elal767

Hi Everyone,
This might be a bit odd, but I'll still go for it.
Having grown up in Europe and moved to Israel later, I actually never traveled to the US. I finally had an opportunity to make it happen and booked a trip to New York in the end of June.

This might be an easy or obvious question, so please don't go to hard on me

What "jewish landmarks" should I visit? Any cool local kosher places you can recommend? Availability of kosher food in "regular" shops?
I'd really like to use this opportunity to get to know a bit of the "real" jewish life in NY that I have been hearing about my entire life. Any places that I absolutely mustn't miss in order to "get the vibe"?

I'll be staying in an appartment on Park Ave/East 88th. Any shuls nearby?

Thanks so much in advance for your help!

elal767

NoName678

>Availability of kosher food in "regular" shops?
In the US many national brands of normal supermarket food items (canned fish, peanut butter and jelly, cookies and crackers, ice cream) have a hechsher. Is that what you mean? For meat or cheese you can go to a kosher grocery though you may find some kosher packaged food at Fairway.

>I'll be staying in an appartment on Park Ave/East 88th. Any shuls nearby?
Yes, go to Google maps and type in "orthodox synagogues". Looks like Kehilath Jeshurun is closest at a few blocks away. It has a list of kosher establishments (under "resources").

>Any places that I absolutely mustn't miss in order to "get the vibe"?
Not sure what you mean by this. Obviously there are the haredi areas of Brooklyn.

CO FF

Pardes (in Brooklyn) is a truly special restaurant. Pricy, but worth it. Reservations required.

For shuls on the Upper East Side, what style do you want? KJ (referenced above) is "modern"; there are lots of web resources for various other styles of shuls - including non-Orthodox ones in that area.

For casual food, Fairway Market (on 86th Street) will probably be your best bet. Park East Kosher Butcher is nearby, I think they do take-away. Kosher Marketplace (Broadway & 90th Street) is less convenient - but great take-away food, 6 days/week.

Get a tour of the rare book collection at the Jewish Theological Seminary Library (before they put it in storage for a renovation), if old manuscripts etc interest you.

If you're willing to consider something different on Shabbat afternoon (which doesn't run as late as it does in most of Europe...), look at http://www.newyorkclassical.org/whats-playing. Free, outdoor, no-ticket-needed theatre; you will often see people in kippot walking around watching their performance.

boboqui

http://thejewishmuseum.org

http://www.barneygreengrass.com/welcome.php

http://www.metmuseum.org

craz

1- barneygreengrass doesnt seem to have a hecksher of any kind = to many folks not kosher. Which offering both meat and milk dishes probably means they arent.

The Met how is that Jewish? the OP did ask about 'kosher places' and Jewish landmarks Well Im sure alot of the $$$s donated over the yrs came from Hewish paeople but taht doesnt make it a Jewish Landmark

boboqui

The MET is near enough for a Shabatt walk.

Barneygreengrass is frequented by dead fish and sometimes Jerry Sienfeld, that was for the vibe.

craz

1- as to what to do or not to do on Shabbos, re the Met do they presell tkts where you can pay on Fri for Sat admission, then does the OP carry on Shabbos. there are many museums on 5th Ave, I thought the OP wanted Jewish interests.

as for barney again you can post about a place that some celebrities have gone to but you should also post its not kosher, and is a place you may spot someone on a 1 off.But I could say that about Peter Lugers as well

CO FF

The Jewish Museum's galleries are open on Shabbat, but not the shops & café. Like most museums, stairways are always available.

However, there are occasionally items in the galleries that involve projecting videos, etc.

joshwex90

Technically, the Met is free, so you don't need to pay. You can just ask for a ticket without making a donation

craz

good luck with that. I once wanted to see an Imax film @ The Museum of Natural History (at that time the only Imax in NYC).In order to get to the auditorium you had to walk thru a part of the museum, they wouldnt let me in even after buying the Imax tkt from w/o making a donation to the museum, and it has the same policy as The Met. Good thing I had a penny in my pocket. Also I dont believe you can enter on Shabbos if they must generate a tkt or if you must pass thru an electric turnstile

joshwex90

The halachic implications of requiring a non-Jew to generate a ticket have actually been debated, and this isn't a religious forum, so that is something for OP to determine on his/her own based on their own religious views, Rabbi's opinion, etc.

Regarding the donation aspect, both the Met and Museum of Natural History allow you to visit without paying at all. You just say you don't want to make a donation

emkay

what do you mean by "real" jewish life? you lived in israel. is that not real jewish?

craz

Have you tried this? Or know of people who said this and were told OK go in? Again a # of yrs ago @ The Museum of Natural History with the exact same entrance admission in place,I was told even thou all I wanted to do is go see an Imax movie, that unless I made a donation of some amount of money(any amount) that I wouldnt be able to enter the museum.

Havent tried it at The Met, but although it says its free they do a great job of letting you know what they feel the min donation should be. So Id like to know if you simply said "I dont want to doante any amount today, and they said no problem go on in"? Or are you simply thinking well if it says its free then you dont have to donate if you dont want to, but in fact never treid getting in w/o paying some amount

joshwex90

Yes - just did it over Pesach at the Museum of Natural History. Was planning on going for a couple of hours but with the delay in the subway and then the ridiculously long lines, first for security, and then again for a ticket, we were left with about 20 minutes before we'd have to leave and head back to Broadway.

No way am I paying money to walk through the lobby of a museum. They gave me no problem whatsoever.

elal767

Thanks for your advise!!