Filmmaker and photographer Thomas Brookins’ visual guide to Long Beach

Filmmaker, photographer, Long Island local, and surfer Thomas Brookins recently snapped some pics of the awesome Long Beach community, and we wanted to share them with you.  Some we’ve incorporated into posts featuring our Quiksilver Pro NY partners, and others you can check out right here!

Long Beach perspective.

The Cabana

1024 W. Beech Street, Long Beach

516.889.1345

 

Quiksilver Pro NY partner unsOund

359 E. Park Avenue, Long Beach

516.889.1112

 

Get your groceries on at Waldbaum’s

85 E. Park Avenue, Long Beach

 

Much respect to the shark for representing (at Quiksilver Pro NY partner Whale’s Tale)

 

Just a few blocks from the beach and the contest (Quiksilver Pro NY partner LIRR)

 

Long Beach Surf 

70 W. Park Avenue, Long Beach

516.431.5431

 

For more of Thomas’s work, check out our Quiksilver Pro NY partners posts.

Surf & Skate Spots: brought to you by Indoek

Our new friends Matt and Drew over at Indoek put together their own awesome guide to the Quiksilver Pro NY called Bro In The City.  They were cool enough to share their picks for surf and skate spots in Manhattan, Jersey, and Long Island.  Read on…

SURF

Rockaway 90th St. (Queens)

Only a 45 minute subway ride on the A train from the city.

 

Lido Beach (Long Island/Long Beach)

Just a little further east of the main event.

 

Gilgo Beach (Long Island)

Just east of Jones Beach, gilgo is a beautiful little state park with some nice peaks rolling in.

 

Montauk (East Long Island)

If you’ve got a full day or weekend to kill, arguably some of the best waves in New York are about a 3 hour train ride away to the end of Long Island.

 

Sandy Hook (New Jersey)

Big SE swell?  No car?  Grab a 30 minute ferry from Manhattan and hope for NW/W winds.

 

Fort Tilden Beach (NY)

Rent a bike and escape the city.  Just over 30 minutes from Brooklyn and it’s a state park so the beach is nice(ish).

 

SKATE

Pier 62 Skate Park (Chelsea, Manhattan)

Skatepark on the westside at the piers.

 

House of Vans (Greenpoint, Brooklyn)

Vans state-of-the-art skate warehouse facility.

 

You can check out Matt and Drew’s other recommendations, including their awesome shop section, at Bro In The City.  Make sure to visit Inodek, a surf-centric blog celebrating an independent flavor of waveriding culture mixed with all things creative and inspiring.

Best NY Apps: Our shortlist

So the Quiksilver Pro NY is getting closer and closer – are you ready?  Here are some of our favorite apps to help you navigate the city and beyond.

Best App Ever In the Whole World*

(*disclaimer: opinions may vary)

Around Me – free

Have you ever been absolutely starving in an unfamiliar town and are all, “Wow, I’d really like some food, but wish I knew what restaurants were AROUND ME”?  Or, “I have a sudden urge to go see The Fast & The Furiouser, I wonder if there’s a movie theater AROUND ME?” You get the idea.  Around Me clues you in to almost everything within walking distance from your location: banks, coffee shops, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc.

Food:

Open Table – free

Try land that 8pm reservation at Lupa with Open Table.

Urban Spoon – free

In the mood for fish tacos but have no idea where the taco spots are? Urban Spoon’s got you covered.

New York Street Food – free

You can check out our suggestions, or you can download this app that tells you where 100 of the best street food vendors are at all times.

Transportation:

CLICK HERE for our suggestions.

General:

Google Maps – free

Duh.

Weather Channel – free

Again, duh.

Sorta fascinating:

Spot Crime NYC – free

It’ll keep you informed…or make you totally paranoid.

BREAKING 8/30 – QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK SURF CONTEST WILL RUN: Update from Long Beach

An important update from Long Beach – Quiksilver is working closely with the City of Long Beach to preserve the heart of the professional surf contest scheduled to start on Sunday, September 4 in light of the impact of Hurricane Irene and concerns for the Long Beach community, which suffered significant damage from the storm. The Quiksilver Pro is scheduled to start its 11-day “holding period” on Monday, September 5. The Quiksilver Pro Trials presented by Unsound Surf will run on Sunday, September 4.

The situation has been changing daily, and we recognize that City resources are focused on hurricane restoration and clean up as first priority.  In that context, we have been informed by the City that the festival and music components of the event are no longer achievable.

The Quiksilver Pro NY is first and foremost about the surf contest and Long Beach has an incredible surfing tradition and spirit.  We are committed to holding the ASP tour event at Long Beach so that together we can promote the sport by bringing together the best surfers in the world to this terrific community.

For updates throughout the competition, visit: www.quiksilverpro.com.

Local tips: Uber – a high-tech car service

Sometimes when you’re ready to leave a noisy show/bar/restaurant/meeting/boring party, you wish there was a way to call a car service without actually having to, you know, call one.  Uber to the rescue!

(image via bubu)

This brand-new-to-New-York car service can be summoned from ANYWHERE via text or their iPhone/Android app.  Plus, if you’re lacking the cash, Uber just charges the credit card you keep on file with them.

Check ’em out!

We love our Quiksilver Pro NY partners: unsOund Surf

One of our official retailers for the Quiksilver Pro NY, unsOund Surf was founded in 1997 by two surfers, Dave Juan and Mike Nelson, who felt they could provide accurate information about products they wanted to sell. Both Mike and Dave still surf, and have a surf/skate/snow team to help test all the products in the store – which means that they always have the best, most up-to-date info on the stuff you want to buy.  Show some love and make sure to check ’em out when you’re in town!

unsOund Surf 

359 East Park Avenue, Long Beach, NY 11561

516-889-1112

Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-8pm; Sun 10am-6pm

Drinking in Manhattan: old-school happy hours

NYCer’s love their happy hours – wait, have we mentioned that?  Pretty much every bar has a happy hour, and we would be here all day long if we listed every single one.  Here are some old-school, old NY favorites:

Corner Bistro: $2 mugs of McSorley’s and one of the best burgers in town.

331 W. 4th St. at Jane St. (West Village)

212.242.9502

 

Gowanus Yacht Club: $2 PBRs and hot dogs, all on an outdoor patio.

323 Smith St., Brooklyn (Carroll Gardens)

718.249.1321

 

Motor City Bar: 2-for-1 drinks, 4pm – 7pm.

127 Ludlow St. (Lower East Side)

212.358.1595

 

Niagra: $3 beer and well, 4pm – 8pm

112 Avenue A (East Village)

 

St. Jerome’s: $2 Buds and Bud Light, 6pm – 12am

155 Rivington St. (Lower East Side)

212.533.1810

 

Welcome to the Johnson’s: 4:30pm-9pm; $2 PBR, $3 Budweiser and Bud Light, $4 well and beer, $5 call liquor…and a pool table.

123 Rivington St. (East Village)

212.420.9911

 

 

 

Local tips: Drinking in NYC

No matter what your vibe, there’s a place in NYC that can match it.  Punk fan?  Check.  Heavy metal karaoke?  You bet.  Regular karaoke? That too.  Dancing until 6am?  Uh-huh.  Mellow spot for afternoon whisky drinking?  Yup.  Motorcycle garage that serves beer? Okay.  You get the picture.

Honestly, we don’t have many local tips for drinking in NYC.  You’re a pro – no, we didn’t mean it that way, ok? – so you know what to do. Here are a few that might come in handy:

• Many places get either super crowded/really good (depending on your definition of “really good”) after midnight, since last call for alcohol often doesn’t happen until 4am.
• Smoking in bars and restaurants is against the law in NYC, but there are still a few that will allow it very late at night.  You’ll know them by the lack of smokers standing outside the front door.
• Drinks can be expensive at certain spots, to the tune of $7 for a beer or $15 for a cocktail.
• NYCer’s love their happy hours – bars are usually packed after work.

And remember, everything in moderation, okay?  Just because you don’t have to drive home doesn’t mean you should be this guy:

(image via FAIL blog)

Drinking in Brooklyn: Saint Vitus

As the name implies, Saint Vitus is a straight-up metal bar with live bands, Kill ‘Em All metal karaoke, and a weekly hardcore night.  $3 buns (cheese steak, sausage, bbq tofu and more) sop up booze specials like the Pope: a Coors Banquet tall boy and shot of Tullamore Dew with a Brooklyn Brine pickleback.  If we could live here, we would.  All hail Saint Vitus.

Saint Vitus Bar

1120 Manhattan Avenue (Greenpoint, Brooklyn)

We love our Quiksilver Pro partners: Swingbelly’s BBQ

BBQ-lovers, you are in luck with Swingbellys.  Not only is their food delicious, but they have the following specials that you need to pay close attention to:

Mondays – all-you-can-eat Monster wings for $9.99, and $10 pitchers

Tuesday – Fried chicken night, with 5 pieces, a side, and cornbread for $12.95

Thursdays – $1 rib night.  Yes, you heard us – each rib is only ONE DOLLAR.  Seriously?

Plus, they have a live surf cam.

(images courtesy Thomas Brookins)

Swingbelly’s BBQ

909 West Beech Street, Long Beach

516-431-3464