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A Day Out in the West Village-When You’re Broke

March 2009, by Scott Langer

Oh no! It’s another recession special-report! Since moving to New York, I have had many visitors. They all have 2 things in common: 1) they are fresh out of college and 2) they are broke. It sure makes for a really exciting time when they want to experience New York, yet have no money. I could tell them that the subway is totally the coolest thing ever and it only costs two dollars! But c’mon, I can do better than that. So I take the challenge: entertain my guests in the West Village, without them starving or getting bored, for $20 from breakfast through dinner. And we’re off!

They wake; they’re hungry. Bagel time! We walk to Murray’s Bagels and purchase a bagel with no spread because, conveniently, they are an anti-spread kind of person. They love their first New York City bagel. They’re from a good Christian home in Arkansas, so I decide to walk from West 4th to Christopher Street and they cannot believe all the sex shops, tattoo parlors, and drug paraphernalia. They are impressed. We take a breather in St. Luke’s to contemplate our next move and enjoy the beautiful garden. We continue to walk to the Hudson River and I explain that the dark cloud across the river is New Jersey. From there we walk to Pier 40 (West Side Highway and Houston) to watch a pick-up soccer game. There happens to be a fight between an NYU student and an international. And we’ve only spent $2!

By now, it’s lunch time and we are obviously going to get some pizza. Long lines at John’s and the “no slice” policy deter us. Should we go to Joe’s, Ray’s, or Bleecker Street Pizza? We grab a Sicilian slice at Bleecker and then a cheese slice at Joe’s because of the relative proximity. We’ve only spent about $8 so far. We decide to look at some vinyl at Bleecker Street Records and look through the 99-cent record bin. Some are scratched, but they are still great for the album art. My friend finds the Huey Lewis and The News album, “Sports;” we enjoy a good laugh at the epic find and a purchase is made. We march down the boutique side of Bleecker and decide we want to go shopping without buying anything. Kind of low, but hey, we’re on a budget here. We act interested in all of the attire and then politely decline to buy. We walk out guiltily and decide to alleviate our shame with a pre-dinner beer.

We don’t have a wide selection of places that would allow us to get a lot of beer for a little bit of money. They all happen to be infested with college or slightly-out-of-college kids, but if it’s a cheap drink you want, they’ve got you covered. One beer at Barrow Street Ale House during the day is $3 and a pitcher at Down the Hatch is $7. We opt for DTH and split a pitcher. Tip a dollar and it comes to 4 bucks apiece!

With roughly six dollars left, it’s just about dinner time. My friend wants an NYC hot dog. It’s a good thing Grey’s Papaya has a “recession special,” which consists of two dogs and a drink for $3.50. Breakfast through dinner is done and we only spent approximately $17.50. We didn’t necessarily eat healthfully, or go on that shopping spree we so wanted to go on, but we saw and experienced the West Village for a modest cost. Go home and relax before you come up with a night plan, hopefully your guest’ll be too tired to want to go out again, and that’s free.

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