by BCB Property Management | Aug 5, 2019 | Neighborhoods
Does anything symbolize summer fun quite as much as ice cream on a hot day? If you’re looking for a top-notch treat, check out one — or all, no judgement! — of these fan-favorite ice cream parlors in New York City.
Morgenstern’s
Location: 88 W Houston Street NY NY 10012
Hours: Sunday-Thursday: 12PM-11PM // Friday-Saturday: 12PM-12AM
Founded in 2014 by self-made restauranteur Nicholas Morganstern, Morganstern’s offers a classic ice cream experience. The ice cream parlor prides itself on serving texture-driven, small-batch ice creams that prioritize superb flavors and taste. Along with traditional standbys like chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies n’ cream, and mint chip, parlor favorites also include more unusual flavors such as green tea pistachio, salt and pepper pinenut, and burnt sage. The main star of the show is the ice cream, but don’t overlook Morgenstern’s other offerings! The parlor also serves pies, cakes, floats, and cocktails.
La Newyorkina
Location: 240 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11AM-9PM // Friday-Saturday 11AM-10PM
When Mexico-born Fany Gerson opened La Newyorkina in 2010, she had a single goal: to introduce New Yorkers to the sweet flavors of her childhood. Her store, La Newyorkina, serves a variety of Mexican sweet treats. Her most popular offering — and the one that first promoted Gerson’s shop to fame — are paletas; frozen treats that can be enjoyed on-the-go. These delights come in a variety of flavors — from creamy and fruity to sweet and spicy. Popular options include Mango Chile, Pineapple Jalapeno, Mango Chamoy, and Passionfruit. All are made by hand in small batches using all-natural ingredients. Don’t just stick with the paletas, though — La Newyorkina also offers delicious chamoyadas, cookies, pan dulce, and cakes.
OddFellows
Location: 175 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11249
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 12PM-10PM // Friday-Saturday 12PM-11PM
Want some quirkiness in your ice cream cone? Oddfellows has you covered. The now-four-location parlor prides itself on making the unusual delicious. The idea for the shop first came about when one of the co-founders, Mohan Kumar was attempting to find an ice cream flavor that would suit his wife Holiday’s eclectic pregnancy cravings. During that time, one of Kumar’s longtime friends and bar owner, Sam Mason, made Holiday a batch of homemade pretzel ice cream. She loved it — and promptly suggested they open an ice cream parlor. The Kumar’s twins were born 2012, and the first OddFellows Ice Cream parlor opened a year later.
Today, Oddfellow’s flavor offerings range from delightfully classic to intriguingly original; their menu features highlights like burnt marshmallow, Thai iced tea, and toasted sesame Nutella along with standbys such as chocolate chunk.
Want a few more insights on which dessert spots in NYC are top-notch? Check out our blog on The Most Instagrammable Dessert Spots in NYC!
by BCB Property Management | May 6, 2019 | Neighborhoods, New York City
New York City is known for its bustle, its glam, its excitement, and…its flowers? That’s right — in springtime, our concrete jungle becomes a hotspot for garden enthusiasts. Is one of the city’s best bloom-spotting attractions in your backyard? Read on to find out!
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
If you’ve never been to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in spring, you’re missing out. As the weather warms, the garden boasts no less than 17 varieties of blooming cherry blossoms. Those blooms aren’t the only draw; visitors can find and enjoy the sights and smells of exotic and domestic flowers alike in the garden’s plant collections and specialty gardens. If you’re looking for a dash of culture with your springtime flowers, check out the Steinhardt Conservatory! This horticultural center encompasses the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum, an aquatic plant house, an art gallery, and three climate-themed plant pavilions.
Central Park Conservatory
If you’re a fan of European formal gardens, the Central Park Conservatory is a must-see. This quiet, six-acre corner of the Park boasts three sections adhering to the English, French, and Italian styles of formal gardening, respectively. It’s a peaceful haven for flower enthusiasts who want to enjoy a meditative moment of admiration. Wilder blooms can also be spotted along Central Park’s less-formal walking trails and green spaces.
Queens Botanical Garden
What’s spring without a little fun? New flowers pop up and bloom near-daily in this 39-acre plot, making the Queens Botanical Garden a prime weekend destination for nature-loving families. The garden hosts several events to celebrate new blooms throughout the season, including its family-centric Arbor Day Festival. This high-energy event offers kids the chance to do arts and crafts, visit a petting zoo, play in a bouncy castle, and more! Adults can enjoy a quieter spring season by walking through the Queen’s Botanical Garden’s arboretum, visiting its art gallery, or exploring its rose, herb, perennial, and bee gardens.
New York Botanical Garden
Want a tech-friendly take on flower-spotting? The New York Botanical Garden has you covered. If you love azaleas, daffodils, roses, or cherry trees and don’t want to miss seeing any or all in peak blossom, check out the NYBG’s plant trackers! These trackers offer flower enthusiasts a quick glimpse of how far into bloom these springtime staples are from the comfort of their homes. Don’t cap your visit to peak season, though. NYBG hosts a series of events to highlight its plants, including an indoors orchard show!
Wave Hill
Wave Hill might be small, but its snowdrop populations are unparalleled. This 28-acre park is a quintessential New York garden spot tucked away in the Bronx; it has wildflower greens, woodland paths, and lovely vistas.
Narrows Botanical Garden
Founded in the mid-nineties by two Bay Ridge residents, the Narrows Botanical Garden is living proof that local engagement can make positivity bloom within a community. The garden is home to several tree groves, a butterfly garden, a turtle sanctuary, and flocks of birds. Interestingly, the Narrows only includes plants native to New York. Today, the park is still maintained by Bay Ridge residents. It has a delightful view of the Bay and the Statue of Liberty.
The High Line
Springtime isn’t only for delicate flowers. The Highline encompasses a collection of hardy New England perennials, shrubs, and trees. Its Lilafee Barrenwort — a tough plant with rich, spring-blooming purple flowers — is particularly beautiful this time of year. The most exciting time for the High Line, however, is its annual spring cutback. Unlike other gardens, landscapers for the High Line allow winter-dried stalks to remain in place as habitat for native wildlife. In the spring, the High Line invites hundreds of local volunteers to join their gardeners in cutting back plants by hand to allow for compost and new growth. It’s an experience that garden enthusiasts won’t want to miss!
So, what are you waiting for? Shake off that winter chill and get hopping; there’s a ton to enjoy at these NYC gardens!
Want more insights about New York’s hidden treasures? Check out our post on NYC’s Most Overlooked Landmarks!
by BCB Property Management | Jul 25, 2017 | Neighborhoods, New York City, Real Estate
The Harlem neighborhood is an emblematic part of Manhattan, but few know its beginning as Dutch farmland and later as a key point for George Washington during the American Revolution. Now, it’s a hot neighborhood for its restaurants, cultural heritage, and central location. Knowing Harlem’s history, and its many phases of change, is essential to understanding why it is now one of the newly hot places to live in New York City.
Harlem is a large area of Uptown, from the East River to the Hudson River, and from the bottom of Washington Heights at 155th Street down to around 96th Street. It is commonly divided into Central Harlem, West Harlem, and East Harlem (often called Spanish Harlem).
Harlem was formally incorporated in 1660 as New Haarlem, named after the Dutch city of Haarlem. The Dutch settlers recognized the flat lands would be good for farming, in part because they saw Manhattans and other Native American tribes farming there. Later, the Dutch tried to change the name to Lancaster, luckily without success!
During the American Revolution, George Washington established a base in Harlem to fight off the British troops. He successfully pushed them back, marking his first American victory. To retaliate, the British burnt Harlem down, starting the first in a series of rebuilding and rebirths for the area.
By the 1820s, Harlem had only a few families and was difficult to reach from other areas of the city. Prominent American figures held large areas of land, including Alexander Hamilton and the Roosevelt family (several generations before President Roosevelt would be born). Harlem was considered the countryside, and the land was mostly used for farms.
It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that real development began. In 1832, the arrival of the New York and Harlem Railroad (now Metro North) changed everything. It was the first street railway in the world and one of the first railroads in the United States. At first, it used horses, then steam engines, and finally electricity. With reliable transportation in place, Harlem was finally a viable place for development. Many cultural centers were established over the years, including the City College of New York in 1907. The easy access to transportation is one of the reasons Harlem is popular right now.
Harlem has seen a diverse flow of residents, most notably black, Jewish, Italian, Puerto Rican and Latin American populations who were pushed out of other areas of the city. In the early 20th century a large population of black residents fleeing the Jim Crow laws of the South established homes in Harlem. Prohibition, The Harlem Renaissance, housing policies elsewhere in the city and the Harlem Riot all had an impact on the area, but it has come back each time.
Because so many of the multi-ethnic influences are preserved, Harlem is now experiencing an economic renaissance as people move into the area to experience the arts and culture. Historic buildings and sites to visit include the home of author Langston Hughes (20 East 127th Street), the home of Alexander Hamilton Grange (West 141st Street and St Nicholas Avenue), and the many historic churches and theaters such as the Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street). There are also many popular restaurants and bars which draw crowds.
For people looking for their next home, the architecture is a major draw for Harlem, especially in areas such as Mount Morris Historic District where historic townhouses sit along tree-lined streets. Also popular are beautiful brownstone apartment buildings, many of which are in the process of being modernized on the inside. New residents of Harlem have the benefit of experiencing the history of New York City, with all its diversity, while also participating in the growth and yet another rejuvenation of the area.
by BCB Property Management | May 16, 2017 | Brooklyn, Neighborhoods, New York City
New York City… you come for the sights, but you stay for the desserts. With each borough teeming with a variety of cultures, cuisines, and surprises, New York-style cheesecake is just the beginning of what the Big Apple has to delight your palate.
Visitors and residents alike have long flocked to new “novelty” dessert spots, even and especially if it means waiting in a long line for a sugary fix. Remember the cronut, that legendary croissant-donut hybrid? You can now preorder them and skip the line. But cronuts are so 2013, and while the flaky goodness is still recommended, there are other fish in the sea.
Here are a few other delicious novelty desserts you can find in New York City. Given their nature, we advise that you practice moderation. Or not. It’s your mouth!
Boozy Ice Cream at Tipsy Scoop
Deciding between drinks and desserts can be difficult, while opting for both comes off as a bit excessive. The solution? Boozy ice cream. Tipsy Scoop, New York’s first ice cream “barlour” so to speak, has opened in Kips Bay. The best part? Their treats, spiked to just over 5% alcohol, can actually get you buzzed. Enjoy flavors like Mango Margarita and Strawberry White Sangria Sorbet, and don’t forget your ID.
Rainbow Crepe Cake at Dek Sen
Besides the Statue of Liberty, crepes may just be France’s best gift to New York. What you might not know is that crepes are also a staple dessert in Thailand, and that Dek Sen, a restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens, sells a 20-layer rainbow crepe cake with seams of whipped cream. For New Yorkers sick and tired of Starbucks’ basic Unicorn Frappuccinos, here’s a colorful alternative for your ROY-G-BIV-fix.
Decadent Rice Pudding at Rice to Riches
Ice cream is ubiquitous, but rice pudding? Now that’s a way to pack flavor without a brain freeze. There are several rice pudding parlours in New York City, one of which is Rice to Riches in Nolita. The parlour offers delightful flavors such as “Almond Shmalmond” and “Sex Drugs and Rocky Road,” which are not only vegan, but can be shipped overnight.
Cookie Dough Confections at DO
If you’ve ever binged on cookie dough, you’ve known true bliss and risk: after all, raw eggs aren’t usually your friend. The West Village’s DO, Cookie Dough Confections offers the bliss without the risk by subbing eggs with pasteurized egg product, eliminating any risk of bacteria. Enjoy straight-up, unbaked cookie dough, ice cream sandwiches, cookie dough milkshakes, or any number of baked and unbaked products.
Raindrop Cake by Darren Wong
Last year at Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg, Darren Wong’s incredible Raindrop Cake became a cult sensation, and we’re thrilled to say its back this year. Based on a Japanese dish called Mizu Shingen, the gelatinous creation is clear, vegan, refreshing, highly-photogenic, and with the help of some ube (purple yam), a whole new hue.
Ice Cream Rolls from 10 Below
Located in Chinatown, 10 Below is New York’s first establishment to serve Thai-inspired ice cream rolls. Watch as your ice cream is crafted with fresh ingredients right before your eyes as ingredients are poured, mixed, and rolled on a cold plate. Enjoy flavors ranging from fresh avocado to thai iced tea flavor, rolled up for your pleasure beneath unlimited toppings.
