A super fun thing to do is spend your day in the East Village of NYC. There are a ton of great places to get food, shop and take lots of pictures. A restaurant favorite of mine is called Veselka- it’s a 24/7 Ukrainian restaurant on the corner of 9th Street and 2nd Avenue. It provides some of NYC’s finest and most delicious Eastern European delicacies which involves lots and lots of pierogis. It was even spotted on an episode of Gossip Girl! If you aren’t into that, try out one of the East Village’s many ramen shops. My personal favorite is Little Tong Noodle Shop- they’re known for their cute graffiti printed on the outside of the shops wall and their weirdly interesting food combinations, but delicious nonetheless.
Another fun thing to do after that is to walk down 9th Avenue and to experience all the cute little shops, from K-Beauty stores, to little clothing boutiques. They really have something for everyone. As for something a bit more affordable, there is really incredible thrift clothing stores. My top favorite one is called “L-Train Vintage”- they have stacks and stacks of Levi’s vintage jeans that you would see at Urban Outfitters’ for only at most $10-15 each. Another great store is “Buffalo Exchange”- they serve a variety of random clothing pieces, some ranging from cheap to more expensive. Another really great one is called “Metropolis” which is a bit more pricey depending on what you buy, but they have some of the greatest products I have ever seen if you’re really searching for a special piece.
After some shopping, you can find some dessert with a favorite bakery of mine named Cupcake Market. They have a delicious variety of cupcakes and you can get an artfully articulated cookie of any celebrity of your choosing. Hard to explain but it’s pretty awesome once you get to see their cookie designs in real life. Another popular, but basic option, is Momofuku Milk Bar. They’re known for their cereal milk ice cream which is widely popularly viewed on Instagram as well, but is nonetheless delicious.
After a day of shopping and eating, find your way over to Strand Bookstore to find the perfect novel, used or new, and enjoy your hour commute back to Manhattan College.