Entertainment

Alex Karpovsky: My New York

ALEX Karpovsky shuns the streets of Manhattan for the elbow room of Greenpoint — the neighborhood where the hit HBO series “Girls,” in which he plays barista Ray Ploshansky, is set. The 33-year-old is also a filmmaker — a double feature of two films he wrote, directed and starred in called “Rubberneck” and “Red Flag” hit theaters this weekend. And a feature film in which he stars, “Supporting Characters,” is currently available on video on demand. This is his New York.

1. Cookie Road, 94 Franklin St., at Oak Street, Greenpoint

“I usually get a plain green tea and a cookie [here] — peanut butter if they have [it], otherwise oatmeal raisin. I then like to dunk my cookie in my tea, like a very, very old man. This is my new place to write, but usually I write at home. I go to the bathroom every 14 minutes, because I drink tea in psychotic doses.”

2. East River ferry pier, East River, at India Street, Greenpoint

“I sometimes write or do a voice memo — I’m big into those — in pretty places. This pier is so beautiful and it juts pretty far into the river. I go there a lot to sit on the benches to write or just to reflect on my existential constitution and my mortality.”

3. Cafe Grumpy, 193 Meserole Ave., at Diamond Street, Greenpoint

“My character on “Girls” works there. I used to like going, but now it feels a bit weird. That’s the only unsavory consequence for me of being on the show — that I can no longer go to my favorite coffee shop. The tables are huge, the music is pretty quiet. It’s in an industrial area with not a lot of other businesses nearby, so it feels like this secret, and not a lot of people go there.”

4. Word, 126 Franklin St., at Milton Street, Greenpoint

“I don’t frequent bookstores that much. The one I do go to is Word [in Greenpoint]. I did buy a book there recently, I’m proud to say — my one book purchase in the last four years: “The Middlesteins” by Jami Attenberg. It was a signed copy. I got it there because it was local [Attenberg works at Word], but also because I kept hearing things about it, and it was available there a few days in advance. As far as why I read so few books, I read a lot of articles on my computer or scripts. Rarely does my reading involve a trip to the bookstore.”

5. Radegast Hall & Biegergarten, 113 N. Third St., at Berry Street, Williamsburg

“We had the Season 1 wrap party for “Girls” here. There wasn’t that much craziness. There was karaoke involved, and some people, who I never thought would, went up in front of 200 people and sang and got wild and loose. I’m not going to name names. I don’t really do karaoke. I edited karaoke videos for five years before I did any acting or anything else. Once you’ve seen the underbelly of the quote-unquote industry, it’s not something you’d want to do [yourself] in public. I’m too close to the beast, you see. I did hundreds of those videos.”

6. Calexico, 645 Manhattan Ave., at Bedford Avenue, Greenpoint

“I go there all the time. Everyone is very friendly. I eat the Baja burrito. It’s got fish — don’t ask me what type — rice, beans, and I think they put mango in there. I like physically eating at the counter, because it’s well-lit and has music that’s not too loud, which is my main criteria for eating out — volume level, lighting, and density —[and] it doesn’t usually get too crowded in there.”

7. Wall Street, downtown

“I would never live in Manhattan or try to look for a coffee shop there . . . because of the crowds. I love taking walks there though. I discovered the windy cobblestone streets of Wall Street — there are a lot of alleys. I really like South William Street and [bar and restaurant] The Dubliner. I was taking a lot of walks down there in the late fall and [the streets] are beautiful. On the weekends, it’s a complete ghost town, great for [exploring].”

8. Veselka, 144 Second Ave., at Ninth Street

“One of the first times I ever hung out with [“Girls” creator] Lena [Dunham] in the summer of 2009, we had a meal here. We switched tables two or three times apparently. That’s what she likes to remind me of. It has to be just right, and if it isn’t, I’m going to leave or find another table. I remember there being a draught at one of the tables, and it was simply unacceptable.”