New York in Photos: The Financial District

View of the World Trade from Newport, NJ harbor

View of Lower Manhattan from Newport, NJ

All images subject to copyright, Jill Warren

New York in Photos: Central Park, Midtown Manhattan

All images subject to copyright, Jill Warren

New York in Photos: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

All photos subject to copyright, Jill Warren

New York in Photos: Brooklyn Bridge

All images subject to copyright. Jill Warren.

New York in Photos: Staten Island

All images subject to copyright, Jill Warren

New York in Photos: Greenwich Village

All images subject to copyright, Jill Warren

Helping the Homeless with One To World and Midnight Run

I walk through the underground pass that connects New York’s Herald Square subway to the 33rd Street New Jersey PATH train most days.

As my boot heels clip the floor, worn smooth by hundreds of thousands of commuters over the years, the sound echoes off the blue and white scuffed walls. Men and women are tucked up against the sides of the tunnel, their feet pointing up towards the none-existent stars, next to heaped trolleys of belongings wrapped in brown tarpaulin and bound with string like old-fashioned presents.

Last night, I forfeited a Wednesday night of Greenwich Village Happy Hour(s) to help the homeless with the Midnight Run organization and One to World organization.

One cup of soup and a few sandwiches probably won’t change a homeless person’s life. But yesterday evening I got the chance to talk to men and women who had been ignored all day long. “The best thing isn’t the clothes or the food,” said one man. “It’s just people being here with a smile.” The irony was that this man gave me more food for thought than I could return. His perspective on life was nothing short of inspirational. I’d like to share just a few of his words -

“Even after the coldest winter, the warm always comes.”

“Only look down at someone if you are giving them a hand up.”

“In the winter, people are always too cold. In the summer, they are too hot. Sometimes, you have got to just be thankful with what you have.”

Midnight Run is a volunteer organization dedicated to finding common ground between the housed and the homeless. Find out more at www.midnightrun.org

One To World creates global citizens and inspires a peaceful world through one-of-a-kind programs in classrooms and communities. Find out more at www.one-to-world.org

So Cool it Hurts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Of all the places I have been in NYC, Brooklyn just wins. If you love a bit of Shoreditch-cool, Williamsburg is the place to be. The vibe is slightly more relaxed than Manhattan, the roof top bars are achingly trendy, and there's a cute bearded man with tattoos on every spray-painted Avenue. Wayfarers, turquoise pendants and Urban Outfitter crochet vests are right at home.

Here are my favourite places to go - and if you take the L subway train to Bedford Avenue, you can walk to all of them within twenty minutes.

1. Space Ninety 8 Gorbals Rooftop Bar, 98 N 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11249.

Why it's so good: This rooftop bar is opened this April, and is nestled on top of a unique retail concept by Urban Outfitters (naturally). The atmosphere is chilled, the decor is so UO (there's more super-cool distressed wood than you can shake a stick at), and the view of the sunset going down behind Brooklyn bridge is just perfect. 

2. Rosarito Fish Shack, 168 Wythe Ave, New York, NY 11211

Why it's so good: Rustic, tasty, seafood. It's reasonably priced and the atmosphere is always buzzing. The fish tacos are good, but the mussels with chorizo are off the chain (that's American-speak for good). Plus they serve the best margaritas to have ever passed my lips. 

Mussels with chorizo. YES. 

3. Artists and Fleas Market, 70 N 7th St, New York, NY 11249

Why it's so good: A cute mix of artist and designers selling their own original work, jewellery makers, and vintage stalls. I had to physically remove myself before I spent all my wages on kooky golden rings that spelt out alcoholic spirits and fast food produce.

A ring that says gin. I love gin! <3

3. The Ides at Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249 

The taxis are green in Bk. Say whaaaat. 

Why it's so good: This hotel is the dream, and the rooftop bar is just the right level of classy-cool. It's genuinely one of my favourite places in New York City.

This view + a few champagne cocktails = winning at life. 

Williamsburg. Great for hipsters, not so great for bikes. 

A View Too Good Not to Share

The view from my afternoon, Times Square

NYC's Rough-Cut Diamonds: U.F.Os, Apocalyptic Weather & The Joker of Death

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring…” 

- Marilyn Monroe.

It only takes one breath of pretzel-scented air before you know that NYC is the most beautiful, mad, and completely ridiculous city that you'll ever have the divine pleasure to become acquainted with. 

In no other city will you spot a naked cowboy on your lunch break, grind with a leprechaun, or witness a traffic cop waving through mustard cabs on Broadway while (in the words of Snoop-D) popping it like it is HAWT.

There are enough restaurants in New York to eat somewhere new everyday for 54 years and never eat at the same joint twice. You'd definitely die of some form of cholesterol-induced heart attack after about year number four (give or take a few months, depending on how often you opted for low-fat ranch sauce) but one can dream. 

I have already sampled some pretty incredible NYC cuisine (shout out to the awesome fish shack in Williamsburg with margaritas so good I almost wept salty-lime tears) and come to learn not to question when it comes to American produce. (This chickenzilla breast is bigger than me, how? Why hasn't my bread gone mouldy after seven weeks? Wait, my sausage is actually a burger, is this normal?  All chewing gum is only available in strips, could I be stuck in a time warp of the nineties? What the hell is this strange piece of bright red meat in my Cuban sandwich?) 

U.F.Os: Unidentified Fried Objects. AKA: The hangover cure

And then there is the apocalyptic weather. I kid you not, the NY weather will mess you around more than Don Juan on Tinder.

Seriously. On Saturday, I sunbathed in Central Park. Men were topless, life was good.

On Sunday, shards of ice fell from skyscrapers onto the sidewalk, creating scenes worthy of 'The Day After Tomorrow'. The wind chill was so high that the Naked Cowboy nearly lost his most profitable asset. 

Another of NYC's roughly cut gems? The Subway. It's as creepy as it is brilliant, which is a bizarre cocktail by all accounts. Sights and smells which once would have made me wince are now familiar and inoffensive, a bit like growing accustomed to your eccentric aunt's moustache. The sight of a rat's tail as it flickers over the tracks, the guy taking a leak in the corner, the stalactites of rotting god-knows-what that drip from the grimy ceilings… A fuzzy-lipped kiss straight on the lips.    

I've even taken to making new friends on The Subway. All those lessons on Stranger Danger clearly paid off, especially at 3am after a night on the razzle.  One guy had seven black stitches in his face, a quilted overcoat so large that it covered three plastic seats, and a well-thumbed pack of cards in his grasp like some form of Dickensian pilferer. The deal clincher? Every single last card was a joker, and his favourite happened to be the Joker of Death. What else? 

The pleasure was all mine.

Mum, if you're reading this, he was actually a very lovely chap. I never thought he might take me hostage in his huge Lord of the Rings overcoat. Not once. 

Become a Technicolor Dream (For Holi)

I've been in New York for two months, and I've celebrated St.Patrick's Day with a black gangster leprechaun, marched down 6th Ave to the beat of the bagpipes for Tartan Day, and drank enough cut price tequila to turn someone blind for Cinco De Mayo. Needless to say, these Yanks bloody love an excuse to get involved. Culture vultures. 

This weekend, it was Holi time; the Indian spring festival to celebrate love, colours and frolic. And y'all know how I love frolic. 

So right in the middle of Uptown New York, (Hammarksjold Plaza, to be precise) this technicolor extravaganza took place, with strangers of every age and ethnicity wishing you 'Happy Holi' before chucking paint powder directly in your face.

Paint does not taste so good.

Obligatory before and after: Go hard or go home

The NYC Bhangra Dance Company performed traditional Indian dances on stage. And because this is America, the land of the free and awesome, everyone busted out their inner Bollywood. Every now and then a bus load of tourists would go past and the whole crowd would cheer, throwing handfuls of colour into the sky. Who needs dollar bills when you've got purple rain?

I <3 NY

New York Street Art: Williamsburg, BK

American and proud, yeah

Gucci ghosts

Walk with me

Cheers, I'll take that. 

The Blues Brothers

Not technically street art, but this hotel is the B-I-Zness 

Sidewalk sketch

Remember the Heroes

Happy Meal

BK, NY life

Peek-a-boo 

Mandela: "It always seems impossible until it's done."