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Solo Walks · Manhattan

Lower East Side & Chinatown

A solo morning of bialys, pastrami and dim sum

Distance
about 2.9 km / 1.8 mi
Time
about 3 hours with stops
Stops
7
After dark
Daylight only

The solo kit

When to go
Late morning, any day: start at Kossar's around 9:45am. Kossar's closes at 2pm (temporary renovation hours), Yonah Schimmel opens 10:30am and Nom Wah opens 11am, so a 9:45 start puts every stop open in order. NYC Parks restrooms typically close at 4pm.
Your seat for lunch
Katz's Delicatessen. Counter service by ticket: you order at the carving counter and seat yourself at any open table not marked table service, so no host or reservation is involved.
Sit and watch
Columbus Park. Neighborhood park bounded by Baxter, Worth, Bayard and Mulberry Streets; NYC Parks lists the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Monument and Plaza among its highlights.
Restrooms
  • Columbus Park Pavilion Public Restroom — Bayard St between Baxter & Mulberry Sts Public
  • Columbus Park Playground Public Restroom — Mid-park between Baxter & Mulberry Sts Public
  • Sara D. Roosevelt Park restrooms (Houston St Playground at Stanton St; Lions Gate Field at Broome St; Track at Hester St) — Between Chrystie & Forsyth Sts, on the route Public
  • Delancey St-Essex St subway station bathroom — Enter at Essex St & Delancey St Public
  • Chatham Square Library (NYPL) — 33 East Broadway, ~200 m from Doyers St Public · library hours
After dark
As designed: Kossar's closes 2pm, Yonah Schimmel 6pm and NYC Parks restrooms typically 4pm. Katz's (11pm or later) and Nom Wah (9pm) stay open, but the route only works start to finish in daytime.
Photo of yourself
Dr. Sun Yat-sen Monument and Plaza, Columbus Park. Paved public plaza around the monument, listed by NYC Parks as a park highlight; open ground with room to set a phone on a small tripod or a bench and step back.
Subway
In: Delancey St-Essex St (F/M/J/Z). Out: Canal St (J/Z/N/Q/R/W/6).

The walk

  1. 1

    Kossar's Bagels & Bialys

    Start with a bialy from the Grand Street bakery that has been baking them since the 1930s; eat it on the walk north up Essex Street.

  2. 2

    Katz's Delicatessen

    Take a paper ticket at the door, order a sandwich at the long carving counter, then sit at any open table not marked table service. Keep the ticket: you pay at the register on the way out.

  3. 3

    Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery

    Two blocks west on Houston, pick up a knish to carry into the park.

  4. 4

    Sara D. Roosevelt Park

    Walk south through the long strip of park between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets from Houston toward Canal; the community-run M'Finda Kalunga Garden is inside it.

  5. 5
    The sharp bend of Doyers Street with lanterns, painted roadbed, and glowing storefronts

    Doyers Street

    Turn off the Bowery into the one-block street that bends sharply on itself; walk it slowly from end to end.

  6. 6
    The yellow-trimmed storefront of Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street, with its vintage red sign in English and Chinese and paper lanterns overhead.

    Nom Wah Tea Parlor

    If you still have room, stop for tea and one plate of dim sum at No. 13, which first opened as a bakery and tea parlor in 1920.

  7. 7
    Columbus Park in Chinatown, its paved court ringed by trees

    Columbus Park

    Finish in the park on the site of the old Mulberry Bend; find the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Monument and Plaza and take a bench.

More solo walks

The High Line & ChelseaCoffee, tacos at a stand-up counter and a Hudson sunsetSoHoBookshops, cast-iron streets and an udon bar seatThe East VillageBagels, Tompkins Square and a diner counterMidtownA weekday from Tudor City to the Oyster Bar counterFlushing, QueensFood-court lunch, a tea tasting and old Flushing