Manhattan 2012: Soho

For the past few years, we have been using the website Vacation Rentals By Owners to find accommodations for our vacations.  This allows us to stay in apartments with a living area and kitchen, usually for a cheaper price than hotels in the same area.  On our previous visit to New York, we found an apartment near Times Square with a spectacular view of the Empire State Building.

This time, we decided to stay in Soho and found a loft right in the heart the neighbourhood for the great price of $160 per night. The location could not be better. We were within 2 blocks of the two subway lines that went to all the main tourist attractions in New York, directly across the street from Balthazar bakery which sold delicious croissants and chocolate chip-walnut cookies, and within walking distance to all the shops, art galleries and restaurants that Soho had to offer. The only drawback was that the loft was situated on the fifth floor without the availability of an elevator. Trudging up and down four long flights of creaky stairs each day took quite a bit of energy but probably accounted for the favourable rental rate. It also helped to work off the calories from the bakery treats.

In comparison, the room rates at the Hotel Crosby, which was just a block away, started at $595. We were more than happy to climb a few stairs in order to save over $400 per night!

Soho has a bohemian feel that is reflected in the shops, art galleries, graffiti and its architecture. There were some beautiful late 19th-century cast iron decorated industrial buildings with the classic zigzagging fire escape ladders or stairs featured prominently in movies like West Side Story.

Although New York is known for being one of the origins of graffiti, signature-styled tagging graffiti seemed less prominent in Soho. Much of what is found in here would be better termed as street art and we spotted many colourful, vibrant examples.

We took advantage of the location of our accommodations to really get to know Soho.  Following a grid from West Broadway to Mott St. between Houston St and Grand St, we traversed each of the streets and visited all the shops and art galleries that interested us. We had originally allocated just one afternoon for this, but quickly realized that we needed a second day since there was so much to see. On the first afternoon, after about four hours, we had only covered about 2 blocks!

The Housing Works Book Store was a great space with its tall ceilings, wood paneling, swooping spiral staircases, overhead balconies that provided reading tables, and a cafe on the ground floor.

The storefront at 209 Elizabeth Street is very interesting. The sign reads "G.L.A. Rosa and Son Bread Co." after an early 1900s Italian bakery.  It is now the location of the Elizabeth Street Gallery where you find antiques and curiosities including a model of a Blériot monoplane (only Rich would know this!), sculptures of horses, eagles, angels, an antique midway shooting game and more. Step through an archway and suddenly you are in the Holland & Sherry Bespoke shop which sells custom made suits and accessories and gives off a totally different vibe.

When you first step into Carrol Boyes' shop at 118 Prince St., you aren't sure if you are looking at art or kitchenware.  As it turns out, the answer is both!  These South African works, made of pewter, aluminum and stainless steel, are so unique that they can be used as sculptures. But they are also functional items such as salt and pepper shakers or grinders, bowls, trays, cutlery, and gravy boats. We bought a couple of pieces but are displaying them as works of art until we have opportunity to use them.

Sicis Art Mosaic Factory at 480 Broome St. is another store whose merchandise is so beautiful and creative (not sure about functional) that it straddles the line between art and furniture.  They also do lovely, large-scale mosaic wall murals, including ones depicting street scenes, but for me it is their gorgeous and creative chairs that really stand out.

United Colours of Bennetton has been known for its provocative and controversial ad campaigns, including large posters depicting inmates on death row and AIDS victims. This year a popup store has been set up at 133 Crosby St that positions life-sized knitted mannequins in various explicit sexual positions, surrounded by ropes and cords that suggest bondage and S&M scenarios.

The Pearl River Mart at 477 Broadway is a fun store to browse around. It sells touristy "Chinese" novelty items and knickknacks.  Large dragon dance props hang overhead. In the aisles, you can find items like a shopping bag with Michelle Obama on a swing, a baby pacifier with attached moustache, cutesy animal bowls and plates and Hello Kitty Lamps.

At the Converse store, red, white and blue running shoes are arranged to form the American flag.  G-Shock men guard the front of a Casio store. At Bond and Treasure, a bed is made out of the back end of an El Camino with the dashboard for the headboard. In other windows, Merino wool socks are caught in an avalanche and 3MonkeysEyeWear glasses are advertised with their "see-no-evil, speak-no-evil and hear-no-evil" monkeys.

The Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery at 262 Mott St. featured an exhibit of crochet art by Kate Jenkins.  Entitled "Kate's Diner", the crocheted works depict food products like peanut butter, ketchup, soup and meals such as spagetti and meat balls, fish and chips, bacon and eggs or pastrami on rye.

The Afa Gallery at 54 Greene St had some cool robots in the window and Peanuts-inspired art inside. The highlight at Eli Klein gallery at 462 West Broadway were the "see-it-to-believe-it" work of Chinese artist Liu Bolin, who paints himself head to toe to blend into a background and then photographs himself against it. You can spot him in the floral display by looking for his shoes.  This takes the "Where's Waldo" game to a whole new dimension. The Campton Gallery at 451 West Broadway was exhibiting work by Greg Miller, whose large-scaled work with a glossy, shellac-like finish depicts vintage 50s images from advertising, comic books, and pop culture.

The Pop! Gallery at 473 West Broadway had some interesting pop art including a painting in the window featuring Woody Allen in taxicab, and some risqué images involving Tintin.  The Opera Gallery at 115 Spring St. was showing work by Paul Insect on the upper floor while on the lower floor, a series of paintings by Ron English depicted obese versions of cartoon characters. One particularly delightful one re-imagined common cereals and renamed them as Count Calorie, FrankenFat, Obesios, Sugar Frosted Fat, etc.

There was no shortage of eating opportunities in the Soho district.  Right across the street from our apartment was Balthazar bakery which had some amazing baked goods. We bought breakfast from there several days in a row and feasted on savoury croissants filled with mushroom and asparagus or ham with bechamel sauce, chocolate almond croissants and a delicious walnut chocolate chip cookie.  We planned to go to Balthazar's restaurant for dinner but after walking around all day, we could not face having to climb the 5 flights of stairs one more time that evening.  Instead, we bought takeout on the way home from the gourmet supermarket Dean and Deluca at Prince and Broadway. Dining on freshly made jeruseleum artichoke or butternut squash soups with chicken salad and grilled broccolini in the comfort of our own "home" was a much more appealing prospect.

We had found Rice to Riches at 37 Spring St. on our previous trip to New York and Rich was anxious to have a return visit.  This place is like the Baskin Robbins of rice pudding with about 20 different flavours including cinnamon, coconut, tiramisu, rum and raisin.  We shared a container of chocolate-hazelnut and butter pecan.  Humorous signs on the walls celebrated the calories that would be gained after eating this treat.

We went to Ed's Lobster Bar at 222 Lafayette St. for their famous lobster roll and it did not disappoint.  It was not cheap at $22, but the bun was stuffed full of large juicy chunks of lobster meat.  There was no fake crab or seafood substitute in this sandwich.

When we planned to go to the Antique Garage Bar for drinks and a quick snack, I was anticipating a grungy bar that served beer and wings and played rock music.  I was pleasantly surprised to find an elegant establishment full of antiques on the wall (thus the name), with a live band that was playing Jazz standards such as My Funny Valentine and Girl From Ipanema. We had a wonderful salad with rare tuna and hummus with bread sticks.

In the end, it took almost two full days to experience all there was to offer in Soho. And its great to know that the next time we visit, we can do it all over again since most of the shops and galleries will have new displays.