Work Trip to NYC

Work sent me to New York for one day. I tried to make the most of it. 

First stop was knocking something off a food bucket list of mine. I had always seen pictures of these giant corned beef or pastrami sandwiches from Carnegie Deli or Katz's Deli and wanted one. Last year, in preparation for a family NYC trip, I saw a video that recommended Sarge's Deli to avoid the touristy lines at Katz's. (Carnegie Deli opened in 1937 but closed in 2016 because the owner was tired of the grueling hours.) Sarge's was a great tip as I was able to walk in at 11 and get a table without waiting in line. 

I got the combination corned beef and pastrami on rye. It was everything I wanted it to be. Though it is too much meat and not enough Russian dressing. If I lived in New York, this would be a great thing to get to go and spread it out across several sandwiches. 

From there I went over to Edge, a newish observation deck that overhangs the building on the 100th floor.

This is the Vessel, next door to Edge.

Before the trip, I brainstormed a list of things to see, do and eat. One thing I wanted to do but knew I wouldn't have time was walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I planned a full itinerary that included a trip to MoMA. Unfortunately, the work portion of the work trip took longer than anticipated and I wasn't able to go to the museum. I also didn't have time to go to Bar Piselino for Italian hot chocolate or Levain Bakery for big cookies. (In hindsight, since it turned out to be 7 hours between eating opportunities, I'm glad I picked the giant sandwich for lunch.)

In preparation for this trip, I watched this video on NYC pizza and had my heart captured by the opening frame:

So I went to Village Square Pizza to try it for myself. Here's a slice of pepperoni with hot honey:

Predictably, this was excellent. Especially when paired with a Lagunitas IPA. Also, you can tell I was full from Sarge's sandwich because I only ordered one slice. (Though this wasn't as good as the incredible Square Pie Guys pizza I had with Niraj in October. When I said that was one of the best of my life, I meant it with no exaggeration.)

With less than an hour before I had to get to Comedy Cellar, I stopped in to Blind Pig and got a quality beer. 

When I found out I was going to New York, the thing I was most excited about was visiting Comedy Cellar for the first time. 

I went looking to reserve tickets and found one line-up featuring Dave Attell. I went to book it and it was sold out already. I found a different lineup with Todd Barry. Also sold out. The best show that I could get tickets for had Colin Quinn as the recognizable name. Not a huge fan, but I was going for the overall experience, not a specific comic. 

Also, the location that I booked was the Village Underground location, around the corner from the MacDougal Street location. It's still the Comedy Cellar, it just doesn't have the cool sign. In my head, seeing the lit up sign was a key attraction, so I made sure to get a picture of it anyways. 

We walk in and they give us good seats. It's $14 with a two-item minimum. 

Mike Yard was the host and had the first set. Funny stuff and a good way to get started.

Gregg Rogell was out first after that and he was okay. The second comic was a guy from Texas and he was funnier but I didn't catch his name and he wasn't on the lineup. Then Colin Quinn came and was the worst of the bunch. He was trying out some jokes about Ukraine and just didn't seem like he had the right energy. 

Each of those comics did about 10 minutes each. I had heard there's the possibility of a famous comic dropping by, but I also was expecting someone on the B-list. Before the show they showed pictures of Amy Shumer and Pete Davidson, so I was thinking someone along that level of famousness. I thought Mulaney would be a big get but seemed unlikely. Also, I knew the lineup had 6 comics on it, so I figured we'd see 2 more sets and then maybe a surprise guest. 

So I was not ready at all for what happened next. 

Mike Yard takes the mic and says, "When you choose Comedy Cellar, you're making a good choice. Please welcome to the stage, Chris Rock."

There's like 5 seconds where we're all wondering, did he just say what I think he said. Is that a joke?

And sure enough, Chris Rock walks up on stage, less than 20 feet in front of me. 

We weren't allowed to take photos, but he did the whole set in a winter jacket, kind of like this:

He was incredible. Not only was he absolutely hilarious, but he did an entire hour. 

Because none of us bought tickets to a Chris Rock show, it didn't feel like paying to see someone famous in concert. It felt like bumping into a celebrity and getting to hang out with them for an hour. 

Absolutely surreal. Something I'll never forget.

History of Visiting New York City

Summer of 1999 with my Dad (above)

May 31, 2007 for work

April 2010 vacation with Brit's family

March 5-9, 2017 for work

October 2019 family vacation

December 2021 family vacation

February 23, 2022 for work

Work Trip to NYC

SUNDAY

I had a 3 day, 4 night trip to NYC to shoot a commercial. 

Landed at LaGuardia at 8pm Eastern. Took us 45 minutes to get a freaking cab because the line goes on forever. It took less time to actually travel in the cab to our Manhattan hotel (Kimpton Eventi). 

By 9:30 we're checking in and at 10pm we're having dinner at Umami Burger. Dinner at 10 o clock—I'm so cosmopolitan. I started with a maple bacon whiskey cocktail.

I ordered the Manly burger and it was amazing. Would have taken a picture but my phone died. This is what it looks like. Possibly the best burger of my life.


MONDAY

Spent Monday morning checking out the set making sure everything was in place. (Set was a 2.3 million dollar home in Pelham, NY.)

Lunch was back in Manhattan at this korean bbq place (Hee) near our hotel. It was my least favorite meal of the trip. Could have used more meat less other stuff.

After lunch we had a casting session to pick our talent. That was interesting, having gone from over 80 initial auditions to select our 2 actors.

After casting the production company took us out to dinner at Basta Pasta. Their gimmick was mixing a spaghetti with prosciutto in a giant wheel of parmesan at the table. I, being a sucker for gimmicks, ordered it and it was fantastic. Best prosciutto I've ever had.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was my day to explore as we didn't have a production meeting until 4pm.

I started walking north. My hotel was very near the Empire State Building.

I wanted to get an authentic bagel. Everything with scallion at Best Bagel.

Kept walking north. Times Square.

30 Rock.

Atlas.

The last time I saw the Ed Sullivan theater I went inside to see Letterman.

From here I went to Central Park. But it was rainy and the park just seemed kind of boring compared to the city streets.

I knew I wanted to try Shake Shack so I made my way south again. This was great too!

After lunch I went back to the hotel for a little rest. Unbeknownst to me, I'd walked 5.4 miles that morning. 

I did some work in the hotel and decided to head out for the afternoon. Another view of Empire State Building. 

Flatiron Building.

Ducked into Paragon for some window shopping.

And Converse store was cool.

Had a beer at the Spring Lounge. Then went to our production meeting.

After that we went to the rooftop bar on the Indigo Hotel, Mr. Purple. Good views and good drinks.

After that, we went to a place that I've always wanted to try. Lombardi's, the first pizzeria in America dating back to 1905. (It was fine, but nothing special. You can get the same slice on any street.)

The afternoon trip was another 2.5 miles. By Tuesday night, my left foot was killing me. Still is 48 hours later too.


WEDNESDAY

I woke up Wednesday and both my calves were incredibly sore. Turns out walking 8 miles on Tuesday may not have been the best idea. I could barely walk. Woke up at 6:15 to be on set at 8am.

Here's how much equipment they needed just on one side of the house to get the lighting right inside the house.

The shoot went pretty smooth and we wrapped by 5pm. I bragged about how good Shake Shack was so my friends decided to have dinner there Wed night. After that, had our last drinks in NYC at American Whiskey.

Over three and a half days I had two beers and seven cocktails. Living it up.

the late show

I entered high school in the fall of 1997. Somewhere around there I started watching Letterman every night. Part of the allure was that it was late--10:35! I didn't usually stay up to watch the guests. But the monologue, comedy segment and top ten list were a routine. To 14-year old Dave this was a gold mine. I was a quiet, reserved teenager (still am quite a bit at times) and this show taught me what was funny.

Over 4 years of high school, estimating 4 nights a week...that's 832 episodes of the Late Show. I had two books of Top Ten Lists and a t-shirt and everything.

When I visited New York in 1999, I walked by the theater. I was still two years too young to see the show. So I went to the Hello Deli and got a picture with Rupert Jee. I got a slice of pizza from the place to the right of the Ed Sullivan theater. It was neat.

- - -

When I found out that I was going to New York in April 2010, I tried to get tickets. I filled out a form online weeks in advance and waited. About a week before the trip, I got a voicemail. It was from Jack, a Late Show audience coordinator. He said I could get tickets for the April 1st taping. All I had to do was call back and answer a trivia question.

I shouldn't have had too much to worry about. But still, I hadn't been watching much in the last 9 years. The prospect of being so close to seeing the show and then losing it was enough to make me nervous. I called Jack the next morning and after taking my name he gave me this question:

"Alan Kalter is on the show every night. What is his job?"

I answered "announcer" without hesitating. There's that split-second from when it leaves your lips until you hear a response where you panic. Did I say what I meant to say? Is it possible I was thinking of the wrong name?

But it was of course right. He told me that I had 2 tickets. When I showed up on the 1st, all I had to do was tell them I was on "Jack's Gold List."

- - -

Upon arriving in New York, the first thing I did was get an Italian sub at the Hello Deli.


It wasn't as good as my favorite Italian deli in Chicago, but the ingredients were good quality and I didn't feel ripped off. It was fun to sit there and watch people come up and interact with Rupert. He's really nice and took 5 pictures with tourists in the 10 minutes I sat there.

I went with my sister-in-law Bridget and after getting our tickets at 2, we were told to line up at 3:45. Despite just eating that sub, I felt like had to get a slice of sausage and pepperoni from the Ray's Pizza across the street from the theater.


We tried to line up at 3:25, but it wasn't time for our group. So we walked around the block again and we just happened to see Paul Shaffer walking south on Broadway. We didn't bother him but we heard him talking to someone else, and it was cool to hear his voice not on TV.

From 3:45 to 4:15 we got a pep-talk outside the theater. This was the worst part. Of course they have to run through all the rules, no photography at all even after the taping, no high-pitched woos, etc. But they went as far as having us practice laughing to a punchline without a joke "Donald Trump's hair" and told us that even if we don't think a joke is funny that we should laugh at it. That was a little disheartening and I can only assume that Colbert and Jon Stewart don't have to say that to their audiences.


They directed us inside and up to the balcony of the Ed Sullivan theater, the same place the Beatles played. Of course, it's smaller than it seems on TV. But it also seems so different. There is only 5 rows in the balcony. We were in the top row, center, right next to the spotlight guy. He literally stood there for an hour and only did anything when a guest walked across the stage.

From the balcony, you were looking straight down. You could barely see the desk and the front part of the band was obstructed from view. When Dave was doing the monologue, only his head was visible. The furniture looked fake. The floor looked dirty. And the colors showed up a lot darker on the monitors. And there were 50 lights hanging from the ceiling that blocked a lot of the view, as well. And the cameras were just feet in front of Dave and the desk. It was surreal to compare the live action with the live monitor.

Once we sat down they played a classic Late Show clip on the monitors. There was a big red digital clock visible. At 4:15 a terrible comic came out and made jokes about Times Square. How they replaced the hookers with Disney stores, and how they're even bigger whores.

At 4:20 the band came out and played 2 songs.

And then at 4:28:30 Dave SPRINTED out across the stage wearing his white dress shirt without a jacket. He welcomed us, thanked us, and at 4:29:07 he asked if anyone had a question:

Woman: Hi.
Dave: Where are you from?
Woman: Indianapolis.
Dave: You know I'm from there, born and raised there?
Woman: Originally I'm from Atlanta.
Dave: HOTLANTA! Is Atlanta the capital of Georgia?
Woman: Yes.
Dave: So that's something that both cities have in common. They're both capitals. Atlanta is of course, HOTLANTA, and Indianapolis is naptown.

At this point it was 4:29:52. The band started the theme song, Dave ran backstage to get his suit jacket. Alan started announcing and the woman never got to ask her question.

The actual show was interesting. I was fascinated by watching the red light on the active camera. It actually seemed funnier in person. I don't think the jokes or bits were that great but I was laughing the whole time (just like they told me to do!) The best part was when Dave licked the iPad.

Also Mike and Mike were announced as guests and then bumped due to time. And that was the only part where Dave screwed up and they had to do it again. It really is a once in a lifetime experience. So glad I went but I don't need to do it again.

- - -

One other note. It might seem like nostalgic bias, but I really think that the Late Show hasn't been as good as it was when I was watching in high school. Supporting my theory...the clip they played before every taping is a clip from 96 that I'd seen before. Dave at Taco Bell:

Now if only I could find video of him playing "Stop calling me chief."

A Whirlwind Trip to NYC

How weird is it to wake up on Thursday in Chicago and have lunch in New York? About as weird as waking up on Friday in New York and having lunch in Chicago. It was that kind of trip.

I woke up at 5 in Chicago to take two trains to O'hare. By noon I had landed at La Guardia and by one I was checking in to the W hotel in Manhattan (Union Square location).

But one of the best parts of the trip was flying in. I thought that I had heard in some 9/11 coverage that planes aren't allowed anywhere near Manhattan...well, we didn't fly over it per se, but we fly along side of it, traveling north over the Hudson River. And the first sign that I knew that I was looking at Manhattan was seeing Ground Zero. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was, and was shocking to see from above.

But before I had time to dwell on it, I was passing Madison Square Garden. And then the Empire State Building. And then Central Park and then Yankee Stadium. The whole island was beautiful and I was glad that I was seated on the right side window, so I could take advantage of the eastern view.

I checked into the W and the rate was 409. Per night. With taxes and everything it was 475. Are you kidding me? I'm glad I wasn't paying for it.

After checking in I went straight to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. (Full review here.)

And then I checked out the alli experience, the reason I was there. 

It was cool to see some of my headlines out in the wild. 

Now it was 2pm and I was stuffed. The only thing I had really researched was restaurants, so I wasn't sure what to do. I decided that even though it was really far, I should start walking towards Ground Zero. I had the time.

So I made my way down to the Financial District, via NYU's campus/Washington Square Park. 

And it didn't feel like it was that far getting down there. (Turns out it's 2.1 miles from the hotel.) And when I finally got there, I was expecting some big emotions. But all it is...is a construction site. 

There's no way to feel what happened. If you didn't know, you just wouldn't know. The whole thing just felt empty. And that's what was the most depressing--that there weren't any emotions to feel.

So I took some pictures and made my way back north taking Broadway this time. It felt a lot farther coming back. But I made it and was back in my room by 5:30.

Later on, I met up with some coworkers for drinks in the hotel bar. I ordered a Whisky Sour. The 4 drinks came to a total of, wait for it, $47. Um...yeah.

So we went out for dinner at 10pm to a Cuban restaurant, Havana Alma de Cuba. I ordered the roasted suckling pig and had unlimited Sangria. Again I'm glad that I wasn't paying for it, between the 15 people at the table, the appetizers, entrees, desserts, and pitchers of mojitos that were going down, the bill was probably close to $1000.

Anyways, I ended up back in the hotel around 2am, just in time to wake up at 7 for my flight. So yeah. New York.