New York is not really the city that never sleeps. It's the city that sleeps *in*. Slothfully. That means, if you know about this little secret, you can go to lunch at the most popular restaurant in NYC at noon, or even 12:30, and be seated upon arrival. And if you are in the heart of the Sloth District, you might even be able to squeeze in dinner at 6 before the locals wake up.
Yesterday, I had brunch in Greenwich Village with my lovely young friend Zoe, who is a brand new NYU student. She had suggested noon as a meeting time and I thought to myself, "OMG she's become a New Yorker already." And "We'll never get in." But she was right and I was wrong. We were seated immediately, and when we left at 1:30, the sloths hanging around outside the door numbered about 40.
A similar rule applies to museum visits, but with a slight twist. The crowds tend to show up at about 1:30 or 2:00, so it's best to be in the museum soon after it opens. The problem is that all NYC grandmothers are also in line five minutes before the museum opens. It's like going to the lab at the hospital. Everyone over 55 (yes, I know that includes me) shows up when the lab opens. So there's a big needle-jab jam right at 8:30. But if you wait for the eager beaver wave to roll through, you'll have smooth sailing. Analogously, in NYC, you need to show up at the museum 1.5 hours after it opens.
Of course if you follow my rule, you'll never run into Dennis Franz. He was in the 2:00 museum tour with us. As for why we were in the 2:00 tour...don't even ask.
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