Seeing the City from on High: & it doesn’t really matter if you do so from the Top of the Rock, the Empire State Building, or one of the many other venues where one can get a bird’s eye view. What’s important is that you get a feeling for the immensity of the city, with its wonderful order of the grid system of streets (which plays off the chaos on the streets themselves), & the dizzying variety of building types (many of which can’t be adequately seen from the sidewalk). Try & get somewhere high early in your trip as there’s no better way to orient yourself.
Walking the Brooklyn Bridge: The bridge, too, offers glorious views of the city. But that’s not the only reason you stroll here: walking the span allows you to see this marvel of engineering up close. (It was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was build in 1883.) & it gives you an excuse to stop by Jacques Torres scrumptious ice cream store in Brooklyn for a post-walk treat.
Going to a splashy, big Broadway musical: When they’re done right—and they’re not always—there are few experiences as life-affirming (no, truly!) as seeing ridiculously talented people sing & dance their hearts out in a show that makes you laugh, cry, & think about your own life story.
Staying out late: The city changes its face after dusk. All the people who were rushing by you during the day, slow down & take to the city’s bars, restaurants, & clubs to socialize. Even if you’re not normally a nightlife person, try it while in NYC. If you’re outgoing, you may be rewarded with some great conversations (despite our reputation, this is actually one of the friendliest cities on the planet); & if you’re shy, well, the eavesdropping can be informative, too.
Touring Ellis Island: You’ll see the Statue of Liberty first (also a thrill) & then spend several hours in the place so many of our ancestors passed through in order to settle in the “New World.” Hearing the tales of what went on here is a tremendously moving experience.
Traveling Underground: Don’t be afraid of the subways! Not only will they zip you anywhere you need to go at nearly the speed of light (okay, maybe not that fast, but they’re efficient), but there are few better places to feel the intense energy of this always-on-the-go metropolis. The people-watching is primo, too, & some of the musicians who perform underground are darn good, meaning you get a show with your ride.
Ride the Staten Island Ferry: The Staten Island Ferry is used daily by thousands of commuters. Ride it for a great view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, New York Harbor, & the lower Manhattan skyline. You can’t beat the price: free.
Visit a museum for free (or nearly free): A number of museums allow free entry on Fridays. The Museum of Modern Art is free from 4 to 8pm on that day as is the Museum of the Moving Image. The Rubin Museum’s free Fridays run from 6 to 10pm, the New-York Historical Society from 6 to 8pm, & the Whitney Museum from 6 to 10pm. Remember that a number of museums—most prominently the Metropolitan Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, & the American Museum of Natural History—charge a “suggested donation,” meaning you could, without shame, pay just a nickel for entrance.
Attend a TV taping: You’ll get a behind-the-scenes peek at how Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, & other NYC-based TV stars work their magic. & you won’t pay a cent more than you would to see the show on TV in your own home.
Take a tour with a Big Apple Greeter: Volunteers who love their hometown & love showing it to outsiders even more lead these unique tours. You’ll need to sign up well in advance, but when you do, you’ll be assigned a local with similar interests to yours who can show you the neighborhood of your choice. Possibly the best tours in the city & absolutely free.
Kayak the Hudson River: From May through October, the Downtown Boathouse organization (www.downtownboathouse.org) offers both lessons & boats, gratis, to anyone who’s interested. It’s a thrilling, remarkably easy-to-learn activity, & a great way to get a bit of exercise.
Gallery Hop in Chelsea: Go in the early evening hours, & you may score free wine & nibbles at a gallery opening. But even if you don’t, wandering through these galleries—the biggest concentration in the world—is an intriguing, intellectually rich experience, as you’ll see what the current zeitgeist of the art world is, as expressed by hundreds of would-be Picassos.
Walk. Everywhere: New York City is one of the world’s greatest walking cities. Since most of it is planned on the grid system, it’s hard to get lost (except below 4th street, where getting lost is part of the fun). Avenues go north & south, streets go east & west. You can actually walk the entire length of Manhattan—a walk that, done briskly, takes upwards of 6 hours. That’s a 13 1/2-mile hike, by the way!
Ride the International Express: In 2000, the Federal Government chose 16 roadways around the U.S. for their importance to U.S. culture & history. The number 7 subway line was the only one that was a rail line, rather than a road. Known locally as the “International Express,” it wends its way through the borough of Queens (where it runs aboveground for most of its length), passing one ethnic neighborhood after another, from Indian to Czech, from Peruvian to Colombian, from Chinese to Korean. Spending a day getting on & off—visiting shops, restaurants, & houses of worship—is one of NYC's most unique experiences. One out of every three New Yorkers is foreign-born & you'll see that vividly along this route.
Attend a poetry slam: The talent you’ll see up on the stage, & the passion with which the spoken word is greeted here, is inspiring. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the East Village is the epicenter of this movement.
Spend the evening at Sammy’s Famous Roumanian Restaurant: The closest New York City comes to an old-time Catskills resort experience. You’ll listen to the hoariest of jokes & songs from Fiddler on the Roof while eating chopped liver & downing glasses of vodka from a bottle encased in a block of ice.
Visit the Mmuseumm: The smallest museum in the city is also one of the most intriguing, filled with tiny exhibits on the oddities of modern life.
Head to a Russian nightclub: At Tatiana (www.tatianarestaurant.com) or one of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn's, other supper clubs, you get a multicourse feast & a show in Russian featuring acrobats, showgirls, & lots & lots of feathers.
Intrepid Museum's "Operation Slumber": In New York City, visitors can bed down on the famous war ship, Intrepid. For $120 a person, overnighters get to explore the Hangar & Flight Decks & take part in a treasure hunt.
The Bronx Zoo "Family Overnight Safari": For $175 a person, kids & their parents get to fall asleep by the sea lions. Just be prepared for an interesting wake up call!
American Museum of Natural History's "A Night at the Museum": Children & their parents are invited to spend the night at one of Manhattan’s most famous museums & go on a hunt for fossils after hours. According to the website you can “settle down beneath the 94-foot-long blue whale, next to African elephants, or at the base of a striking volcanic formation & fall asleep in the darkened halls of one of the world’s most beloved museums.” Space is limited & dates sell out quickly. Cost is $145 per person.
Best Historic Building: Grand Central Terminal. A Beaux Arts gem, this railroad station was built in 1913 & restored in the 1990s to its original brilliance. You can take a tour with the help of a smartphone once you’re in the building.
Best Skyscraper: The Chrysler Building. Its cap is iconic & as jaunty as ever, a heartening site to behold. Alas, the Chrysler has no observation deck, but this Art Deco masterpiece can be viewed from outside or from nearby observation decks, such as the Empire State Building’s.
Most Impressive Place of Worship: Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Construction began on the world’s largest Gothic cathedral in 1892—and it’s still going on. This is one structure that benefits from being a work in progress.
Frank Gehry's residential skyscraper: New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Street. The rippling stainless steel exterior covers three faces of the tower & creates bay windows for some of the 903 apartments inside. The 265 metre-high tower is now the 8th tallest building in New York & the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere.
New York Public Library — New York, N.Y.
Butler Library at Columbia University — New York, N.Y.
Best All-Around Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s a case of more is more; the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere is also the finest museum-going experience in New York. How could it not be with the variety of treasures this fabled institution holds, from an actual ancient Egyptian temple to murals from a Pompeian villa, to masterworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, & on & on.
Best History Museum: The Tenement Museum. Usually historic sites tell the tales of the rich & powerful. This tiny museum recalls a more moving story: that of immigrants who made their first “New World” homes in this actual tenement. Visiting here is an emotionally powerful experience.
Best Art Museum that People Outside New York Love to Tell You They Love the Most: The Frick Collection. The Frick is stately, restrained, elegant, & humble. It’s also home to an unrivaled collection that focuses on quality over quantity—making visitors feel like they discovered a secret art haven.
Best New York Museum about New York: The Museum of the City of New York. This savvy museum uses the lense of biography to tell the story of the city & its vibrant people. Through artifacts, state-of-the-art interactive panels & a gangbusters half-hour long film, you’ll meet the men & women, famous & obscure, who shaped the city into the vital force it is today.
Best Museum for Hipsters: PS 1 Contemporary Art Center. The Queens offshoot of the Museum of Modern Art not only displays the most adventurous of contemporary art, it holds a groovy series of outdoor parties each summer, & houses a dazzling restaurant (M. Welles Dinette) on its ground floor. Coming here is always an adventure.
Best Home Posing as a Museum: The Louis Armstrong House Museum. This unassuming house in Queens was Satchmo’s home for almost 30 years, & it’s been preserved almost exactly as it was when he died in 1971. A memorable & moving visit.
West 4th Street (Positively): This street runs east/west (more or less) through the heart of Greenwich Village. It skirts the southern end of Washington Square Park & then plunges into the heart of the West Village. To my mind, this street, on the stretch between Seventh Avenue & West 12th Street (yes, W. 4th St. runs into W. 12th St.) is the most beautiful in New York. If you’re lucky enough to walk it on a snowy evening with the lamplights illuminating the falling flakes or at dusk on a warm summer evening with leafy shadows everywhere, you’ll be transported.
Prince Street: This SoHo street has a brief run of just 10 blocks, from Bowery to MacDougal, but it’s an exquisite walk. It’s chock-full of atmosphere & history. The walk will take you by the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral—the city’s first cathedral—and its gorgeous old brick wall. Just a few steps west is McNally Jackson, a marvelous independent bookstore where you can pause & browse.
Irving Place: This is another small gem, running a mere 6 blocks between 14th Street & Gramercy Park, not terribly far from Union Square. It takes you by Pete’s Tavern, a grand old dive that’s been around for 150 years. When you reach the street’s apex, you can finish off this lovely little walk with a stroll around Gramercy Park, a tiny park that, alas, is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence & can only be entered by those who live in the neighborhood.
Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn: The train ride from Manhattan is a small price to pay to enjoy the still-undiscovered-by-tourists vibe on this Brooklyn thoroughfare. The Park Slope neighborhood in general is full of scenic nooks, but you could spend an entire day just checking out the cool shops, clubs, brownstones, & restaurants lining Fifth Avenue between Bergen & 9th streets. Streets like this are the reason people move to Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Heights: This was the very first designated historic district in New York City, & you’ll understand why when you stroll through its blocks of pristine 19th-century row houses, brownstones, & mansions. Plus there is no better view of Manhattan & New York Harbor than from the Heights’ famous promenade.
Greenwich Village: With its historic winding streets, cozy restaurants, & eccentric characters, Greenwich Village lives up to its reputation.
Chinatown: You don’t so much stroll here as push your way through crowds, peer in the windows of herbal medicine stores & jewelry marts, & fend off counterfeit bag sellers. But if I’ve made this walk sound like a drag, I’ve done my job poorly, as there are few areas as fascinating to explore despite its teeming streets.
Brighton Beach & Coney Island: Explore the all-Slavic Brighton Beach first, with its stores selling Russian-nesting dolls, elaborate samovars & all sorts of Russian food items. Then hit the boardwalk & walk half a mile to the classic fun fest that is Coney Island.
The Upper East Side: Madison Avenue from the upper 60s to the mid-80s is still one of the best window-shopping stretches on the planet, & when you get tired of staring at overpriced baubles, you can duck into the side-streets between Fifth Avenue & Madison for an array of historic townhouses just as dazzling.
Harlem: Harlem encompasses a large area where historic homes, lovingly preserved, abound. I think you’ll be impressed by the architectural beauty, but beyond that, by the local spirit, which you’ll experience in the area’s restaurants, bars, churches, & stores.
In the Bronx: Spend the morning at the Bronx Zoo or the New York Botanical Garden, & then head to Arthur Avenue, the Little Italy of the Bronx, for an authentic Italian feast.
In Brooklyn: You can take a look at what’s on at the always exciting Brooklyn Museum, then get some fresh air with a stroll in nearby, lovely Prospect Park. Cap it off with a real egg cream & some comfort food at Tom's Restaurant, a beloved NYC diner. Or head for Coney Island, whose face is constantly changing. Go in the summer, hit the beach, the amusement park, the aquarium, Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, and/or maybe a Cyclones baseball game. It’s a schlep, but one you will never forget.
In Queens: Take the 7 train, the International Express, to the Queens Museum, on the grounds of the 1964 World’s Fair, or the Louis Armstrong House Museum. If it’s the right time of year, take in a Mets game or wander the grounds of the U.S. Open. On your way back, stop for a meal at any of the ethnic restaurants you will find within close proximity of the no. 7 train. If you have kids with you (or are a person who loves learning about how things work), stop in at the quirky & wonderful Museum of the Moving Image, dedicated to the arts of film, TV, video games, & (recently) computer-generated arts.
Central Park: With its carousel, zoo, two ice-skating rinks, pools (depending on the season), playgrounds, & ball fields, Central Park is a children’s wonderland.
Bronx Zoo: This is one of the great zoos in the world—and you don’t have to be a kid to love it.
Museum of the Moving Image: Make your own photo flip-book, dub your voice over Julie Andrew’s in a clip from Mary Poppins, or play classic video games from the '80s together. This highly interactive museum—it’s dedicated to the craft of making movies, TV shows, & video games—is a blast for people of all ages.
Coney Island: It’s not a theme park (yet!), just an old-fashioned amusement park on the beach. Nearby is the New York Aquarium, Keyspan Park (home of minor league baseball's Brooklyn Cyclones), & Nathan’s Famous hot dogs. What more could a kid want?
American Museum of Natural History: This museum does things big. Most kids will be in awe of the massive whale hanging from the ceiling of the Marine Mammals Hall, the huge reconstructed dinosaurs, & the life-sized dioramas. When they get tired of looking, there are also numerous interactive exhibits in the Discovery Center & the Planetarium.
The New Victory Theater: The best kid-appropriate shows from around the globe play here, everything from "new vaudeville" acts to pared-down Shakespeare productions to dance.
Central Park: This park inspired others across the United States & abroad. As one of the world’s great urban refuges, it remains a center of calm & tranquility on this clamorous island.
Prospect Park: The other masterwork by Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux (designers of Central Park): Seeing it is a delightful exercise in compare-and-contrast.
High Line: Located in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, this quirky, handsome park (opened in 2009) was once an elevated structure for freight trains. It’s immensely popular & a good object lesson in how New York City is constantly reinventing itself.
Best Cheap Eats: When the most celebrated chef in town (Daniel Humm, chef at what was named the “best restaurant in the world” in 2017) opens a slow-food/fast service joint, it’s time to join the line to get in to Made Nice.. Charging just $11-$15 for bowls of grain with expertly sourced & braised proteins, & salads that are downright ambrosial—who cares that you’re eating off a tray?
Most Romantic Restaurant: I’ll have to go classic French on this one & suggest Daniel. The food is exquisite, as is the decor, & the waitstaff are veritable cupids, who seem to know, instinctively, when to top off a glass & when not to interrupt a conversation.
Most Family-Friendly Restaurant for Those with Kids over 8: Why not give your children a cultural experience along with a feeding? At Robataya, they’ll experience the best of cooked Japanese cuisine (almost no sushi here), while being served by a genuine Japanese chef who grills all the food in front of you with an intensity of concentration that’s fascinating to behold.
Most Family-Friendly Restaurant for Those with Kids Under 8: John's Times Square is set in a huge former church, so the tables are far enough apart that nobody gets upset when the younger folk kick up a fuss. & what kid doesn't like pizza?
Best Place to Go with a Group: Head to Mission Chinese & soon the old-fashioned lazy susan in the middle of the table will be spinning as your group digs into some of the kookiest (and tastiest) riffs on Chinese food you've ever tasted. Since you'll want to try everything on the menu, the bigger the group, the better.
Best Splurge: This is a tough one, but I’ll have to go with the endless, unusual, & delicious tasting menu at Aska. Serving nouveau Scandinavian fare, it features many items that are foraged right outside the city, & aren’t usually considered edible (I’m looking at you lichen). Service is unhurried & extremely warm, & tables are set a civilized distance one from the next. A truly grown-up & exciting culinary adventure.
Best Old School Gotham dining experience: Still a classic, & still serving the tenderest steaks in town, Peter Luger Steakhouse is the place to come when you want a taste of olde New York.
Best New School Gotham dining experience: At Marea you’ll be digging into the most creative Italian food you’ve likely ever tasted, in a chic & contemporary dining room filled with the biggest of bigwigs.
Most Fun Fusion Food: How about some matzoh ball ramen? That's just one of the delectable specialties at Shalom Japan, a tiny restaurant with big ambitions that serves up some mighty tasty, if mighty weird, food.
Best Concert Hall: Carnegie Hall. There’s a reason every musician dreams of playing here someday. The acoustics are exquisite, the look of the place lovely, & the ghosts of stars past ever-so-friendly.
Best Jazz Club: The Village Vanguard. It's the real thing. All of the greats have performed here, & because of the Vanguard’s savvy bookers, this is where the current generation’s stars (often up-and-coming) play, too.
Best Rock Bar/Club: Mercury Lounge. The ideal live-music rock 'n roll bar. Top talent, just the right amount of grit.
Best Children’s Theater: The New Victory Theater. Savvy programmers bring in the top children’s productions from around the globe, from circus shows to plays to dance & performance art works.
Best Comedy Club: Upright Citizens Brigade. The brilliance of the performers here, who are walking the tightrope of making up everything as they go along, will blow you away.
Best Cocktail Bar: Death & Co. This one’s a close race, because the bartenders at this joint, Pegu Club, PDT, The Shanty, & Employees Only are friendly & swap recipes. But I’m going out on a limb to say that the cocktails here are both the most balanced & the most inventive.
Best Speakeasy: PDT. Hidden behind a secret-panel in the phone booth of a hot dog stand, PDT (it stands for Please Don’t Tell) serves some of the most expertly (and creatively) mixed cocktails in the city, in a hidden space that feels oh-so-exclusive.
Best Dive Bar: Dublin House. Need a shot of whiskey at 10am in a place where no one will bat an eye? Head to this old-fashioned Irish pub that started life as a speakeasy in the 1920's (and doesn't look like it's been renovated since the 1960's).
Best Brooklyn Bar: The Shanty. The cocktails here are made with liquors distilled on site, along with artisanal brands from around the globe. Grab a perfectly mixed Dorothy Parker gin martini, sit back, & enjoy life.
Best Hotel Bar: Bemelman's at the Hotel Carlyle. It’s not a cheap experience, but enjoying an excellent jazz trio, Manhattan in hand, in this hoity toity watering hole, is one of those experiences that seem taken right from a Woody Allen movie. Classic.
Best Gay Bar: The Monster. Sure, the overall scene is hotter in Hell’s Kitchen than it is in the Village nowadays. But men have rediscovered this classic Village bar in the last 3 years, & are flocking to its weekend tea dances & second-floor piano bar.
Best Gadget Store: B & H. The top place on the East Coast to get deep discounts on cameras, TVs, computers, & other electronics. & because 50% of their sales are now online, service has gotten much less rushed. The salespeople are real experts.
Best Department Store: Bloomingdales. A mix of pricey, & slightly less pricey clothing, homewares, cosmetics, & more, all in a festive store where new goods come in each week.
Best Bargain Department Store: Century 21 (multiple locations). Come early on weekdays to avoid the crowds at this wild designer-markdown emporium.
Best Vintage Store: Beacon’s Closet (multipal locations). A minichain with several stores in Brooklyn & one in Manhattan stocking some of the best, most affordable clothing in town.
Best Clothing Shopping Zone: SoHo, NoHo, & Nolita. Three neighborhoods together create the best single area for roaming & shopping among the newest, trendiest boutiques.
Best Bookstore: The Strand. This local legend is worth a visit for the staggering "18 miles of books"—new & used titles at up to 85% off the list price.
Best Old-World Sweets Store: Economy Candy. All of the goodies you loved as a kid, in a densely packed candy store. It also carries excellent dried fruits & nuts if you're feeling virtuous.
Best Beauty Store: C. O. Bigelow. The motto here—“If you can’t get it anywhere else, try Bigelow’s”—is right on the money. This 162-year-old apothecary (the oldest in the nation) carries the brands you can’t find anywhere, plus its own excellent house label of personal-care products.
Best Old-World Jewish Food Store: Russ & Daughters. This smoked-fish purveyor has been a mainstay on the Lower East Side since 1914 (or 1908, if you count its push-cart days). As with DiPalo’s, the Russ family has been in charge since the beginning.
Best Homewares Store: ABC Carpet & Home. This magical (and pricey) two-building emporium is legendary, & it deserves to be: It’s the ultimate home fashions & furnishings store, with everything from zillion-thread-count sheets to enchanting children’s furniture.
New York has so much going for it, the good overwhelms the bad. But there is bad, & I’m not talking about the obvious. I'm talking about experiences that might be perceived as good, but take my word for it: They are not. So, despite what you have heard, the following are a few experiences you can avoid:
New Year's Eve in Times Square: You see it on television every year, & now you’re here. This is your chance to be one of the thousands of revelers packed together in the frigid cold to watch the ball drop. Don’t do it! Despite the happy faces you see on TV, the whole thing is a miserable experience & not worth the forced elation of blowing on a noisemaker at midnight with half a million others. You won’t find many New Yorkers here; we know better.
Three-Card Monte: When you see a crowd gathered around a cardboard box with one man flipping cards, madly enticing innocent rubes into his game, while another guy scans the crowd for undercover cops, keep on walking. Don't stop & listen to the dealer's spiel or think you can be the one to beat him at his game. You can't. Buy a lottery ticket instead; your odds are much better.
Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides: Pity those poor beasts of burden. They get dragged out in the heat (though not extreme heat) & cold (though not extreme cold) with a buggy attached just to give passengers the feel of an old-world, romantic buggy ride through Central Park. But the horses look so forlorn, as if it’s the last thing they want to do. & they don’t even get a cut of the generous take: It's generally $50 for a 20-minute ride, excluding tip. There is also a periodic effort to totally ban these rides, but it hasn’t taken hold—yet. If you want a slow, leisurely ride through Central Park, minus the ripe & frequent smell of horse poop, consider an alternative called Manhattan Rickshaw Company (www.manhattanrickshaw.com). The beast of burden has two legs, & pedals you & a companion in the back of a pedicab, where the rate is negotiable but is usually $15–$30 for a street hail ride; call to arrange a guided tour.
Chain Restaurants: Oh yes; they're here, probably to stay—and most likely with more to come. I'm referring to those restaurants with familiar names like Olive Garden, Applebee's, Red Lobster, & Domino's. When you begin to feel the pangs of hunger, ask yourself: Did I come to New York to eat what I can eat in every city or town in this country? Or did I come here to experience what makes New York so unique? Well, that includes the amazing variety of unchained restaurants, from the coffee shops & diners to the bargain-priced ethnic cuisine & higher-end dining experiences. So bypass the old standards, & try something different & exciting. You won't regret it.
Driving in the City: Do you really want to have to maneuver your car in heavy traffic, battling yellow cabs, & searching fruitlessly for a legal parking spot? With its subways & buses (and your feet), New York has the best & fastest public transportation. A car is a luxury you want no part of.
Waiting on Lines for Breakfast: (And please note, New Yorkers wait on line, not in line.) Sometimes New Yorkers can be masochistic—and silly. They hear about a restaurant that serves a great breakfast, & they begin lining up on weekend mornings to eat. Sometimes they wait for over an hour, standing outside, winter or summer, to order pancakes, omelets, or whatever else the breakfast menu offers. They do this even though many coffee shops & diners are serving patrons the same foods at much less cost & without more than a minute's wait. Now what would you do?
Best Parade: West Indian–American Day Carnival & Parade. Held on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, this is the biggest parade in New York. The music (calypso, soca, reggae, & Latin), the costumes, & the Caribbean food make this unforgettable. If you’re lucky enough to be in town on Labor Day, don’t miss it.
Best Season in New York: Christmas. Come see the Christmas trees on Park Avenue, the big crystal snowflake hanging above the intersection of 57th Street & Fifth Avenue, the trees at Rockefeller Center & Lincoln Center, the menorah at Grand Army Plaza at Fifth & 59th Street, & the decorations in department store windows, restaurants, & hotels. & even though the crowds, especially around Midtown & Rockefeller Center, might bring out the Scrooge in you, the atmosphere is almost always festive & like no other time of year.
Best Time of Year to Come to New York: Summer. Most people prefer the temperate days of fall to visit New York, & that’s when the city is most crowded. But my personal favorite season is summer, when the streets are less crowded, restaurants & shows are easier to get into, & free outdoor cultural events abound.
Best Day to Come to New York: New Year’s Day. The holidays are over; you’ve had enough festivity—see above—and you’ve wisely skipped the insanity of New Year’s Eve & arisen fresh & (relatively) sober. Get out on the town early; you'll have the city practically to yourself.
Ask New Yorkers about their feelings for their city, & they will often respond, “There’s just one New York.” By that they mean: one city so full of museums (more than 40 major ones); historical sites; world-famous institutions; parks; zoos; universities; lectures; concerts & recitals; theaters for opera, musicals, drama, & dance; architectural highlights; presidents’ homes; & kooky galleries. Its diversions are limitless, & you will never be bored. If you had the speed & stamina of a Usain Bolt, you would still be hard pressed to cover all of the attractions in several months of touring.
Because your own time is more limited than that, I’m confining my coverage to two categories of sights in this chapter: First, the city’s “iconic” attractions, by which I mean the places universally associated with Gotham—the headliners that make the city so massively popular. These include the major museums (the Metropolitan Museum of Art & the Guggenheim, just to name two); the great historical & architectural sites (including Grand Central Station & the Brooklyn Bridge); and, in a category all its own, New York’s most sobering site: the 9/11 Memorial.
Second are the less famous attractions that, if they were magically transported to almost any other city in America, would instantly become that city’s top cultural draw & bring it acclaim, prestige, & millions of dollars in tourist revenue (no, I do not exaggerate). These attractions—such as the Tenement Museum, the Museum of the Moving Image, The Frick Collection—while lesser known, can add immensely to a New York City visit. & therefore it’s important occasionally to step off the tourist treadmill (Empire State, Times Square, Statue of Liberty) & try one of the so-called secondary sights. If you have the time, visit at least one of the places you might never have heard of before consulting this website.
CityPass is New York’s best sightseeing deal. Pay one price ($114 or $89 for kids 6–17) for admission to six major attractions:
The American Museum of Natural History (including the Space Show)
The Guggenheim Museum or Top of the Rock
The Empire State Building
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum or The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, or a 2-hour Circle Line harbor cruise.
Individual tickets would cost more than twice as much, though I should point out that the "Met" (Metropolitan Museum of Art) & Museum of Natural History charge only "suggested" admission fees, so that you can actually pay less.
More important, CityPass is not a coupon book. It contains actual tickets, so you can bypass lengthy lines. This can save you hours, as sights such as the Empire State Building often have ticket lines of an hour or more.
CityPass is good for 9 days from the first time you use it. It’s sold at all participating attractions & online at www.citypass.com/city/ny. You can download & self-print the pass or you may buy the pass at your first attraction (start at an attraction that’s likely to have the shortest admission line, such as the Guggenheim). However, if you begin your sightseeing on a weekend or during holidays, when lines are longest, online purchase is the smarter way to go.
American Museum of Natural History -- B, C to 81st Street
The Cloisters -- A to 190th Street
Ellis Island -- 4, 5 to Bowling Green or N, R to Whitehall Street 1 to South Ferry
Guggenheim Museum -- 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum -- A, C, E to 42nd Street–Port Authority
Metropolitan Museum of Art -- 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street
Museum of Modern Art -- E to Fifth Avenue or B, D, F to 47th–50th streets–Rockefeller Center
Brooklyn Bridge -- 4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall
Chrysler Building -- 4, 5, 6, 7, S to Grand Central–42nd Street
Empire State Building -- B, D, F, N, R, Q to 34th Street–Herald Square
Grand Central Terminal -- 4, 5, 6, 7, S to Grand Central–42nd Street
Rockefeller Center -- B, D, F to 47th–50th streets–Rockefeller Center
Staten Island Ferry -- 1 to South Ferry (first five cars)
United Nations -- 4, 5, 6, 7, S to Grand Central–42nd Street
Yankee Stadium -- 4, B, D to 161st River Avenue–Yankee Stadium
Chinatown -- 6, J, M, Z, N, R, Q to Canal Street
Greenwich Village -- A, C, E, B, D, F to West 4th Street
Times Square -- 1, 2, 3, 7, N, R, S to 42nd Street–Times Square
Wall Street -- 4, 5 to Wall Street or N, R to Rector Street
Cathedral of St. John the Divine -- 1 to Cathedral Parkway (110th St.)
St. Patrick’s Cathedral -- B, D, F to 47th–50th streets–Rockefeller Center or E to Fifth Avenue–53rd Street
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Tenement Museum
The Mall, Bethesda Terrace & the Loeb Boathouse
The Frick Collection
Statue of Liberty
Smorgasburg
Rockefeller Center
Museum of the Moving Image
Metropolitan Museum of Art
High Line Park
Free Tours by Foot
Empire State Building
Ellis Island
Conservatory Gardens
Chrysler Building
Central Park
Brooklyn Bridge
Bronx Zoo
American Museum of Natural History
9/11 Memorial & Museum
Woolworth Building
Washington Square Park
Wall Street & the New York Stock Exchange
United Nations
Top of the Rock
The Tour at NBC Studios
The Museum of the American Gangster
The Morgan Library & Museum
The Jewish Museum
The Cloisters
Staten Island Ferry
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Rubin Museum of Art
Prospect Park
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
One World Observatory
New York Waterway
New York Public Library
New York City Opera
Museum of the City of New York
Museum of Modern Art
Mmuseumm
Louis Armstrong House Museum
Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum
Hudson River Park Carousel & Skatepark
Hudson River Park
Green-Wood Cemetery
Grand Central Station
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms
Flatiron Building
Federal Reserve Bank
David Zwirner
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Conservatory Waters
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
Chelsea Piers
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Bridge Park
Big Onion Tours
Belvedere Castle & the Delacorte
Its competitors are Hong Kong & Paris, Brussels & San Francisco, & Rome & New Orleans. But I'll argue hard that none of these other great restaurant cities has quite the same number of serious, satisfying eateries as New York, nor its amazing variety of cuisines in every price range . . . & quirk. Would you believe restaurants that serve only mac n’ cheese or peanut butter concoctions—and flourish doing so?
How did the surprising volume & variety of NYC restaurants come about?
New York has a larger & more varied immigrant population than any of the other foremost restaurant cities—and that means ethnic specialties of every sort.
New York has an unprecedented number of top-notch cooking schools, the offices of international magazines devoted to the art of cooking, & the headquarters of the Food Channel.
The pace of life here is more hectic & pressured than in other famous restaurant cities, creating a vast population with "no time to cook."
Mix all these reasons together, sauté them over the bright flame of the city’s celebrity, & you have a mecca for foodies, a place where people obsess over the gratification of their taste buds without anyone thinking it is odd. In China, one way of saying "hello" is to ask, "Have you eaten?" In Gotham, we say, "Where have you eaten—and do you need a reservation?"
Reservations are always a good idea in New York, & a necessity for popular restaurants. Call far ahead for any special meal you don’t want to miss. Most top places start taking reservations 30 days in advance. If you’re booking a holiday dinner, call even earlier, or head to OpenTable.com, a reservations site that handles more than 200 NYC restaurants, as soon as you decide on the date of your dinner.
But if you didn’t call well ahead, don’t despair. Often, early or late hours—between 5:30 & 6:30pm or after 9pm—are available, especially on weeknights. & most restaurants have bar seating, for which one needs no reservations. Or go for lunch, which is usually much easier to book without advance notice. If you’re staying at a hotel with a concierge, don’t be afraid to use him or her—a well-connected concierge can often get you into hot spots.
But what if they don’t take reservations? Lots of restaurants, especially at the affordable end of the price continuum, don’t take reservations at all. One of the ways they keep prices down is by packing people in as quickly as possible. Thus, the best cheap & midprice restaurants often have a wait. Again, your best bet is to go early. Often you can get in more quickly on a weeknight. Or just go, knowing that you’re going to have to wait if you head to a popular spot; hunker down with a cocktail at the bar & enjoy the festivities around you.
Tipping is easy in New York. The way to do it: Double the 8.75% sales tax & voilà, happy waitstaff. Don’t forget to tip: Waiters make less than minimum wage & are taxed on what the government expects them to make in tips. So when you stiff the waiter, he not only loses that extra bit of income, he still has to pay taxes on it.
Leave $1 per item, no matter how small, for the checkroom attendant. You don’t need to tip the host who escorts you to your table. Note: In mid-2015, restauranteur Danny Myer (of The Modern, The Union Square Cafe, & a number of other celebrated restaurants) announced that his eateries would adopt a "no tipping" allowed policy, raising food prices to pay extra to the staff. So far, not many other restaurant owners have followed Myer's lead, but do check, when you get the bill, to see if service is included.
Restaurant "Week: is a bit of a misnomer: In winter it can last up to a month, & in summer restaurant week it is usually two-weeks long. Week or month, it's a welcome time when, twice a year, some of the best restaurants in town offer three-course prix-fixe meals at almost affordable prices. Restaurant Week began as a one-off in 1992 to welcome delegates to the Democratic National Convention (with the price of a meal $19.92). A hit with New Yorkers as well as visitors, it's become a much-loved tradition, as foodies get a chance to eat at some of the higher-end restaurants in town without breaking the bank. Visit www.nycvisit.com for dates, a list of participating eateries & current prix fixe prices.
Of course, New York has far more fabulous dining than I have room to discuss here—although the listings here are enough to keep you fat & happy for a year, much less the length of a vacation. But if you’d like a wider selection, a few good sources are available online or from your local bookstore.
Your best online sources are the online arm of the weekly New York magazine (www.nymag.com), the New York Times’ arts & lifestyle site, where you can access a database of the paper’s stellar restaurant reviews & blogs; & the national www.eater.com which has a New York section For a good online source of menus, try www.menupages.com, which has more than 6,000 of them online.
The slick weekly Time Out New York has an “Eat Out” section in every issue, as well as coverage of new openings & dining trends. Weekly New York magazine also maintains extensive restaurant listings in its listings section at the back of the magazine.
$$$ Aska New Nordic Brooklyn
$$$ The NoMad American The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$$ Tertulia Spanish/Tapas Greenwich Village
$$$ Sushi Yasuda Japanese Midtown East & Murray Hill
$$$ Peter Luger Steakhouse Steak Brooklyn
$$$ Scarpetta Italian Chelsea
$$$ Marea Italian/Seafood Times Square & Midtown West
$$$ Maialino Italian The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$$ Locanda Verde Italian Tribeca
$$$ Gato Mediterannean Soho & Nolita
$$$ EN Japanese Brasserie Japanese Greenwich Village
$$$ Eataly Italian The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$$ Daniel French Upper East Side
$$$ Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare Gourmet American Brooklyn
$$$ Blanca Gourmet American Brooklyn
$$ Shalom Japan Fusion Brooklyn
$$ Robataya Japanese East Village & Noho
$$ The Breslin Gastropub The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$ Momofuku Ssam Bar Asian The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$ Mission Chinese Chinese/Fusion Chinatown
$$ Jones Wood Foundry British Upper East Side
$$ ilili Restaurant Lebanese The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$ Huertas Spanish East Village & Noho
$$ Gloria Seafood Times Square & Midtown West
$$ Dirt Candy Vegetarian Lower East Side
$$ Cho Dang Gool Korean Times Square & Midtown West
$ Mile End Sandwich Deli East Village & Noho
$ Made Nice American The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$ Keste Pizza & Vino Pizza Greenwich Village
$ Ippudo NY Japanese The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$ Mr. Donohue American Soho & Nolita
$ Morgenstern's Ice Cream Parlor Lower East Side
$ Chikalicious Dessert East Village & Noho
$ Sripraphai Thai Restaurant Thai Queens
$ Shake Shack Burgers The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$ Smorgasburg Market Brooklyn
$$ Acme Scandinavian East Village & Noho
$$ Smorgas Chef Scandinavian Financial District
$$ Red Rooster American/Scandinavian Harlem
$$$ The Simone French Upper East Side
$$$ The Mark Restaurant Contemporary American Upper East Side
$$$ The Dutch American Soho & Nolita
$$$ Sammy’s Famous Romanian Restaurant Roumanian Lower East Side
$$$ Ristorante Morini Italian Upper East Side
$$$ Prime & Beyond Steaks East Village & NoHo
$$$ Maysville American Regional The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$$ Flora Bar Contemporary American Upper East Side
$$$ Cosme Mexican The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$$ Contra Gourmet American Lower East Side
$$$ Boulud Sud Mediterranean Upper West Side
$$$ Batard Gourmet American Tribeca
$$$ Balthazar French Soho & Nolita
$$$ Aquavit Scandinavian Midtown East & Murray Hill
$$ White Gold Butchers Steakhouse/American Upper West Side
$$ Toloache Mexican Times Square & Midtown West
$$ Talde Asian Fusion Brooklyn
$$ Spotted Pig British Greenwich Village
$$ Shabu Tatsu Japanese East Village & Noho
$$ Santina Mediterranean Meatpacking District
$$ Russ & Daughters Café Deli Upper East Side
$$ Pure Food & Wine Vegetarian The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$ Pearl Oyster Bar Seafood Greenwich Village
$$ Nur Gourmet Middle Eastern The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$ Noreetuh Hawaiian East Village & Noho
$$ Nix Vegetarian The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
$$ M. Wells Dinette American Queens
$$ Lilia Restaurant Italian Brooklyn
$$ La Vara Spanish Brooklyn
$$ Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria Italian East Village & Noho
$$ Ikinari Steak Steakhouse East Village & Noho
$$ Hecho en Dumbo Mexican East Village & Noho
$$ Hao Noodle & Tea by Madame Zhu’s Kitchen Chinese Greenwich Village
$$ Gotham West Market Gourmet Food Court Times Square & Midtown West
$$ Fishtag Seafood Upper West Side
$$ Empellon Mexican Midtown East
$$ Danji Korean Times Square & Midtown West
$$ Chola Indian Midtown East & Murray Hill
$$ Casa Enrique Mexican Queens
$$ Brooklyn Crab Seafood Brooklyn
$$ Boqueria Spanish/Tapas Soho & Nolita
$$ Acme Scandinavian East Village & Noho
$ Zoma Ethiopian Harlem
$ Zizi Limona Middle Eastern Brooklyn
$ Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitano Pizza Brooklyn
$ Tom's Restaurant Breakfast Brooklyn
$ Tim Ho Wan Chinese East Village
$ Taverna Kyclades Greek/Seafood Queens
$ Salumeria Rossi Parmacotto Italian Upper West Side
$ Royal Seafood Restaurant Chinese Chinatown
$ Rice to Riches Dessert Soho & NoLiTa
$ Mighty Quinn’s Barbecue Barbecue East Village & Noho
$ Lumpia Shack Snackbar Fillipino Greenwich Village
$ Jacob’s Pickles American Regional Upper West Side
$ Great New York Noodletown Chinese Chinatown
$ Frankie’s Spuntino 457 Italian Brooklyn
$ El Rey Coffee Bar & Luncheonette Cafe/Vegetarian Food Lower East Side
$ Coppelia Latin American Chelsea
$ Co. Pizza Chelsea
$ City Sandwich Portuguese Times Square & Midtown West
$ Brigadeiro Bakery Dessert Soho & NoLiTa
$ Big Gay Ice Cream Ice Cream Greenwich Village
$ Barney Greengrass Deli Upper West Side
Thrillist: Michelin-starred restaurants aren't known for being easy on the wallet. In fact, a typical dinner at some of the list's top-tiered eateries in New York can run multiple hundreds of dollars per person. Depending on what time you choose to eat or where you sit, however, a Michelin-approved meal can actually be -- dare we say it -- affordable. We did the math & found 19 spots where you can eat extravagantly & even have enough money left over for a drink.
Looking to dine at Michelin's triple-threat winners without going broke? You'll most likely have to go for lunch or eat at the bar, but rest assured -- the quality of the food & service will remain the same.
Eleven Madison Park: MIDTOWN WEST
Approximate cost per guest: $100 for an appetizer, entree, & dessert
It is possible to dine at EMP without a reservation -- just eat in the lounge. Boasting a 12-seat bar, plus a plush leather banquette flanked by wooden tables, the drop-in-only space makes for an equally luxe experience. Chef Daniel Humm's lounge menu is succinct -- four each of appetizers & main courses, two vegetable sides, & three desserts -- with prices ranging from $24 to $56. It's by no means cheap, but you can easily cover a three-course meal for two (plus cocktails!) with the $295 required for the prix fixe.
Jean Georges Restaurant: MIDTOWN WEST
Approximate cost per guest: $52 for two courses at lunch
At $52 for two courses, lunch at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Central Park gem feels like a downright steal when compared to the $138 dinner (it's a whopping $218 for the tasting of JG signatures). Diners will find many of the same premium dishes, too, like yellowfin tuna ribbons, spicy peekytoe crab salad, or, for an extra $12, four small themed desserts (chocolate, tropical, etc.).
Le Bernardin: MIDTOWN WEST
Approximate cost per guest: $49 for the lunch tasting
Eat well, do good, & save money -- that sums up the City Harvest lunch at chef Eric Ripert's revered French restaurant. Available weekdays at Le Bernardin's lofty front lounge, the three courses not only offer a budget-friendly taste of Ripert's award-winning seafood preparations (ingredients change weekly), but $5 from every meal also gets donated to the menu's namesake nonprofit.
Of the city's 10 two-star winners, five have à la carte menus -- here's how to fill up at them for $80 or less.
Aquavit: MIDTOWN EAST
Approximate cost per guest: Around $50 for four shared plates
Aquavit chef Emma Bengtsson worked her way from pastry chef to executive chef, becoming the second woman in the US to command a two-star Michelin kitchen (the other being San Francisco's Dominique Crenn). At the bar, à la carte plates like country pate combining venison, duck liver, & foie gras & house-made gravlax serve as an excellent -- & affordable -- intro to Bengtsson's fresh Nordic cooking.
THE MODERN: MIDTOWN WEST
Approximate cost per guest: Around $58 for a shared appetizer & two entrees
After longtime executive chef Gabriel Kreuther left to open his eponymous restaurant (which received its own one-star nod), Danny Meyer tapped Abram Bissell to lead the kitchen at The Modern, a move that gave it a Michelin bump. The newly minted two-star venue recently reopened after a month-long renovation that included an upgrade of the bar area, where a by-the-dish menu is available. With 27 items to choose from & all but one costing under $40 (prices include hospitality, too), it's an economical way to sample Bissell's playful, ingredient-focused fare for less.
JUNGSIK: TRIBECA
Approximate cost per guest: $82 for five of the most expensive items
Using Jungsik's "choice" menu, guests can essentially craft their own tasting of chef Jung Sik Yim's modern Korean cooking. Even if you order the priciest dish from each category (appetizer, rice, seafood, meat, & dessert), you can still come out ahead of the normal $190-per-person tasting by splitting the bill.
Marea: MIDTOWN WEST
Approximate cost per guest: $52 for a two-course lunch prix fixe
The $52 two-course power lunch at Michael White's pricey Midtown establishment is nearly half the cost of the most expensive dinner entree, a whole branzino for two at $98. It's also quite extensive, with a crudi or antipasti as the first course & pasta or protein as the second. & there's plenty to choose from, like the restaurant's signature octopus fusilli, a Creekstone Farms sirloin, or seared scallops with cauliflower.
Daniel: UPPER EAST SIDE
Approximate cost per guest: Around $75 for a shared appetizer & individual entree
No time (or cash) for the sit-down tasting at Daniel Boulud's double-starred flagship? Snag a seat in the bar & lounge room, where you can sample surprisingly generous dishes à la carte, ranging from $33 to $66. It'll feel like a more leisurely affair here, but the staff doesn't skimp on hospitality -- you'll be getting the same winning service as prix fixe diners, plus an elegant, jazzy ambience.
Some restaurants on the one-star list are always a steal. Take, for example, Cafe China, where the most expensive dish is a $28 tilapia, or Casa Enrique, where two tacos will only set you back $10. To come up with this list, we did some creative number-crunching for seven places where $50 is normally just a drop in the bucket.
AGERN: MIDTOWN EAST
Approximate cost per guest: Around $52 for a shared app & individual main
Tucked away inside Grand Central Terminal, you'll find the new-Nordic restaurant from chefs Claus Meyer & Gunnar Gíslason showcasing locally farmed ingredients. There are separate à la carte options, which means you can feast on the salt-baked beets that everyone has been talking about for a reasonable $24. Between the no-tipping policy & the crusty loaf of complimentary bread, you'll be able to fill up at a fraction of the $180 prix fixe.
Delaware & Hudson: WILLIAMSBURG
Approximate cost per guest: Around $30 for shared appetizers, mains, & beer
At $65, chef Patti Jackson's prix fixe menu is already one of the best deals in town, but further savings can be had by dining in Delaware & Hudson's Tavern extension right next door. Jackson also draws inspiration from the Mid-Atlantic region for the pub menu, turning out dishes like schnitz und nepp (a ham-and-dumpling specialty from Pennsylvania) & a skate schnitzel sandwich to go with large-format beers from the area.
GABRIEL KREUTHER: BRYANT PARK
Approximate cost per guest: Around $50 for two tartes & a half-bottle of wine
The strategy here is easy: you, the bar, one of Gabriel Kreuther's famed tarte flambees. With its cozy white leather banquettes & fairly comprehensive menu -- including a long, award-winning wine list -- the front room is by no means a subpar experience. You can also drop by Kreuther's dessert annex, where pastry chef Marc Aumont turns out beautiful chocolate bonbons & small desserts.
Sushi Inoue: HARLEM
Approximate cost per guest: $52 for the "Favorite Trio"
Sushi master Shinichi Inoue moved from one end of Manhattan to another, but he's still a Michelin winner. Unlike the traditional omakase at his former restaurant, Tribeca's Sushi Azabu, the offerings at Inoue's new uptown home are looser & more creative -- think torched saltwater eel & raw shrimp topped with chili pepper. Diners at the bar must do the set menu, but those at the table can cobble together a meal with à la carte pieces & rolls -- or go with the least expensive "trio" omakase with three pieces of tuna, salmon, & white fish.
La Sirena: CHELSEA
Approximate cost per guest: Around $35 for five shared tapas
Don't be fooled by the fancy, white-tablecloth interior of Mario Batali & Joe Bastianich's sprawling restaurant inside Chelsea's Maritime Hotel -- prices, while on the high side, aren't completely out of reach. Our strategy? Dine at the barroom Tapas Bar, where chef Anthony Sasso -- who garnered a Michelin sparkler at Casa Mono -- has put together a menu of creative Spanish-influenced small plates like twice-fried patatas bravas with miso-uni mayo & mini-blood sausage "hot dogs."
DOVETAIL: UPPER WEST SIDE
Approximate cost per guest: $68
There are a number of ways to sample John Fraser's vegetable-forward cooking at a fraction of the cost. Eat early (a pre-theater option is available daily through 6:30pm), eat on Sundays (when there's a three-course "Sundae Suppa"), or eat vegetarian (Dovetail hosts an all-veg, four-course tasting on Mondays) -- all three are priced at $68 per person, well below the usual $145 chef's tasting price tag.
BABBO: WEST VILLAGE
Approximate cost per guest: $49
The Batali-Bastianich West Village powerhouse pares down its individual prices in the afternoon, but wallet-watching diners should opt for the $49 tasting, a four-course meal that closes with the enoteca's beloved olive oil cake. The only caveat? The entire table must participate in order to get the deal.
15 EAST: UNION SQUARE
Approximate cost per guest: $35
Not only is the afternoon a good time to eat on the cheap at this pristine fish den, it's also when you get the best deal overall -- & the proof is in the math. The nighttime sushi omakase costs $65 for 10 pieces; the lunch option is $35 for seven pieces, plus half a roll. Average that out & the nigiri rings up to $6.50 each at dinner, but only $5 each at lunch -- & that's not even counting the extra half-roll.
CARBONE: SOHO
Approximate cost per guest: Under $50, if you order strategically
At $65, Carbone's veal Parm may be out of budget, but order smartly with a friend at Mario Carbone & Rich Torrisi's retro red sauce palace & your table of two can actually get away with dining for less than $100. A combination of appetizer (chopped salad, $18), pasta (spicy rigatoni vodka, $29), & meat (cherry pepper ribs, $38) comes out to $42 person -- plus, the portions are as extravagant as the prices, so you'll likely be walking out with leftovers.
Gotham Bar & Grill: UNION SQUARE
Approximate cost per guest: Up to $38
Lunch is the best time to eat affordably at this New American mainstay helmed by Alfred Portale. Entrees max out at $27 for dishes that will actually fill you up: local albacore tuna nicoise, sweet corn tortellini, & the Gotham burger (fries included), for example. There's also Gotham's famed greenmarket lunch, a $38 three-course meal highlighting ingredients sourced from the nearby Union Square farmers market.
La Vara: COBBLE HILL
Approximate cost per guest: Roughly $35 -- the average cost is $14 per dish, & you could easily get by on five dishes split between two people.
The plates at Alex Raij & Eder Montero's beloved Brooklyn tapas joint are meant to be shared, so pool your dinner budget with some friends & you can can cobble together an excellent Spanish spread -- ranging from $4 spiced chickpeas to $30 roasted suckling pig -- at a pretty reasonable rate.
It isn’t a boast but a plain fact: from opera to jazz, from nightclubs to bars, from concert recitals to theater & dance, New York offers the greatest variety & sheer quantity of evening entertainment in America.
It’s a dizzying but important subject because most visitors enjoy New York’s nightlife to the same extent they enjoy its daytime sightseeing. & in New York, unlike most other American cities, the sidewalks aren’t “rolled up” when darkness descends. In the Big Apple (one of the only cities in the country that operates its public transportation throughout the night), the bright lights stay on until 4am & you owe it to yourself to take in all the after-dark excitement.
Beyond what you find listed on this website (we tried to cherry pick only the very best), you'll find listings for changing nightlife at the following sources:
The latest, most comprehensive event, music, & nightlife listings are in Time Out New York (www.timeoutny.com), published every Thursday, listing the week’s theater, dance, comedy, music, & other options. It also notes free & cheap events, has a full gay & lesbian section, & whole separate edition for kids. For a little more selectivity, grab New York magazine (new every Monday) for their latest listings in “Agenda,” or check out the thorough venue & show reviews as well as invaluable reader comments at www.nymag.com.
As the hometown paper, the New York Times (www.nytimes.com), of course, is a staple & consistently offers thoughtful reviews & to-dos in its two-part Friday “Weekend” section. It’s a great source of cabaret, classical, & theater information, with daily listings & forecasts. Another reliable source is the New Yorker (www.newyorker.com), in its weekly “Goings on About Town” section. But no matter what, to find the shows you most want to catch, do check listings & calendars as soon as you get to town, or even before you arrive.
As for bars & lounges, in addition to places listed in this guide, there’s also Shecky’s NYC Nightlife (www.sheckysnightlife.com), a website that’s supercurrent & searchable by some two dozen criteria, from dive to karaoke to swanky & neighborhood bars. Another good online bar source is www.murphguide.com. This website has all the latest happy-hour info by neighborhood & is especially big on Irish pubs—just be wary of being led to noisy sports bars.
For theater, the folks behind the TKTS Discount Booths operate the Theatre Development Fund (tel. 212/912-9770; www.tdf.org). You can subscribe to a daily newsletter that alerts you to what tickets will be discounted at its three booths. There’s also a full list of Broadway shows at www.ilovenytheater.com =, compliments of the Broadway League.
And beware, when it comes to New York nightlife, many cocktail lounges have decided to capitalize on the profit margins behind $20-plus drinks. Usually you’re paying for the atmosphere more than the cocktail. So if that scene isn’t worth blowing your budget, there are plenty of more affordable, friendlier places to try.
Wallflower Bar
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Comedy Clubs
The Village Vanguard Jazz Clubs
The Ten Bells Wine bar
The Shanty Bar
The Dead Rabbit Bars & Pubs
The Campbell Apartment Bar
Pouring Ribbons Bar
Pegu Club Bar
PDT Bar
New York Philharmonic Performing Arts Venue
New York City Ballet Performing Arts Venue
Metropolitan Opera Performing Arts Venue
Joe’s Pub Nightclub
Hudson Malone Bars & Pubs
Employees Only Bar
Death & Company Bar
Brooklyn Academy of Music Performing Arts Venue
Bohemian Hall Beer Garden Beer Gardens
BlackTail Bar
Bemelman’s Bar Bar
As with any trip, a little preparation is essential before you start your journey to New York City. This section provides a variety of planning tools, including information on how to get there & quick, on the ground resources.
It never fails to amaze. I’m strolling along a pleasant street of small brownstones, I come to the corner, & suddenly, the landscape morphs. I’m a small ant in a canyon of skyscrapers, or else I’m a visitor to India, surrounded by cumin-scented restaurants & men with strong accents beckoning me into their curry joints. New York is a city of multiple personalities & like Sybil, they can shift on a dime, within the space of one block going from elegant to seedy, from industrial to chic, from ethnic to all-American.
It’s this quicksilver quality, this constant metamorphosis, that endows even a simple stroll in New York with real excitement. I urge you to spend at least part of your vacation simply ambling around, window-shopping, eavesdropping on passing conversations & exploring places beyond the heavily touristed areas.
Here’s what you’ll find in the various—and strikingly different—neighborhoods of New York City.
The Financial District
Best for: Museums, historic sites (like the September 11 Memorial & Museum), architecture, & access to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, & the Brooklyn Bridge
What you won’t find: Great dining, much evening entertainment
Parameters of the neighborhood: Everything south of Chambers Street
This is where New York City—then New Amsterdam—was born. The area packs the same historic punch as do colonial sections of Boston & Philadelphia. It was on Wall Street that George Washington took the oath of office as America’s first president. It was here, at Fraunces Tavern, that the Sons of Liberty gathered to plot the overthrow of the British. It was at Castle Clinton & then Ellis Island that millions of immigrants flooded the city in the 19th & 20th centuries to get their first glimpse of a "promised land". The great financial movers & shakers also stalked the area (and continue to do so today), & a visit to these "canyons of greed" at the beginning of the day or at 5pm, when those men & women in suits & trader’s smocks pour onto the streets, is an exciting sight. Recent history has overshadowed other sights & for many visitors this has become simply the place to pay respects at Ground Zero. Other top museums here include The Police Museum & The Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Chinatown (& Little Italy)
Best for: Affordable dining & shopping
What you won’t find: Top museums, streets without gridlock
Parameters of the neighborhood: Chinatown is roughly bordered by Broome Street to the north, Allen Street to the east, Worth to the south, & Lafayette Street to the west.
At points, Chinatown takes on the aspects of Shanghai or Beijing: the dense crowds on the streets, the awnings with Chinese characters, the pinging sound of Chinese conversation everywhere. It’s a fun, truly transporting area to visit & one that’s been voraciously swallowing up other neighborhoods—Little Italy, the Jewish Lower East Side—for the past few decades. In fact, except for two blocks of Mulberry Street (from Canal to Broome), strung with colored lights, Little Italy has ceased to exist & is really only a tourist-trapping shadow of its former self. There are a handful of worthwhile places to shop for Italian food, eat gelato or get Italian coffee, but no noteworthy restaurants & very few real Italian-Americans around anymore. For great, cheap eats (and shopping) stick with Asian restaurants & marts, for the most part.
TriBeCa, Nolita & Soho
Best for: Dining, bars, star-sightings, architecture, shopping
What you won’t find: Cutting-edge galleries (they’re now in Chelsea), museums
Parameters of the neighborhood: Let’s explain the names first. SoHo means “south of Houston Street”. This fashionable neighborhood extends down to Canal Street, between Sixth Avenue to the west & Lafayette Street (one block east of Broadway) to the east. Nolita is the area just north of Little Italy (Mott, Mulberry Street & Elizabeth Street north of Kenmare Street). Bordered by the Hudson River to the west, the area north of Chambers Street, west of Broadway, & south of Canal Street is the Triangle Below Canal Street, or TriBeCa. To get here, take the 1 subway to Chambers Street.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, comes the harder task of figuring out what it is about former factories & tenements that the ultra-rich find so appealing. They certainly wouldn’t have wanted to work or live in this area back then, but these formerly industrial areas have been drawing a lot of boldfaced names lately. & with these arrivistes has come a welcome wagon of hot new restaurants, boutiques, spas, & boites. Which means simply wandering these (often) cobblestoned streets, by the cast-iron buildings (Soho has the most of any area in the world) can be a hoot.
The Lower East Side & East Village
Best for: Dining, bars, dance & music clubs, innovative theaters, local designer-clothing shops
What you won’t find: Museums (with the exception of the very fine Tenement Museum & the Museum of Contemporary Art)
Parameters of the neighborhood: Between Houston & Canal streets east of the Bowery
For millions, these areas were once the portal to America. In fact, the buildings you see on the Lower East Side were built expressly to house the teeming masses of immigrants who flooded into New York between roughly 1840 & 1930. At the turn of the last century, this was the most densely populated area in the world, with a dozen to an apartment & pushcarts jamming the streets. While there are some remnants of that life in the old-world fabric & luggage stores along Orchard Street, these areas are mostly known today for bars, lounges, & music clubs. It’s in these two neighborhoods that you’re most likely to find young designers opening their own tiny stores & protégés of the town’s great chefs trying out their own first restaurants. I may be prejudiced because I live in the East Village, but I find it one of the most vibrant areas of Manhattan, though many blocks have lost their gritty edges thanks to ever-rising real estate prices.
Greenwich Village
Best for: Strolling, dining, historic sites, lovely architecture, specialty food shops, theater, live music clubs, star sightings
What you won’t find: Museums, many hotels
Parameters of the neighborhood: From Broadway west to the Hudson River, bordered by Houston Street to the south & 14th Street to the north
Greenwich Village has always been where the city’s outsiders & oddballs have found a haven. In Dutch Colonial times, it was farmland set outside the walls of the city, & a number of slaves were given conditional freedom in return for providing the burghers with food (& fighting off the Native Americans). At the turn of the 20th century, the area became known as a bohemian enclave, where artists of all sorts (Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Winslow Homer, to name a few) could find cheap lodging & companionship. In the 1950s it was at the center of the Beat movement; in the 1960s & ‘70s the area around Christopher Street became the center of a burgeoning gay rights movement (in the ‘80s it was a hotbed of AIDS-related activism)
Today, the high real estate prices have dulled the Village’s edge, & you’re more likely to see moms with strollers than long-haired poets walking these streets. & that mom might be Sarah Jessica Parker or Uma Thurman, two of the many celebs who now call the tree-shaded brownstones of the Village home sweet home. But the charms of the area are still intact, as is the illusion that you’ve entered another city altogether. Very few buildings in the neighborhood reach to 10-stories (most are lower than that) & small shops elbow out chain stores. It’s a wonderful place to simply come & get lost in.
Chelsea & the Meatpacking District
Best for: Art galleries, nightlife, shopping, the Highline, gay bars
What you won’t find: Theater, Museums
Parameters of the neighborhood: Roughly the area west of Sixth Avenue from 14th Street to 30th Street
Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood is today what Soho was 10 years ago, & what Greenwich Village was 20 years ago. The major galleries have moved here, as has Greenwich Village’s large gay population. This makes for a lively cultural scene with many bars & clubs (dance clubs are in abundance from 22nd & 29th streets between Tenth & Eleventh avenues). The so-called Meatpacking District, named for the slaughterhouses in the area, has also become an extremely popular nightlife destination (as well as a shopping mini-mecca for its handful of super-trendy stores). An off-shoot of Chelsea, it’s NYC’s adult Disneyland, filled with late-night clubs, bars, & restaurants that are unhindered by the city’s zoning laws (as there are no schools or churches in this part of town). A final reason to come here: the Highline Park, a marvel of urban reclamation.
Highline Park: While earlier stages of NYC’s now-iconic elevated railway turned linear park continue to mature—and draw more than 4.4 million visitors a year—its last stage is a grand finale of horticultural wow: renderings have revealed a bowl-like area on 10th Avenue at 30th Street containing dense layers of woodland & seating. The majority of the final section, which circles Hudson Yards & is called The Spur, will be opened late 2014 & complete the 1.45-mile skyway connecting the Meatpacking District to Hell’s Kitchen. With last year’s arrival of CitiBikes & a pedestrian-friendly Times Square redo by Snøhetta, NYC has never been greener.
The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
Best for: Dining, historic sites, architecture, Off-Broadway theater
What you won’t find: Museums, nightlife (with a few exceptions)
Parameters of the neighborhood: The Gramercy Park area is from about 16th to 23rd streets, east from Park Avenue South to about Second Avenue; the Flatiron District is south of 23rd Street to 14th Street, between Broadway & Sixth Avenue; Union Square is the hub of the district from 14th Street to 18th Street.
If you look up as you meander through these three bustling, adjoining (and overlapping) areas, you’re likely to see brown street signs proclaiming ladies mile. It was on this stretch, mostly on Broadway & Park Avenue South, that the first wave of department stores transformed the lives of New Yorkers in the 1850s. Instead of hopping from a dry goods shop for fabric to a milliners for hats to a cobbler for shoes, women from all over the city came here to outfit themselves & their homes in stores that, wonder of wonders, had everything they needed under one roof. Notice the large plate-glass windows on many of the facades, another department store innovation. Above, the windows are much smaller & point to a second element of the “Ladies Mile”: brothels. When the stores closed for the day, the establishments upstairs opened. & where there’s prostitution, theater often follows. The area around Union Square was New York’s first show district.
Interestingly, the same area has become another important theater district for New York’s Off-Broadway playhouses in recent years. The dining scene is also hot here.
For the best strolling, head directly for the Gramercy Park area, named for the only privately-owned park in the city (the keys go to those apartment owners whose windows overlook the park). Around the park are a number of beautifully preserved historic homes & clubs, including the wisteria-clad home of former Mayor James Harper (4 Gramercy Park S.), the Players Club (at 16 Gramercy Park S; its members included Edwin Booth & Mark Twain), & the National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park S., a hangout for Woodrow Wilson & Theodore Dreiser).
Times Square & Midtown West
Best for: Theater & entertainment of all sorts, the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Macy’s
What you won’t find: Serenity
Parameters of the neighborhood: From 34th Street to 59th Street west of Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River
Midtown West, a vast area, encompasses several famous names: Madison Square Garden, the Garment District, Rockefeller Center, the Theater District, & Times Square. It’s the area people think of when they think of New York & the reason why so many visitors say with a smirk “Well, it’s a nice place to visit, but I couldn’t ever live there.” & because they’re basing their judgments on crowded, loud, pushy midtown, they’re absolutely right: It’s unlivable . . . which is why so few New Yorkers actually live in this area. In certain parts of Midtown there’s no residential housing whatsoever, & it’s only the tourists who attempt to get a good night’s sleep in this bustling neighborhood.
Midtown East & Murray Hill
Best for: Great architecture, shopping (and window-shopping), historic sites, the United Nations, the Empire State Building
What you won’t find: Museums, nightlife (again, with some exceptions)
Parameters of the neighborhood: East from Fifth Avenue to Third Avenue, north from 42nd St to 57th St
In the 1950s, Madison, Park, & Lexington Avenues started to sprout with skyscrapers & soon were rivaling the Wall Street area for office space. That’s primarily what you’ll find here: people in suits, looming glass towers, & lots of traffic. Among all that are some spectacular architectural sights like Grand Central Station, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Chrysler Building & the Seagram’s Building. Go closer to the East River & the area becomes largely residential with little to recommend it to visitors beyond Bloomingdales & the United Nations.
A tremendously popular stretch of Midtown East is Fifth Avenue as it runs from 57th Street down to the Empire State Building at 34th Street. Stroll it for some of the best window-shopping on the planet.
Upper West Side
Best for: Museums (like the American Museum of Natural History & the New York Historical Society), Central Park, bars, kid-friendly restaurants, classical music & dance at Lincoln Center & elsewhere
What you won’t find: Great shopping (again with some exceptions), edge
Parameters of the neighborhood: Starts at 59th Street & encompasses everything west of Central Park.
In some ways, the Upper West Side has the most suburban vibe of any of Manhattan’s neighborhoods. National chain stores line the major thoroughfares & the sidewalks swarm with strollers. It’s a popular area for families thanks to its proximity to Central Park, the American Museum of Natural History, & the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
It wasn’t always this way. When I was growing up on the Upper West Side, & even before that, the neighborhood had a reputation for being an intellectual hotbed, a place where highly political New Yorkers planned protests. No more. But it’s still an extremely pleasant place to visit with good, if unoriginal, shopping; a handful of topnotch museums; New York’s famous art hub, Lincoln Center; and, of course, access to the glories of Central Park. & the Time Warner Center gives the neighborhood the dubious distinction of having the priciest food court in the world.
Upper East Side
Best for: Museums, architecture, window-shopping, Central Park
What you won’t find: Fine dining (although I list some exceptions to that), theater, music clubs
Parameters of the neighborhood: Starts at 59th Street & encompasses the area east of Central Park
10021 is the richest zip code in the world, & it belongs to the Upper East Side, in particular the swank swatch of pavement that runs from 61st to 80th streets. Also known as “The Gold Coast” & “Millionaires Mile”, this is the stomping grounds for New York’s high society: the Prada-clad women & old money men who sit on the boards of the neighborhood museums, go to a lot of cocktail parties, & endow scholarships for kicks. Their mansions & marble-face townhouses make for nifty sightseeing for those interested in architecture; & the shops along Madison Avenue offer a peek into the extravagant fashions adopted by the ultra-rich & the top designers who serve them.
Museums also play a key role on the Upper East Side, & there’s a greater concentration of top-flight museums here than anywhere else in the country, with the exception of the Mall in Washington, D.C. You’ll want to spend at least 1 day exploring Museum Mile—the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, The Frick, Cooper-Hewitt, & more are all in the area
Harlem
Best for: Dining, bars, clubs, historic sites.
What you won’t find: Theater, shopping, museums (except for the Studio Museum & the Museo del Barrio)
Parameters of the neighborhood: Harlem proper stretches from river to river, beginning at 125th Street on the West Side, 96th Street on the East Side, & 110th Street north of Central Park. East of Fifth Avenue, Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) runs between East 100th & East 125th streets.
Perhaps the most rapidly transforming neighborhood in the city, Harlem is safer & cleaner than it’s been in decades . . . but may be losing some of its intrinsic character. A largely African-American neighborhood since the 1920s—and home to some of the greatest black writers, politicians, & artists of the 20th century—the neighborhood is now drawing an increasing number of Caucasian residents, lured here by lower real-estate prices & the beauty of a brownstone-lined community. My recommendation: Visit here soon before the authentic soul & Caribbean joints disappear, the gospel churches lose their swing, & the rhythm of the streets changes its beat. There’s much to see, including the Studio Museum, dozens of well-preserved Beaux Arts brownstoners, & hopping clubs.
Brooklyn
Best for: Museums, parks, lovely architecture, innovative galleries, dining, great views of Manhattan
What you won’t find: You find pretty much all the same types of attractions in Brooklyn that you will in Manhattan. It deserves a visit!
If Brooklyn had not traded its sovereignty to become a borough of New York City in 1898, it would be the fourth largest city in the United States, just after New York City, Los Angeles, & Chicago. With 2.6 million residents (according to the last census), it certainly is the most populous borough of the city & at 71 square miles, it’s also the largest. Which is all a long way of saying it’s very difficult to pin down the nature of Brooklyn, as it’s just too darn big to be summarized in a nutshell.
The two most affluent neighborhoods are Brooklyn Heights, which is right off the Brooklyn Bridge, boasting spectacular views of Manhattan; & Park Slope, the area surrounding Frederick Law Olmstead’s other great work of landscape architecture (after Central Park), Prospect Park. Both are stellar strolling areas, filled with lovely Beaux Arts brownstone buildings (Brooklyn Heights was the first neighborhood in the city to be landmarked).
The borough’s artists tend to live in Red Hook, Williamsburg (though many are getting priced out here), & a few hold-outs still live in DUMBO (the area “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”). You can pop by all for afternoons of gallery hopping. Williamsburg has one of the largest Hasidic Jewish communities in the world. Walk the streets peopled by this sect & you may feel as if you’ve stepped back into an old country Shtetl (an illusion only somewhat ruined by the incongruous but ever-present cellphones).
Eastern Europe also makes an appearance in Brighton Beach, which has the largest ex-pat Russian community in the world. It's not the friendliest area, but fascinating to visit nonetheless, with stores selling endless rows of nesting dolls & Lenin t-shirts, & small-scale nightclubs that out-glitz & out-crass Vegas. Just up the shore from Brighton Beach is famed Coney Island, which is open again, despite the ravages of Hurricane Sandy. It’s still an amusement park, though one with less panache than in its heyday.
Among the touristic highlights of the borough are the view from the Brooklyn Heights promenade; Peter Luger, an iconic steakhouse in Williamsburg; the shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; & in Park Slope a constellation of sights including the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, & Prospect Park.
LeFrak Center at Lakeside, New York City: Not since its construction 150 years ago has Brooklyn’s Prospect Park received such a facelift. Covering more than 26 acres in a little-used section of the Olmsted & Vaux green space, the revitalization features a 32,000-square-foot Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects–designed skating “pavilion” for all seasons—ice skating in winter & roller-skating in summer. Its wraparound windows & inspired ceiling (featuring a constellation of lights & gust-like swirls) create a nifty indoor-outdoor effect. The $74 million project also includes massive viewing terraces, a café, & restrooms.
The Bronx
Best for: Baseball, Italian restaurants, zoos, & gardens
What you won’t find: Museums, nightlife, other types of noteworthy food, hotels, theater
I may be condemned for this assessment, but to my mind there are only four reasons a tourist should even think of going to the Bronx: Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Gardens, & the Italian restaurants & stores of Arthur Avenue. If you have no interest in any of these sights or facilities, you can skip this giant borough without too much regret.
Queens
Best for: Museums, ethnic dining, affordable hotels
What you won’t find: Theaters, great shopping, top architecture
Archie Bunker no longer lives in Queens. In fact, the grouchy, bigoted xenophobe at the center of the famed 1970s sitcom All in the Family probably wouldn’t recognize the borough today. In just the past 50 years it’s gone from being a somewhat insulated community of Irish- & Italian-Americans to the most international community in the United States.
It’s this ability by tourists to globe trot in an afternoon that makes Queens appealing, despite the dreary, industrial look of much of it. Whether you’re downing samosas or shopping for saris in very Indian Jackson Heights; breaking plates at a Greek restaurant in Astoria; or buying miracle water & tacos at a Mexican botanica in Corona, there’s much to taste, smell, & experience.
Museums are another big draw, & the borough now tops Brooklyn for its cultural attractions, boasting four great ones: The Museum of the Moving Image, PS 1 Museum of Contemporary Art, Isamu Noguchi Galleries, & the Louis Armstrong House.
Staten Island
Best for: Views of Manhattan from the ferry
What you won’t find: Notable museums, nightlife, hotels, theaters, truly great restaurants, interesting architecture
And I’ll again be blunt: Except for the fun & free ferry ride here, there’s no reason a tourist should visit here. Yes, there are a handful of cultural & historic sites, but none that justify the commute.
How fast the time flies on a visit to New York! With so many sightseeing & entertainment options, the job of organizing a day of touring can be a daunting task. That’s why we've included these one-, two-, & three-day itineraries on the site. In them, I've suggested several workable ways to organize your time: several different itineraries from which to choose, several different tastes & interests to satisfy. Each one hits many of the “bucket list” sights (and some of the more unique ones). & each one, I hope, will lead to an enjoyable New York vacation.
If you have just 1 day in New York, you have my condolences. The following will give you a small taste of what the Big Apple holds (and should convince you that you need to make a return trip!).
Start: 34th Street & Fifth Avenue.
1. The Empire State Building
Start your day with a Kong’s-eye view of the city. It will help you immensely to understand the layout & is a heckuva lot of fun (especially if you can skip the lines, which you’ll do by arriving first thing in the morning).
Walk uptown until you get to:
2. New York Public Library
You’ll recognize this building by the lion sculptures guarding its gates. Step inside to see the grand interior; usually one or two free exhibits will be taking place, drawn from the library’s vast collections.
Continue walking uptown until you get to 48th Street, home to:
3. Rockefeller Center
There are scores of complexes across the U.S. housing a mix of offices & arts buildings, but none have the visual wallop of Rockefeller Center. That has partially to do with the harmony & grandeur of the Art Deco skyscrapers; & partially because there’s always so much to see & do here. You may just have time to stroll around, or, if you’re here in the right season, you could skate below the massive Christmas tree. I’d also recommend the tour of Radio City Music Hall or the NBC Tour. Since you’ve just come from the Empire State Building, it doesn’t make sense to go to the Top of the Rock, the observation deck of the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center (but do so if you skipped stop #1). If you have time, stroll uptown on Fifth Avenue for primo window-shopping.
Hop a bus, or walk back downtown to 42nd & Fifth Avenue. Then walk east until you get to:
4. Grand Central Terminal
Before stepping into the station, take a look east towards Lexington Avenue & up, up, up you’ll see the famed scalloped spire of the Chrysler Building. Then enter the terminal, one of the most justifiably famous train stations in the world. If you have time, take the audio tour for insights into the building’s architecture & decor. Head downstairs to the Oyster Bar for lunch if you like seafood (take a peek at it even if you don't, as it's a lovely space) or head to the excellent Scandinavian food court The Great Northern Food Hall, offering most every cuisine known to man.
In the station are the 4, 5, & 6 subway trains. Grab one of them & head uptown to 86th Street. When you exit, walk west towards Central Park & then downtown until you come to:
5. The Metropolitan Museum
Since this is the largest museum in this hemisphere, & a wondrous one at that, you’re going to spend the rest of the afternoon here.
Walk back to the subway station, going downtown this time, back to 42nd Street where you’ll hop the S train to:
6. Times Square
Try & get your first glimpse of this famed square after the sun has set, when all the lights are glittering. Otherwise it looks a bit, well, tawdry. But when it's aglow & the crowds are pulsing, it can feel like the most exciting place on the planet. Hopefully you’ve gotten theater tickets in advance, the perfect capper for a day on the town.
On your second day, head downtown to see where the city began, Lady Liberty & its most sobering, but popular, sight: Ground Zero.
Start: Subway: 1 to South Ferry or 4 or 5 to Bowling Green.
1. Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
Whether or not you’ll get to tour both depends on how early you can get to the ferry terminal & how large are the crowds. Having advance tickets up to the crown is a good reason to get off at Liberty Island. But if the stars aren’t aligned or you miss the first ferry of the day, take in the view of Lady Liberty from the ferry (without disembarking) so you can spend the bulk of your time at Ellis Island, the famed portal to the “New World” for millions of immigrants. It’s the more compelling visitor experience of the two. (Note: As of the spring of 2014, large parts of the Ellis Island exhibit & the elevators were still closed due to Hurricane Sandy damage. Do check the Ellis Island website before making your plans, especially if you have mobility issues.)
2. Wall Street
Back on the isle of Manhattan, walk uptown to the Financial District. Along the way you’ll see structures such as Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park—it’s what’s left of a fort built in 1808 to defend New York Harbor against the British—and the impressive U.S. Customs House, which houses the Museum of the American Indian. Once on Wall Street, stop for a photo op at the Federal Hall National Memorial, where George Washington took the oath of office as our first President (his statue is in front), & the New York Stock Exchange across the street. Unfortunately, the Exchange is no longer open for tours.
Walk west past Broadway to Rector Street & turn right, walking uptown until you reach Ground Zero. Follow the signs to the entrance.
3. National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Be sure to get advance tickets to the National September 11 Memorial, as the line for day-of entry admission can take up to an hour, & that’s on top of the 20 minutes it takes to get through security here. Still, the opportunity to pay your respects to all those who perished, & tour one of the finest (if most shattering) history museums in the United States, is not to be missed..
Exit the site & head east towards Broadway & Fulton Street, to the Fulton Street subway stop. There, you’ll hop a 4 or 5 train to Brooklyn Bridge, switching to the 6 train to the Canal Street stop. Get off the train & start walking east on Canal to:
4. A Chinatown Lunch
If you surf to the restaurant recommendations on this site, you’ll find four top choices mentioned in Chinatown, all of which are open for lunch. Grab a bite at one of these, & then wander through this fascinating neighborhood for a bit.
Walk or take the M103 bus uptown to Delancey Street, at Delancey turn right & walk to Orchard Street, passing Chrystie, Forsyth, Eldridge, & Allen streets to the:
5. Lower East Side Tenement Museum
The perfect follow-up to Ellis Island, this time capsule of a Lower East Side tenement is now an innovative museum that explores what it was like to be an immigrant in New York City between 1863 & the early 1930s. It’s an extremely moving place to visit. You’ll need advance reservations to take the 1-hour guided tour of the museum (the only way to see it).
Take the F train at Second Avenue & Houston Street two stops uptown to West 4th Street.
6. Washington Square Park
As the sun starts to set, head to this carnival of a park, where street musicians are always performing & crowds of Villagers & NYU students gather. Spend some time relaxing here before heading somewhere in the vicinity for a terrific dinner (the restaurants downtown are the best in the city). Choose from one of the restaurants listed on this website as being in either the Village, SoHo, Nolita, Union Park/Flatiron District, the Lower East Side, or the East Village.
If you’ve followed the first 2 days’ suggested itineraries, you’ve experienced a slice of the best of Manhattan, but there’s still plenty to see (more than can be done in just 3 days, sadly). Note that this day should only be attempted if the weather is nice. If not, head inside to one or two of the city’s great museums.
Start: Subway B or C to 72nd Street.
1. The Dakota
The day begins in front of this 1884, French Renaissance−style apartment building (corner of 72nd Street & Central Park West). Besides being used for several films, the Dakota is in many ways a shrine for visitors, as this is where John Lennon lived (and where Yoko Ono still lives), & where he was shot & killed. After seeing the building, head across the street to Central Park & Strawberry Fields, named in honor of the former Beatle; fans gather to leave flowers, play music, & commune together.
2. Central Park
Wander deeper into the park. If you keep walking straight from Strawberry Fields, you’ll hit the park’s grand promenade area & boat pond. Another option is to take one of the Central Park Conservancy’s terrific tours; you’d head towards The Dairy if that’s your plan. For instructions on what else to see in the park—and you should allot the morning to that (unless the weather is bad)—see the section on Central Park on this website.
Make your way back to the west side of the park & exit at 81st street, walk west to Columbus & walk downtown one block to:
3. Lunch at Shake Shack
Time is short, so you’ll want to just grab a burger & perhaps one of the Shack’s famed milkshakes.
4. American Museum of Natural History
Head across the street to one of the country’s greatest science museums. I highly recommend the tours led by well-trained docents of the museum’s highlights. If you’d rather do it on your own, don’t skip the Fossils Hall, which has the world’s largest dinosaur collection.
Exit the museum & walk west to Amsterdam Avenue to catch an uptown M11 bus. Get off at 110th Street.
5. Cathedral of St. John the Divine
On the east side of Amsterdam Avenue is the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, & a sight that’s overlooked by too many tourists. Construction began in 1892, but because the builders are using medieval techniques, it’s still unfinished. Tours are offered to the spectacular interior, or you can see it on your own.
Take the M7 uptown bus to 125th Street.
6. Apollo Theater
Finish the day by touring the city’s most famous theater & then head either to Red Rooster or Amy Ruth’s for a soul-food meal. You may then want to return to the Apollo to see a show.
New York consistently ranks among the most expensive cities in the U.S., & while many of us who call the city home have become blasé about shelling out $10 for a coffee & a muffin, we realize that visitors may suffer from sticker shock. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of free tours, outdoor activities, & cultural attractions. Here are 21 fun things you can do in NYC without spending a dime.
Friday Evenings at the MoMA
So you want to see the Picassos in the Museum of Modern Art, but don’t want to commit to the $25 admission fee? Lucky for you, the museum offers free admission every Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 pm. You can also visit the sculpture garden for free every morning from 9:30 to 10 am.
Tour the Federal Bank of New York’s Gold Vault
A little-known but fascinating attraction lies in the Financial District’s Federal Bank of New York: more than 6,500 tons of gold. The building dates back to the 1920s & much of the gold arrived after WWII. Anyone can sign up for a free tour of the gold vault on weekday afternoons.
Frolic in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Escape the hustle & bustle of the city streets with a visit to the bucolic Brooklyn Botanic Garden (pictured). Located on the northeastern edge of Prospect Park, the garden’s admission fee is waived on Tuesdays. Take your time exploring the park, which also contains the zoo, the Lefferts Historic House, & the LeFrak Center by the lake.
See Alexander Hamilton’s Harlem Estate
For a peek inside a preserved historic home, head to Hamilton Grange in Harlem. This is believed to be the only house that founding father Alexander Hamilton ever owned. Back then, the entire area would have been countryside, & wandering the grounds, you can imagine just how that would look.
The New York Earth Room & the Broken Kilometer
The Dia Foundation has several art installations in New York City, but the most impressive are the New York Earth Room & the Broken Kilometer. Created in the 1970s by artist Walter De Maria, they are both in Soho & free to visit. The former displays 280,000 pounds of soil in an otherwise pristine Soho loft, while the latter features 500 brass rods lined up on the floor of a Soho loft. Though closed for the summer, they will reopen in September.
Go Stargazing on the High Line
You knew you could stroll on New York’s famous elevated park for free, but did you know you can also go stargazing on the High Line? Every Tuesday starting at dusk, the Amateur Astronomers Association sets up telescopes on the section between West 15th & West 16th Streets. It’s the perfect time to visit the park, as evenings tend to be less crowded than during the day.
Do Yoga at Bryant Park
Bryant Park is one of the city’s liveliest spots during the summer, with lots of free activities throughout the day. Yoga fans should head there on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m., or Thursday evenings at 6 p.m., for free classes alternately held on the lawn or upper terrace.
Watch Outdoor Movies at Two Major Parks
A handful of NYC parks offer free outdoor movies during the summer. There’s still time to catch the end of the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival & Syfy Movies with a View at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Movies begin when the sun sets, but head to the park early to save a spot on the lawn.
Ride the Staten Island Ferry
During the summer, there are few things more pleasurable than taking a ride on a boat in the Hudson or the East River. The East River Ferry—which, by the way, is a great way to travel between Lower Manhattan & Brooklyn—costs $4 on weekdays & $6 on weekends, but the Staten Island Ferry is absolutely free.
Get an Art Fix at Chelsea Galleries
There are hundreds of art galleries in Chelsea, mostly located between W. 14th Street & W. 29th Street around 10th & 11th Avenues. They’re always free to visit during opening hours, & many put on museum-quality exhibits. Some of the best are Gagosian, David Zwirner, Milk Gallery, & Pace. Bonus: during opening nights, galleries often serve complimentary wine or beer.
Soak up Some Sun at Public Beaches
During the summer, people often head to Coney Island to get in some beach time, but New York has plenty of other public beaches that are free to visit. Brighton Beach, is near Coney Island, but is more under-the-radar & full of Russian restaurants. The Rockaways draw surfers to Queens, & Fort Tilden is a favorite among hipsters.
Attend a Cultural Event at the New York Public Library
It’s easy to overlook the public library, but the Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street & 5th Avenue is one of the city’s architectural gems. The stately marble building is not only free to visit, it also hosts exhibits of archival photographs, docent-led tours, & the Books at Noon series of talks with acclaimed authors.
Find the Whispering Gallery in Grand Central
Grand Central Terminal is worth visiting even if you’re not catching a train there. The 102-year-old train station glows with the grandeur of Old New York. One of its most alluring secrets is the Whispering Gallery under the Guastavino-tiled arches near the Oyster Bar. When two people stand at diagonal arches & whisper to each other, their voices ring through like an old game of telephone.
Take a Tour of Central Park
Obviously, Central Park is free & open to the public, but not many people know that the Central Park Conservancy offers free guided tours of Manhattan’s largest park. Themes range from an introductory tour to a hike around the North Woods, where you’ll see waterfalls, rustic bridges, & pools near the Harlem entrance.
Hear Live Music at the Harlem Meer Performance Festival
SummerStage concerts in the city’s parks are ending soon, but the Harlem Meer Performance Festival will continue into September. The concert series features artists playing jazz, Latin, world, & gospel music on an outdoor stage at Harlem Meer in Central Park.
Pay Your Respects at the 9/11 Memorial
Occupying 8 out of 16 acres where the World Trade Center once stood, the 9/11 Memorial honors the lives of those lost during the terrorist attacks on the site in 1993 & 2001. While the museum is complimentary only for 9/11 survivors & their families, the outdoor memorial is always free.
This subterranean 9/11 Memorial Museum will educate visitors through multimedia exhibitions & artifacts from the attacks, like the burnt-out Fire Engine 21 and, in the glassed-in entrance pavilion, two 80-foot structural columns from the towers themselves. Meanwhile, (way) above ground, a three-story observation & dining complex occupying floors 100–102 of One World Trade Center will give visitors a bird’s-eye view of the city & beyond. At 1,776 feet (controversial spire included), the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere should be opened by the end of the year.
Take in the Views from Brooklyn Bridge Park
A favorite among locals & visitors alike, Brooklyn Bridge Park curves around the waterfront in DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights. The park is chock full of activities, from basketball to bocce, & a pop-up pool made of recycled shipping containers. One of the most beautiful spots for skyline views is right by Jane’s Carousel, where the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges meet.
Tour the Brooklyn Brewery
Stop by the pioneering Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg to learn about the fine art & science of beer making. There are free tours every half hour on the weekends, though they tend to fill up quickly, so get there early to snag a ticket. While you wait, you can sample the beers in the tasting room for a discounted price.
New York Distilling Company Tour & Tasting
One of Brooklyn’s best craft distilleries opens its doors to the public for free tours & tastings on Saturdays & Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. After learning all about the history of gin & whiskey & the distilling process, sample their potent Dorothy Parker American gin & the recently released Mr. Katz’s Rock & Rye.
Watch a Taping of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Fans of the Tonight Show can watch a taping with Jimmy Fallon at NBC’s studios in Rockefeller Center with a bit of advanced planning. Free tickets are released a month in advance, though if you’re lucky you can get standby tickets the night of the event.
Kayak the Hudson River
Until mid-October, you can take a kayak out on the Hudson River at Pier 26 in Tribeca, or the Manhattan Community Boathouse locations at Pier 96 in Midtown & in Riverside Park at 72nd Street. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Who says you need to blow your budget on a trip to New York City? Sure, there are plenty of luxury hotels & splurge-worthy restaurants, but the city that never sleeps also provides plenty of free things to do, & affordable drinking & dining for budget-conscious travelers.
Saturday: Getting Immersed in New York’s Culture
For breakfast, it doesn’t get much more classic than a bagel & a cup o’ joe. It’s easy to find the combo at corner cafes & delis all over the city, but for the best, grab a ticket at Russ & Daughters, a Lower East Side institution since 1914, where a bagel & a schmear will only cost you $2.75. Or stop by Black Seed for Montreal-style wood-fired bagels & Stumptown coffee. Though their signature sandwiches (baked eggs, cheddar, & bacon, for example) range from $6 to $12, you can get a simple bagel with cream cheese for $3. Add a small coffee for $3.27 & you’ve only spent $6 & change for a filling breakfast.
While museums can be expensive to visit—we’re looking at you, MoMa—there are plenty of other ways to soak in New York’s artistic legacy. You’ll find the largest concentration of galleries in Chelsea (all free & open to the public). The major ones to hit up include Gagosian & David Zwirner for blockbuster shows by artists like Jeff Koons & Yayoi Kusama; Pace & Milk for cutting-edge contemporary art. The High Line also has temporary art installations that rotate regularly, & you can spot cool street art murals nearby.
After all that, you’ll likely be ready for a drink. At Ten Bells, a laid-back wine bar with a focus on biodynamic & sustainable wines, you can get dollar oysters & split a $15 carafe of wine with a friend during happy hour until 7 p.m. New York has no shortage of dive bars where you can get cheap drinks all the time. The Ear Inn is a no-frills historic mariners’ bar where you can choose from 13 beers on tap for $7, plus fried dumplings (6 for $8), chicken potpie ($13.50), & burgers ($11 to 16). & though it’s shockingly common to find cocktails priced at $12 to $16 around town, at the hip bar Mr. Fong’s in Chinatown, you can imbibe unfussy but creative cocktails for $9 all night long.
Still hungry? Soak up the booze with a delicious, greasy slice at one of New York’s old school pizzerias. There are family-owned spots all over the city where you can grab a satisfyingly cheesy slice for a couple of bucks.
Sunday: Exploring the Parks
This so-called concrete jungle actually has more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds, & recreational facilities and, needless to say, it doesn’t cost a dime to visit them. Beyond Central Park, local favorites include Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, Riverside Park on the Upper West Side, & Prospect Park & Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn. On weekends, the city’s parks become especially animated with street performers, locals walking their dogs, & people canoeing on the lake, playing basketball, or shopping at the greenmarkets.
Grabbing lunch at a food hall is a great way to taste dishes by some of the city’s best chefs at a fraction of the price you’d pay for a sit-down meal at their restaurants. Inside Gotham West Market, you’ll find perennially popular ramen by Ivan Orkin ($13), burgers by Michelin-starred chef Brad Farmerie at Gotham Roadside ($8.04), & tapas by Seamus Mullen at El Colmado ($5 to $17). Go to the new Urbanspace Vanderbilt behind Grand Central for local favorites like Roberta’s Pizza ($6 to $12 for small pizzas) & sweet treats by Ovenly ($2.75 to $7). Chelsea Market & Gansevoort Market provide plenty of dining options, too. In the Financial District, Brookfield Place has French food hall Le District & Hudson Eats.
Since Sundays were made for day drinking, why not take a tour of one of the city’s breweries or distilleries? Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg offers free tours on the weekends, & $5 brews in the tasting room. Nearby, the New York Distilling Company gives free tours & tastings of their excellent gins & rye whiskeys from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
⦁ African Burial Ground Memorial Site
⦁ American Folk Art Museum
⦁ American Museum of Natural History (pay what you wish)
⦁ BRIC House
⦁ Bronx Museum (pay what you wish)
⦁ Bronx Museum of the Arts (pay what you wish)
⦁ Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcafé live events
⦁ Brooklyn Museum (pay what you wish)
⦁ Cloisters (pay what you wish)
⦁ El Museo del Barrio (pay what you wish)
⦁ Federal Hall National Memorial
⦁ Federal Reserve Bank
⦁ General Grant National Memorial
⦁ Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College
⦁ Green-Wood Cemetery
⦁ Hamilton Grange
⦁ Harbor Defense Museum
⦁ Hispanic Society of America
⦁ International Print Center
⦁ Irish Hunger Memorial
⦁ Leslie–Lohman Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art
⦁ Metropolitan Museum of Art (pay what you wish)
⦁ MoMA PS1 (free for NYC residents through October 15, 2017)
⦁ P.S.1 MoMA (pay what you wish)
⦁ Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
⦁ National Museum of the American Indian—Smithsonian Institution
⦁ New York City Police Museum (pay what you wish)
⦁ New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
⦁ New York Public Library for the Perfoming Arts
⦁ New York Transit Museum Annex & Store, Grand Central Terminal
⦁ Queens Botanical Garden (free Nov-March)
⦁ Queens County Farm Museum
⦁ Queens Museum of Art (pay what you wish)
⦁ Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture
⦁ SculptureCenter (pay what you wish)
⦁ Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (grounds & botanical garden only)
⦁ Socrates Sculpture Park
⦁ Soldiers & Sailors Monument
⦁ Staten Island Museum (pay what you wish)
⦁ Storefront for Art & Architecture
⦁ Studio Museum in Harlem (pay what you wish)
⦁ Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
⦁ Waterfront Museum
Mondays
⦁ Museum at Eldridge Street (pay what you will, 10am to 5pm, tours). Museum at Eldridge Street gives free tours on Mondays from 10am to noon, located in ManhattanMuseum at Eldridge Street.
⦁ Yeshiva University Museum
Tuesdays
⦁ 9/11 Memorial & Museum (5pm to close ) is free from 5pm to close on Tuesdays located in lower Manhattan
⦁ The Brooklyn Botanic Garden
⦁ China Institute 6-8 pm
⦁ Staten Island Museum 12-2 pm
⦁ Morgan Library & Museum (McKim Rooms only, 3 to 5pm)
⦁ Wave Hill (9am to noon)
Wednesdays
⦁ Bronx Zoo (pay what you will for grounds access; does not include admission to special exhibitions like the Butterfly Garden, Congo Gorilla Forest & JungleWorld). Bronx Zoo located in Fordham pay what you will for grounds access on Wednesdays
⦁ Frick Collection (pay what you wish, 2 to 6pm)
⦁ Museum of Jewish Heritage (4 to 8pm)
⦁ New York Botanical Garden (free grounds access; does not include entry to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, special exhibitions like the Orchid Show & Holiday Train Show, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Rock & Native Plant Gardens or Tram Tour)
⦁ Queens Botanical Garden (April through October, 3 to 6pm; all day rest of year)
⦁ Van Cortlandt House Museum
⦁ Staten Island Zoo (2 to 4:45pm)
⦁ Yeshiva University Museum 5-8 pm
Thursdays
⦁ Brooklyn Children's Museum (2 to 6pm)
⦁ China Institute 6-8 pm
⦁ Museum of Arts & Design (pay what you will, 6 to 9pm)
⦁ Museum of Chinese in America
⦁ New Museum (pay what you will, 7 to 9pm)
⦁ International Center of Photography (pay what you will, 6 to 9pm)
⦁ Trinity Church: Concerts at One 1-2 pm (September through May)
1st Thursday of the Month
⦁ Museum of Chinese in America
Fridays
⦁ Asia Society (September through June, 6 to 9pm)
⦁ Historic Richmond Town (1 to 5pm)
⦁ Japan Society (6 to 9pm)
⦁ Morgan Library & Museum (7 to 9pm)
⦁ Museum of Modern Art (4 to 8pm) located in Midtown Manhattan is free on Fridays from 4-8PM
⦁ Museum of the Moving Image (4 to 8pm)
⦁ Neue Galerie 6-8 pm
⦁ New York Aquarium (pay what you will, 3pm to close; 4pm to close in summer)
⦁ New York Hall of Science (2 to 5pm)
⦁ The New-York Historical Society (pay what you will, 6 to 8pm)
⦁ Rubin Museum of Art (6 to 10pm)
⦁ Staten Island Museum 12-2 pm
⦁ Whitney Museum of American Art 7-9:30 pm
⦁ Yeshiva University Museum
1st Friday of the Month
⦁ Bronx Museum (First Friday, 6-10 pm)
⦁ Children’s Museum of Manhattan (5 to 8pm)
⦁ Frick Collection (6 to 9pm, except September & January) Neue Galerie (6 to 8pm)
⦁ Neue Gallerie (First Friday, 6-8 pm)
⦁ The Noguchi Museum (pay what you wish)
Saturdays
⦁ The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (10am to noon)
⦁ The Jewish Museum
⦁ New York Botanical Garden (free grounds pass, 9 to 10am)
⦁ Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (pay what you will, 5:45 to 7:45pm)
⦁ Wave Hill (9am to noon) Wave Hill located in the Bronx is free on Saturdays from 9am-noon
1st Saturday of the Month
⦁ Brooklyn Museum (5 to 11pm)
3rd Saturday of the Month
⦁ El Museo del Barrio
Sundays
⦁ Frick Collection 11 am-1 pm (pay what you wish)
⦁ The Morgan Library & Museum (McKim Rooms only, 4 to 6pm)
⦁ New York Hall of Science (10 to 11am) New York Hall of Science located in Corona Queens is free on Sundays from 10am-11am
⦁ Queens Botanical Garden (April through October, 4 to 6pm)
⦁ Studio Museum in Harlem
SEASONAL
⦁ Brooklyn Botanic Garden (November through February, weekdays)
⦁ Queens Botanical Garden (November through March, Tuesday through Sunday)
⦁ Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Second Weekend, before 11 am)
Must eat/drink: Pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli
Don't leave without: Waiting in line for the best smoked fish of your life at Russ & Daughters, drinking on a random person's rooftop, visiting a weird museum, eating pizza in Brooklyn & dumplings in Queens, drinking at a dive bar until 4am, & ending a night at a 24-hour diner
Weekend highlights: You could spend a century in New York & still never eat, see, & do everything you're "supposed to do." You'll probably feel compelled to eat at the city's best restaurants & check things off your bucket list, & you should, by all means -- but there's also a wealth of less-hyped activities & foods & drinks to be seen & had in New York City.
Go see "The Nasty Show" at the Comedy Cellar, a stage that everyone from Louis C.K. to Jerry Seinfeld has frequented, or check out one of our legendary live-music venues in Harlem. Eat your way through Chinatown for less than $5 & then ride the 7 train out to Flushing for the best wontons in hot chili oil of your life. Or, to see the Mets.
As for the other Met (the museum), if it feels stifling, go visit the Whitney or the Museum of the Moving Image instead. If it's warm out, bike to the Cloisters or walk the Coney Island Boardwalk or head out to Rockaway for burgers on the beach. Before you drink cheap beer until close at a dive bar, treat yourself to one or two cocktails at a classic "old New York" bar that’ll transport you back to the '20s. There are plenty of reasons to not spend your three-day trip waiting in line for speakeasies & Cronuts (though... those aren’t the worst ideas either...)
Things you’ve probably done in New York: killed a cockroach, overpaid for a craft cocktail, waited for a delayed train on an A/C-less platform. But whether you’ve lived here your entire life or just hit the five-year mark, there’s absolutely no way you’ve conquered even half of what makes this city worth all the credit-card debt, subway-induced stress, & permanent lack of sleep. From late-night karaoke in K-Town to gospel brunch in Harlem, these are the 50 things you absolutely have to do in NYC before you die (or move to Jersey City).
1. Eat pastrami while waiting for a pastrami sandwich at Katz's
You probably already know not to lose your ticket at Katz’s, but you probably don’t know that when you make it up to the counter at the famed Jewish deli, you’ll be rewarded with a small taste of pastrami as your carver puts your sandwich together.
2. Spend the entire afternoon drinking on a rooftop
Yes, you’ll spend $15 on a cocktail & have to contend for standing room with hordes of out-of-towners, but no New Yorker is too jaded to appreciate sweeping skyline views & a nice breeze with a cocktail in hand at a rooftop bar. Bonus points if you’ve done this & drank on a friend’s questionably safe apartment roof.
3. Check out one of NYC’s abandoned subway stations
Momentarily forget all your grievances towards the MTA, & sneak a look at the fancy old City Hall train station from 1904, which boasts tiled ceilings, brass fixtures, & skylights. If you take the 6 heading downtown to the final stop (Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall) & stay on, the train will loop through the famed old station as it U-turns back uptown.
4. Go gallery-hopping (and score free wine) in Chelsea
Thursday night is opening night for galleries, meaning you can hop around from place to place, pretend you know things about art, & drink plenty of free wine in the process.
5. Eat a late-night chopped cheese
A bacon, egg, & cheese from the place on your corner will always do the trick at the end of the night, but the pinnacle of bodega eating is a 2am chopped cheese with ground beef, American, peppers, onions, & lettuce on a pressed hero, preferably from Hajji’s in Harlem.
6. Do 3am karaoke in K-Town
Your rendition of Toto’s “Africa” sounds best at top volume inside a K-Town karaoke venue (Gagopa is always a good choice).
7. Go to a Russian supper club in Brighton Beach
Prepare for a vodka-fueled night of dancing, acrobatics, & far more borscht than you knew you wanted.
8. See a show at Radio City Music Hall
While the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular is certainly a viable option, plenty of your favorite Spotify-friendly artists should also lure you into a red velvet seat at this classic theater.
9. Get a freshly baked bagel at Ess-a-Bagel
Don’t you dare get it toasted.
10. Hear live jazz in Harlem
There are a number of reasons you should be hanging out uptown, chief among them: listening to live music in the neighborhood where modern jazz truly came into its own. Hit Bill’s Place, Shrine, or Minton’s (currently under renovations) to experience the venues where performers like Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, & Billie Holiday shaped Harlem as a destination for music.
11. Spend an obnoxious weekend in the Hamptons
Sleep on the floor of your coworker's girlfriend's 15-person share house, spend way too much money on rosé, go on a lobster roll crawl through Montauk, or just hang out at the beach -- but don’t let all your summers in New York go by without experiencing the over-the-top weekender destination that is the Hamptons.
12. Spend a less-obnoxious weekend on City Island
Take the 6 train up to this quaint fishing village for a little taste of Cape Cod in the Bronx (that includes fresh seafood).
13. Wait in line for lox at Russ & Daughters
The over-a-century-old Jewish appetizing store still commands a sizable line (particularly on the weekends) but the payoff -- a bagel with the city's best lox (or just a half pound of lox alone, since that’s really what you’re here for) -- more than makes up for it.
14. Ride the Cyclone in Coney Island
... despite how terrifyingly rickety it may be.
15. Hang out in Brooklyn Bridge Park on a weekend afternoon
Play basketball, grill, check out Smorgasburg -- all with the backdrop of the skyline & the Brooklyn Bridge.
16. Ride the train out to Rockaway Beach
It’s not summer in NYC unless you spend at least one hungover Sunday riding the A train out to Rockaway for some beach time & tacos. For the more adventurous, surf lessons are highly recommended.
17. Have a drink at a (real) hidden bar
These days, the city is full of pseudo-speakeasies that are more of a marketing technique than a true homage to Prohibition-style drinking, but plenty of the real deals (like Angel’s Share, PDT, & Little Branch) are still around for you to sip a craft cocktail in secret.
18. See the cherry blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Spring in NYC is unofficially marked by the blooming cherry blossoms that arrive at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden around March each year (and the subsequent flood of Instagram posts that come along with them).
19. Get a Recession Special from Gray's Papaya
The flagship Gray’s at Broadway & 72nd is the only one left standing (another location will open in midtown in spring 2017) but its Recession Special -- aka two hot dogs & a drink -- remains intact. (As with all things New York, there have been some price increases throughout the years, but the meal still costs under $5).
20. Go to a baseball game in the middle of summer
It really doesn’t matter if you hate sports -- it’s a summer rite of passage in New York to hit a Mets or Yankees game, drink overpriced beers, & get irrationally mad at the rival team’s fans sitting next to you, whether you actually know the rules or not.
21. Eat a meal you really can’t afford
The good news is, there are plenty of opportunities for hacking your way to an affordable meal at many of the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants.
22. Visit the 9/11 Memorial
Take pride in the city’s resilience at this historic museum & memorial ground.
23. Travel for some of the city’s best pizza
A slice at Joe’s is a perfectly fine choice, but to experience the city’s very best pizza (Di Fara, L&B Spumoni Gardens, Roberta’s) you’ll need to go a little out of your way.
24. Go to a live TV show taping
For exactly $0 you can make your mom supremely jealous by seeing Late Night with Seth Meyers, Good Morning America, & The Late Show with Stephen Colbert filmed live.
25. Hit a 24-hour spot at 5am to soak up the booze
Your chances of waking up without a hangover are far higher after eating a plate of late-night pierogi at Veselka.
26. Cruise past the Statue of Liberty on the free IKEA ferry
Since there’s no way you’re actually going to the Statue of Liberty, grab a glimpse of her (and the skyline) aboard the IKEA ferry (which you can take for free on weekends).
27. Get made fun of by a comedian at the Comedy Cellar
Sitting front row at one of these shows is a brave thing, but it’s worth it for the experience (and the character-building ridicule), especially since actually big stars like Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle, & Chris Rock have been known to drop by unannounced.
28. Got to one of the last remaining peep shows in Times Square
Scoot past the inappropriate Elmos & make your way to one of the last remaining relics of pre-Giuliani Times Square (“GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS” signs included).
29. Visit NYC’s real Little Italy & get Bolognese
If you’re looking for honest-to-Italian-American-God red sauce, you won’t find it in lower Manhattan -- it’s on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Stop by Casa Della Mozzarella for fresh burrata & Calabria Pork Store for cured meats, then cap the day off with lasagna bolognese at Tra Di Noi.
30. Explore Central Park’s secret waterfalls
You’ve definitely already picnicked in Sheep Meadow, but one of the best ways to experience Central Park is to seek out the waterfalls hidden in the North Woods. Just try to refrain from making TLC jokes.
31. Eat dumplings at Tianjin Dumpling House in Flushing
There are countless places to eat dumplings in NYC’s better Chinatown, but the very best may be from Tianjin Dumpling House, a tiny counter in the basement of the Golden Mall, where you can get 12 dumplings for just $5 (opt for the famed lamb & green squash variety).
32. Have a pint at an old-school dive bar
McSorley’s, Billymark's West, 7B, & Jeremy’s Ale House in Manhattan are all decent options, but for the true NYC dive bar experience (complete with charmingly gruff bartenders, loyal regulars, & dirt-cheap beers) you’ll want to head outside the borough to places like Connolly’s in Rockaway & Mother Pug's in Staten Island.
33. Eat a black & white cookie: & quote Seinfeld as you do it.
34. Go to a concert at Madison Square Garden: Bonus points if it’s Billy Joel.
35. Have a fancy cocktail & pretend you’re a member of New York high society at a hotel bar
The King Cole Bar at the St. Regis is a great choice if you like Bloody Marys (they were invented here) but there are plenty of others full of intricate murals, chandeliers, leather banquettes, & well-dressed people with expense accounts.
36. Hit a food hall & try several different cuisines at once
Downtown Brooklyn’s Dekalb Market Hall alone will offer you an impressive global spread -- you’ll get access to Katz’s pastrami, Jianbang Company’s Shanghai crepes, & Pierogi Boys’ peorgi -- but there are countless others to explore as well.
37. Drink your own booze on the Staten Island Ferry
Forget chain booze cruises with $200 tickets -- the only booze cruise you need to go on in NYC takes place on the Staten Island ferry, with a BYO bottle of whatever the hell you want.
38. Visit all the museums on Museum Mile that you’ve never gotten around to
You’ve checked the Met off your list, but what about all those other major museums along Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile that you keep meaning to go to? Spend a weekend afternoon actually committing to a visit (or check out when they have free days).
39. Celebrate Christmas at Rolf’s
The German restaurant/bar’s completely over-the-top holiday decorations (and brats & steins) put your stepmom's ornaments to shame. Lucky for you, the lights stay up for six months.
40. Score cheap Broadway tickets
OK, so you may not get to see Hamilton, but it’s entirely possible to get tickets to plenty of other big Broadway shows without selling a non-vital organ.
41. Go to Gospel Sunday brunch at Sylvia’s
There’s absolutely no better way to spend a Sunday morning than eating fried chicken & waffles while listening to a live gospel music performance.
42. Dance & get weird at the House of Yes
The Bushwick club/performance venue/bar is known for throwing over-the-top events involving everything from aerialists to burlesque performers. Many of the events are free, but you’re most likely to get in (and get the most out of the experience) if you come dressed on-theme (think ‘80s roller disco).
43. Sell (and then browse) books at the Strand
Before you shop your way around this famed bookstore (home to 18 miles of reading), sell some of those books that have been taking up valuable real estate in your closet-sized apartment.
44. Get a Citi Bike & ride over the Brooklyn Bridge
Just make sure you go early enough to avoid tourist foot traffic. & don’t forget to return the bike on the other side.
45. Explore Red Hook, Brooklyn
It make seem like a trek, but hopping on the ferry from Wall Street & exploring this waterfront South Brooklyn neighborhood (filled with plenty of mom-and-pop shops & some of the city’s best BBQ) makes for a perfect weekend afternoon. Plus, chances are fairly high you need a new coffee table from IKEA...
46. Head upstate to Letchworth State Park
The “Grand Canyon of the East” (located around 5.5 hours from the city) is home to three waterfalls, 66 miles of hiking trails, & plenty of opportunities for out-of-a-movie hot-air balloon rides & kayaking down the Genesee River.
47. Drink on a boat (or barge) in the summer
The skyline views from spots like Greenpoint’s Brooklyn Barge or Tribeca’s Grand Banks will balance out the potential for seasickness.
48. Wander around Green-Wood Cemetery
For starters, Bill the Butcher is buried there. But there’s also landmark architecture, plenty of greenery, & a far cooler calendar of events than your average cemetery.
49. Buy produce from a rooftop farm
You may not associate NYC with farming, but the city is actually home to a handful of fully functioning rooftop farms (including Brooklyn Grange in Long Island City & the Brooklyn Navy Yard) that offer sweeping skyline views & plenty of fresh produce.
50. Picnic in Prospect Park
It’s quieter & more lush than Central Park, & you can plan your picnic around a Celebrate Brooklyn concert in the summer (park yourself close to the 15th Street entrance & you’ll be able to hear the live music without paying for tickets & expensive beers). Be sure to avoid the bike valet.
It’s no secret that New York City is one of the most expensive cities in America, but that doesn’t mean you have to go into credit card debt just to have fun here. In fact, one of the greatest benefits of being in a city as big as New York is the abundance of free things to do & see. To keep your wallet happy, take advantage of these completely free activities, from comedy shows & brewery tours to museum visits & tapings of late-night TV.
Spend Saturday morning admiring foliage: Prospect Heights
Every Saturday from 10am-12pm, admission to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, located on the north side of Prospect Park, is completely free. The best time to get there is from late-April to mid-May, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, but there’s plenty off Instagram-worthy foliage to see year-round.
See comedians (and maybe even a few celebrities) perform improv: Chelsea
Standing in a line for over an hour is something of a New York rite of passage, & no line is more worthwhile than the one outside Sunday night's free Upright Citizens Brigade improv show, ASSSCAT 3000. Each week, a guest monologist (which could be a comedy writer, talk show host, or actor) tells stories from his or her life, & a group of improv comedians comes up with on-the-spot sketches based off the stories. Amy Poehler, who helped open the theater 20+ years ago, has been known to stop by as well. Here’s how the line works: Line up by 6:30pm to ensure you’ll get in (the theater passes out numbers at 8:15pm). You’ll have an hour to grab some food before lining up in the same order at 9:15pm to enter the theater. The show starts at 9:30.
Explore one of Manhattan’s most beautiful museums: Washington Heights
Located at the very top of Manhattan in Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters -- the Met's sister museum dedicated to Medieval art & architecture -- is the perfect place to roam on a sunny afternoon. Take the A train to 190th St & then stroll through the park nestled right along the Hudson River. Although there’s a suggested price for admission, you can very well choose to not pay anything. The museum is open every day, from 10am-5:15pm from March-October, & 10am-4:45pm from November–February.
Wander around Socrates Sculpture Park: Long Island City
This free garden & public park in Long Island City (open every day from 9am to sunset) is NYC’s only space dedicated to large-scale sculptures & outdoor multimedia installations. Highlights include a piano harp that’s been transformed into a beehive & a self-sustaining forest garden. To get there, take the N/W train to the Broadway stop in Queens, then walk a few blocks west on Broadway until you reach the intersection of Vernon Boulevard.
See a live taping of a daytime or late-night talk show: Various locations
It will cost you exactly $0 to be in the same room as Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, & Whoopi Goldberg as tapings to daytime & late-night talk shows filmed in NYC are completely free. You can put in requests for Good Morning America, Live with Kelly, The Chew, The View, & Late Night With Seth Meyers on this website, & information about many other free studio audience tickets can be found here. Do note that most of these shows tape during weekdays, save for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which tapes on Sunday afternoons.
Work on your crow pose: Various locations
Yoga to the People, with five locations across New York City, offers donation-based yoga classes, meaning you can get your zen on at no cost. Unsurprisingly, the classes are pretty popular, so make sure you get there at least 15 minutes early to snag a spot -- & bring your own mat (rentals are $2). If yoga isn't your thing, there are plenty of other ways to get fit in New York without spending any money.
Drink wine, eat cheese, & admire art: Chelsea
Every Thursday night, Chelsea art galleries host openings for new showings that are completely free to the public. Almost all of them offer freebies like wine & cheese, so make sure to check this website to stay up to date on gallery openings.
Discover how beer is made: Williamsburg & Astoria
Williamsburg-based Brooklyn Brewery offers free tours of its facility every half hour on Saturdays & Sundays, & after the tour, you can drink the beer for only $5 a pint (which isn’t free but still cheaper than most bars in New York). In Astoria, SingleCut Beersmiths holds a free tour at 5pm on Saturdays & Sundays.
Take in the views from the Staten Island Ferry: Lower Manhattan & Staten Island
Tickets for ferry rides to the Statue of Liberty are ridiculously expensive, & you have to battle pushy crowds for a good seat. To get an up-close view of Lady Liberty & Ellis Island, take the Staten Island Ferry, which departs from Manhattan every 30 minutes. If you take it during sunset, you’ll get great views of the skyline, & you can sip beer right on the ferry for about $4 a drink (or BYO).
Admire some of the world’s finest art: Various locations
Many New York City museums offer free admission days or pay-what-you-wish. There are also museums that are always free, like the FIT Museum in Chelsea, which features exhibits dedicated to fashion. Below are some of the best free museum days you’ll want to put in your planner now.
MoMA: Every Friday, 4-8 pm
Museum of the Moving Image: Every Friday, 4-8 pm
Brooklyn Museum: First Saturday of the month, 5-11pm
Frick Collection: First Friday of the month, 6-9pm
Jewish Museum: Saturday, all day
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Not free, but admission prices are just a suggestion, so you can get away with paying nothing
Stroll the High Line & Brooklyn Heights Promenade: Meatpacking & Brooklyn Heights
When the weather's nice, spend an early morning walking the High Line, an abandoned aboveground railroad track turned into an urban park, or the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which features the best views of Lower Manhattan. If you're looking to avoid crowds at all costs, get there extra-early or go on a weekday.
Suspend yourself above the East River: Midtown
If you have an unlimited subway pass, trips on the Roosevelt Island Tram are free. There's no better way to conquer your fear of heights than being suspended above Midtown East & the East River. Once on Roosevelt Island, head south to South Point Park where there’s plenty of room to picnic, sunbathe, or set up an impromptu Instagram photo shoot with the skyline in the background.
Cuddle up with a good book inside an iconic building: Midtown
After a two-year renovation, the iconic Rose Main Reading Room at the flagship New York Public Library in Bryant Park is now open to the public again, & it’s the perfect place to head on a rainy day to discover a new book. If you want to learn more about the library’s history, free one-hour tours of the whole building are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis Monday through Saturday at 11am & 2pm & Sundays at 2pm.
Walk in the footsteps of a founding father: Various locations
Tickets to the Broadway hit Hamilton are going to cost you a few hundred dollars, but for free, you can visit many of the places that Alexander Hamilton actually frequented or lived. The highlight of your self-guided tour around the city is Hamilton Grange, which is where Hamilton lived the last few years of his life.
Test your movie knowledge: Bushwick & Williamsburg
Tuesdays in Brooklyn are the perfect time to see if your film knowledge is strong enough to get you free drinks. Every other Tuesday at 8pm, Syndicated Bar in Bushwick hosts a free movie-trivia night (winners get certificates to the movie theater in the bar, & there are chances to win free drinks throughout the night). Every Tuesday at 8:30pm, Videology in Williamsburg also hosts movie trivia with the prize of a free round of drinks for the winning team. Time to round up that one friend who can name every Best Picture winner since 1938.
New York has the most National Historic Landmarks of any state: 261, to be exact. But unless you’re dying to wear a T-shirt that says, “I’ve been to every New York Landmark, bitches!” you’re probably only really interested in the coolest spots. So, we scoured the entire Empire State to find them -- from Manhattan landmarks you can now sleep in, to a famous artist’s home in the Hamptons, to a remote log cabin visited by US Presidents in the Hudson Valley. If this list doesn’t satisfy your inner history nerd, take a self-guided tour with this handy NYC landmark map (which includes places you probably pass by every day on your way to work; hi, Grand Central!).
Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate: Pocantico Hills
While a trip to Kykuit will make it difficult to return to your infinitely smaller New York City apartment, the home of one of the wealthiest Americans in recorded history feels like a mini vacation -- even if you can see the Manhattan skyline 25 miles to the south from Kykuit’s hilltop perch. Visitors can tour the lavish estate of Standard Oil founder & philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, & set new life goals while roaming the six-story stone house & beautiful sculpture-dappled gardens, featuring works by Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, & Alexander Calder.
Brooklyn Heights Historic District: Brooklyn
You’ll want a day to meander the city’s first historic district, home to over 600 pre-Civil War houses, architectural gems like Grace Church, & plenty of juicy fodder on the rich & famous. Take a free guided walking tour or stroll through America’s first suburb at your leisure, stopping at 24 Middagh St, the oldest home in the Heights, built in 1824; Arthur Miller’s home at 31 Grace Court (where he completed Death of a Salesman in the late '40s); & Truman Capote’s five-story townhouse at 70 Willow St (where he wrote Breakfast At Tiffany's & A House on the Heights).
Green-Wood Cemetery: Brooklyn
A visit to this 1838 cemetery is like getting the coolest history lesson of your life. Amidst 150-year-old trees & glacial ponds -- a verdant oasis that inspired the creation of Central & Prospect Parks -- lie the answers to basically every Jeopardy question. At Green-Wood, which also happens to be a Revolutionary War site, you’ll find the graves of famous mobsters & civil war heroes, New York mayors, baseball legends, the co-founder of the MET, the inventor of Morse code, Leonard Bernstein, & actor who played The Wizard of Oz.
Jackson Pollock House & Studio: East Hampton
If you’ve ever lingered before Ocean Greyness at the Guggenheim or One: Number 31, 1950 at MoMA, it’s time you head east to see where the magic happened. In 1945, Jackson Pollock purchased this 19th-century house for $5,000 & remained living & working there until his death in 1956. Whether you’re into art or not, exploring the home of one of America’s greatest painters & getting an up-close look at his life is no small thrill, especially when you stand over his studio floor, which is covered with drip-style remnants from paintings such as Autumn Rhythm, Convergence, & Blue Poles.
Eastman Museum: Rochester
For film & photography buffs, reasons to get out of town don’t get better than Kodak founder George Eastman’s estate, which also happens to house the world’s oldest photography museum & leading film archive collection. In addition to perusing the picturesque grounds & objet d’arts, visitors can enjoy myriad screenings, ranging from Our Man in Havana to classic bond films, as well as exhibits like Photography & America’s National Parks (June 4–October 2, 2016).
Governors Island: Manhattan
The colonial militia of 1755 could not have imagined that the headquarters for the US Army & Coast Guard would turn into a destination for myriad summer jubilees. Take a free ferry ride over to Governors Island to revel in the present -- & the debut of 10 acres of parkland in The Hills -- & pay respects to its past as one of the country’s longest continually operated military installations. After touring the 2.2-mile promenade on a free cruiser, testing out the hammock groves, & perhaps fox-trotting at a jazz age party, explore Fort Jay & Castle Williams, two of the harbor’s largest coastal fortifications, which helped stave off the British Navy during the War of 1812.
New York State Capitol: Albany
If you only do two things on your visit to Albany, make sure it’s dining at New World Bistro Bar (one of the 13 best restaurants in NY outside NYC) & touring the Capitol building. Constructed between 1867 & 1899 atop State Street hill, the late 19th-century architectural marvel’s recent restorations, including the Million Dollar Staircase, the War Room, & the Hall of Governors, are worth a trip.
Slabsides: West Park
The next time you’re at your desk daydreaming of outdoor adventures, consider Slabsides. The Adirondack-style cabin, hand-built by the famed nature essayist John Burroughs & his son in 1873, is the coolest excuse to go for a walk in the woods. As you make your way through the 170-acre John Burroughs Sanctuary to reach the well-preserved hut that inspired the writer’s work, you’ll be following in the footsteps of illustrious guests such as Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Thomas Edison, & Henry Ford. Though the cabin is only open on the third Saturday in May & the first Saturday in October, the grounds & hiking trails are accessible year round.
Poe Cottage: Bronx
If you’ve ever binge-watched Sherlock Holmes or Law & Order, you’ll want to take the D train to Kingsbridge Rd to see where the inventor of detective stories spent the last years of his life. From 1846 to 1849, it was in this small wooden farmhouse that once looked out over the shores of Long Island that Edgar Allan Poe wrote ”Annabel Lee” & “The Cask of Amontillado.” “The Tell-Tale Heart” author would roam the woods & riverbanks while his wife put food on the table by foraging in the neighboring fields.
Lake Mohonk Mountain House: New Paltz
Opened in 1869, the Mohonk Mountain House has gone from a 10-room inn & tavern to a 600-room gathering place for US presidents (five to be exact) & dignitaries from around the world. The all-inclusive Victorian castle resort, one of our top weekend getaways from NYC, is surrounded by thousands of acres of protected land, including 85 miles of hiking trails.
Fort Ticonderoga: Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga’s lush & peaceful perch on the banks of Lake Champlain makes it one of the US’s most beautiful battlegrounds. It outlasted two wars & five skirmishes, including the first major American victory of the Revolution, when soldiers stormed Fort Ticonderoga & captured it from the British on May 10, 1775.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower: Manhattan
An iconic fixture on the Manhattan skyline since 1909, the Met Life Tower was the company’s world headquarters until 2005. Modeled after Campanile in Venice, the striking building at the southeast corner of Madison Square Park recently became the New York EDITION hotel, which features The Clocktower restaurant, helmed by British Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton & restaurateur Stephen Starr.
Tenement Building: Manhattan
You’ll never lament your current living situation again after getting a taste of the immigrant experience in New York City between 1863 & 1935. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is housed within a five-story brick building that sheltered around 7,000 people from over 20 nations throughout 72 years. Through restored apartment exhibits, tours, & reenactments, you’ll discover how immigrants forged American identities during some of the country’s darkest years.
Huguenot Street: New Paltz
Trendy beer gardens, restaurants, & cocktail bars have been popping up in New Paltz lately, but it’s what’s just off Main St that’s worth making the hour-long Adirondack Trailways bus trip. Step inside the 17th century in this 10-acre National Historic Landmark District, founded by several Huguenot families in 1678, where you’ll see seven historic stone houses, archaeological sites, & a burial ground for the first French Protestant settlers.
Darwin D. Martin House: Buffalo
Frank Lloyd Wright referred to his six-structure Martin House as “the opus,” & kept the blueprints on his drawing table for almost 50 years. Situated in the Parkside neighborhood of Buffalo & built between 1903-1905, the estate-turned-museum is one of Wright’s most celebrated Prairie houses.
Manitoga, The Russel Wright Design Center: Garrison
Step inside the pioneering mind of Russel Wright, the modern industrial design doyen of the 1940s & '50s, at his striking home & woodland sanctuary in the Hudson Valley. Take a 90-minute tour of the house & grounds, which includes the breathtaking 75-acre gardens & “Dragon Rock” studio, where Wright created nature-inspired dinnerware.
Montauk Point Light: Montauk
The oldest lighthouse in the state sits at the easternmost tip of Long Island, where it’s been flashing 19 nautical miles out to sea since President George Washington gave the OK to have it built in 1796. A trip to Montauk isn’t complete without admiring this historic beacon, be it from Camp Hero State Park or inside the museum, where 19th-century whaling industry artifacts & documents signed by Thomas Jefferson are on display.
Carnegie Hall: Manhattan
Since 1891, the Italian Renaissance building at 881 7th Ave has remained one of the world’s preeminent performance spaces. The brainchild of Andrew Carnegie began its first of 46,000 events with the American debut of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, followed by concerts by everyone from Bob Dylan to Louis Armstrong to Billie Holiday. If you want to hear all varieties of great music, take a seat in front of Carnegie Hall’s acoustically perfect stage.
Ellis Island: Upper New York Bay
Whether or not your ancestors were among the 17 million people who traveled through the federal immigration station between 1892 & 1954, Ellis Island is a fascinating place to trace one’s lineage or simply marvel at the varied history -- from the largest gateway to America, to a prison for pirates.
Saratoga Spa State Park: Saratoga Springs
Aside from horse racing & the best pizza in the state outside NYC, Saratoga Springs is known for its healing mineral springs. Established in 1835, 2,379-acre Saratoga Spa State Park is a must-stop for travelers seeking a stress-relieving getaway. Book a room at Gideon Putnam Resort, then unplug while you explore five hiking trails, play a round of golf, visit the Saratoga Automobile Museum, & soak it all in at the Roosevelt Baths & Spa.
New York Public Library: Manhattan
Built on the former Croton Reservoir & opened in 1911, the Beaux-Arts behemoth at Fifth Ave & 42nd Street is a utopia for bibliophiles, history buffs, & architectural mavens. Take a tour of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to discover fascinating factoids about the New York Public Library, where you can find 125 miles of shelving, 2.5 million research works, a 1493 copy of Christopher Columbus’s letter announcing his discovery of the New World, & 40,000 restaurant menus from the 1850s to now.
Washington Irving’s Sunnyside: Tarrytown
Retirement homes aren’t what they used to be. At Sunnyside, where America’s so-called “Founding Father of Literature” spent his final days, you’ll wonder how someone who wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow could possibly have lived in such a dreamy place -- or “snuggery,” as Irving would say. After a visit to Sunnyside, head to nearby Old Dutch Church, site of Ichabod’s headless horseman encounter, & Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Irving & several other notable figures are buried.
Niagara Reservation: Niagara Falls
Instead of flying all the way to Zambia to see spectacular waterfalls, take a six-hour road trip to experience the rush that is Niagara Falls. At America’s oldest state park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, get up close to the crash-and-boom -- that would be 750,000 gallons of water per second -- on the Cave of the Winds tour or the Maid of the Mist boat ride. If you opt for the latter, let your stomach settle, then eat lunch at one of these restaurants in Niagara Falls that don’t suck.
Brooklyn Bridge: East River
Early in the morning, before selfie sticks & commuters storm the Brooklyn Bridge like the elephants that once tested its weight, you can still enjoy an iconic walk between the boroughs. Since 1883, the first steel wire suspension bridge has remained a New York City treasure, worthy of being named the “eighth wonder of the world.”
Adirondack Forest Preserve: Adirondack Mountain region
The largest National Historic Landmark in the United States comprises 2.6 million acres of state land within the Adirondack Park. The Preserve’s remote backcountry woos campers & hikers year-round along its 1,800 miles of trails, & is an outdoor playground for mountain bikers, rock climbers, & fishermen.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Manhattan
Although the block-long, Renaissance Revival-styled Federal Reserve Bank is something to behold, it’s what’s inside, on the basement floor, that’s worth a visit. Book a free Museum & Gold Vault Tour, which will have you seeing gold stars for the rest of the day. Opened in 1914, the bank began storing gold during World War II, & still remains the world’s largest known depository of monetary gold, with about 508,000 gold bars in its 122 blue cages.
Central Park: Manhattan
For many New Yorkers, Central Park makes the urban jungle bearable. Designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the 843-acre sanctuary opened in 1876, & is the most visited urban park in the United States, with 37.5 million visitors each year. Among its man-made features -- 5,000 trees, seven bodies of water, 136 acres of woodlands, 58 miles of walking paths, & 36 bridges & arches -- are large 450-million-year-old schistose metamorphic rocks & glacial outcrops, like the one on the west side of Central Park Lake that’s great for picnicking.
General Theological Seminary: Manhattan
The High Line Hotel recently opened in the former student quarters of the General Theological Seminary, which was built in 1895 on an apple orchard owned by Clement Clarke Moore, author of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Plan a staycation, or just enjoy cocktails or an Intelligentsia Coffee in the Parisian-style courtyard while taking in the towering Gothic-style brick façade.
Statue of Liberty: Liberty Island
Since 1886, the 305ft-tall copper symbol of freedom, officially known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," has stood watch over the New York harbor. Originally designed by sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi as a Muslim peasant woman, she continues to be NYC’s most iconic landmark, offering crowning views of the city.
The Plaza: Manhattan
While a lot has changed in New York City since The Plaza first opened in 1907 with rooms for $2.50/night, the French chateau-styled landmark still reigns over the city’s luxury hotel scene, especially after receiving a $450 million dollar restoration in 2008. After dining at the Todd English Food Hall, wander the 282-roomed property -- where the Beatles wrote "Michelle" & Miles Davis recorded Jazz at the Plaza -- then go for drinks at The Champagne Bar.
Taking a dip while drinking isn't easy in New York unless you know where to look. Here are seven spots to sip & swim this summer.
The Bar at Grace Hotel: 125 W. 45th St.; 212-354-2323
The easiest nut to crack, Grace Hotel's (formerly Hotel QT) open-to-all (albeit with a $10 fee for non-guests) first-floor bar comes equipped with a modestly sized pool usually full of no-holds-barred frolickers. The bar itself is located behind the action, but you can also grab a view from the bleachers directly adjoining the pool.
The Pool Deck: 44 W. 63rd St., nr. Broadway; 212-265-7400
The Empire Hotel's elegant, 150-person rooftop pool bar boasts five cabanas equipped with flat-screens, mini-fridges, iPod docking stations, ceiling fans, & daybeds. All you need is a room key! Do you perhaps have a wealthy uncle coming to town?
Plunge: 18 Ninth Ave., at 13th St.; 877-426-7386
Gansevoort Hotel's own rooftop pool is guests-only as well, but the bar itself is open to all. Bring your suit just in case — after a few cocktails, a running cannonball past an inattentive lifeguard might not seem like such a bad idea.
Wall Street Bath & Spa 88: 88 Fulton St., nr. Gold St.; 212-766-8600
A full restaurant, a café toting beers, & a cigar lounge — plus the requisite indoor pool, cold plunge pool, steam room, & two types of sauna — provide plenty of opportunities to imbibe in a bathrobe, if not actually poolside.
Coney Island Banya: 602 Coney Island Ave., nr. Avenue C, Brooklyn; 718-853-2525
Recently reopened after a year off for renovations, Coney Island Banya has got the goods: a pool, both wet & dry saunas, a Turkish bath, a Jacuzzi, as well as masseuses, mud & salt treatments, a Middle Eastern–Russian restaurant, a juice bar, & a booze bar. The Banya also hosts semi-regular parties: By the looks of things, we should all be attending.
Body by Brooklyn: 275 Park Ave., at Washington Ave., Brooklyn; 718-923-9400
A unique, huge (10,000-square-foot space), decadent mix of spa, bathhouse, & restaurant & bar. There's no drink service in the pool area, but feel free to cart your own beverages wherever you want.
Soho House: 29 Ninth Ave., nr. 13th St.; 212-627-9800
Yes, Soho House is members-only, but don't despair: Access to the bar, the restaurant, the game room, & the rooftop pool can be yours with a reservation, which runs from around half a G to a G. Okay, maybe despair a little bit.
For authentic Italian-American fare, visit Dell'anima. The delicate noodle dishes at Momofuku will satisfy even the most discerning gourmet. head to treandy Death & Co. for a quirky take on the traditional speakeasy - or Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs for a Molly Malone coktail. Museums abound in New York - The Whitney is one of the best.
Attractions Tourists Visit Most:
1. Madison Square Garden
2. The National 9/11 Memorial & Museum
3. Times Square
Attractions Locals Visit Most:
1. Madison Square Garden
2. Bryant Park
3. One World Observatory—World Trade Center
Independent Restaurants Tourists Visit Most:
1. Katz's Deli
2. Balthazar
3. Ellen's Stardust Diner
Independent Restaurants Locals Visit Most:
1. Pershing Square
2. The Dead Rabbit
3. Balthazar
Chain Restaurants Tourists Visit Most:
1. Hard Rock Cafe
2. Shake Shack (Columbus Avenue)
3. Starbucks (Madison Avenue)
Chain Restaurants Locals Visit Most:
1. Shake Shack (East 86 Street)
2. Starbucks (Columbus Avenue)
3. Starbucks (Astor Place)
Hotels Tourists Stay at Most:
1. New York Hilton Midtown
2. Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
3. The New Yorker, A Wyndham Hotel
Why Go Now: Baseball season openers rally Yankees (April 13) & Mets (April 5) fans, cherry blossoms set the Brooklyn Botanic Garden ablaze (April 21–29), & the reels turn at the Tribeca Film Festival (April 18–29). The new Steins’ exhibit Matisse, Picasso, & the Parisian Avant-Garde at the Met (February 28–June 3) & the Whitney Biennial (March 1–27) lead the season’s exhibition calendar.
Where to Stay: Buzzworthy spring openings include the LEED-certified 168-room NoMad Hotel near Madison Square Park (opening late March); the 105-room Out NYC in Hell’s Kitchen, billed as NYC’s first gay hotel (opens March 1); & downtown’s 463-suite Conrad New York (opens March 20), touting views of the Hudson River & Statue of Liberty.
Insider Tip: Set out with Urban Oyster for expert guide-led glimpses of authentic NYC (Manhattan food carts, Brooklyn breweries, & more).
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92
63 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Email Address: info@bldg92.org
Description: In the 19th century, Marines were dispatched from the Navy Yard to crack down on illegal whiskey distilling in what became known as the WHISKEY WARS. Today, Kings County Distillery is proudly making moonshine & more on premises. Join BLDG 92 & Kings County Distillery on a tour (and tasting!) that explores whiskey scandals of the past & the resurgence of the industry today. For more information & to register, visit http://bldg92.org/events/
Hours: (3/16/14) From 3:45 pm - 5:15 pm
Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG92
63 Flushing Ave, BLDG92, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Email Address: ksolomon@brooklynnavyyard.org
Description: Find out how local sustainable manufacturer IceStone® survived Hurricane Sandy & has transformed 10 million pounds of waste glass into high design countertops that rival the strength & beauty of quarried stone—absent the associated environmental damage. Visitors will have the opportunity to handle the raw material, experience a cutting-edge green production facility, & take a piece of IceStone home. For details & to purchase tickets, visit http://bldg92.org/events
Hours: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Other Information: Price is $15 per person & $12 for BLDG 92 members.
Madison Square Garden
4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10001
Map Location Latitude: 40.67797 Longitude: -73.897605
Description: Madison Square Garden'sTM All Access Tour allows fans to get an insider's view of the inner-workings of The World's Most Famous Arena®, providing them with little-known information & rarely seen viewpoints on the legendary showplace. Visitors taking part in the "All Access" one hour tour become a part of one of the busiest & most exciting sports & entertainment facilities in the world & are treated to a host of unique experiences. Visit the Knicks, Rangers & Liberty locker rooms; tour backstage of the Theater at Madison Square Garden; go inside the Star dressing rooms; learn how a basketball court becomes a sheet of ice; meet one of the famed Knicks City Dancers; see the MSG Network® studio; witness all the seldom seen build-up to a live event - players practicing, performers in production, casts in rehearsal or crews staging events! You'll never know what you'll see on the All Access Tour.
Hours: Tours run on the hour from Monday through Sunday 10AM - 3PM (no tours on Christmas Day or New Year's Day). Tickets are priced at $17.00 for adults & $12.00 for children & can be purchased directly at the MSG box office. Group & student rates are available. Madison Square Garden is centrally located in New York City at 33rd Street & 7th Avenue & can be reached by car, train, bus or foot.
Metropolitan Opera Guild
70 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-6593
Map Location Latitude: 40.772639 Longitude: -73.982792
Description: The Met offers several options for individuals & families to enjoy this cultural experience, including a subscription plan. Those interested can obtain a calendar & more info by mail or phone. Seating prices for performances vary, & Group Discounts are available to organized groups of 20 or more.
90-minute Backstage Tours explore the creation of an opera production, guiding visitors through the shops where artisans work on the sets, costumes, & wigs, & includes the rehearsal facilities, dressing rooms, 10-story backstage complex, & the auditorium. This is a fantastic opportunity for individuals, families & groups to see what goes on behind the scenes of a major production. Advance reservations required.
Hours: The Metropolitan Opera Guild Backstage Tours run from October through June at 3:30 pm on weekdays & Sundays at 10:30 am. Groups assemble in the lobby of The Met. To get more information & to reserve your space, please call: 212.769.7020 Monday through Friday between 10 am - 3:15 pm Eastern Time. You may also send a fax to: 212.769.8519.
Tour Cost:
$15 for General Public
$10 for Guild Member
$5 for Student
The Lincoln Center Tours (which include The Met) are given every day. They do not include backstage areas, but sometimes include part of the auditorium. Please call 212.875.5350 for more information. The charge for this tour is $10 per adult, $5 for children under twelve years old & $8.50 for students & senior citizens.
NBC Studios
30 Rockefeller, New York, NY 10112
Map Location Latitude: 40.75851 Longitude: -73.979004
Email Address: CustomerService@ShopNBC.com
Description
Ever wonder what happens on the other side of the tube? Since 1933, NBC guides have been guiding visitors on a behind the scenes look at NBC's New York operations. The hour-long tour takes in some of the world's most famous studios, including:
Studio 1A Home of Today Show
Studio 3A Home of MSNBC
Studio 3C Home of Nightly News with Brian Williams
Studio 8G Home of Football Night in America
Studio 6B Home of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Studio 8H Home of Saturday Night Live
Tracing radio & television back to 1933, the tour brings some of NBC's classic programs back to life -- programs that were created in the same studios that bring us today's entertainment.
The tour guide might be a celebrity in the making. Michael Eisner, Steve Allen, Kate Jackson, Regis Philbin, Ted Koppel, Marcy Carsey, Dave Garroway & Willard Scott all were NBC Pages in their early days.
Tours begin & end in the NBC Experience Store.
Hours:
Monday-Wednesday 8:30 am-5:30 pm
Thursday 8:30 am-6:00 pm
Friday-Saturday 8:30 am-6:30 pm
Sunday 9:15 am-4:30 pm
Tours depart every 15 minutes (times are subject to change & may be extended during holidays)
Adults: $19.25
Children (6-12): $16.25
Seniors: $16.25
Groups (10 or more): $16.25 a person
Children under six are not admitted. The tour runs on a "first-come, first served" basis at the 30 Rockefeller location in New York.
Radio City Music Hall
1260 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
Map Location Latitude: 40.759948 Longitude: -73.98028
Email Address: groupsales@thegarden.com
Description: No trip to Radio City is complete without a tour of the legendary theatre. Reopened after an extensive restoration on October 4, 1999, the Music Hall now reflects its original grandeur of opening night, 1932, sporting behind-the-scenes upgrades & refurbishment. Following the lead of Radio City's experienced tour guides, guests explore: the Great Stage, one of the largest indoor performance stages in the world; the stage's hydraulic system, still in operation since the '30s; the renowned private suite, with 12-feet high gold leaf ceilings & onetime home to Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel. & as an exciting climax to the Stage Door Tour, guests will meet one of the world-famous Radio City Rockettes!
Hours: Monday - Sunday: 11am-3pm
$17 regular;
$14 for senior citizens:
$10 for children under 12
Other Information: The Radio City "Stage Door Tour" is a one hour, walking tour of the interior of Radio City Music Hall that departs from the Music Hall lobby. Radio City Music Hall is located in the heart of Rockefeller Center at 1260 Avenue of the Americas - 6th Ave. & 50th Street. Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis, depending on availability. Tour content & prices are subject to change without notice.
Steinway & Sons
1 Steinway Place, Long Island City, NY 11105
Map Location Latitude: 40.7805159 Longitude: -73.8980396
Email Address: info@steinway.com
This tour is free
Description: Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft on Varick Street. Henry was a master cabinet maker who built his first piano in the kitchen of his Seesen, Germany home. By the time Henry established Steinway & Sons, he had built 482 pianos. The first piano produced by the company, number 483, was sold to a New York family for $500. It is now displayed at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Over the next forty years, Henry & his sons, Henry Jr., Albert, C.F. Theodore, William, & Charles, developed the modern piano. Almost half of the company's 114 patented inventions were developed during this period. Many of these late nineteenth-century inventions were based on emerging scientific research, including the acoustical theories of the renowned physicist Hermann von Helmholtz.
Steinway's revolutionary designs & superior workmanship began receiving national recognition almost immediately. Starting in 1855, Steinway pianos received gold medals at several U.S. & European exhibitions. The company gained international recognition in 1867 at the Paris Exhibition when it was awarded the prestigious "Grand Gold Medal of Honor" for excellence in manufacturing & engineering. It was the first time an American company had received this award. Steinway pianos quickly became the piano of choice for many members of royalty & won the respect & admiration of the world's great pianists.
In 1866 Steinway & Sons opened the first Steinway Hall on 14th Street. With a main auditorium of 2,000 seats, it became New York City's artistic & cultural center, housing the New York Philharmonic until Carnegie Hall opened in 1891. By this time, the company had moved to its current location in the Astoria section of Queens, New York, & built Steinway Village. Virtually its own town, Steinway Village had its own foundries, factory, post office, parks & housing for employees.
In 1871, Henry Sr. died & sons C.F. Theodore & William took over operations. An accomplished pianist, C.F. Theodore was responsible for the technical aspects of piano making & personally earned the company 41 patents, including one in 1875 for the modern concert grand piano. In the same year, William helped establish a showroom in London. Five years later, in 1880, the Hamburg factory began operating & a retail operation, the Steinway-Haus, was established. Another retail operation opened in Berlin in 1909.
Today, Steinway & Sons crafts approximately 5,000 pianos a year worldwide. Over 1300 prominent concert artists & ensembles across the world bear the title Steinway Artist. No artist or ensemble is a paid endorser of the piano. Each Steinway Artist personally owns a Steinway & has chosen to perform on the Steinway piano professionally. In North America, artists select their Steinway for concert performances from the company's unique "piano bank," an inventory of more than 300 pianos valued at over $15 million.
Pianos are placed throughout North America & are maintained to concert standards by an exclusive network of Steinway dealers. The famed "basement" of New York's Steinway Hall, at 109 West 57th Street in New York City, is the bank's home office. Branch piano banks are maintained at Steinway dealerships in cities throughout the country to serve performing artists. In all other countries, major concert venues in each town own Steinway & Sons instruments which the artist can use.
Hours: We offer one factory tour a week on Tuesday from 9:30 am until 12 noon for a group comprised of 15 people. Tours take place from September through the end of June & due to our limited schedule must be booked in advance. There are no factory tours available in the summer months of July & August.
The Steinway Factory Tour is a visit to our working factory. Please note the following conditions & restrictions for tour participants:
Our factory is large & the tour covers a significant area. Participants must be able to stand & walk for 1 ½ to 2 hours, including 3-4 flights of stairs.
There is no seating or rest areas available on the shop floor.
There are no restrooms available on the shop floor.
Open shoes, sandals, flip flops, etc. are not permitted on the tour.
Canes, walkers & wheelchairs are not permitted on the tour.
Individuals with pacemakers or similar devices will not be allowed on the tour. (Factory equipment may interfere with the device.)
Tour participants will be exposed to dust & chemical odors.
We do not allow photos or videos in the factory.
Children under the age of 16 are not permitted on the factory tour.
Visitor parking is extremely limited. Please arrive early for street parking.
If you are interested in scheduling a tour, please contact us at info@steinway.com or 718-721-2600.
United Nations
First Avenue between 42nd Street & 48th Street, New York, NY 10001
Map Location Latitude: 40.73282 Longitude: -73.979627
Email Address: inquiries@un.org
Description: The guided tour of the United Nations starts with a brief overview of the Organization & its structure. The main part of the tour consists of a visit to the chambers of the Security Council, the Trusteeship Council & the Economic & Social Council, which are located in the Conference Building.
During the visit, you might briefly observe a meeting. An average of 5,000 official meetings are held at the United Nations Headquarters annually. Please note that some council chambers might be closed to the public. The guide explains the functions, composition & current actions undertaken by each council, as well as the activities of the United Nations system.
Visitors also see exhibits on such topics as peacekeeping operations, decolonization & disarmament. An art collection, presented by Member States, is also part of the visit. It consists of tapestries, murals, mosaics & sculptures.
The final stop on the tour route is the General Assembly Hall, the largest & best-known room. Visitors are then escorted to the Public Concourse where the United Nations Postal Counter, the Gift Centre, the United Nations Bookshop, a coffee shop & restrooms are located.
Hours: Guided tours are conducted seven days a week (Monday to Friday only during January & February). Tours are conducted from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday to Friday; Saturday & Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tours in English normally leave every half hour & last for approximately 45 minutes to one hour.
The building is closed on some holidays including Thanksgiving Day (usually fourth Thursday in November), Christmas Day, & New Year's Day. A limited schedule may be in effect during the general debate of the General Assembly (mid-September to mid-October), between Christmas & New Year, & during special conferences & events.
Please call 212-963-TOUR (8687) for up-to-date information. Opening hours are subject to change.
Adults: $10.00
Senior Citizens: $7.50
Students with valid ID: $6.50
Children between 5 & 14 years old: $5.50
Go wine (and pie) tasting on Long Island’s North Fork: You’d never guess that 30 picture-perfect wineries were so close to the city— or so insanely cheap to tour. A strawberry pie from Briermere Farms will further alter your life.
Fodor's recommends the best weekend getaway ideas near New York, NY. Our itineraries include romantic, food & wine, & beach getaway experiences.
ATLANTIC CITY: Atlantic City is on the rise again, after years of ups & downs. Innovative restaurants & boutique hotels now line the famous Boardwalk. Rediscovering AC today taps into the simple pleasures of the past: endless food & games against a gorgeous ocean backdrop.
DISTANCE: 127 miles
BEST TIME: March to November
BEST FOR: Arts & Culture Food & Wine Beaches
BUCKS COUNTY & LAMBERTVILLE
Broadway hotshots discovered bucolic Bucks County in the 1930s. But the area attracted artists & craftsmen long before that. Idyllic villages, rolling hills, & covered bridges beckon, as does one of America's highest concentrations of antique stores.
DISTANCE: 52 miles
BEST TIME: Year Round; April to October
BEST FOR: Arts & Culture Food & Wine Shopping
CAPE MAY: New Jersey's charming Cape May possesses a unique blend of history & natural beauty, from Victorian-era houses & hotels to windswept dunes & bordering marshlands. In a weekend, you can eat at exceptional restaurants, see a show, tour historic homes, bike, swim, bird-watch, & hike along white sand beaches.
DISTANCE: 158 miles
BEST TIME: April to October
BEST FOR: Romantic Arts & Culture Beaches
DUTCHESS COUNTY: Enjoy a scenic weekend in Dutchess County, stretched along the eastern side of the Hudson River Valley. It's home to charming towns such as Rhinebeck, Red Hook, & Millbrook that are full of atmospheric old inns & antiques markets & perfect for exploring.
DISTANCE: 85 miles
BEST TIME: June to October
BEST FOR: Romantic Food & Wine Shopping
MONTAUK: Some beach destinations are ideal for doing nothing but enjoying the sand & sea, & Montauk, at the Eastern tip of Long Island, is certainly capable of providing just that. But this lively hamlet located at land's end is also ideal for weekend travelers looking to kick things up a notch with surfing, golfing, hiking, & other activities—followed by some serious eating.
DISTANCE: 119 miles
BEST TIME: May to October
BEST FOR: Family Girl's Getaway Beaches
NORTH FORK: The pastoral, vineyard-studded North Fork is making headlines not only for its Chardonnays & Merlots, but also for its innovative cuisine & inviting inns. Stop at the roadside farm stands, breathe in the irresistibly salty sea air, & linger over innovative menus. There are also lovely beaches for sunning & bays for kayaking.
DISTANCE: 99 miles
BEST TIME: May to October
BEST FOR: Girl's Getaway Romantic Food & Wine
THE BERKSHIRE MOUNTAINS: The hamlets nestled in the Berkshire Mountains are blessed with unspoiled scenery & terrific art, music, theater, & antiquing. Eight museums join renowned stage productions & dance festivals, plus a little music venue called Tanglewood in this idyllic corner of Massachusetts.
DISTANCE: 169 miles
BEST TIME: May to November
BEST FOR: Girl's Getaway Arts & Culture Food & Wine
WOODSTOCK & CATSKILLS: Visit the town of Woodstock, one of the Catskill Mountain region's best-known enclaves, & you'll be able to enjoy not only remnants of the late-'60s hippie era, but also a thriving arts scene, a robust culinary revival, & access to outdoor activities from hiking & kayaking to skiing.
DISTANCE: 104 miles
BEST TIME: Year Round
BEST FOR: Romantic Arts & Culture Outdoor