Climbing 154 Flights of Stairs, Eating Trash-Bag Indian Food, and Setting a Date with Jesse Green

Today started with a 16-story climb up 2,500 steps, which breaks down into 154 flights of stairs with 80 landings, to the top of the Vessel at Hudson Yards. Fortunately, all the levels except the top ones are shaded by the ones above them, so you don’t fry while you climb. Thank you, smart design!

My visit felt closed-circle-ish, as Hudson Yards was where I went with my mentor for lunch on my first day at The New York Times. And I once again rode the world’s longest escalator in the Hudson Yards subway station, which thankfully was not broken (I can climb the Vessel steps, but I think climbing this escalator, if necessary, would do me in --- this photo is only about halfway up).

I also set a date to accompany Jesse Green, the other New York Times co-chief theater critic, to a Broadway show next, next Tuesday (Aug. 6). The turnaround time was too tight for me to edit Ben’s review of “The Black Clown” this week, but I *will* get to do so for Jesse’s show! I’m keeping the production a mystery again, but needless to say this one is has some major star power, and was near the top of my want-to-see list before I arrived in NYC. 🎉🌠😄

I also returned to the cabbie-approved Indian place from a few posts ago, Haandi, today. But this time, I was knowledgeable: Rather than ordering things individually, I got the meat platter for $8. This is one of the few deals in NYC that would also be a good deal in Indy. Let me explain: You get what is literally a small black trash bag for your food (I got it to go). Inside is a heaping salad platter, an overflowing rice-and-veggie platter with two meats, and a plate-sized, pillowy, hot slice of naan. Even more cost effective — it’s enough for two meals! Hello, future lunch.

The other fun part of dining at Haandi is that the menu items have no explanation. There’s calf-tongue soup, but it’s not called that. So, it was a lot of me pointing at stuff, and the guy being like ‘Want some of this?’ and me being like ‘Sure’ (*hopes it’s not chicken liver but wouldn’t be *too* repulsed if it were*). I will so miss all the strange, eclectic, photogenic, delicious-but-completely-unphotogenic, and ‘What in the world?’ eats in this city.

On a final note: If you’re curious about what, exactly, I’m doing this summer as an editor at The New York Times (yes, I do actually go to work five days a week, hard as that may be to believe in between all the before- and after-work adventures), I explained this week for an IUPUI Department of Journalism alumni spotlight. You can read my write-up here, on the IUPUI Journalism Facebook page. Also making cameos: Midnight trips to the top of the Empire State Building, squid, rainbow bagels, and meeting Glenda Jackson. Have I mentioned I love my job?