NY Diary - Famous ordinary hotspots in the City.

If you are at the center of the world and you do something good, the rest of the world will know about it and, that something could grow and become the best.

It goes without saying that New York is the center of the center.

You don't have to know how to tap dance on one leg on the edge of a skyscraper. You could be a waffle street vendor, but the secret is to be 'THE' waffle street vendor.

Wafels and Dinges is a roaming celebrity and in every area of the City there is always a queue for one of their waffles. On their website you can even track their movements and find out exactly where the unmistakable yellow truck is parked.

If you fancy a cupcake instead, but not just any cupcake, it has to be the Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich Village which has been a hotspot ever since Carrie and Miranda stuffed these cupcakes into their mouths. It doesn't matter if they aren't the best cupcakes in the world, their specialty is being a Sex and the City original.

In New York film and tv productions are an everyday occurrence. The locations singled out by the Midas touch in turn become famous and you can take actual tours to visit these hotspots.

Staying with Sex and the City, you can visit the restaurant where Samantha Jones met her senior citizen millionaire or the jeweler where Charlotte York picked her engagement ring and a host of other locations.

If you prefer classics like When Harry Met Sally you can drop in to Katz's Deli, in the Lower East Side where the famous sandwich scene between Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal was filmed.

Andy Warhol said "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

In New York the future is certainly not far away and, if the precious quarter of an hour is nourished with sufficient ability, that fame could last a whole lot longer.

Joe's Pizza knows a thing or two about that. Their pizza was already known as one of the best in the City, but since Joe's became the location of many incredible Spider-Man scenes, you have to queue for at least 10 minutes to get yourself one of their delicious slices.

Sometimes, taking advantage of the center of the world can cost you, lots. Pasang Sherpa, a hot dog street vendor paid $362,201 for the food-vending rights for the north entrance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but with 5 million people from around the world passing his stand every day, you may well discover that after hours in the Met, nothing hits the spot quite like a hot dog.

 

Nick Landucci