The Beat Report: The Best Hot Dog in New York City

Last Thursday I went to a place that claimed to have the best hot dogs in NYC. No idea who decided that, but according to the chalkboard outside the place it was voted by the Times and another magazine, I think it was Time Out NY. I'm fuzzy on important details like the place's name (update 12/8/09: it's called New York Hot Dog & Coffee) because 1) I was on my way to table for a fundraiser for my frat and running late, and 2)I was only on Bleecker St. to check out the record stores. Why? Because I was hoping to fulfil my quest for an original pressing of my favorite album; U2's The Joshua Tree.

No such luck on that front, but I did notice the hot dog place. Now, you don't get to be a slim 205 lbs like myself without turning down unique culinary opportunities, so I figured I'd stop in for one of the Best Hot Dogs in New York. Sure, was something like 5:45 and a bizarre time to be eating anything for me (my meal schedule is usually pretty uniform; breakfast at 9ish if I have it, lunch around 12, and dinner around 7-8). But hey, you gotta try the best, right?

So I stopped in and, wanting to save my cash for the weekend's festivities, I ordered a "New Yorker." That's just a plain hot dog with sauerkraut, relish and onions. It was $3.45 and easily the cheapest 'dog on the menu. While I waited I took a look at the place. It looks pretty nice, well-kept, walls the color of actual hot-dogs and a surprisingly extensive menu that includes burgers and fries as well. There are definitely classier places in the West Village, but it's cleaner than 80% of the Papaya Dogs floating around this island, so I was cool with it. I got my New Yorker and promptly doused that baby with ketchup and mustard, completing the masterpiece (in Jersey, we call that "the works." Probably elsewhere, too, but I don't get hung up on those details).

The verdict? Not the best hot dog ever. Definitely good, but not $4 good by a long shot. I'll probably go back and give it another shot, though. I scarfed this one down reeeeal fast and didn't have time to savor it. Also, I really wanted a chili dog, but all things considered that probably would have been a poor choice at the time.

West Village News: NYU Suicide

At 4:30am on November 2nd, a junior in NYU's College of Arts and Sciences died in the University's Bobst Library on Washington Square South. No official statement on the cause of death has been issued, but NYU President John Sexton said in a statement later in the day that "indications are that he [the student] took his own life." If so, it would be the latest suicide for NYU, a school as renowned for its opportunities, academic programs and city living as the stress that the combination of all three can inflict on its students.

News spread around the NYU community quickly. Student reactions ranged from sympathy for the victim, Andrew Williamson-Noble, 20, to angry when they learned that a guided tour of the university made a stop at Bobst only hours after the death occurred. The University's student newspaper, the Washington Square News, ran a continuous coverage of the incident, adding to the report as updates on the situation rolled in from the University and student witnesses, several of whom have said that they heard a loud boom echo through the library that seemed to signify when Williamson-Noble died.

If Williamson-Noble's death is ruled a suicide, it would be the University's first since students Allan Oakley Hunter and Pranay Angara took their own lives during the 2007-2008 school year.

West Village Post from Journalism Class

If you ever decide to take a walking tour of the West Village, good luck actually getting to the end of the thing. The neighborhood is so vibrant, interesting and enticing that, for unlucky college students like myself who have to follow a route instead of taking a guided tour (hey, my schedule is horrible and I’m strapped for money; sometimes you just gotta do it yourself), it’s incredibly easy to get lost in the restaurants, bakeries and local shops amid all the landmarks and famous hot spots.

The tour can be tough to follow for other reasons besides the distractions, too: the West Village is “off the grid” of Manhattan, which means that the streets don’t run vertically/horizontally like everywhere else, and a good chunk of them aren’t numbered. The area is much more suburban but also more old-fashioned, which probably contributes as to why it’s so expensive. It all looks very pretty and I wanted to live there immediately, but due to the unusual layout I was lost within minutes and spent at least a half-hour trying to find Charles Street. I was all of thirty feet away from it, which probably says more about my cartography skills/general sense of direction than the West Village, but still.

But once you find your way around and get the hang of the neighborhood, there’s all kinds of amazing spots around here for tourists and college kids alike, the tour I went on made stops out of Thomas Paine’s old apartment (59 Grove St., blink and you’ll miss the door), the Friends apartment (you can see it from the corner of Bleecker and Grove), and Magnolia Bakery (immortalized by Sex and the City and “Lazy Sunday”). Just make sure you stay focused and don’t spend a half hour you don’t have browsing a vinyl store for old albums. Not that I did that or anything. I’m just saying.