New York City Travel Guide
The problem with visiting New York is knowing where to start, but even if you don’t immediately rush off to view the world-famous sights and icons of this most dynamic of cities, just being there is enough. The wonder of New York is in the energy and the diversity that emanates from its densely packed, multi-cultural population. The city vibrates with colliding cultures, languages and nuances; here high-life and low-life rub shoulders, and whoever you are and whatever your taste, there will be something to amuse and stimulate you 24-hours a day.
Whether lolling on a bench in leafy Central Park, watching the world go by from a French bistro in Soho, gazing up at ’Lady Liberty’ from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry, most visitors will feel they’ve done it all before, simply because New York is so familiar to anyone who has ever seen a movie or watched television. There is something special however in actually seeing the familiar landmarks and experiencing the pulse of the clichéd, but true, ’city that never sleeps’.
New York City is made up of five boroughs - Staten Island, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, but many visitors never leave Manhattan. There is a lot packed into this tiny area: the 24-hour pasta restaurants of Little Italy and the bustling sidewalks of Chinatown, the jazz clubs of Greenwich Village and the theatres of Broadway; and of course the iconic sights of the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and Times Square.
New York has been described as the best three-day city in the world, and that’s about right. After a frenzy of museums, galleries, bars and clubs, some visitors are ready for a break. Fortunately there’s a lot of choice, from the National Parks of Upstate New York, to the beaches of Long Island or simply the leafy oasis of Central Park. Whatever you’re after, New York is ready and waiting to bewitch, bother and bewilder.
Getting Around
New York’s public transport system is relatively good and cheap, including buses and the subway. There are also the ever-present, although more expensive, yellow cabs. Unlicensed gypsy cabs should be avoided. It is possible to get around the city using a combination of these, or simply on foot. Walking is often the best way to experience the city, and during rush hours, when buses and taxis are caught up in the gridlock and the subway is overcrowded or delayed, it can also be the fastest way to get around. Generally though, the most efficient way to get around is the 24-four underground system with most of Manhattan’s sights near subway stations, although it can be confusing at first. Much simpler but slower, is the bus system, which is a good option for shorter distances or for travelling across town. The subway and bus fare are standard ($2); note that buses require the exact change in coins, not dollar bills. MetroCards allow free transfer between buses and the subway within two hours.
Attractions
American Museum of Natural History:
Possibly with the exception of its counterpart in London, the American Museum of Natural History is the largest and most important museum of its kind in the world. More than 30 million artefacts are packed into 42 exhibition halls - quite enough to keep anyone busy over a rainy afternoon. The most popular exhibit is a 50ft tall skeleton of a barosaurus in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda. There are three more spectacular dinosaur halls on the fourth floor. Other halls include the Hall of Biodiversity, the Hall of Ocean Life, the Hall of Human Biology and Evolution and the fabulous Hayden Planetarium - a 90-ft wide aluminium sphere that seems to float inside a massive glass cube, which in turn is home to the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Those tired of walking can check out the Museum of Television and Radio.
Address: Central Park West, at West 79th Street Telephone: (212) 769 5100; 769 5200 (tickets and programs) Website: www.amnh.org Opening Time: Daily 10am to 5.45pm, closes at 8.45pm on Fridays and Saturdays Admission: Museum and Rose Center: $13 (adults), $7.50 (children 2-12); plus the Planetarium Space show: $22 (adults), $13 (children 2-12); plus special exhibition or Imax show: $19 (adults), $11 (children 2-11)
Central Park:
With great foresight, the founders of New York set aside 340 hectares (840 acres) of central Manhattan as a public space. Central Park was officially opened in 1873 and today provides an essential ’green lung’ within the concrete jungle that is New York. Originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the park contains themed gardens, tennis courts, lakes and even a small zoo. Much of the park is infused by the city’s bustle and in nice days swarms with joggers, skaters, buskers and tourists, but there are areas beyond the range of baseballs and frisbees where tranquillity can be found in this beautifully landscaped park. During winter two ice-skating rinks open up in Central Park, the Wollman Rink (mid-Park at 62nd St) is one of the most picturesque in the world, set among the trees and rolling hills and against the backdrop of Manhattan’s skyscrapers.
Website: www.centralparknyc.org
Empire State Building:
One of the enduring symbols of New York, and once again the city’s tallest structure, the Empire State Building stands 436ft (145m) high. Completed in 1931, this Art Deco behemoth remains one of the most impressive engineering feats of all time; it was built in just 410 days and remains the fastest rising major skyscraper ever built. The building has been immortalised in many films – most famously the classic King Kong. The observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors offer magnificent views of the city.
Address: 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets, Manhatten Telephone: (212) 736 3100 Website: www.esbnyc.com Transport: Subway B, D or F to 34th Street Opening Time: Observatory:daily 9.30am to midnight Admission: US$13 (adults), $8 (children 6-11), concessions available
Metropolitan Museum of Art:
The Metropolitan Museum possesses one of the greatest, and largest, collections of art in the world; it is a cherished New York institution and a must see for any visitor. Banners above the Met’s Fifth Avenue entrance herald the current attractions – there are always a few exhibitions on-the-go displaying masterpieces from around the world alongside the Metropolitan’s own collection. The highlights of the permanent collection are numerous – American collectors having had the foresight, and cash, to buy up a large number of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces from Europeans at the end of the 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum’s collection now contains more than two million works of art from all points of the compass, from ancient through modern times, including great works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and Cézanne to rival any gallery in the world.
Address: 1000 Fifth Avenue, at 82nd Street Telephone: (212) 535 7710 Website: www.metmuseum.org Opening Time: Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 9.30am to 5.30pm, Friday and Saturday 9.30am to 9pm. Closed Mondays, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Admission: US$15 (adults) is suggested; free for children under 12 accompanied by an adult. There is no additional charge, beyond the admission contribution, to attend an exhibition
Museum of Modern Art:
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) owns the most important collection of modern art in the USA including works by Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Max Beckman, Ansel Adams, and Kiki Smith.
Address: 11 West 53 Street, Manhatten Telephone: (212) 708 9400 Website: www.moma.org Transport: Subway: E or V train to 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, or B, D, or F train to 47–50 Street Rockefeller Center. Bus: M1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to 53rd Street Opening Time: Daily 10.30am to 5.30pm (until 8pm on Friday); closed Tuesdays Admission: US$20 (adults), free for children under 16 accompanied by an adult. Free on Fridays from 4pm to 8pm
The Guggenheim Museum:
The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum was designed by US architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was completed shortly after his death in 1959. It is well worth a visit just to see this icon of Modernist architecture, which was designed specifically to showcase the modern art within. Inside, it features a highly commended collection of late 19th- and 20th-century art works, as well as touring exhibitions. From beneath the huge glass dome, a quarter-of-a-mile-long ramp spirals down the inside of the building, past the collection of art, including works by Camille Pissarro, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cézanne, Robert Mapplethorpe and Robert Gober.
Address: 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street Telephone: (212) 423 3500 Website: www.guggenheim.org Transport: Subway 4, 5 or 6 to 86th Street; bus M1, M2, M3, or M4 on Madison or Fifth Avenue Opening Time: Daily 10am to 5.45pm (until 8pm on Fridays); closed Thursdays Admission: US$15 (adults), free for children under 12. Rates differ during special exhibitions
The Statue of Liberty:
The universal symbol of freedom and democracy, the Statue of Liberty was the first sight to be seen by the 12 million immigrants who passed through the Ellis Island Immigration Centre. Sculpted by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and modelled on the Colossus of Rhodes, the statue was donated by the people of France in 1886 to commemorate the alliance between the two countries during the American Revolution. Visitors can climb the 354 steps to the statue’s crown for a view over New York Harbour - the equivalent of a 22-storey building. Access to the monument is via ranger-guided tour only and a time pass is required for visiting the inside of the Monument; advanced reservations are possible by calling (866) 782 8834 or online at www.statuereservations.com. The ferry calls at both Liberty and Ellis Islands.
Address: Liberty Island, New York Harbor Telephone: (212) 363 3200; (212) 269 5755 (ferry information) Website: www.nps.gov/stli Transport: Circle Line Statue of Liberty Ferry from South Ferry at Battery Park to Liberty and Ellis islands. Ferries operate from 9am to 3.30pm, with departures approximately every 30 minutes Opening Time: Daily 8.30am to 5pm. The park service occasionally closes the line to the crown as early as 2pm Admission: No fee is charged, but the ferry costs $11.50 (adults), $4.50 (children). Timed reservations cost $1.75 per ticket
World Trade Center - Ground Zero:
The six-hectare (16-acre) work site that has emerged from the rubble of the twin towers has come to symbolise the dreadful events of September 11, 2001 when almost 3,000 people lost their lives. The 1,350ft (411m) World Trade Centre towers were the tallest buildings in New York and symbols of the city’s skyline. Millions now come to pay tribute at the site and witness the devastation from one of the viewing sites. In April 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation launched a worldwide competition to design a memorial at the World Trade Center site to honour the victims of September 11. The LMDC received 5,201 memorial design submissions from 63 nations and 49 states making this the largest design competition in history. In January 2004 Reflecting Absence by Michael Arad and Peter Walker was unveiled as the design for the World Trade Center Memorial, and will feature a landscaped civic plaza with two massive voids aligned with the footprints where the twin towers once stood.
Address: Lower Manhattan, viewing area at Liberty Street and Broadway Telephone: (212) 732 7678 (ticket information) Website: www.renewnyc.com Transport: Take the subway to Fulton Street, Broadway-Nassau Street or Cortlandt Street. Walk to Church and Liberty Streets and follow signs Admission: Free
Travel Guide powered by Word Travels, copyright © 2006 Globe Media Ltd. All rights reserved. By its very nature much of the information in this guide is subject to change at short notice and travellers are urged to verify information on which they're relying with the relevant authorities. Neither Globe Media nor Cheapflights can accept any responsibility for any loss or inconvenience to any person as a result of information contained above.
