Greetings all – and happy thanksgiving! I haven’t been posting much lately and while I don’t see the point in making excuses, I do feel I should offer some sort of explanation. My fellow New Yorkers (and those who are virtual new yorkers), I am moving. Yes, I am moving from NYC. But wait – not just moving but moving overseas to the UK. Never fear however. I shall not abandon Gotham entirely. Regular trips back are scheduled and thanks to the joys of lightning fast internet speeds, I can keep up with everything going with my city.

For instance, I was away when the blasting at 72nd and 2nd began so I missed the blissful moment when it stopped. I’m in the middle of buying a house over here so I don’t know if I’ll be back in time for Blast Two: It Comes from Below. But I’m following it with interest.

I promise now that things are settling (not settled but getting there), I’ll be back regularly posting on New York and the experiences of a New Yorker abroad. In the meantime, have a great holiday and enjoy this tidbit of Gotham.

More than 700,000 people pass through Grand Central Terminal in New York City every day. Thanks to WNYC for sharing this quick VIP tour – and for showing some secrets and little-known facts about this iconic train station.

Historic footage and ephemera from the 1939-40 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens.

Signs of thaw. I can come out of my self-imposed “It’s Spring Indoors” exile and look about me once again. And what to my wondering eyes did appear but the following news! Lots happened while I was refusing to acknowledge winter!

• Gothamist tells us that the DOT is now using Tumblr To tell us about progress in tackling potholes. I commend the DOT for embracing a new form of communication. I would have possibly advised against the name “The Daily Pothole.”
• I can’t help but notice a distinct lack on the UES hangover dining in this piece from Gridskipper on hangover dining. Never mind, we all know the BEST hangover dining is at the classic NYC diner. Bring me a greasy spoon cheeseburger and fries regardless of the hour and we’re good to go.
• If you’re still hungry, Restaurant Week is still on. Yes, seems they suspect all that snow we had earlier might have kept people home instead of out filling up restaurant – and so Winter Restaurant Week was extended until to Feb. 27.
• Borders Bookstores (which staved this off a lot longer than I thought they ever could) finally filed for bankruptcy and released the list of stores they plan to close. The list includes the Borders at 100 Broadway (which is packed whenever I go in but that real estate MUST cost them a pretty penny) and the one in Murray Hill. I didn’t see the Park Avenue one on there but according to the New York Times piece, it is closing and the only ones remaining will be the Time Warner Center and Penn Station branches . I can’t say I feel any great loss about Borders. It was, regardless of branch and as difficult as it is for me to believe about any bookstore – always SOOO dull. Not to mention disorganized.

And that will have to do for now, my friends – the sun is finally out and the temps have gotten above 40! I’m out and about.

I should, I suppose, be thankful there isn’t any new snow on the ground. But you know what? It’s 18°F out (that’s -8° for you Celsius folks out there) with a wind chill that makes it feel like 4° (or -14°C) so I’m too cold to be grateful.

When one is this cold, the only thing to do is go into denial and that is what I intend to do. Who’s with me? Right – so, let’s say winter is over. It’s Spring. Go on, work with me.

Imagine birds chirping, the smell of new mowed grass in Central Park, a Central Park full of people (not smoking thanks though how such a ban will be enforced no one has yet to sufficiently explain.

So, a park full of non-smoking people, blinking repeatedly in the sun after a long hibernation. Blinking at the sight of flowers. In flowerbeds and not just in buckets outside delis. Are you imagining it? Great – so am I.

Now, what are we going to do on this lovely Spring day? We have so much to choose from.

We could go on a walking tour. Goodness knows there are plenty to  choose from and – let’s face it – we could use the exercise after sitting in the apartment all winter starting at the white out conditions. We knew we shouldn’t have ordered all that take out but they delivered and it meant we could stay inside. Well, we’ll walk it all off during the Spring and by summer, we’ll be back in our favorite jeans.

• Big Onion Walking Tours have their schedule up through the end of May and some of these look awesome!  Tour the financial district on April 15th, Tax day? Sure! Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour? Sign me up – and get me a bib. I’m tucking in!
• The Lower East Side Business Improvement District has a selection of tours in their area plus information on tours offered by other local organizations. They also have a free downloadable walking tour option for those who  wanna walk but wanna go it alone. You can plug yourself into your MP3 player and do the self-guided thing to your hearts content.
• If, the weather plays up (it is Spring after all – it IS remember? We’re in denial) – we might want to take the tour thing indoors and there are lots of fab (free options) for that. Wonder what the Federal Reserve is up to these days? Go on their free tour and find out. Want something more casual and thirst quenching? Hit the Brooklyn Brewery tour (offered on Saturdays)

Not quite ready to hit the sidewalks after being snowbound all winter? I understand. After all, we just got out of the house. We might need to build up to something as active as walking. So why not go indoors and enjoy a nice show instead?

Best of all – no need to spend a fortune or plan too far in advance if you go the TKS way. Go to the booths ( info on locations – there are 3 -and hours at the Theatre Development Fund website ) and see what they’ve got that day. You won’t find everything but you’ll find a lot.

I’m not so much interested in the standard, been-here-for-year productions. We’ve seen those. We’re sure you have too. if not, pop over to TKS and grab some tickets or – if you need to plan in advance, pop over to Broadway.com and get your tickets to well-established, nay entrenched shows, there.

I’m going for some new, maybe shorter run stuff this time around. Stuff like:

• New revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying anyone? A revival staring Daniel Radcliffe and  John Larroquette? Yes, please!
• Speaking of revivals – Anything Goes is back – this time with Sutton Foster and  Joel Grey. Another one I might have to see.
• War Horse. Go. Go see it. Go see it before the movie opens (not that there’s anything bad about the movie that I can tell so far – and besides, it has Benedict Cumberbatch in it. How can anything with Benedict in it be bad?).

For other upcoming shows (such as John Leguizamo’s new solo show, Edie Falco in House of Blue Leaves, new interpretations of Alice in Wonderland) the dates and details, check out the upcoming shows page on Playbill.com. And – don’t forget upcoming off-Broadway options. Some of the best stuff I’ve ever seen has been off-Broadway and you won’t find it in the Broadway houses.

Well there ya go. Some nice Spring things to think about while we wait for the wind to stop howling, the temperatures to stop dropping and for some one to have a serious sit down with that damned groundhog. Now, if you’ll excuse me – I’m going to put on a few more layers and conserve some body heat now. See y’all when the roof garden at the Met opens in May!

I’ve been musing about the snow. Well, musing and whinging. So it was with great joy that I stumbled across the  City Bakery calendar of flavors for the 2011 Hot Chocolate Festival (their annual Feb event). Don’t think there’s enough varieties of hot chocolate to fill a whole month – even if it’s a short month like February. Well behold!

The month kicks off with Banana Peel on Feb 1 – and frankly, I’m a bit hesitant about that but starting on Groundhog’s Day with Cinnamon we have a line-up I can really get behind. Espresso on Feb 3, Tropical on Feb 4 and Caramel on Feb 5. Fabulous.

Nothing can – or will – lift my snow-weary spirits like hot chocolate or cocoa. And while I do prefer to make it myself (and not from an envelope, thank you very much) sit curled up with it under a duvet, I do love City Bakery and I do find that while out and about in the wintery city, the hot chocolate urge can hit and hit hard so – looking forward to February and a month of yummy choices.