For a great way to spend a day in New York City’s Lower East Side, start by taking the F train down to the East Broadway stop (last stop before Brooklyn, holler!). Our only real plan for the day was to get a plant (because if it’s not going to feel like spring outside, at least we’ll bring it inside.)
Our first stop was Little Canal. They make a mean chai latte, and a delicious salted chocolate chip cookie that’s vegan to boot.
After fueling up, we headed across the street to check out a new-to-us playground, where we whiled away the better part of two hours. They have public restrooms in the park that aren’t completely gross, so that’s a plus! There was also a tai chi group going on when we got there, which was fun and free entertainment.
CW Pencil Enterprises
The Sill in New York City
Heading west, we took a nice walk, stopping into the CW Pencil Enterprise store. Everything in here is so inexpensive (as in, I literally can’t figure out how they stay open with LES rent!), and makes for a fun NYC gift. They have a room in the back dedicated solely to stickers which is pretty cool (especially the vintage scratch-and-sniff ones!), and also host a monthly book club in the space.
Next stop, The Sill. Augusten picked out a tiny succulent for himself (which he decided to name Faint) and we got a pretty low light plant for the kitchen table (which he dubbed Nomi. Seriously, where do they come up with this stuff?!;-) While the plants are very affordable, I would suggest scoring a pretty pot from elsewhere if you’re on a budget, cause the one’s they had started at $20 and went up, up, up.
Finally, we stopped by a $1 pizza spot right next door for a few slices. The perfect end to a perfect Lower East Side morning.
The entire schedule here took us from about 9am to 1pm, but remember we move slow;-) If you’re looking to add more into your day in the neighborhood, a few other favorite spots of mine are: Irving Farm for great coffee, Punjabi for SUPER cheap Indian food where all the cabbies eat, the Tenement Museum for a guided tour and really cool piece of NYC history, The Bhakti Center for spiritual yoga and kirtan, Divya’s Kitchen for ayurvedic cuisine, Sugar Sweet Sunshine for cupcakes we love so much we had them as our wedding cake, and Jadis Wine Bar for super affordable wine and small bites, and plenty of space to enjoy them in.
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
