Things I Love About New York: Zipcar

I write quite often about the high cost of living in NYC - whether it's the fresh produce, or real estate or toilet paper - that last one is coming in a separate post. "But you don't have to pay for a car or car insurance or gas!" my Angeleno friends offer as consolation. Perhaps. My car was paid off when I left LA. But I digress.

When you need to get out of the City, sometimes renting a car is just easier than taking the train. Especially if your destination is some small town an hour and a half drive north of the city and taking the train would mean having your BBQ-hosting friends pick you up from the station.

In the past, City Guy and I have rented from the Hertz in our neighborhood. Convenient, yes, but the challenges numerous:

• It's expensive. You go in thinking you're only going to pay $40/day, but wait, the counter person says, do you have insurance, and hey, it's impossible to find a gas station in Manhattan, so how 'bout prepaying for gas and how many miles did you say you were driving today?
  
• They operate out of a garage that closes at 10 pm, so if you miss that return time, you have to park the car and pay for an additional day, even if you're returning the car in the morning.
• If you have to park the car overnight, you may find yourself cruising the neighborhood to find an elusive open spot so you can save yourself another $40 in parking fees.
  
• You never know what you're going to get. We'll reserve a Mazda and get a Chevy, for example, or worse, reserve a compact and get a honkin' SUV.
  

Which is why I have to tell you about my new love, Zipcar. This past weekend, City Guy and I used Zipcar for the first time since he signed up for membership a while back ($25 one time application fee and $50 for the year). Now that we've tried Zipcar, we'll never got back to Hertz. Here's why:

• It was soooo easy! Just sign up for membership online. Pick up your Zipcard or have them mail it to you. Reserve a car online. The site shows you what cars are parked near you. Pick a car. Say how long you'll need it. Go to the car. Swipe your Zipcard to unlock the car. Voila! You're in, and wow - are those keys? Yes, they are. No upselling! No counter person or contracts to sign!
• They have all sorts of cars. Driving is fun again. I really do hate those clunky fleet vehicles rental agencies use. Sorry GM and Ford. :( Just for kicks, we rented a BMW for $17/hr - that's the higher weekend rate too - only a couple dollars more an hour than a Mazda, and what a great ride.
  
• Gas is included. Yup. They pay for the gas. We stopped at a station in the Bronx and all we had to do was use the gas card that was waiting for us in the car to pay. Sure, fill her up! And make that premium!
• Insurance is included in the price, so no awkward decision making at the counter.
  
• When you're done, you just return the car to where you picked it up and you're done. No one to check in with. No one eyeing you suspiciously.
• Did I mention it's cheaper than renting from Hertz?

Not all cities are fortunate enough to have Zipcar yet, and I'm happy to live in one that does.

Things I Love About New York: The Holiday Season

After nearly two weeks of being sick with a cold, I'm 99% well (still blowing my nose, however). and finally able to enjoy the Holidays in NYC to the hilt. After five years of living in the City, I'm still in love with the way the city transforms itself between Turkey Day and New Year's Day. This year, I'm feeling particularly infused with the holiday spirit and hope to share it with you.

So here is my list of things that make up the quintessential NYC Christmas. Click on the headers for related blog posts:

• Tree Lightings--Yes, I had to watch them on TV this year, but even after they're lit, they're worth visiting and gawking at like a five-year old. Rock Center, Wall Street, Bryant Park...
• Buying Your Own Tree -- non-New Yorkers often ask me how we New Yorkers get our trees. There aren't Christmas tree lots here, not the way you get in CA, but there are Christmas tree sidewalk vendors. No joke. Photos and details of our tree shopping trip here.
  
• Holiday Markets -- They're cropping up everywhere. NYMag has a great compilation of markets around town. I've already stopped into both the Bowling Green market and Columbus Circle market for my Gingerbread people fix (from Breezy Hill Orchards)
• Ice Skating -- Rock Center and Wollman & Lasker Rinks in Central Park are old standbys; Bryant Park's The Pond is free, but the skates aren't very comfortable (for my flat feet, at least); I have yet to check out the new rinks at South Street Seaport and the Natural History Museum. Once I do, I'll report back.
  
• Department Store Windows & Displays -- my favorite by far is Saks' Snowflake spectacular - words cannot describe, so here's a video but Bergdorf's, Barney's, Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Lord & Taylor all put on great displays.
• Tickets to a Holiday Show -- In the past, I have really enjoyed the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and recommend you go at least once. This year, I'm in the mood for the Nutcracker Ballet. They're also doing Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" at the Marquis Theater.
  
• Shopping!!!! - last but not least, what's Christmas in NYC without the amazing end-of-year sales. This year especially. I always start out shopping for others and end up buying stuff for myself. Do you?

Ho ho ho!

Things I Love About New York: Battery Park City at Sunset

Had a bit of a rough day. It's Tuesday, but it felt like Monday, and I had a viselike headache that wouldn't go away. This evening, I took an hour-long walk along the Hudson River tonight to clear my head. Walked from the tip of the island at Battery Park up through Stuyvesant High School--one of my favorite walks in the city. On the return trip, I stopped at the North Meadow and lay in the plush grass and stared at the clouds in the sky and also the top floors of the Battery Park condos with their panoramic views of the river...and I realized--forget resale value or affordability or convenience to subways--that if I could live anywhere in the city, if all my dreams came true one day, it would be in one of those condos on one of those top floors facing the river.

I love Battery Park. I really do. The dogs and the parents with their babies in strollers, and the older kids laughing and playing on the playground, the contemplative loners sitting on benches staring at the river or on the steps of the lily pond or the determined young men and women running and roller blading and couples eating their picnic dinners on the lawns or the old people shuffling along, the Statue of Liberty in the distance, the yachts parked in the harbor and the sailboats off in the distance. The area feels protected from the hordes of tourist that plague other truly beautiful parts of the city. It's a haven unlike any other. Clean, quiet, orderly, but not in a antiseptic suburban way.

And I love the beautiful little discoveries you make each time--today I realized one of my favorite sculptures was designed by Martin Puryear. I didn't have my camera with me, but here's a picture I found on Flickr.

Anyhow, it was beautiful, and I wish you the peace, quite and tranquility I felt there today. Until tomorrow...

Things I Love About New York: Henri Bendel

Yesterday I went to Henri Bendel, which I think of NYC's answer to LA's Fred Segal, another store that absolutely dazzles me with girly loveliness every time I visit. The people working there are so solicitous, like old school shopgirls, fussing over you, complimenting you on your dress, your shoes. I guess that could get annoying after a while...but I enjoyed myself.

The Chocolate Bar, which has recently closed it's West Village shop, has a beautiful little cafe on the third-floor. I, of course, stocked up on their signature "retro" bars--salty pretzel, my favorite (the salty-sweet thing is such a weakness), and their popular peanut butter caramel for City Guy. Yummy-o!I usually prefer clean, minimalist decor (think Richard Meier) but I was strangely drawn to this rococo-style arrangement of mirrors and chandelier in the cafe area:
I really do love the chandelier and the mirrors. Everything about the place is so cute and well-designed!
I got a kick out of this display wall in Bendel's book area--all books on fashion, make-up, style, and being a girl, of course.The quotations crack me up, especially this one by Louisa May Alcott (from Little Women, I presume): "She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain."I love these note cards and dolls too...oh and the tea set in Bendel signature 's brown and white stripes.BTW, the little pink book is called "This Little Piggy Went to Prada." It's a children's book! What a hoot! Might not help if you're trying to raise well-adjusted , non-materialistic kids though...

Things I Love About New York: Perfect Summer Weather

Blue skies, a gentle breeze and temperatures in the 70's. This is perfect. Freeze frame! Oh darn, I'm not God. I don't control the weather. I was at Walgreens in Union Square yesterday, and they had a whole aisle devoted to fans...not people who like Walgreens--I mean fans, like the kind you position at the end of your bed at night to circulate the stiflingly hot summer air in your sixth floor railroad apartment in the Village...or so I'm told. I can't imagine living in the city during the summer without air conditioning. My condolences if you don't have it. It's one thing that does make life in the city more comfortable.