Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Not from these parts

Every time I'm confronted with a new part of the city, it takes me a while to figure out where one finds the important stuff (good coffee, cheap lunch) within blocks of wherever I need to be. Being from New York does not help when it comes to figuring out where the nearest passable café is in Midtown. That said, after working near Bloomingdales and doing work in the New York Public Library, I've got the 42nd-59th stretch of the area pretty figured out. What's more of a challenge is the neighborhood, whatever it's called, near CUNY's graduate school, that is, 34th and 5th. Where should I be getting pre-German coffee? The mocha I got at the closest place--a Starbucks--on the first day of class was made with milk that had seen better days--a bad sign if you can tell this over the taste of half a cup of chocolate syrup--so I'm prepared to go a couple blocks of out of the way for a place more vigilant about refrigeration/expiration dates, where syrup is not necessary. Suggestions?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, no suggestions, but I had a similar experience with that Starbucks when I was at CUNY a few months ago. Seriously, dudes. Check your milk. I ended up trucking my coffee in from Brooklyn instead. Cold coffee is better than sour coffee.

Matt said...

Taking German at CUNY GC? Cool.

Speaking as a GC person, apart from the two surrounding Starbucks, the main place my friends and I go is Oxford Cafe, at Fifth & 35th. It's not great, but the coffee is fine. There's also Chipotle at 34th & Fifth (in the Empire State Building) and Quiznos down the street at 28th, if you like that kind of thing. Also the Korean places west on 35th, but that's about it.

Btw, there's a (very small) so-far-German film series this summer, Wednesday nights in room 4421 at 7. Tonight is "Goodbye Lenin!" Non CS/philosophy/logic people are welcome...

Unknown said...

Try Les Halles, on Park Avenue South, around 28th St. Great coffee and superb croissants.

Aunt S.