Sometime you just pass by a restaurant many many times and never stop in. This was the case with Stage Star Deli. It was one of those restaurants that I just ‘passed by’ on my way to another one until someone put out a sandwich board with specials on it and that peaked my interest. There were all sorts of wonderful specials all priced around $8.50. That made me walk in to see what was on the full menu.
Stage Star Deli at 105 West 55th Street
The restaurant is a small deli with about four tables now due to COVID. Pre-COVID there were about seven small tables around the deli. One one side there are all the cold foods, salads and sodas and then on the other…
Each neighborhood in New York City has its share of bodegas and delis that supply everything from grocery items, cleaning supplies and in some cases hardware items for last minute touch ups in apartments.
Where these stores differ from one another is their prepared food sections. This is where you can get your all day Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich on a hero roll to a Chopped Cheese (Two hamburgers chopped with spices and topped with American Cheese, chopped lettuce and chopped tomato) to the classic Bacon Cheese Burgers, Grilled Cheese and a variety of wraps.
I came across Catherine’s Deli & Bagels when touring Chinatown and I just stopped in to look around. I saw the sandwiches that were being made and what was on the grill…
I came across Little Miss Muffin n Her Stuffin when I was searching for another restaurant down the street called Lowerline (See my review on TripAdvisor) and it had not opened for the evening and I was starved. I stopped in for a Jamaican Beef Patty to tide me over until dinner and it was one of the best patties I had ever had.
Little Miss Muffin ‘n’ Her Stuffin at 768 Washington Avenue
Instead of the pastry dough being hard, chewy and flaky like of the restaurants in the City carry that are premade, the dough on these are moist, well baked and flavorful. Since they are baked on premise, they are always nice and warm and constantly being replenished. The store is always busy when…
There have been many changes in the Little Italy section of Manhattan and I have been watching slowly disappear over the last ten years. When I was growing up, Little Italy went from Mott Street to Center Street and then from Houston Street to the north and just below Canal Street to the south. Chinatown in the 1970’s was pretty much relegated to Mott Street and the side streets below Canal Street. Then the 1980’s came with the explosion of immigration from all parts of China and then Hong Kong after the Chinese take over of the City in 1997.
Meanwhile most of the people in Little Italy started to move out by the mid to late 1980’s as the second and third generation of Italians went to college and…
The era of COVID has spawned innovation in running events at the firehouse. Hasbrouck Heights had to cancel their Annual Easter Egg Hunt this year like last year because they could not bring all those kids to the football field to run around. Even though we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel with COVID, and this too will pass soon we have to stay safe.
For the second year, the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department held it’s “Annual Easter Bunny Around Town” drive by event for the families and especially for the kids in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. This type of community outreach is what makes a good town better. About twenty five firefighters loaded up the two engines, the two ambulances and the rescue truck and donned their masks as we split the town east and west with the equipment covering every street in Hasbrouck Heights. Each team visited their side of town with two bunnies greeting all the residents.
Happy Easter at the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department
We had a nice crowd of people waiting on their lawns, masks on, greeting us as our Easter Bunny waved at them. We rode behind the truck that was carrying our Easter representative, waving at residents as well. For a sunny afternoon in the beginning of April, the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department spread a little Easter cheer to a community that know that better times are ahead.
Happy Easter in 2021!
In 2022:
In 2022, the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department made another trip around Hasbrouck Heights on a gloomy day. Still the residents of the community enjoyed seeing the fire trucks and many families greeted us on their front lawns with pictures. It was a nice way to welcome in the Spring and the Easter holidays.
The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department escorting the Easter Bunny Around Hasbrouck Heights 2022