My favorite things New York City

1. My favorite demographic charts: Track population changes by borough.

2. My favorite NYC dining guide blog: Click on the categories on the top row of the blog to see the whole thing.

3. Favorite neighborhood: To live in?  Manhattan is getting so uncool.  I will pick the corner of Hudson and Barrow, which is near W. Houston and the West Side Highway, just north of the Saatchi building.  There it still looks and feels like the New York City I grew up with (from New Jersey, that is).  But when will I have the money and the courage to try?  The Upper East Side bores me and the best food is in Queens; neither is suitable for real life.

4. Favorite book about: Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan, by Philip Lopate.  I am surprised how few people know this one.  Compulsively readable, and it makes me want to write a comparable work.  But "A Drive Around Fairfax"?  No way.

5. Favorite dim sum: Oriental Garden, in Chinatown, Elizabeth St., make sure to arrive early.  Don't forget Flushing, especially if you have time to kill at LaGuardia.  The juicy pork buns at Joe's Shanghai?  Jackson Diner is still great Indian food though it is not the revelation it once was; the competition has caught up with it.

6. Best lunch bargain: Nougatine, the bistro attached to Jean-Georges.  Get the venison with green chiles for its amazing mix of textures and heat.

7. Favorite Seinfeld episode: How about Master of His Domain?  Soup Nazi is overrated and in fact I don't even like it.  The one where Jerry and Elaine try to be together again is another favorite, plus Show Within a Show.

8. Favorite free activity that even most New Yorkers don't do: Browse the auction displays at Christie's and Sotheby's, especially before the major auctions in May and November.

Movies, music, literature?  Not today.  You might as well try "My Favorite Things Not in New York" for an easier task.