Ten Things To Do in New York During Belmont Week

Luna Park at Coney Island. (Photo by Luna Park)

As a native New Yorker, or New Yawka to write it phonetically, there's hardly any other city I'd rather spend a week exploring - and that's before factoring in the added excitement of being in New York for Belmont Stakes week.

Despite spending two-thirds of my 31 years living in the Big City, I know that there are still so many landmarks, museums, restaurants, parks and other locations I've yet to discover. But I've tried to come up with a fun and dynamic list of 10 activities that I'd make sure my friends hit if they were in New York for the week.

EATS

Meat Madness - Carnegie Deli

We'll start off with three must-do-dining spots. When I think New York, I'm almost instantly transported to a deli, shoving an overstuffed sandwich into my mouth. By the time it's done, I've got parts of the sandwich still stuck to my face and a mix of French dressing and mustard spilt on my shirt and pants.
Nowhere has this experience played out as often and as memorably in New York City than at Carnegie Deli. This place is seriously so good, I'd take your cab or train directly from JFK or LaGuardia to the iconic Manhattan sandwich shop.

Pizza Paradise - L & B Spumoni Gardens

Many New Yorkers will tell you that Brooklyn is the new Manhattan and is just as worthy of a visit when you're here. If you're coming down to Brooklyn for just one thing, make it L & B Spumoni Gardens Pizza. It was founded by an Italian immigrant who came to New York about 100 years ago and originally sold his pizza using a horse and wagon. While no longer a mobile pizza parlor, L & B has all the charm you could ever imagine from an old brick shack dropped right in the center of 86th street. Grab an original Sicilian slice when you stop in. Heck, you might just want to order a pie. You'll never have another pizza experience quite like this.

Bionic Bagels - Ess-a-Bagel
There are two things that distinguish New York bagels from all others: taste and size. You'll be absolutely mind-blown when you see how big and fluffy the bagels are at Ess-a-Bagel. According to one story, Ess-a made an Err-a (that's error, in New Yorkese) in its early refrigeration process, which led to its bagels baking to an abnormally large size. You won't mind it. Next step is choosing your favorite bagel flavor (go with an Everything) and your schmear, or cream cheese. Add some lox (smoked salmon) for a total New York bagel experience.

ARTS

Squeeze in a Show

If you haven't seen a show on Broadway, why not do it now? New York Theatre Guide is a great resource for shows and show times.  Among your options on Belmont week are classics like Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, Bullets Over Broadway, Chicago and so many more.

Museums
There are so many cool museum options, you might just want to throw a dart on a map and hit the nearest spot. In New York, you can find children's museums and adult museums, wax museums and photography museums, police and fire museums, and so much more. My trifecta box of top New York museums would include the American Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met") and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA, pronounced mow-muh in New York - how else?). The Met features nearly two million, yes, two million works of art, spanning more than 5,000 years. The MoMA's collection includes 150,000 pieces of art, including van Gogh’s The Starry Night.

ENTERTAINMENT

Catch a Game

New York is just one of those cities - along with Chicago and Boston, to name a few - where if you happen to visit during the summer, you've got to make time to go to a baseball game. Unfortunately, the Mets are playing on the road all week. The good news is that the Yankees are in town playing the Mariners (Monday night) and the Athletics (Tuesday-Thursday). Another fun, and cheaper, option would be catching a minor league game. The Long Island Ducks are home to host the Lancaster Barnstormers (Monday-Thursday).

Friday Night Festival

A staple of Belmont week, the 17th annual Belmont Festival in Garden City is a great way to spend the Friday night before stakes day. Held on Seventh Street from 6-10 p.m, the festival features live music, pony rides, great eats and plenty of slices of New York City life and culture. And if you still have any space left in your stomach for additional food-binging, there's also a Wing-Off Competition, featuring local restaurants competing for the city's best wings.

Coney Island

The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is still a month away but there are still plenty of reasons to visit Coney Island. First off, you can still grab a dog at Nathan's. However, I'd probably do it after visiting the new and improved Luna Park at Coney Island. In an effort to revitalize Coney Island, the City of New York bought land and touched up the amusement park and concessions area a few years ago. It still features just about all of the great attractions and rides you've seen in movies, including the Cyclone. This is a great spot to spend an afternoon, especially if you're in town with kids.

AND MORE...

Stroll in Central Park

This option won't cost you a thing and it's probably one of the most memorable things you could do in New York City. A national landmark since 1962, Central Park features statues, memorials and other markers commemorating an endless number of historical figures and events. The park lists a full schedule of its events for the first week of June on a calendar here. Seriously though, the best times to walk through are midday during the week or late at night, as ominous as that might sound. Central Park just has a way of heightening the senses unlike any other natural experience you can have in the city.

Run for Fun... and a Cause

It may sound crazy and I'd have no shot at completing it but there's a pretty popular 5K on Sunday, June 1st. I've spoken to a lot of people who say the Belmont Stakes Blue Ribbon Run for Prostate Cancer is really an incredible experience. What makes it so unique is that it ends at the actual Belmont Park finish line. Additionally, the event put on by the New York Racing Association, the Greater Long Island Running Club and Integrated Medical Foundation, raises critical funds for prostate cancer education, support and screenings. If you can pull it off, go for it. If not, you can still come out and support the runners and this great cause.