Atlantica - 01.09.2003, Side 23

A T L A N T I C A 21
booths. The fine selection of restaurants
boarders on the ridiculous: nowhere else
in the city can you eat so well for so little.
Those who love designer labels, but can’t
afford the SoHo prices, should go to Canal
Street where you can purchase a lookalike
Louis Vuitton bag, a Rolex watch and
Chanel scarf on the cheap. Here you’ll not
only find cheap copies, but a variety of
great Chinese stores ranging from practi-
cal to eccentric, selling gifts, clothing and
household goods. Canal Street should definitely be included in
your New York visit. It’s also interesting to compare the gritty
street vibe of Canal Street to the sophisticated atmosphere of
SoHo’s Spring Street, only a couple of hundred metres away.
Chinatown is not only stretching into Little Italy, but also taking
over parts of the Lower East Side, which for many years qual-
ified as Manhattan’s shabbiest quarter. Only ten years ago I
remember walking across the Williamsburg Bridge from
Brooklyn to the Lower East Side and coming across a group of
men lying drugged up at the end of the bridge. At their feet lay
New York
After lunch: taking a coffee break in SoHo.
016-022 ATL 503 NY 21.8.2003 10:11 Page 21