Pat Kiernan at one of our Canada Day celebrations at Mile End. (Sam Horine/Gothamist)
In 2009 we learned about Canada Day from New York City treasure Pat Kiernan. For four years, every July 1st, we celebrated Canada Day with Kiernan, some Gothamist readers, and plates of poutine, hitting up every Canadian joint in town until we eventually ran out of Canadian joints in 2012. Until we manage to carve out a Little Canada section in Manhattan, we're left hacking together our own ways to celebrate The Great White North—luckily, Kiernan has supplied us with the below list. Now get to Canadianing!
Black Seed bagels. (Nell Casey/Gothamist)
- Start your day with a wood-fired Montreal-style bagel from Black Seed. Montreal bagels are wood-fired and not as doughy as New York bagels. I think they're particularly good for toasting.
- Fly to Calgary for fireworks. You can work a full day and catch Westjet flight 1681 at JFK at 6 p.m. With the time zone change and the long summer days in Canada you’ll land in Calgary more than an hour before the Canada Day fireworks start. Bonus points: ride the Bombardier-built Airtrain to JFK for extra Canadian credit.
- Shop Canadian: Northern staple Joe Fresh has scaled back its New York presence a bit. But, like Tim Horton’s, it’s hanging on to a customer base that includes some recent converts and Canadians who were already familiar with the brand.
- Eat and drink Canadian: Burger and poutine at Big Smoke. Canadian beer at Ontario Bar. Fancy Canadian food at King Bee.
- Buy tickets for the July 12th Toronto vs NYCFC soccer game at Yankee Stadium
- Join me at Joe’s Pub tonight for Jeff Breithaupt’s annual “Great Canadian Songbook” show. I lead the renedition of “O Canada” at the top of both the early and the late show. Then people who can really sing take over.
Pat Kiernan is the morning anchor at NY1 News. He posts his favorite stories online each day at PatsPicks.com.
