Coffee, Bagels, and an Unaffordable Dream ☕️

Sipping my way through the quintessential Manhattan neighbourhoods 

Saturday afternoon in November. The first day this fall where it actually feels like we are transitioning into winter. The first time the temperatures have fallen to 10 degrees even at 1 pm. I left my apartment thinking it would be a very regular day but of course that didn't happen - why would I be writing about it if it was just another Saturday? Warm sunlight, crisp wind, fallen leaves flying all around, everyone walking around with a coffee and a companion in their windbreakers - the first time this fall I believe. It's chilly, but not cold. The sun is shining bright but it doesn't feel hot. No sweat, no shivers - just the perfect weather. 

I walked by Central Park West all the way to the upper west side to my "coffee shop for the day" and my urge, my desire to live on the UWS trippled in just 30 minutes. Groups of friends having brunch seated outside the quintessential NYC brunch spots, having candid conversations. Families with little kids out on a stroll - grabbing coffee and breakfast from a fancy looking cafe. I overheard a kid asking her father, why did the air smell like smoke today? Her father explained, and I learnt too, that there had been a fire somewhere in New Jersey this morning (I had read Prospect Park in Brooklyn so don't quote me on this detail) and because it was so windy today, the smoke and the smell were all over Manhattan. The kid asked "what caused the fire?" and her father answered, "Well, you see, it has been so dry this fall, we haven't had any rain, and because of the draught like conditions paired with the wind, the leaves in the park caught fire." It's a very small thing, nothing special about the conversation, but I smiled a big smile to myself and made a silent prayer to got that one day, in the future, i want to walk around with my little family in New York City on a cold Saturday afternoon and answer all the silly little questions my hypothetical kids ask me. [Toooo far ahead and toooo cliche but I'm emotional and I deserve to be dramatic once a month!]

One might think, or one might ask that Jahnavi, how did you come to the conclusion that you want to live on the Upper West Side some day? That out of all the neighbourhoods in Manhattan, what makes UWS so special? Have you even been to the other ones? What about West Village? Or Chelsea? Why UWS? Well, don't I have the answer to this! Now that I have eaten my everything bagel with cream cheese, sipped through three quarters of my iced coffee, tried (and failed) to get the attention of a very adorable dog, and realised that this coffee shop doesn't have free wifi (what a waste of $15 ><), I have nothing to do except sit here and write a blog. So read ahead (or not) to find out what makes me want to work as hard as I have to, to fulfil this dream of mine!

When I re-arrived in New York City this year after spending the summer in Seattle, I had decided that this time around, I'm going to focus less on the "famous" and "touristy" things and try to live like a New Yorker. Or at the very least, get acquaianted with the city as if I were a local. I acted on this by making a list of the neighbourhoods that are not "midtown Manhattan." I looked up coffee shops people love to visit frequently, cafes New Yorkers work remotely from, parks other than Central park and Bryant Park, some go-to restaurants of the people of the city, and a few of the iconic, historic even, spots that only someone who has been living here for a long time would know of. I started going out twice a week, with my laptop and my big girl handbag, some days with friends and alone on the rest, and covered every quintessential neighbourhood I envisioned I could live in. Each trip included walking aroud the streets of the neighbourhood, trying a coffee shop that was not Starbucks or Dunkin, eating at a restaurant in the area and not McDonalds, maybe visiting a Target or Trader Joes store, listening in on some conversations (aka not wearing my airpods), and not feeling awkward about "not being from around here"

01 EAST VILLAGE

I thought to myself, what would be the best place to start? Where have I never been, like not even passed by or thought about in the last year and a half (almost)? East village and the Alphabet city. Easy peasy. I mean, even though I haven't been there, I kind of know a lot about it since I follow a certain YouTuber called Taylor Bell who loves exploring and recording here life around the East Village. So with very little research, since I already knew the spots I wanted to visit, I put my classic olive NYC cap on and boarded the subway to Union Square. As I got out of the station, I was greeted by the climate clock which I swiftly moved past and made my way to 787 coffee on E 6th St. and 2nd Ave. Man was I dying to try this place!! More like, I was dying to post a picture of the coffee bag with the caption "As Lorelai Gilmore would say, i need coffee in an IV bag!" Safe to say, the Horchata Latte slapped! Plus, the barista definitely thought I was a tourist (or an approachable local at least) since he asked if he could click a picture of me with the IV bag. I happily obliged (and that made me smile for a while :)) I walked all the streets and avenues of the Alphabet City with the coffee in my hand, humming "Down on Skid Rowwwwww" (the one Sarah hayland was singing at Times Square ifykyk) becuase it was literally stuck in my head and I was walking without airpods. I passes by so many citi bikes, def more than I have seen in any other neighbourhood so far. Some of the people trying to figure out how to switch the bikes since their 30 minutes were up, and thier friends very calmly helping them out. The highlight for me though was a group of girls leaving a coffee shop with iced lattes and one of them went, "Now I could definitely use this (points to her coffee) and yap!" Man how I love the vibe. I circled back to the east village, this time Tompkins Square park, grabbed an everything bagel with cream cheese from Tompkins Square bagels (can you tell what my go to bagel order is yet?), walked a bit around Elizabeth Street Garden and decided to call it a day. 7 miles and 13k steps later, I had successfully explored the East Village. 

02 WEST VILLAGE

An easy second for me is West Village. I have been here so, so many times and each time has been as amazing as the first. I love people watching and picturing myself in other people's shoes and what better place to do this in other than THE west (Greenwich) village? It's the neighbourhood with the most diverse set of people - very few tourists, the most amazing brownstones coverred in Ivy, high end stores where people actually shop, prettiest coffee shops, no tall buildings - I can go on and on! The FRIENDS apartment at the intersection of Bedford St. and Grove St. was why I visited the West village the first time ever last December on a biting cold winter night. This time, standing outside the same apartment, I was listening to I’ll be there for you by the rememberants. “So sick!” Went one person and “Damn!” said the other. Groups, pairs, solo admirers - everyone stood in awe. Then I realised, the (in)famous Cornelia Street is just a few blocks away from there! And so is Bleeker Street and so is MacDougal St. I can grab a special coffee from the Starbucks reserve or I can head to Pommes Frites to devour authentic belgian truffle fries. I can walk past a few Gucci Murals to end up at the Housing works bookstore and picture myself in the audience at an All Too Well book signing (iykyk) or I can walk down to the Chelaea Market and have a meltdown over the most amazing Tukami tacos. You realise, in just four sentences, I have listed so many iconic places in a 10 minute radius. Do I need any more reasons to cry every time I realise I will never be able to afford a place to live here? That I will never live in Apt. 19 across from my friends in Apt. 20?? Point being, the west village - the one where I always walk humming False God, is so close and dear to my heart that I want it to stay a neighbourhood I frequent and not one I stay in - because I always want it to hold a special place in my heart, and I always want to feel a pull towards it. 

03 UPPER EAST SIDE

To many, the Upper East side is is just the "place where Gossip Girl was shot" and only includes the MET Museum or the MET steps. No doubt, it is the land of old money, gorgeous expensive apartments owned by people who seem to always be walking out of a vanity van ready to pose for the cover of Vogue. To me, who can affort none of that, it's a part of the city where I feel the least sense of belonging, and yet I'm captivated by its architectural and artistic wonders. I have been to the MET countles times, I've taken myself on a solo date to Guggenheim, walked the entire length of the museum mile, passed by but never dared to even window shop at the botique stores on Madison Avenue, and skipped the hugeeeeee linee outside Ralph's coffee and Glace (no hot chocolate is worth a 2 hour wait imo) The first time I came to the UES with my friend was to sit at this random cafe called Le Pain Quotidien, have a bite, and work. Who knew that that day, they'll be out of the chocolate croissants and serve me a cheese danish and I will find my new hyperfixation. Safe to say, my new favorite cafe in the city was any location of Le Pain that had a cheese danish left. The next time, my planned trip included visiting all the bookstores in this neighborhood - Albertine, which feels straight out of a Persian dream, Shakespeare and Co, where I had an imprompto conversation with a lady who also feels Normal People by Sally Rooney is a very depressing book, and the Corner BookStore (soo aesthetic!) With a coffee in one hand and my other clicking pictures, I was able to capture the essence of the UES but I realised it's not a place where I will every fit in. (honerable mention to Butterfielf Market - cute but are the prices justified?? idk)

There's a lot many other neighbourhoods I've spent afternoons and evenings in, from Hudson yards, to midetown east, to Tribeca, to FiDi and the Lower East Side. Each one has it's own character, but not enough to be the protagonist of this blog. That title is reserved for the Upper West Side.

Picture this - brownstones, red brick apartments, old but exquisite. Streets lined with quiant cafes, brunch spots, flower shops, bakeries. Central park West on one side and the Hudson River riverfront / walkway and Riverside Park on the other. Families of two, three, four and seven make the majority of the demographic. A community, even if no one knows their neighbour. Access to the busiest Trader Joes on 72nd, and access to the oldest grocery store of the entire city, Zabar's. Home to the apartment where John Lenon from the beatles lived, where the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades sets off from, where the American Museum of Natural history resides, and where Banksy painted his famous Hammer Boy mural. None of these places fall on the "places you must visit in Manhattan" list so very few tourists stop by. Everyone is uber rich, but you will never know because they will be in the same Nordstrom puffer you are in. You blend in easily and everyone greets you with a soft, warm smile. You'll be in the most happening city but will still have your own quiet corner to sit in and admire from. It's like a dream place for an introvert who wants to always have access to the world of the extroverts, even if they never want to actually visit it. 

To me, the Upper West Side isn’t just a neighborhood; it’s a reward. A quiet but undeniable victory for those who have built their lives from the ground up, working tirelessly to carve out their own space in this chaotic city. Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to it—because I want that for myself. Whether it takes ten years, twenty, or never happens at all, the dream stays alive. If life ever brings me back to New York for good, you’ll know where to find me. You’ll know where I’ll take you for a walk, where I’ll sip my overpriced coffee, and where I’ll pretend to know the names of every dog in Riverside Park. You’ll know I made it. And if I do, I’ll be even more insufferable about it—so consider this your official warning.

~ vee 🗽