Chapter 2— The Little Skips Run

A “hella charming” Bushwick cafe with (apparently) killer grilled cheeses.

https://www.strava.com/routes/12831986

The Run

From Central Park’s Grand Army Plaza to Little Skips via E. 60th, East River walk, Williamsburg Bridge, Kent Ave, and Myrtle Ave.

Distance: 10 miles / 277ft elevation gain

Best part: Coming from Central Park and running by the United Nations is always fun — probably because it marks about the time you can cut over to the the East River and get the heck off 1st Ave.

Worst part: You have over a mile of Myrtle Ave which, while fairly spacious sidewalk-wise, is a pretty uninspiring home stretch. There is a very treadmill-like quality to this part of the run — the mile or so just feels a lot longer than it actually is.

Best bathroom opportunity: Around mile 4, East River Park has a public bathroom at 6th street.

Bonus Points: Opting for the Manhattan Bridge over Williamsburg only gives you another 1/3 of a mile, but traversing the Brooklyn Bridge will give you both another mile and some tourist/cyclist-avoiding agility training.

The Food

Little Skips is, according to some random Foursquare reviewer, “hella charming”, and I wouldn’t disagree. There’s Counter Culture coffee, counters, culture, and “Brooklyn’s top 10 grilled cheese” (a claim I didn’t find out about until weeks later and so cannot corroborate).

Nevertheless, I really came here for this sandwich they have called “The Norwegian (Open-Faced)”, which is goat cheese, smoked salmon, tomato, avocado, red onion, mixed greens & honey-lemon vinaigrette on grilled multigrain. I strangely crave lox after a long run, so this was nearly the perfect thing (‘nearly’ only because I’ve never really trusted ‘open-faced’ sandwiches…it’s basically just a fancy way of saying that you’re only getting half a sandwich).

There’s another entrance on the side and I didn’t really investigate whether this yellow door here is actually functional — I’d imagine so given its ostentatious and, frankly, menacingly appearance.

Order: The Norwegian sammie, tomato soup (disappointingly lukewarm), water, coffee. Banana to go.

Amenities: It’s generally gritty decor lends itself particularly well to a sweaty runner and they have these sort of high plank tables you can stand at (or sit on stools) while you eat which was great for some inconspicuous post-run stretching. The bathroom was surprisingly spacious; the soap adequate.

Hours: Mon–Fri 7:00 AM–8:00 PM, Sat–Sun 8:00 AM–8:00 PM

The Return

Nearest subway: J/Z/M at Myrtle and Broadway. You can also cool down about a mile to the Morgan Ave. L.

Conclusion: A pretty novel run, but one I’ll never do again.