BCLF 100 ‼️
100 issues down...forever to go?
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would 1) start a newsletter about NYC and 2) write 100 issues of it over the course of two years. This has been such a fulfilling project and the fact that all of you have found your way here is just crazy to me. You’ve all left the nicest comments on my posts over the years and it only felt right to give you a larger platform to share your own stories. After all, a goal of BCLF is for me to expand my horizons and get out of my little bubble, so I’m very eager to hear your NYC stories. I want to know where you go to laugh or cry, what your go to bagel shop is (and even your go to order), and I want to hear about one of those magical NYC moments that you simply can’t believe happened. If you didn’t submit in time to make it into today’s issue, I encourage you to share your story in the comments.
Before I turn the mic over to everyone who submitted, I want to run through a few fun BCLF stats 📊 🤓
BCLF is read across 30 US states and 14 countries! Are you one of my readers from Morocco? Sweden? Germany? The UK? Australia? I’m so curious as to how you ended up here.
Shoutout to
and for their generosity (and great taste) in frequently sharing BCLF with others - sharing is caring.- , , , , and get the award for being my most frequent commenters - I can always count on you guys for a thoughtful musing or witty retort. Some of you who know me IRL also text me regularly to provide commentary and I love that.
Big thank you to some of the Substacks that recommend BCLF to their readers:
, , , and - wow I’m in very good company here.Lots of gratitude for my first ever subscriber -
of - TNHS was the first newsletter on Substack that I subscribed to and after reading for 2 years I thought “maybe I can do this?”And endless love to
, who signed up for a paid subscription before I even sent my first real post; she has always been one of my biggest supporters <3
Calihan, she/her
Photographer, writer, and Midwestern🤠
I spent the summer of 2023 in NYC completing the summer program with Parsons. I spent 6 weeks living in the Parsons dorms and 2 weeks living in a fabulous sublet apartment in Williamsburg that belonged to my cousin's friend's friend (which feels very New York).
The best experience was when my friend, who was interning in Boston the same summer, came down to NYC with her intern class for the 4th of July and one of them had a dad who worked for the NYPD. We met up on the Brooklyn side of the Hudson River and held hands as the NYPD dad wove us in and out of crowds of people before bringing us onto a completely empty rooftop with the most amazing view of the river, city, and fireworks. We could see "Macy's" written on the side of the barges and could look down and see all the people partying below us. I don't remember the name of the intern now but I do remember giving him a big hug at the end of the evening.
My friends and I regularly frequented Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine a few blocks from Parsons and of course Van Leeuwen.
Calihan writes about her adventures and musings in little girl, big world on Substack. She also interviewed me for her “Between the Stacks” series about writers on Substack.
Tara Giancaspro
Proud cat mother, Hoboken
Just here to shout out Il Corso in midtown - they serve their bread with lentils as opposed to simply butter or olive oil, and the meal grows only more thoughtful and decadent from there. I have lost myself in their damn ASPARAGUS. Who is out here making asparagus something to sing about!? And yet.
Tara also once requested that I take her on a hot chocolate crawl to which I said LETS GO. Check out a recap of our stops (and if you ever want to request a similar journey - LETS GO):
Tara writes the incredible XOXO Gossip Giancaspro on Substack that covers everything from her personal weekly recaps, essays about film and other pop culture, and of course her two beautiful cat children.
Sheri S & Omar N 🍕
Proud born and raised Brooklyn-ite, historian who loves NYC and pizza!
My boyfriend and I walked the entire city one day! We are looking to do it again - and would recommend others do it as well.
You can view a map of Sheri’s walk here - it is both comprehensive and fabulous: https://www.urbanarchive.org/stories/o2Asb7gtZ2E
Susannah she/her
Repentant Francophile, unrepentant cat mom, has a membership to both Film Forum & Metrograph, as well as a David Bowie tattoo
My hot take: New York is SMALL. What I mean is, it’s the smallest world, a tiny web we’re interconnected in.
I am always running into someone I know, or the person I’m with is running into someone they know. Sometimes it’s not ideal, like seeing an ex at the 14th street ACE station, and thinking "did he take the L here to go to Little Island? *I* introduced him to Little Island. How dare he! Wait, I’m acting silly right now."
Sometimes it’s serendipity, like in 2015 when some college friends and I had a long, epic night out which included befriending a random girl at Jekyll & Hyde (RIP) named Bebe. We all decided to move on to another college friend’s house party in Williamsburg, but we got the address wrong and buzzed some random poor soul. While we were walking out of the apartment complex, a new group of people enters who happened to be friends with our random newbie Bebe, and lo and behold they invited us to their apartment and we got our little house party after all! (I think about Bebe often - I hope she’s well!)
A much more recent example is when I had a birthday picnic to celebrate some new friendships, and two separate people at the party already knew two OTHER separate people at the party. One of those four people I mentioned in this complicated sentence above was a friend I’d made at a Substack party where I spotted, across the room, the writer of another Substack I loved, which I brought up to that author later who suggested we meet in real life and is now a wonderful friend who introduced me to …. The writer of THIS Substack, another wonderful friend! FULL CIRCLE!
Nicole Zhu
Writer, reader, donut seeker, and insufferable AMC A-List member
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its modern dance company was founded by Alvin Ailey, a dancer, choreographer, and activist (there was a great exhibition, Edges of Ailey, about him and his contemporaries recently at The Whitney). I highly recommend checking out their performances!
The Ailey Extension is one of my favorite places in the city. They offer open dance classes of all genres and I've been going to a beginner hip-hop class since 2018. I signed up for that first class because I was getting gym fatigue and wanted to try something new. I stood at the back of the studio and I died during the warm-up and stumbled over the steps the entire time and I absolutely loved it. Every class, Jonathan, our teacher, always asks us to take a deep breath, release, and remember to "let that go." It's been great to always be reminded of this, and to have patience with myself.
Showing up most weeks, even on Zoom during the pandemic, has helped me develop a healthier relationship with my body and build community. Some days, you just need to dance it out to some Beyoncé.
From Nicole: I loved the issue you did on Masstransiscope! I ride the Q as my main train and I'd always seen this while going out of/into Brooklyn, but I never knew the history behind it. Thanks for helping me appreciate something I see every day.
You can visit Nicole’s personal website here: http://nicolezhu.io/
Elaina Bauer
My old boss, dog mom, soon to be married, will take a bite out of your candy bar if you leave it unattended
I don’t think a NYC experience gets more iconic than this - we both just got home from our bachelor and bachelorette parties. We think our friend dropped her phone outside the karaoke spot and we are on our way there. In the Lyft on the way there “moon river” is playing.
It’s been a while! I hope you’ve still been finding fun events around the city these last few weeks. My backlog of bookmarks is scary so I’m happy to see the return of this section.
Tis the season for clothing swaps! Maison Jar in Greenpoint will be hosting a Clothing Swap on Sat May 17 from 12-5pm. It’s free to attend and all remaining clothing will be donated at the end. On Sun May 18, folks will be swapping at Aberdeen Garden on the edge of Bushwick/Bed-Stuy near Evergreen Cemetery.
Industry City has really been doing the most lately and on Sat May 17 they’re playing host to the Family Style Food Fest. It’s described as “an immersive festival experience perfectly pairing the streetwear and culinary worlds with real-life entertainment” and while I have no idea what that really means, I do know that food from some places I really like will be there: Katz’s, Fish Cheeks, Potluck Club, Win Son, Ayat, Chama Mama, and more!
Open House NY has a very cool scavenger hunt coming up on Sat May 17 - Over / Under / Around / Renew: Water Scavenger Hunt. You’ll have to traverse all 5 boroughs to solve puzzles and find clues all about water systems and infrastructure in NYC. I love a good scavenger hunt and if you’re itching to run around the city and wanna form a team, hit me up for this one!
I’ve volunteered with Send Chinatown Love and attended a bunch of their events and can’t wait to stop by their 5th Birthday Celebration on Sun May 18 from 12-6pm. Expect food and drinks from Chinatown restaurants, local vendors featured in our their makers’ market, live music, flash tattoos, and more! Very good ice cream vendor Very Good Ice Cream will be there - I was lucky enough to try one of their matcha flavors and wow, trust me when I say you gotta get some of that!
M Wells was an icon for over a decade until all locations closed by the end of last year. Recently, it’s reopened as a popup in NY Distilling Co in Bushwick and they have a few fun events planned for the coming weeks. On Sun May 18, they’re teaming up with George Motz for a day of Montreal specials including a Hot Hamburger, a Beef Tongue Poutine, and a Maple Sour Rye. $45 will get you all of the above, but you’ve gotta grab a res before they’re all gone!
Bryant Park is hosting a Makers Market weekends through the end of May. They’ll feature up to 175 local vendors with one-of-a-kind handmade items. Bryant Park has actually been coming through with tons of fun stuff lately, from juggling classes to birding groups, so check out their events calendar.
Wanna take a Mahjong Lunch Break at Nin Hao in Prospect Heights on May 16? A $40 ticket will get you access to their guided workshop, along with a 3 course Chinese meal and pot of tea. The first two hours (12PM-2PM) will encompass instruction over lunch and the last hour (2PM-3PM) is open play.
Whenever people ask what my favorite museum in NYC is, I always reply with the NY Historical and the Museum of the City of New York. The latter is having a Royal Bloom Vogue Ball on Fri May 16. Born in the Ballroom scene in Harlem and rooted in the LGBTQ+ community, vogueing is a form of “self-expression, empowerment, and resistance” and MCNY really said the theme is dance or die for their vogue dance off! Very sad I won’t be able to attend, but please grab your $30 ticket and tell me who wins!
Applications for the Greenest Block in Brooklyn are open thru June 1! Each year, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden awards categories for Best Overall Residential Block, Best Window Box, Best Street Tree Beds, Best Community Garden Streetscape, and many more. During my brief stint in Bed-Stuy I lived on a former Greenest Block and these folks are serious about their plants.
Wanna go on a guided stroll around The Ramble in Central Park, one of the best areas to be surrounded by greenery on all sides? RSVP for this walk on Sat May 17 and meet at Bow Bridge!
Congrats it's such a fun newsletter Eden! And I am so proud to be a TOP COMMENTER!
Very belated thank you to this amazing roundup! Congrats on BCLF 100!!