New York City New York is a fascinating collection of neighbourhoods, each with its own distinct character. Explore the bustling shops of Chinatown and Spanish Harlem, the stately museums of the Upper East Side and the lively arts scene in Greenwich Village.
The city is all about neon lights, busy roads, yellow cabs, street performers, bookstores, restaurants, night life and beautiful landscaped parks. Not to mention its ten million inhabitants living side-by-side and running with the flow of this vibrant, energetic hub of commerce, art and culture. New York will challenge and stimulate you every step of the way. Manhattan Some people think that Manhattan and New York City are synonymous, but they are not.
Manhattan is only one of the five boroughs that make up New York City; the others are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. There's much to see and do in the other boroughs but exploring Manhattan thoroughly could take weeks in itself. Upper East Side From the Plaza Hotel at the edge of Central Park to the top of Museum Mile at El Museo del Barrio at 105th Street, this is the city's Gold Coast. Its wealth of museums includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's best, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Midtown Beginning at 34th Street with the Empire State Building and Macy's, midtown attractions range from the fascinating Morgan Library to the awesome New York Public Library, both of which have changing exhibitions. Behind the latter library is the lovely Bryant Park, which hosts free movies and music events in summer. Upper West Side Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts sets the stage for the Upper West Side: the New York State Theater home to the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera; The Metropolitan Opera House with seven different grand opera productions a week; Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic; the Vivian Beaumont Theater; the Library and Museum of the Performing Arts; and the Julliard School whose concerts and recitals are usually free.
Tribeca/Civic Center/Chinatown The triangle below Canal Street (TriBeCa for short) is a neighbourhood that has been recycled from a manufacturing and warehouse district into a community of art galleries and some of the best restaurants in town. Soho/Little Italy The blocks south of Houston (pronounced HOW-ston) and north of Canal streets are the city's largest concentration of cast-iron fronted buildings, built as warehouses and manufacturing spaces, but converted to living spaces, called "lofts," for artists and sculptors who appreciated the elbow room.
Harlem No other Manhattan neighbourhood offers such a variety of experiences as this one above 110th Street. To many, it is a place to hear the best gospel singing at churches like Abyssinian Baptist, Salem United Methodist, and Metropolitan Baptist, where visitors are given a warm welcome every Sunday morning. Greenwich Village To New Yorkers, it's simply called "The Village" Visitors from all over the world flock to see Greenwich Village, a neighbourhood with a powerful mystique that continues to attract the creative, the iconoclastic, the chic and the just plain curious to this day. The Bronx The Bronx is the only borough attached to the mainland, and it's the greenest with 6,000 acres of parkland.
Start your day with an insider's tour of the most famous park of all: Take the 4 or D train to Yankee Stadium, built in 1922, the largest baseball park in the U.S. Brooklyn A great place to start is by walking across the soaring span of the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Heights - America's first suburb and NYC's first official Historic District. With tree-lined streets and 1,100 elegant 19th-century row houses, Brooklyn Heights is both historic and cosy. Staten Island One of the best travel bargains in town, the world-famous Staten Island Ferry is a free 25-minute cruise across the New York Harbour, offering magnificent views of the city skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
Places to visit
Times Square - Visit Times Square, the brightest symbol of the city's renaissance. Check out all the new restaurants, billboards and stores, and buy a discounted ticket for that evening's performance of a hit Broadway show at the TKTS booth at Broadway and 47th Street. Empire State Building A ride to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building (350 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, 001 212 736 3100) is a must. If you go late in the afternoon, you'll see the city by day and catch it all lit up for evening. Or linger after dinner on the observation deck, open until midnight.
Central Park - For a fun day, head to Central Park, stroll around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, visit the zoo, ice skate at Wollman Rink or join a bike group organised by Central Park Bicycle Tours.
Midtown on the East Side - On another day, spend the morning in Midtown on the East Side. Admire the Art Deco Chrysler Building and visit the United Nations. Take a free tour (Wednesdays) of the newly restored Grand Central Terminal and lunch in one of its new restaurants.
Fifth and Madison Avenues - Walk up Fifth or Madison Avenues from 59th to 72nd Streets. Fifth's magnificent buildings are home to some of the world's wealthiest people; Madison is lined with exclusive shops filled with wonderful treasures. Insider's Hour Tour Want to squeeze that new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a tour of Lincoln Center and a foray to the South Street Seaport into a single visit? Check out a summer or winter Insider's Hour tour, featuring 60-minute introductions to more than 50 of the city's top museums, performing arts centres, zoos and historical sites.
National Museum of the American Indian - Explore the largest collection in the world devoted to Native American history and culture at the National Museum of the American Indian.
Rockefeller Center - You can explore the majestic Art Deco masterpiece Rockefeller Center on a free, self-guided tour. Pick up maps in the main lobby at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Explore the beauty of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, free all day Tuesdays and from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.. In addition, the Staten Island Botanical Garden grounds are open from dawn until dusk at no charge. Entrance to the beautiful Queens Botanical Garden is free at all times.
The Socrates Sculpture Park - a free outdoor museum located on the East River in Long Island City, Queens, The Socrates Sculpture Park was a once-abandoned garbage dump turned vital community resource.
World Financial Center's Winter Garden - Enjoy concerts and dance performances under giant palm trees at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden, a stunning, glass-enclosed shopping and business complex on Lower Manhattan's waterfront. Free outdoor events are held throughout the summer.
New York Regular Events
March Saint Patrick's Day Parade - The St. Patrick's Day Parade is one of New York City's greatest traditions and, according to the New York Convention & Visitors Bureau, the largest and most famous of all the parades held in the city each year. It began when Irishmen in a military unit recruited to serve in the American colonies held the first official parade in 1766 and continued as a military parade until after the war of 1812. At that time the duties of hosting and sponsoring the event were taken over by Irish fraternal and beneficial societies. As the years passed, the size of the parade increased and as individual societies merged under a single grand marshal around 1851, the size of the parade grew dramatically.
October Ice Skating - Central Park and the Rockefeller Center In the winter months there are two ice skating rinks open in Central Park. These are the Lasker Rink (north-Park at 106th St) and Wollman Rink (mid-Park at 62nd St). Set among the hills and trees of Central Park and with the magnificent Manhattan backdrop, these provide magical places to skate. Open daily, the rinks are a fun day out for people of all ages from all walks of life. Wollman rink is arguably the most picturesque and has an outdoor café serving hot drinks and food. The rink in front of the spectacular floodlit Art Moderne towers of New York's Rockefeller Center has welcomed skaters every Christmas since 1936 and today draws large crowds of skaters and spectators alike.
November The New York City Marathon - Supported by 12,000 volunteers, dozens of loyal sponsors, and many city agencies, the marathon is the premier event of New York Road Runners. From its humble beginnings in 1970, with 127 starters and 55 finishers, today the New York City Marathon involves up to 35,000 runners on a celebratory jaunt through one of the world's most vibrant cities. Covering all five boroughs, the marathon is cheered on by more than 2 million spectators.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - A genuine New York experience, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a magical event for children and adults alike. This most famous of American parades has its roots in European tradition. Many of Macy's department store employees in the 1920's were first-generation immigrants who wanted to celebrate the American holiday with the kind of festival they loved in Europe. For over 75 Years since then, Macy's has maintained this tradition which celebrates America and ushers in Christmas.
December - Dropping the Ball At exactly at midnight every New Year's Eve huge crowds gather in Times Square to watch an enormous metallic ball drop from the sky. Ten seconds before midnight, the crowd chants the ten second countdown, and the ball - made of aluminum and 6 foot in diameter - drops to the cry of 'Happy New Year!' and much unrestrained revelry ensues. The event attracts around 500,000 people and a TV audience in the region of 300,000,000.
Compiled with the kind assistance of NYC & Company.
