Visiting New York? A Local's Guide to SoHo with Rajiv Surendra (Shopping, Eating, Sightseeing)

You should do this for every neighborhood in NYC - I’d gladly watch. I love hearing all your stories, Rajiv. ❤

LOL Rajiv dancing in the pizza shop was perfection. I love his personality. How amazing would it be to hang out for a day in NYC with Rajiv !!

Most people look but never see. You see and therefore make us see. Bravo Rajiv. Keep seeing 🎉

I used to think everyone experienced the world like this. That's why I used to be very confused at people's very different reaction to other people and their surroundings. Now I know it is a gift not many people share and I am grateful for it all the time and a lot more forgiving towards people that do not have it.

Hi Rajiv..I am native New Yorker who retired to Cape Cod in 2007. My friends opened the Cupping Room Cafe , first restaurant in Soho in 1977. We all thought they were crazy because the streets were deserted save for the artists who found lofts to live in. At that time, I was studying sumi e in Sohowith a Japanese artist called Koho. No one was around so I was a little nervous about walking the streets from the subway at night. We met in a small room & she served us jasmine tea form her teapot. I remember she had a dying bamboo plant. She called her studio...Koho of Soho. I also drew the model in a basement on Greene St. No bell...you needed a code to open the door for entry. There must have been 40 of us crammed into the dark, basement w a light only on the model. The owner charged 25 cents terrible coffee in a chipped cup. Soho was a special place before gentrification. I lived in a one bedroom rent controlled apt near Grammercy Park...rent $60 a month. I received my BA and MS at Hunter College for free. Those were the good old days in NYC till the early 90's. Pearl Paint on Canal St. had 5 floors of art supplies. Perhaps it was gone by the time you moved to the city. Best that you give tours for NYC is a different city now. Kudos to you for still finding gems.

When I grow up I want to be able to eat something covered in tomato sauce and sit on a sidewalk in the rain while wearing all white and still get up looking clean and fabulous. Love your videos! I too dance in pizza shops. Signed, native NY'er

I wish there were more people like you in the world, It would be a better place! Enjoyed! TYFS!

Did you know there are catacombs under St. Patrick’s Basilica which you can tour? It’s pretty interesting. I also love the little side streets in lower Manhattan. I sometimes find myself alone on a little side street and it’s amazing considering I’m in a city with 8 million people. Thank you for highlighting a little spot of our amazing city.

pens. art supplies. books. ducking under an awning during the rain. sidewalk pizza. coffee. you are my people, Rajiv!

Rajiv you are beautiful and as a hairdresser for 40 yrs I've looked deeply into faces you are beautiful inside and out.

Ah Rajiv, you brought tears to my eyes with that poem. Watching from Australia in the wee hours of the morning while the house is asleep. Drinking tea. Imagining my dreams unfurling softly.

You are an amazing tour guide. People and tourists can get lost and not appreciate NYC if they don't know the history and the little details behind it. Hey, that's not the traditional way Italians eat the pizza😉. You do double fold as the cheese is not hard but melting and that holds it in place. Man, You should have made a longer video. Thank you dear and have a beautiful weekend.

I understand how one can forget that one lives in NYC… I am guilty…thank you for this reminder of all the gems that await…

LIKE FOR RAJIV TO INTRO MORE NEIGHBORHOODS

I hope those small businesses stay a float .Let us support them as much as we can and avoid buying online if we can.

Rajiv, you are such a gem! Thank you for sharing the love with us! ❤

Omg I LOVE Goods for the Study! I’m going to think of Rajiv every time I go there now. It’s a great place to get not just stationery, but also they have tons of beautiful greeting cards for every occasion. If I have a birthday to go to, I’m going to stop there. Rajiv, I would love to see you give more tours of different NYC neighborhoods. In particular there are so many gorgeous places in Brooklyn (Greenpoint, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope) and also I really feel like Harlem deserves your attention.

This video is your love letter to NYC

Wish I had seen this before visiting NYC! It’s hard to appreciate the little details in this very dense city esp. if you visit from a small mountain town. Love it! Keep spreading the love

Such a Noble soul!!! - Each time, particularly when one gets older, one has to thank destiny, for making us cross the path, of younger generations made of that rare 'cloth' Rajiv is made of; this is that beacon of enlightenment that should reassure us about the future of the world.