start their acts.
These chess players are usually very difficult to beat if you are the average chess player. The chess players are just trying to make some money, if you beat them they’ll pay you, if they beat you, then you pay them.
“They’re here all day and every day, they cause absolutely no trouble, just looking to play some chess,” said a police officer.
In the mid to late afternoon is when couples start to arrive and have a picnic on the grass pitches. Workers come to the park for a post work read or to see a beautiful sunset.
For dinner, Ichabod’s, ABC Kitchen, Le Midi and a host of other restaurants offer great meals with the abundant culture of Union Square.
“My favorite dinner place is Casa Mono, its great Spanish tapas, and its just a great place to go to and grab a delicious meal,” said Jeremy, of Tribeca.
To top off a great day in union square with delicious meals and the great liveliness of Union Square, one needs to check out Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Company for the best Ice Cream of the Union Square area.
The Public Theater’s downtown location at Astor Place.
by Emilia Charno
New Yorkers know: affordable and New York City are not two concepts that usually go hand in hand.
As a hub of theatre and the arts, New York City boasts a world-renowned Broadway experience. However, Broadway shows are a costly passion or pastime, exceeding an average ticket price of $100 that was hit June 2014, according to the Broadway League.
Theatre-goers waiting outside the Public Theater’s Astor Place location for coveted tickets to see “Shakespeare in the Park”, called Broadway “a treat.” However, high prices make Broadway a treat that, for many, can rarely be enjoyed.
What are the reasons behind this steady hike in prices?
Broadway’s 2015-2016 production season saw 13.32 million attendees. Such demand highlights the lengths to which people will go—or rather pay— for quality theatre.
This is a jump from the 12.33 million attendees during the 2011-12 production season only five years ago.
Tourists additionally play a significant role in this development.
“Tourism plays a vital role in our city’s economy, and the work that we’ve done to strengthen tourism over the past 12 years has helped our city weather the national economic downturn and come out in far better shape than most other cities,” said former New York City Mayor Bloomberg at a press conference, during his last term.
However, one aspect of Broadway’s price ascension is the willingness of foreign visitors to pay extravagant prices for a “real NYC experience.”
The Richard Rogers Theater houses Broadway phenomenon “Hamilton.” Richard Rogers is situated on West 46th Street in tourist trap Times Square and notoriously attracts large crowds.
However, most significant perhaps is the high cost of Broadway production, especially for musical theatre, in New York City.
Broadway shows gobble up hundreds of thousands of dollars each week in technical and operating costs.
This at least helps put Broadway ticket prices into perspective.
One current Broadway production highlights both sky high prices and the capacity of New York City to house a cultural phenomenon: Hamilton.
A mélange of racial celebration and a youthful sound, Hamilton was the hottest show this year.
Unfortunately few people were lucky enough to be in “The Room Where It Happens.”
Robotic software programs have become notorious for grabbing large amounts of tickets at high speeds, resulting in ticket resellers enacting huge price markups.
But you know New Yorkers, there’s always a way.
Off-broadway shows, ticket lotteries, and free productions like the Public’s summer “Shakespeare in the Park” grant New Yorkers their theatre fix.
“Shakespeare in the Park” was started by Joseph Papp under the name “New York Shakespeare Festival” in 1954.
In 2002, this free celebration of Shakespeare was reorganized under the Public Theater.
Currently, performances of the Bard’s Troilus and Cressida take place at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, near the entrance at 81st Street and Central Park West, and tickets are distributed for free at the theater on performance days.
If you’re looking to catch a performance, get in line in Central Park ASAP as tickets run out fast.
Also free is the New York Classical Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, currently being held at Brooklyn Bridge Park. This interactive experience moves along with the actors and covers a total of almost three city blocks in the show’s two hour run time.
Still haven’t had enough of Shakespeare? Shakespeare in the Parking Lot’s The Merchant of Venice, another free event, takes place Thursdays-Saturdays during the summer at 8 p.m. at 114 Norfolk Street.
Long story short: If you don’t want to splurge on Broadway, you can always enjoy free productions of history’s greatest playwright in NYC.
Walking around the world of New York University, you can’t help but notice the number of amenities, the dormitories, high-end technology, and just the amount of space the school takes up in Greenwich Village. But all this doesn’t come cheap, costing students much as $70,000 a year.
NYU has been ranked in the top 60 colleges in the United States according to Niche.com. But is the pricey private university all it’s cracked up to be?
High school students from all across the globe came to NYU this summer to take classes and earn academic credit. But they mainly came here to test out the city and college life for six weeks as part of the Precollege program.
Being completely independent from their parents, these juniors and seniors in high school have gotten a taste of what it’s like to be a student at NYU. Several of them weighed in on the experience they’ve had over the summer.
Fifty-five percent of surveyed Precollege students said that they didn’t think the college was worth the hefty price tag that climbs up towards $74,000 a year. They said that NYU should give more options for financial aid and scholarships.
Lucy, 17, of North Carolina, said that she agreed with the private university being overpriced and said, “The scale of cost for continued education is ridiculous. Of course NYU provides an amazing education, but no education should cost what it does today.”
On the other hand, 45% of precollege students said that the cost of tuition and housing is understandable.
“New York City is an extremely expensive city to provide housing in,” said Emilia Biancini, 16, of Pittsburgh.
“New York City is such an expensive city to live in, I think all the extra costs for housing is worth it,” said Kayla Jakuboski, 16, of Colorado.
More than 80% of surveyed students said that their parents will cover their costs of attending but more than 70% said that they will none the less work during the academic year.
Over 90% of Precollege students said that NYU met the sky-high expectations they had coming in.
“There’s not only a ton of academic opportunities but also social opportunities that will further shape me into a better person and student,” Jakuboski said.
Meghan Riley, 16, of upstate New York, said, “It has provided me with great teachers who are established professionals in their field as well as opening many doors for me in my class subject.”
Having an urban campus appealed to Emma Gallahger, 16, of New Jersey.
“It actually exceeded my expectations. I thought I wouldn’t like a non-traditional college campus, but I ended up loving it. I wanted to have easy access to what the city has to offer and NYU gave me that,” she said.
Most of the students sang NYU’s praises, saying, “The classes are really great, the dorm is beautiful, and I just really love city life. I think the campus really helps with that.” and simply “I have had fun and learned a lot.”
Sonia DiOrio, 16 of Indiana said, “For me, the opportunities associated with the school and just being in a big city is worth it. Plus the campus is beautiful and NYU has a ridiculous amount of majors/minors to choose from.”
For those of us sick of seeing these pictures “Non-Stop.”
by Emilia Charno
Enjoy the New York Public Library’s new Alexander Hamilton Exhibit
Legacy…What is a legacy? The hottest Founding Father’s legacy is given the spotlight in new NYPL exhibit, “Alexander Hamilton: Striver, Statesman, Scoundrel,” in the Stephen A. Schwarzman building through December 31, 2016. See the Reynolds Pamphlet, Hamilton’s draft of George Washington’s Farewell Address, and much more!
2. Take a Ferry on the Hudson River
Take a Gray Line Circle Line Landmark Cruise to get a feel for what Hamilton saw on his final journey to a fatal duel with long-time “frenemy” Aaron Burr. Try listening to the show’s “The World Was Wide Enough” to enhance this experience (and maybe cry a little!). Tickets are $37 for adults and $30 for children.
3. Take a Stroll Down Stone Street
Historically known as the first paved street in Manhattan, walking down the Stone Street Historic District can make you feel like Hamilton is right there with you. And what better place to celebrate his legacy than adjacent to the Financial District?
4. Explore the Dimenna Children’s History Museum
Through this exhibit, the New York Historical Society beckons school age children to explore the city through the lens of memorable NYC children. Here, a pavilion is dedicated to immigrant and orphan Alexander Hamilton who worked hard, reinvented himself in the United States, and ultimately shaped this country’s monetary system.
5.Visit the Grange, of course!
The only known estate that Alexander Hamilton ever owned, The Grange is now a National Memorial at the heart of the Harlem neighborhood. Tours and admission are free of charge, so don’t throw away your shot to see where Hamilton lived and worked.
Throughout the New York City subway system, there are underground performers who always have fresh stories to tell. If you look closely, you’ll find a child protégé on the piano or some passionate break-dancers. Because there are no age or performance restrictions, the group of performers at any given station is very diverse.
At the Union Square station earlier in August, an older man gazed at his two beloved music players. One was a younger man on the drums, and the other child played alongside him.
A musical family plays bucket drums in Union Square Station (credit: Shiran Zhang)
They are father-son duo from the Bronx, who played drums made of water buckets. Though there was a crowd of admirers, their biggest fan was the young boy’s grandfather, who lovingly gazed at the two players. Three generations gathered together here, having a lovely time.
“My father was a singer, my uncle was a drummer, so I’ve been doing this stuff since I was five years old. I remember my father and my mother play music in the kitchen when I was young, using every possible tools as instruments,” said the boy’s father with sweat on his face.
“We play music everywhere, subway stations, movies, commercials, Broadway plays…I’ve never had bad times when playing music. I just love it so much!” the father said.
The passion and skill brought by this talented family has touched many passengers, who showed their admiration and made a donation.
“We can earn 150 bucks per day here”, said the father.
A 62-year-old Chinese man named Yizhou Wu, makes a living playing the erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument) in the subway. (Credit: Shiran Zhang)
“I can earn 11-12 dollar per hour, Once a big boss gives me a $20 bill, I was so freaking happy,” said Yizhou Wu in Chinese with a smile.
Wu was a high school teacher who taught Chinese in Guangzhou, China years ago. He started practicing erhu when he was 13. He immigrated to New York City when he retired and has been playing music underground ever since.
“It’s so great to be one of the New Yorkers. Surprises happen from time to time when I play music!” He pulled something out of his pocket: a thick bunch of $1 bills.
“Strongest proof of my music achievements!” he said.
While many musicians win coveted play informally, music underground spots are given by the N.Y Transit Authority. In order to become part of the official Music Underground Program, under which performances can be legally entertain in the subways, they must pass an audition held every May at Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal. There are about 36 professional music experts to judge the performances. The competition of music underground promotes the arts and music culture of New York City, which has become an inseparable part of New Yorkers’ life.
“Only 20 out of 300 candidates can be selected!” He proudly introduced the challenge of being an underground performer. He was selected in 2008, and kept playing the erhu after.
“I’ve never, ever had bad times playing music, no matter, in the subways.” Both the father on the drum agreed.
NYU Precollege student Annalisa Manabat splurges after her last final at Weinstein, a buffet style dining hall.
By Izzy Blansfield
The “freshman 15” is no urban legend for New York University students. The temptations, expenses and struggles of New York City living along all-access buffets, is no help to the 15 pounds often gained during freshman year of college.
Staying healthy as a college student is more difficult than it may seem. Many NYU students said they have a hard time dealing with it while juggling their personal lives and their academics.
Staying “healthy” means getting the right nutrients that our bodies need along with daily exercise and staying away from junk food and germs at all costs.
Healthline.com explains the benefits of eating right, which apply directly to college students. Eating right boosts energy, improves mood, combats disease and controls weight.
“Being with people 24/7 gets viruses spreading throughout the dorms really fast. I mean I was only here for six weeks and I got sick,” said NYU summer Precollege student Alexa Alvarez.
When students first gain the independence of coming to college they can overlook all the nagging and guidance that came from their parents.
Without the constant reminders to “get your protein,” people forget about all the things their body needs to stay fueled.
“Sometimes I just forget to get the extra necessities. Whenever I don’t have enough water or protein, I can’t focus and it definitely affects my work ethics in class, ” said NYU Precollege student Landis Urquhart.
Besides that, the transition from high school to college can be extremely difficult and many students resort to food as a stress reducer and comforter.
“Sometimes I’ll resort to a bag of chips or a candy bar to keep myself high on sugar when dealing with the stresses of school or preparing for a big test,” said rising NYU junior, Christina Choe.
The concept “freshman 15,” regarding the 15 pounds often gained during a college student’s freshman year, definitely is not over exaggerated
In fact, “nearly one in four freshmen gain at least 5% of their body weight, an average of 10 pounds, during their first semester,” according to WebMD.
NYU junior Christina Choe said, “I gained roughly 5 to 10 pounds my freshman year, due to eating in dining halls for every meal and lacking self control.”
Living in the city as a college student can be doubly dangerous due to the high costs of city living, especially groceries.
Over the course of the four years of college plus all the other expenses of attending NYU, which is the country’s most expensive college, the costs add up.
NYU junior Madeleine Perlmutter said, “I usually spend around $50-70 dollars over the course of two weeks, at the food store.”
Rebecca Dukert of Sweetface Snoballs selling her snoballs at LIC Flea and Food
by Emily Roberts
While walking down the busy streets of New York City you can get a fresh, hot cooked meal at any time. These meals are accessible to everyone and easy to eat on the go. This luxury is known as street food.
Street food is quick and accessible food sold by vendors on the street or other public locations. Portable kitchens range from pushcarts to well equipped vans.
When it comes to street food in New York City, locals only want the best of the best. The Vendy Awards recognize and reward the most appetizing street food every year in New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. They are to food what the Oscars are to Hollywood.
The finalist are chosen from nominations by the public. You can nominate your favorite vendor by going on the Vendy Awards website -www.vendyawards.streetvendor.org- and submitting your favorite vendor in hopes that they will get to compete to win one of the many titles. The winners are chosen by ticket holders and judges including chefs, city officials, and television personalities.
There are six different categories that the vendors can be nominated in which include: Vendy Cup/People’s Choice, Rookie of the year, Best of Market, Best Dessert, Best of Street Drinks and a special surprise category that has not been released yet.
This year Rebecca Dukert is nominated for her first Vendy. She is the owner of Sweetface Snoballs, is nominated for Best Dessert. Rebecca makes refreshing and delicious snoballs that she sells at LIC Flea and Food and various festivals around the city.
A Snoball is shaved ice put in a cup in the shape of a snowball with flavored syrup mixed throughout. When purchasing a Snoball, you get to choose from a variety of fun flavors such as Nola VooDoo, Ice Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake, Lemon Lime, Bubblegum, and Dreamsicle.
Snoballs come in two different sizes, small and large. The small Snoball is $4 and the large Snoball is $6. You can also add condensed milk for a $1 extra.
Since it was a hot and humid Saturday afternoon I decided I would try out one of Rebecca’s Snoballs. I ordered a small Lemon Lime Snoball which served as the perfect afternoon snack in the summer heat.
Rebecca moved to New York City about a year ago from New Orleans and opened Sweetface Snoball in April. She said she wanted to find a way to bring her old home to her new home which led her to start a business selling her favorite childhood dessert, the Snoball.
In Queens, Delmy sells her delicious Colombian obleas, by the Junction Avenue Subway stop in Queens for only $2. She is also a first time finalist in the Vendy Awards this year.
Obleas are a caramel filled wafer that Delmy started making and selling three years ago. Delmy says her favorite part about selling street food is seeing all the different cultures and witnessing something new everyday.
The savory caramel filled wafer was an excellent snack. There is no doubt that Delmy will be a tough competitor at this year’s Vendy Awards.
In Central Park, The Basket is a delicious picnic themed food cart that sells fresh and healthy sandwiches. When eating at The Basket, I enjoyed the delightful Caprese Baguette made with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and olive oil for $7.99. This year, The Basket is up for nomination in the Rookie category.
Los Viajeros Food Truck is another food cart up for nomination in the rookie category thanks to its Latin fusion tacos and freshly made burritos. The veggie tacos containing jack cheese, sweet plantains, peppers, onions, cotija cheese and chipotle aioli make for a filling lunch, at $3 each.
You can find Los Viajeros Food Trucks near the Flatiron Building, uptown by La Marina and near the Bronx Medical Center.
If you’re looking for the most delicious funnel cake, you better check out A Lil’ Bit Of Fun at LIC Flea and Food. The dessert vendors sell their artisanal gluten free funnel cakes in a variety of creative flavors including red velvet, cinnamon, chocolate and classic.
Mysttik Masaala serves Indian food that also has vegan options. I tasted the chicken curry which contained ginger and onion spiced chicken. This tasty meal was $8 and the perfect meal to share with a friend. Mysttik Masaala is open seven days a week and is located in Midtown on 54th Street and Park Avenue.
The Vendy awards are part of the Street Vendor Project, a nonprofit membership project that comes together to try and make a permanent change for street vendors by making them aware of their legal rights and responsibilities.
Finding free workout spots are key for an NYU student.
Clothing brands provide free workout classes plus the ability try out their workout clothes during the free class. Brands include Nike, New Balance, Asics, North Face, Athleta, Lululemon, Under Armour, Reebok, & Sweaty Betty.
There are many other free workout classes located throughout New York:
In addition to these free classes, incoming NYU students receive discounts and free classes to numerous different workout spots such as Cyc, and Soul Cycle when they first get to NYU during welcome week.
Russian styled dumplings with toppings of dill and sour cream
