For 710 WOR's Michael Riedel, there's nothing quite like getting lost in New York City.
Since arriving in Manhattan from Upstate New York over 30 years ago, Riedel found a name for himself on New York's theater scene, immersing himself in the spectacle, songs and bombast of Broadway.
And while the theater has provided its share of excitement, Michael insists there's plenty of discoveries to be made off-Broadway.
Just pick a direction and go that way, get lost and see what you find, Michael says. That's what he's done for years after settling in the West Village.
"And I would say, go way west and get lost, because you're off the grid—you're literally off the grid when all the streets are just a jumble and a tangle," he says. "I love to see tourist be completely confused and having no idea because there's a 12th Street and a Little West 12th Street and they have no idea what that means."
Michael has seen the city change over the years, but he's enjoyed it in each of its forms. While there was an excitement to the danger of the city in the '80s, it's nice nowadays to be able to walk to the farmer's market and pick up fresh produce in the morning.
So here are some of Michael Riedel's favorite things to eat, drink and do in New York City, including where he likes to get lost and where he feels most at home.
How long have you lived in New York?
I moved to New York City from Geneseo, NY, in 1986 to go to school at Columbia.
Do you consider yourself a New Yorker?
I would say, over 30 years, yes. Although I still have the small town boy about me.
I'll tell you when you know you are a New Yorker: when you take the The New York Times or any broadsheet newspaper and fold it up so that on the subway you read it just as a sliver, so you're not spreading it out.
That's when I knew I was a New Yorker, when you can fold the paper in such a way that you can get it down to just one column.
What were your first thoughts when you moved here?
Well, I was wide-eyed because I had grown up in a small town and I had always dreamed of living in New York. But it was an entirely different kind of city.
Times Square was still sleazy and dangerous, but it was kind of fun. I thought, 'I'm really not in my small town anymore.'
I love the energy and the excitement and the variety of things to do. And I love being on the subway, a place teeming with people from all over the world. Because you have to remember, I come from a pretty white bread small town in Upstate New York.
What’s your favorite thing to do for fun in the city?
I'd have to say going to a Broadway show because I've been the Broadway columnist for the New York Post for a long time. But that's a bit of a job.
I love going to one of the farmer's markets in the morning during the week. So I have a farmer's market in Abingdon Square Park and then there's one of course in Union Square.
I just love to go through all the fresh produce and see as the seasons change the whole different kinds of produce.
Winter vegetables are great—all the root vegetables. Purple potatoes, purple radishes, celery root, very healthy for you.
And I love the fresh fish, the seafood monger.
That's a wonderful thing that's happened in the city in my time here. I don't remember any farmer's markets when I was here in the '80s or even in the '90s. Now they're all over the place.
Favorite Broadway show right now?
Bernadette Peters in Hello Dolly.
What’s your favorite place for dinner?
When I go for Chinese I always go to Red Farm in the West Village.
For steaks I like Gallagher's.
I like Joe Allen Restaurant, which is a Theatre District restaurant.
Drinks?
I'm always up for a drink before a show at the second floor bar at Sardi's, because that's the history of Broadway right there. And Sardi's has made a great comeback.
What’s your favorite drink?
I don't drink hard liquor, but I like a glass of white wine, usually a Sauvignon Blanc, preferably from New Zealand or Australia.
Takeout?
I really don't do take out much, but when I do, it's Chinese takeout from Red Farm.
Pizza?
Brunetti in the West Village. That's my go-to pizza spot.
Coffee?
I like to grind my own beans in the morning. And I like to get the coffee from McNulty's Coffee Shop on Christopher Street. They have beans from around the world.
Do you have any menu items named after you?
I think I did at one point, but they took it off the menu because everybody got food poisoning. (Laughs) No, I'm kidding.
I have a plaque at Bond 45, which is a popular theatre district restaurant and in the booths they list some favorite Broadway personalities.
What’s your favorite place to see live music?
The Metropolitan Opera. I'm a big opera fan.
Where do you recommend tourists go for ‘the real New York’?
I recommend the tenement museum on the Lower East Side. I think it gives people a real sense of the history of the city. This city is great because of the immigrants who came here from all over the world‚who came here with nothing and made something.
A lot of my favorite American songbook writers, people like Irving Berlin and Sammy Cahn, they were all uneducated kids from the Lower East Side. And if you listen to their music, you can hear a lot of the jangle and the tangle of the New York City streets of that era.
What’s a place in New York everyone should visit at least once?
I would say everybody should visit my neighborhood, the West Village. It's the most beautiful neighborhood in the city. It feels part of the city and yet outside of the city at the same time.
It's quieter, there are these wonderful old Nineteenth Century buildings, the cobble stone streets, the old restaurants, old basement bars that used to be speakeasies.
And I would say, go way west and get lost, because you're off the grid—you're literally off the grid when all the streets are just a jumble and a tangle. I love to see tourist be completely confused and having no idea because there's a 12th Street and a Little West 12th Street and they have no idea what that means.
The first five years I was there, I was always getting lost. There are no numbers there.
Anything else you think goes under-explored in the city?
Funnily enough, I love cemeteries. So in the summer time I get on my bike and go explore the great cemeteries in Brooklyn and Queens. The mausoleums are fascinating because you can see the history of New York in them.
You can see Guggenheims and Shuberts and mobsters and politicians and Broadway composers and actors. All of the long dead celebrities are still with us in New York. I love to ride around and go to the cemeteries and just wander around. It's very interesting.
Photo: Andrew Magnotta