NYE in NYC 2018-2019

1. NYE at Pier A Harbor House

   1. 5 hour premium bar

   2. Hors D’Oeuvres

   3. Party favors (hats and noise makers)

   4. Late night pizza and desert bar

   5. Live DJ

   6. Fireworks

   7. Price: $140/pp
      

2. Cipriani 42nd Street

   1. 6 hour premium bar (till 3am)

   2. Appetizers (hot and cold) from 9pm till 11:30pm

   3. Live DJ

   4. Grand Ballroom dance floor

   5. Midnight Champagne

   6. Starting at $129/pp

3. The Jimmy

   1. $250 pp gets VIP table for 5

   2. Fireplace

   3. 4 hour open bar (till 1am)

   4. Hors D’Oeuvres

   5. Supper bits

   6. Champagne at midnight

   7. Deserts

   8. Party Favors

   9. Live DJ

   10. Fireplace

   11. Rooftop views

   12. Outdoor roofdeck will also be open

4. Bar 13 in Union Sq

   1. Bar 13 isn’t anything fancy but it does have 3 levels

   2. $179/pp gets reserved seating

   3. Based on group size, includes 1 or more bottles of Vodka and Sparkling Wine

   4. Hors D’Oeuvres

   5. Multiple Live DJs

   6. Rooftop Access (2 main floors and a rooftop at this bar)

   7. Coat check not included

   8. Not much of a view on the rooftop, but still a rooftop.

5. Atlantis Yacht

   1. Food:

      1. Hors D’Oeuvres from 8:15pm to 9:15pm (1 hour)

      2. Buffet from 9:30pm to 11:30pm (2 hours)

      3. Deserts and Coffee at Midnight

   2. Space:

      1. 3 decks

      2. grand staircase

      3. very scenic views

      4. table seating

   3. 5 hour Premium open bar

   4. Party Favors

   5. Champagne at midnight

   6. Live DJ and dance floor

   7. $379pp

6. Magic Hour Rooftop at Moxy NYC

   1. Amusement park themed rooftop bar with views of Empire State Building

   2. Pricing ranges:

      1. $125 General Admission

      2. Tables:

         1. $250-500 per person in groups of 6-8

         2. Price depends on location of table (some tables have better views

   3. Tables include Appetizers / Bottle Service (varies on size of table)

   4. 4 hour open bar till 1am (at the open bar)

   5. Champagne at midnight

This list was curated from:

• https://www.balldrop.com/new-york-new-years

• https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ny--new-york/new-years-eve-parties/

• https://nycnewyears.com/

• https://newyearsevecentral.com/newyork

• https://www.timeout.com/newyork/new-years-eve

• https://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=8&pid=4

New York Pizza Notes by Neighborhood (2018)

Maybe this list will help some fellow travelers. Feel free to throw in suggestions!

Williamsburg:

• Shelter (Open late, 4.2 rating as of this writing)
• Essentially an STK for Pizza outside of the Meat Packing District in Williamsburg

Downtown Brooklyn: (You can really have some good pizza here)

• Circa (Amazing crust, this is also a brewery with shuffleboard, it's a crowd pleaser, good for large groups, 4.4 rating)
• Fortina (Inside Dekalb Market Food Hall, Delicious pies, 4.0 rating)

DUMBO (Avoid the anything with a line except for ... )

• Juliana's (The original Grimaldi's before they sold the name, 4.6 rating, the not original Grimaldi's around the corner is a 4.0)
• Cecconi's (Mostly for the view if you can sit outside, 4.1 rating)

Bensonhurst (If you make it here...)

• DaVinci Pizzeria (A Bensonhurt classic nearly 35 years old, rated 4.4 on google)

Lower Manhattan / FiDI (Not many to choose from)

• Adrienne's Pizzabar (On Stone St, so there's a lot to see here, 4.4 rating)

Little Italy (Lots of tourist traps)

• Lombardi's  (Delicious, 4.1 rating)

West Village (Tons to choose from that are especially open late night)

• Joe's Pizza (True NY slices.)
• Bleecker Street Pizza (This is really good too. NY Slices, 4.3 rating)

Midtown West (Tough area to find authentic non-tourist trap pizza)

• B-Side Pizza & Wine Bar (Really good artisan pies, 4.7 rating, I didn't even realize it was that highly rated)
• Uncle Mario's (Really good slices and grandma pie, 3.9 rated)

Midtown East (Not many places to choose from in general due to health conscious work crowd)

• Uncle Paul's Pizza NY (4.3 rated)

Meat Packing District

• Filaga Pizzeria (inside Google's own building, 4.5 rated).
• Artichoke, I try to avoid medium or larger chains.
• BLKSQ - I tried this place the week they opened and had a Korean BBQ pie and a classic, it was great. Very pricey place though hence the 3.7 rating, small pies only)

Times Square

• Don't eat anything here that even looks like pizza within a 2 block radius. (from 42nd to 48th, 6th Ave to 8th Ave)

Forest Hills (Queens)

• Danny's House of Pizza (Open till 4am on weekends, 4.4 rated, cult following kind of place)

Ha remember Sbarro... that was terrible.

London Notes (August 2018)

Entry from into London Heathrow (LHR):

• Terminal 5
  • Expect anywhere from 10 minutes to 80 minutes through border control (They call it "Border Force").
  • SIM cards are available starting from 20 GBP and up to 40 from 5 major companies.
    • You can buy them from SIM card vending machines after Border Force and before exiting customs. They're also available directly after exiting through customs.

Entry into London via the Heathrow Express (LHR Express).

• A train departs every 15 minutes to London Paddington Station
• Costs 22.50 GBP each way at most. (22 flat off peak)
• Total trip time from the moment of departure is approximately 15 to 17 minutes.
• The trip could take up to 30 minutes if you just missed the train basically.
• Depending on where you're traveling to, it may only save you a minimum of 10 minutes over the tube, up to 30 minutes maximum if perfectly executed.
  • Usage examples:
    • If traveling to St Paul's Cathedral, you'll probably only save 10 minutes over the TUBE via Piccadilly and Central lines.
      • If traveling to Mayfair, you'll save 20 minute to 25 minutes over the Piccadilly line.

Entry into London via the Tube

• A train departs every 10 to 20 minutes typically
• The Piccadilly Line will take up to 62 minutes to reach Russel Square, if perfectly executed where perfect execution means you waited no time for the train, entered the train and the doors close immediately behind you. Reasonably expect a 75 minute trip from station to station.
• The cost is 5.10 GBP (This is a great deal. In NYC, the MTA ride cost is $7.75 or approximately 6 GBP including the $1 cost of the card and will take approximately the same travel time).

• Summary:
  • If time and comfort matters, take the LHR Express. 
  • If money matters, take the TUBE.

Sandmarch Photography Edition iPhoneX lens kit review

Sandmarc Photography Edition iPhoneX lens kit review:
    Youtube video
    Instagram @instaeax
    Instagram @bordernotes

    I've been looking at new attachment lens on the market for iPhones for sometime. I've been getting a little tired of carrying around a 5lb camera (literally the Canon 6D plus Canon 11-24mm L lens is a little over 5lbs, I'll refer to this as the "5lb glass" from here on out). When I travel I love taking 11mm ultrawide photos and periodically uploading them to my @bordernotes instagram, but I'm looking to shed a little weight while walking aimlessly around new cities for 8 hours a day. I initially started inspecting Sony's DSC-RX100 V but at $948 I thought that's a lot closer to a replacement for my full frame SLR, and I'm looking for more of a companion to my SLR. So I started looking for companions. I knew I wanted something that left a case on the phone and was not a clip-on (which requires manual adjustment, too much work). I chose Sandmarc's iPhoneX lens (Photography Edition for $189) after reviewing:

• Olloclip (which required using my iPhone without a case entirely, which I thought was a bad idea on the cobble stone streets of Europe with an all-glass iPhone)
• Moment (which had no availability for the iPhoneX when I initially looked and did not include the case with the lens purchase. I got burned pre-ordering stuff in the past and no longer do so however this was a strong contender with Sandmarc)
• AMIR (clip-on only)
• DXO (expensive)
• ExoLens (which required removing the case, bad idea with the iPhoneX)

I had not noticed BitPlay, which actually looks pretty good and as of this writing, I would consider because it's fairly similar to Sandmarc's product and has a larger selection of lens, including a Circular Polarizing Filter (CPL) which I love. I have polarizers on all my lens except unfortunately my Canon 11-24mm L.

• BitPlay 7 - May still consider ordering in addition to Sandmarc. They have 6 lens to choose from, including the CPL. The only downside to Sandmarc is their Wide lens is 18mm, not 16mm (lower mm is wider and as Pontiac used to say: wider is better). Their Fisheye lens appears to be the same. Maybe Sandmarc will release a CPL.

I finally placed an order on Feb. 19 ( and received the order on Mar. 22. ) for the Sandmarc Photography Edition iPhoneX lens kit. After a few shots on each lens, I was more or less sold that I got what I wanted.

iPhone 28mm (Default lens on the camera app)

iPhoneX with Sandmarc Wide 16mm lens

iPhoneX with Sandmarc FishEye lens

It definitely looks great. I've gotten tired of using my iPhone's default camera because software filter's alone just don't do it for me. The extra width and straight lines on the Wide lens are exactly what I was looking for, the FishEye's GoPro look is attractive too.

Taken with Canon 11-24mm L mounted on Canon 6d.

iPhoneX 28mm default lens

iPhoneX 28mm with Sandmarc Wide lens. (Brings down to 16mm full frame equivalent).

iPhoneX with Sandmarc FishEye lens. (10mm equivalent)

So above you can see a photo with the Canon 6D with Canon 11-24mm L lens (photo taken at 11mm), followed by a raw iPhone 28mm pic, then Sandmarc 16mm, then Sandmarc's 10mm FishEye. Overall it looks like I'll still have to carry around my Canon but I'll better able to take a wider variety of photos at night with my iPhone alone now. I'll still possibly consider Sony's RX100-V but I think the Sandmarc's lens will be a LOT of fun on ski and beach trips, or walking around Europe while taking a break from the 5lb glass.

Some fun shots:

My dog.

Why I love the Canon 11-24mm...

Sandmarc's macro lens is cool too. Not practical for travel or anything really but cool anyway.

Top Airlines from NYC by passengers flown

A long time ago when I decided I need to travel more, I didn't believe there was any value in placing your loyalty with any specific airline. A few years later I looked a bit further into that and found there is some value in loyalty.

Looking past that, I was curious as to who are the largest airlines servicing New York City (NYC).

United serves 28m passengers

1. UNITED with 28 M (million) passengers
2. DELTA with 26.95 M passengers
3. American with 17.9 M passengers
4. JetBlue with 16 M passengers
5. Southwest with 4 M passengers
6. In a rough tie for 6th, British Airways, Air Canada with around 1.4 M passengers