New York,
New York: city of dreams, soaring metropolis,
living movie set, cultural melting pot. The Big Apple is truly one of the words
greatest cities, and an endless place to explore.
Getting There
Getting Around
Taxis, the Airtrain, express buses and shuttle vans connect
with NYC’s airports. The Metropolitan Transport Authority runs the subway and
bus systems. The subway runs round the clock (US$3; mta.info). otherwise hail a
yellow taxi (from US$3).
Further Reading
Buy ‘Discover
New York (US$21.99) or New York Encounter
(US$12.99).
‘
New York had all the iridescence of the beginning of the
world’
F Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up .
3 Ways To Do New
York…
SLEEP
Budget; on 32
nd
Street,
La Quinta Manhattan has a
glorious façade, 182 rooms and amenities you wouldn’t expect at this price
range, such as a gym and a rooftop bar. Rooms are small but smart (from US$225;
applecorehotels.com).
Mid-range; Near
the High Line, the glamorous
Maritime
Hotel – once the National Union Maritim HQ – was inspired by a cruise
liner, with cabin like rooms, teak furnishings and porthole windows (
themaritimehotel.com; from US$280).
Luxury; Soho House New York, a private members’
club and hotel, is housed in an old Meatpacking (Me-Pa) district warehouse.
There’s a rooftop pool and bar, and rooms have oversized beds and vintage
furnishings (from US$560;
sohohouseny.com).
EAT
Budget; Small
Middle Eastern joint
Taim in the
West Village does delectable things with falafels and smoothies (mains from
US$8; noon-10pm;
taimfalafel.com)
Mid-range; on 7
th
Avenue,
Cafeteria is a hip NYC
greasy spoon popular with fashionistas. Home-style cooking includes excellent
burgers and meatloaf (mains US$11; 24 hours;
cafeteriagroup.com).
Luxury; With
antiques, vintage furniture and paintings,
Red Cat on 10
th Avenue is
ideal for high-rolling artists. Food is Mediterranean-influenced (mains from
US$20; noon-2:30pm Tue-Sat, 5-11pm Mon-Thu, 5pm-midnight Fri & Sat, 5-10pm
Sun;
theredcat.com).
DRINK
Budget; 1929
lightship, docked at Pier 66 Maritime, the
Frying
Pan is a lively, unfussy place to sup beer and feast on river views – plus
burger, crabcakes and the like (beer US$5; noon-midnight May-Oct;
fryingpan.com)
Mid-range; Close
the High Line,
the Brass Monkey is a
refreshingly unpretentious and lively Me-Pa choice. It has a small roof terrace
and a dizzying choice of beers (beer US$8;
brassmonkey.com).
Luxury; With
premium rate drinks on offer,
Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC attracts a
see-and-be-seen crowd to its Plunge Bar (cocktails US$16; noon-4am;
hotegransevoort.com).
SEE
Budget;
Downtown Boathouse, at Pier 96, off 12
th
and West 57
th, offers 20-minute kayaking sessions in the Hudson’s
protected area. Equipment is provided and reservations are not necessary (
downtownboathouse.org; classes
May-Oct; classes free).
Mid-range; The
New Museum of Contemporary Art on
Bowery houses the latest conceptual art exhibits (US$12;
www.newmuseum.org; 11am-6pm Wed, Sat &
Sun, to 9pm Thru).
Luxury; the
TOP OF THE ROCK observation deck offers
the best city views, with outdoor terraces on the 67
th and 69
th
floors (US$24;
topoftherocknyc.com;
8am-midnight).
New York State of
Mind – Three City Walks
BROOKLYN TO MANHATTAN
THIS ROUTE offers
spine-tingling views of the Manhattan skyline and crosses
Brooklyn Bridge. The best way to approach the mile-and-a-half walk
between Manhattan and Brooklyn is to start in Brooklyn, so that you face the
views as you go. Begin at
Brooklyn’s
High St subway station, then head 300m north to Dumbo Under the Manhattan
Bridge Overpass’, accurately describing its location. This formerly industrial
area is now the domain of a number of artists. Dumbo Arts Centre (
dumboartcenter.org) is one of the top
galleries and the Galapagos Art Space (
galapagosartspace.com) is in a
strikingly converted century-old horse stable. Flanking Dumbo is
Brooklyn Bridge Park, a green expanse
that must have one of the
world’s most
incredible views – Manhattan’s skyline. A couple of blocks from here, just
under the bridge, is Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (pizzas from US$13
; grimaldis.com), a local institution for
coal-fired Italian-American pizza (follow the queue). From Grimaldi’s, it’s an
easy stroll across Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan, beneath a cat’s cradle of 19
th-century
girders. The walk should only take around half an hour, but the sights en route
are likely to make you linger longer.
MUSEUM MILE WALK
THE MUSEUM Mile
passes more than 20 blocks of immaculately groomed Fifth Avenue real estate and
has no fewer than 10 museums along the stretch. The cultural odyssey starts
with its newest addition: the
Museum for
African Art (opening late 2012). Other highlights include Puerto Rican,
Caribbean and Latin American art at
El
Museo del Barrio, and the fascinating stories behind the metropolis at the
Museum of the City of New York. At 89
th
Street, there’s the Guggenheim, with its spiraling Frank Lloyd Wright building
containing masterpieces by the likes of Van Goh, Degas, Monet and Picasso.
Beyond this is the
Neue Galerie with
more masterpiece, and the lovely Café Sabarsky, reminiscent of a 19
th-century
Viennese café and serving such cuisine as Bavarian sausages with warm mustard
(mains from US$14;
neuegalerie.org/cafes/sabarsky).
The grand finale is the
Metropolitan
Museum of Art, so palatial that it stretches from 82
nd to 86
th
Streets, and harbouring international works dating from the Stone Age to the 21
st
century, including an entire ancient Egyptian temple. The mile-and-a-bit walk
should only take around 30 minutes, but if you stop at all the museums, it
could last days (
ny.com/museums/mile.html)
CENTRAL PARK WALK
There are many routes around Manhattan’s 843-acre green
heart, a naturalistic landscape (laid out in 1893) formed of woodlands, winding
paths, lawn and ponds. To see some of the park’s main sights, start your walk
at
Central Park Zoo, which houses over 130 animal species in spacious
surroundings. From here you can cross the park, passing its vintage carousel,
to Sheep Meadow, 15 acres of land that’s a popular place to lounge, fly kites
and picnic. Next stop,
Strawberry Fields is a memorial dedicated to John
Lennon, who died near here. It’s a short walk from here to
Bethesda Terrace,
one of the park’s most recognizable landmarks, with views over a huge lake and
a wooded thicket, the
Ramble. The latter is where you’re heading, crossing the
lake via a bridge, to a rocky and forested area. Just south of the Ramble, on
the edge of the lake, is
Loeb Boathouse, offering sophisticated food and
waterside views (mains from US$19;
thecentralparkboathhouse.com). finish your
walk at
Belvedere Castle, a 19
th-century fantasy perched on Vista
Rock, where you can see the tops of 1930s skyscrapers surrounding the park. The
2.5-mile route should take two to three hours
(centralparknyc.com/visit/things-to-do/sports/walking.html).