NYU Alumni 
Magazine

the insider

Best of New York

by Renée Alfuso / CAS ’06

Music can be found throughout the Big Apple—and not always where you might expect. From awesome acoustics to tunes with a view, those in the know from NYU share their favorite spots. Plus, six songs to put anyone in an Empire State of mind.

Venerable Venue

ALEXZ JOHNSON

Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street
Lower East Side
rockwoodmusichall.com

“For sound, vibe, location, and atmosphere, hands down, there’s no place quite like it, in particular Stage 2. I spend way too much time there!”

Jared Scharff (STEINHARDT ’01)
Saturday Night Live house band guitarist

Audio Alfresco

Great Lawn
Central Park
centralparknyc.org

“I saw the Global Citizen Festival there, with Neil Young, Foo Fighters, and the Black Keys. More than 60,000 fans together in the heart of the city—really awesome and inspiring.”

Emily Lazar (STEINHARDT ’96)
The Lodge recording studio founder and chief mastering engineer

Rad Rags

Issey Miyake
119 Hudson Street
Tribeca
isseymiyake.com

“I’ve been wearing his clothes for years. They fit my style and body, and give me a certain confidence that makes me feel like a rock star”

Susan Hilferty
Tony Award-winning costume designer and chair of the design department at the Tisch School of the Arts

Obscure Odeum

42nd Street Subway Station
Times Square
mta.info

“There’s an amazing old-time African-American banjo-and-string band called the Ebony Hillbillies, usually between the 1/2/3 and N/R/Q lines.”

Michael Beckerman
Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music at the College of Arts and Science

Lyrical Landmark

Cafe Wha?
115 MacDougal Street
West Village
cafewha.com

“It’s where Jimi Hendrix was discovered in 1966. In eighth grade, I snuck down there and saw him play guitar with his teeth.”

Emily Armstrong
Archivist for the Downtown Collection at Fales Library

Rocked, RIP

CBGB (1973–2006)
315 Bowery
East Village
cbgb.com

“In the summer of 1975, a few fellow NYU film grads and I approached owner Hilly Kristal about shooting his Unrecorded Bands Festival. He kindly consented, and the first night, we shot then-unknowns Blondie, Talking Heads, and the Heartbreakers.”

Pat Ivers (TSOA ’76, ’89)

Cyber Soundtrack

Grand Theft Auto IV
rockstargames.com/IV

“This video game has a radio station called ‘The Journey.’ The Philip Glass song ‘Pruit Igoe’ and an untitled track from Aphex Twin’s album SAW II steal the show.”

Andy Nealen
Assistant professor in the Game Innovation Lab

New Amsterdam Anthems

“The Only Living Boy in New York” (1970)
Simon & Garfunkel
“Timeless, passionate, and magical—a must-have.”

“New York Groove” (1978)
Ace Frehley
“Captures the feeling of crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.”

“Walk on the Wild Side” (1972)
Lou Reed
“Defines the urban underbelly experience.”

“New York State of Mind” (1976)
Billy Joel
“You can’t talk about NYC music and not think of Billy.”

“Juicy” (1994)
The Notorious B.I.G.
“Most hip-hop has a shelf life, but not Biggie.”

“New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” (2007)
LCD Soundsystem
“What New Yorker hasn’t felt this way at times?”

Jeffrey Rabhan (WSUC ’92)
Chair of Tisch’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music


Photos from top: © JESSICA EARNSHAW; © GRIMANESA AMOROS; © ERIC POZZA/CANBERRAJAZZ.NET; COURTESY WIKICOMMONS; COURTESY ROCKSTARGAMES.COM; ALBUMS COURTESY DFA, RCA, CASABLANCA, COLUMBIA (2), INTERSCOPE