I grew up with my grandmother coming to visit us at the shore from North Jersey every Sunday with bagels and smoked whitefish.
Since leaving the Northeast a couple decades ago, I have just about given up on bagels, but did find this article about one of the best bagel places in NYC and wanted to share it, and you don't even have to earn it.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...york_city.html