Codex Books opened in January 2018 and they have a nice collection of literature and art books. They sell both new and gently used books and host book events. It is a very small bookstore and their inventory is highly curated. There is a cafe next door and there's an entrance to it through Codex. But they are two separate businesses. At the moment of this writing, directly across the street is the large street art mural of Debbie Harry and Blondie. They're open 7 days 10:00am-10:00pm.

Codex Books - 1 Bleecker Street near Bowery

Rapha is a bicycle for the serious cyclist. They have very cool bikes and biking gear. It's also on the pricey side. I'm not a cyclist, but you don't need to be a cyclist to visit the Rapha store in Soho. I found it my accident.

Cyclists bring their bicycles into the shop and hang them on a rack while shopping, watching bicycle races and ordering something to drink. They have a very good café latté and they have a few seats indoors and a really nice outdoor seating area. It is often difficult to find a seat in a cafe in this city. I've always found one at Rapha. Open daily from 8am.

Rapha - 159 Prince Street near West Broadway

I have hesitated to write about Katz’s because it seems that every tourist to New York City has no difficulty finding it and there are many other delis in the city. But after eating there for the first time in a number of years, I decided that it definitely merits being included here.

Be prepared for lines to get in and the sandwiches are really big and yummy. Bring a good appetite.

In their own words “In 1888, a small deli by the name of Iceland Brothers was established on Ludlow Street in New York’s Lower East Side by the Iceland brothers. Upon the arrival of Willy Katz in 1903, the name of the store was officially changed to "Iceland & Katz". Willy’s cousin Benny joined him in 1910, buying out the Iceland brothers to officially form Katz’s Delicatessen. Their landsman Harry Tarowsky bought into the partnership in April 1917. Katz’s Deli was moved across the street, to its present location, during the construction of the subway system. The vacant lot on Houston Street (pronounced "House-ton" after a Dutch emigrant of the same name) was home to barrels of meat and pickles until the present storefront facade was added between 1946-49.”

Katz’s Delicatessen, 205 East Houston Street at the corner of Ludlow

Good News - The majority of the shops and food stands at the Essex Market are open and it’s very cool. It’s been around since 1888 serving the community of the Lower East Side with goods supplied by little independent vendors. It recently moved down the street a block into a new space. While the new space has a nice modern look to it, the market has not lost it’s independent spirit.

You can find a bakery, produce markets, butcher and fish market as well as dining and much more. There is a nice open space feel for eating and clean restrooms as well.

The Essex Market is a definite must if you plan on being in the Lower East Side and the International Center of Photography will be opening across the street from it in 2020. It’s also very close to the Williamsburg Bridge which has a pedestrian path.

Essex Market - 88 Essex Street at Delancey

Good News - The Bryant Park location of Joe Coffee is open. And what a beautiful place to sit down and have a coffee as I did recently. Updated 8 February 2021

Joe is perhaps my most favorite café in New York City. They have about a dozen locations around the city. I mention this location in Bryant Park as I love this park and they have the best coffee in the area. You can sit in the park and enjoy the free wifi with a great café latte.

Joe Coffee Company, 55 West 40th Street near Sixth Avenue

192 Books is a small but fabulous bookstore in the Chelsea Gallery District. Their selection of books is curated with care. I always find a few books that I really want there. They have a great selection of art & photography books as well as literature in translation. They also have regular events with famous authors in discussion and exhibits as well. Do check them out!

192 Books - 192 10th Avenue near 21st Street.

I finally managed to try out Yonah Shimmel's Knish Bakery. Fabulous! I had a sweet potato knish and a cherry knish. They are large and filling. I didn't eat them both at once. Really good. Yonah Shimmel's has been there since 1910! They are a bakery and a restaurant. 

Yonah Shimmel started selling his knishes from a pushcart in 1890. He was a Russian Jewish immigrant and the business remains in the family of his cousin's family after all these years. As well as knishes they have a number of Eastern European dishes. 

"Yonah Schimmel’s was so integral to the Lower East Side that “No New York politician in the last fifty years has been elected to public office without having at least one photograph taken showing him on the Lower East Side with a knish in his face,” according to Milton Glaser and Jerome Snyder’s 1968 column in New York Magazine “Underground Eats.”"

Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery, 137 East Houston Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues

If you want to delve into the history of New York City, the Tenement Museum is a really good place to start. The story of this city is about immigration and it is what makes New York City so diverse and interesting.

“At a time when issues surrounding migrants, refugees, and immigration have taken center stage, the Tenement Museum is a potent reminder that, as a nation shaped by immigration, our brightest hope for the future lies in the lessons of the past.”

Tenement Museum - 103 Orchard Street at Delancy

Fanelli Cafe isn't really a cafe at all. It is a restaurant and bar and it's considered to be "the city's second-oldest food-and-drink establishment in the same locale, having operated under various owners at 94 Prince Street since 1847." It has quite a history including the fact that The Beats were regulars there as was Bob Dylan and also most of the artists who lived in Soho in the 1980s frequented Fanelli's and discussed their work there.

I've had drinks and food at Fanelli's on a few occasions and it is typically filled with locals and a few tourists or shoppers. If you're looking to explore some of NYC's history while having food and drink, this is a great place to do it! During prohibition they operated as a speakeasy!

Fanelli Cafe, 94 Prince Street at the corner of Mercer Street