There is too much to see and do in New York to make comprehensive suggestions, but I did promise a little more about Canal Street.

Canal Street is a major tourist destination, with its eastern half being the anchor for Chinatown to the south and Little Italy to the north. For the IDSA attendee, of more interest may be the industrial supply stores and junk shops that cluster around the western half of Canal Street (most are west of Broadway).

Below is a short list; besides these few, Canal between 6th Avenue and Broadway hosts shops for electrical and mechanical parts, discount electronics, second hand motors and assorted junk. Only Pearl Paint is open on Sundays, though.

1. Plastic Land (plastics) 357 Canal @ Wooster
2. Canal Plastics (plastics) 345 Canal @ Wooster
3. Canal Rubber (rubber and foam) 329 Canal @ Greene
4. Industrial Plastics (plastics of all kinds) 309 Canal @ Mercer
5. Space Surplus Metals (scrap sheet, bar and rod stock) 325 Church @ Canal
6. Pearl Paint (5 floors of art supplies) 308 Canal @ Mercer
7. Victor Machinery Exchange (machine tools) 251 Centre @ Broome

For lighting and restaurant supplies, head north on Bowery from the eastern end of Canal to find blocks of lighting stores and restaurant supply stores. And back on the tourist beat, west of Broadway and north of Canal to Houston St. is SOHO with great art galleries and boutiques for clothes, furniture, etc. Ingo Maurer's lighting store at 89 Grand @ Greene is a personal favorite.

A final note: Canal Street is also the center of New York's counterfeit handbag market. The people whispering "Louie-Louie" up and down the street aren't trying to get you to dance—they want to sell you fake Louis Vuitton.