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Published on 8/29/08
Published on 8/28/08
Own This City
Video
8:30 AM — 5:00 PM | 5:45 PM — 9:00 PM | 10:15 PM — 4:30 AM
WE STARTED AT...
8:30 am
Abraço
(86 E 7th St between First and Second Aves)
I can’t handle coffee. More accurately, I can’t handle caffeine; it really throws me for a loop. But this being insanely early for a Saturday morning (and insane is just barely hyperbolic), I don’t express my disapproval as my cohorts arrive and fuel up for what lies ahead. In this competition, TONY has challenged three readers to a 24-hour marathon of nonstop activity. The first to drop out loses; the last one standing wins bragging rights and a good, long nap. I have in my pocket a secret itinerary for the day (based on their suggestions and TONY’s), and my three competitors make it clear that they are not playing around. One of them even sent me this threatening e-mail: “It’s ON, Colin! Not even your comfortablest shoes will prepare you for the likes of me.” Needless to say, I’m nervous.
Katie Ett, native Ohioan and receptionist, and Meghan Cass, concierge for the well-to-do, are already at the café when I arrive. Once Brian Mak, online marketer extraordinaire, shows up, I realize that I’m not going back to bed for a while. Energy is high, the marathoners are bonding and yours truly is wondering what the hell he’s gotten himself into.
9:00 am
Russian and Turkish Baths
(268 E 10th St between First Ave and Ave A)
This institution has been around since 1892, looks it and seems to be frequented in the early morning by remnants of that era. After I face the prospect of getting naked next to an old man who appears to be wearing a sweater under his clothing, I put on the goofiest robe and sandals this side of Istanbul, and we head into the Turkish room for a coed steam. Katie only hangs for a bit (citing that steams make you tired), Meghan is just trying to sweat out the night before, and Brian loves the heat, showing scary stamina early on. This guy is going to be a problem…why won’t you people just go back to sleep?
10:30 am
Jing Fong
(20 Elizabeth St between Bayard and Canal Sts, second floor)
After retrieving Brian from the shvitz, we head downtown for dim sum. If you have the chance, I’d recommend going with a diner who knows Cantonese (like Brian) and who can pick out a breakfast of shark-fin dumplings and gelatinous almond pudding with fruit cocktail on top. Throughout the meal, Katie has a look on her face that says, “I’m not on the Ohio farm anymore.” Meghan’s vibe: “I am going to barf shark fin and almond pudding onto your shoe.”
11:45 am
Table Tennis Foundation
(384 Broadway between Walker and White Sts, lower level)
Everybody enters this unmarked basement ready for a real, face-to-face trial. There will be winners down here and there will be losers. Our feeling of grandiosity quickly subsides when we encounter hordes of (mostly Asian) preteens who are taking fierce lessons for their competitive Ping-Pong team. As we struggle to keep a rally going (props to first-timer and fast learner Meghan, and to Katie for constantly singing “You’re the Best” from The Karate Kid), these tiny masters smash the little orbs across the nets of the dozen tables with ease. Jealousy and humbleness set in. There are winners and losers, all right, and all four of us fall into the latter category.
2:00 pm
The Morgan Library
(225 Madison Ave at 36th St)
The effects of our steam session are kicking in (cue evil laugh by the TONY itinerary planners—fall asleep and lose!), just as we settle in for a conversation about the nature of conversation between Atonement author Ian McEwan and Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker as part of the PEN Festival. Meghan is close to nodding off and Brian keeps notes to stay awake, but, as it turns out, everyone finds the talk extremely engaging. We all identify with two topics of the back-and-forth: James Joyce’s short story “The Dead” and Homer’s Odyssey.
4:00 pm
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
(1000 Washington Ave at Eastern Pkwy, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
As we take the 4 train to Brooklyn, Brian studies for his upcoming GMAT, and Meghan describes her incredibly complicated boy situation. Our conversation turns to silence, however, when we enter the Sakura Matsuri festival at the Botanic Garden. The beauty of the cherry blossoms renders each of us speechless. Well, the beauty of the cherry blossoms and the outlandish outfits of many of the younger Japanese women. Katie remarks: “I wish I would have the confidence to wake up in the morning, put on a little maid costume, miniature hat, knee-high boots and say, ‘Now I’m ready to go to work.’ ”
5:00 pm
The streets of Crown Heights and Park Slope
We leave the flowery wonderland and are greeted by the real world. Meghan suggests calling a car service, but Brian and I think we can hail a cab more quickly. We are wrong. Thirty-five minutes later, the team is finally riding in one of Bloomberg’s fleet, silently dreaming of beers to come. Perhaps Pinker would describe our cognitive psychology as “worn the eff out.”
5:45 pm
Pete’s Candy Store
(709 Lorimer St between Frost and Richardson Sts, Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Frustration mounts: Pete’s annual Kentucky Derby Party is more crowded than a Lower East Side tenement in the 1890s. After a few minutes, Williamsburg resident Katie suggests (well, commands) that we get out in a hurry.
