offManhattan

I do own an iPod. But at home, those melodic vibrations eclipsing the horns and rumbles of New York City come from a record player. With a nod to all things vinyl, I ventured across the outer boroughs, scouting for the best record shops, and in the process, found some friendly people, tasty food, and fantastic deals.

The vinyl adventure, one I highly recommend to anyone who likes music, always provides a rush of adrenaline: you never know what you’ll uncover. A real record shop seems moons away from the now defunct Virgin Megastore, where you didn’t need to dig to find a specific CD. At these six places, you’ll sift through The Cars’ first album and the Boss’s “Born To Run,” and you’ll soon realize you’ve been touching a museum’s worth of art on these 12×7 album covers. And the truth is, if you’re a city dweller, a vegetarian, or an animal rights activist, this is the closest you’re going to get to hunting in your lifetime. There may not be endless golden fields and gurgling brooks, but it’s exhilarating, liberating, and meditative—and it’s only a subway stop away.

The word “Brazil” conjures up long curving tropical beaches, thick entangled jungles, and soccer mania. Yet due impart to half-naked rhinestone-studded women, no image of Brazil captures the imagination more than the pulsating, primal frenzy of carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. Every year at the peak of South America’s summer, thousands of people converge in Rio for a four-day pre-Lent celebration that ends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Feb 21-24 in 2009). For many Brazilians living in New York, carnaval is an opportunity to celebrate their heritage, promote their culture and language, and yes, Samba.

Carnaval originated with an ancient Greek spring festival honoring the wine god Dionysus. Under the Roman Catholic Church, the event evolved into a massive sacred ritual with food, alcohol, and music followed by forty days of personal reflection, abstinence, and fasting. Many people now interpret carnaval as a rite for cultivating their senses. This weekend, if you can’t experience the real thing, plan an easy trip to Queens or Brooklyn and discover what one of the world’s oldest and hottest parties is all about.

There is nothing more exhilarating than those few seconds after the ball thumps onto the shiny lane. Frozen mid-pose, you watch as it makes the long journey from your contorted hand to the pins. Pow! Whether you’re still in need of a classy, fun, and inexpensive idea for Valentine’s Day or the gang just wants to go out somewhere new, throw on your retro bowling shirt and head to The Gutter, a place the “Dude” (and Obama) would totally approve of.

In an effort to recreate my two week trip to Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens, Greece, this Lower East Sider headed to Astoria, Queens to indulge in her romantic fantasies of all things Greek. And while there may be no endless white sandy beaches in Astoria, there are some delicious treasures to be found just five stops from Manhattan on the N train.

Living in Manhattan in the early 1800s was risky business, not from the threat of crime but because of frequent epidemics of cholera and yellow fever.  And if the diseases didn’t get you, one of the devastating fires that regularly consumed large sections of the city might. To meet this challenge, the city built the Croton Aqueduct, a 41-mile engineering marvel to bring clean water from northern Westchester County to the residents and businesses of Manhattan. Its completion in 1842 triggered the rapid expansion of New York into one of the world’s leading cities.

Although operating ceased in 1958, the Aqueduct is now a National Historic Landmark and offers idyllic hiking and biking terrain in some of the most serene residential areas of greater New York. When you’re feeling spontaneous, the metro north train from Grand Central Station can have you standing at the foot of these charming Hudson River communities within a half hour. A short walk gets you from the station to the beautifully maintained and traffic-free (excluding deer) path.

For all you offManhattan readers who don’t own a car, and have ever thought you could dodge traffic better than a New York City cab driver, this is your chance to give it a shot. At the Velocity 17 go kart track in Maywood, New Jersey, you’ll find out what it’s like to weave your way through cars at 30 miles per hour. Except here, your butt will rest only two inches off the ground and you better watch out for the hairpin turns and chicanes thrown in for good measure.

After entering the track area and viewing a brief safety video, you will don the required helmet and neck brace. When your name is called, you will step into one of the electric-powered beauties and await the start signal. Pushing down on the pedal, you’ll immediately feel the intense acceleration, and hitting the first turn you’ll realize how much skill is involved to drive this track fast. The races last about eight minutes each and are about two miles long. Once you have recovered from the exhilarating ride, stick around and wait for your stat sheet that will most likely show you how poor your lap times are compared to the veteran racers. But you can always race again!

Looking for something to do this winter that doesn’t involve freezing your tuchus off? The offManhattan staff has partnered with NBC Travel Editor Peter Greenberg to produce a list of the ten best indoor activities in the other New York City boroughs.

The list includes top places—some quirkier than others—for swimming, rock climbing, spa-ing, eating chowder, cooking lessons, and many more.

Check out our picks at PeterGreenberg.com.

Before it was the Brooklyn Historical Society, the institution on the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton existed as the Red Cross Headquarters during World War I. If you can, imagine a time before the Brooklyn Bridge, telephones, and Britney Spears. Steeped in history, the building is now exhibiting a glimpse of pre-gentrified Brooklyn.

On display through March 29, “Counter/Culture—The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn Storefronts,” is part of a third year Public Perspectives Exhibition Series. A photo and video retrospective shows the impact of rising rents and the lack of family successors on mom-and-pop shops in Brooklyn. James and Karla Murray—married photographers and curators—observed the trend and spent the last ten years photo journaling the changing storefronts. The pictures reveal the once standard neon and stainless steel signage that graced these fading facades.