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ATTRACTIONS
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty, the most enduring symbol of New York City - and
indeed, the USA - can trace its unlikely origins to a pair of Parisian
Republicans. In 1865, political activist Edouard René Lefebvre
de Laboulaye and sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi went
to a dinner party and came away with the notion of building a monument
honoring the American conception of political freedom, which they would
then donate to the Land of Opportunity. Twenty-one years later, on 28
October 1886, the 151ft (45m) Liberty Enlightening the World , modeled
on the Colossus of Rhodes, was finally unveiled in New York Harbor before
President Grover Cleveland and a harbor full of tooting ships. It's a
354-step climb to the statue's crown, the equivalent of climbing a 22-story
building, and if you want to tackle it, start early to avoid the crowds
- it's hard to contemplate the American dream with your nose to the tail
of the person in front.
Greenwich Village
The Village (as New Yorkers call it) is one of the city's most popular
neighborhoods, and a symbol throughout the world for all things outlandish
and bohemian. The area's reputation as a creative enclave can be traced
back to at least the early 1900s, when artists and writers moved in, followed
by jazz musicians who played at famous (still functioning) clubs like
the Blue Note and Village Vanguard. By the '40s the neighborhood was known
as a gathering place for gays. The coffeehouses on Bleecker St hark back
to New York's beatnik '50s and hippie '60s. Bob Dylan reputedly smoked
his first joint in the Village, Jimi Hendrix lived here and the Rolling
Stones recorded here. Greenwich Village is still a vibrant and varied
area, packed with historic sites, cafes, shops, gay bars, and Washington
Square Park, purportedly the most crowded recreational space in the world.
Empire State Building
New York's original skyline symbol, the Empire State Building, is a limestone
classic built in just 410 days during the depths of the Depression. Standing
102-stories and 1454ft (436m) above 5th Ave and 34th St, it's on the site
of the original Waldorf-Astoria. The famous antenna was originally to
be a mooring mast for zeppelins, but the Hindenberg disaster put a stop
to that plan. One airship accidentally met up with the building: a B25
crashing into the 79th floor on a foggy day in July 1945, killing 14 people.
Taking the ear-popping lift to the 86th or 102nd floor observation desks
can entail a bit of waiting around, but it's worth it when you get there.
Central Park
It's easy to see what a boon Central Park is when you're standing up the
top of the Empire State: the 843 acre (337 hectare) rectangle of bobble-topped
green bits are a welcome contrast to the concrete and traffic mosh jostling
in the rest of Manhattan. When Central Park was officially opened in 1873
it was intended to be an oasis from the city's bustle. However the commotion
which is New York seeps into the botanic calm in the form of joggers,
skaters, musicians and tourists. Quieter areas are above 72nd St, where
the crowds thin out and the well-planned landscaping becomes more apparent.
There's a small zoo in the park, organized and casual sport (predominantly
baseball and Frisbee) to watch or play, a swimming pool and various free
performances.
Times Square
Dubbed the 'Great White Way' after its bright lights, Times Square has
long been celebrated as New York's glittery crossroads. The Square went
into deep decline during the 1960s when the movie palaces turned XXX-rated
and the area became known as a hangout for every colorful, crazy or dangerous
character in Midtown. A major 'clean-up' operation removed most of the
sleaze and now the combination of color, zipping message boards and massive
TV screens makes for quite a sight. Up to a million people gather here
every New Year's Eve to see a brightly lit ball descend from the roof
of One Times Square at midnight, an event that lasts just 90 seconds and
leaves most of the revelers wondering what to do with themselves for the
rest of the night.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Upper East Side is NewYork to New York's greatest concentration of
cultural centers: 5th Ave above 57th St is known as Museum Mile. The big
daddy of these is the Metropolitan Museum of Art ('the Met'), New York's
most popular tourist site, which functions something like a self-contained
cultural city-state with three million individual objects in its collection.
It's best to target exactly what you want to see and head there first,
before culture and crowd fatigue sets in. Exhibitions range from Egyptian
mummies through to baseball cards so even if (when?) you get lost, you're
sure to stumble upon some interesting stuff.
Museum of Modern Art
One of New York's greatest museums as well as one of its most architecturally
significant buildings, the Museum of Modern Art, 11 W 53rd St, has a first-rate
collection and puts on important retrospectives each year. Known as 'MOMA,'
the museum boasts a permanent collection of masterpieces including Picasso's
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Van Gogh's Starry Night and Piet Mondrian's
Broadway Boogie-Woogie. Claude Monet's Water Lilies rates a whole gallery
to itself. MOMA also has an outstanding photography collection and a very
cool gift shop.
Other Museums
In addition to the heavyweights, New York has dozens of museums that would
bring tears of joy to any self-respecting Rotarian in a mid-sized town.
Museum Mile's Solomon R Guggenheim Museum is a distinctive spiral space
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to hold one of the 20th century's greatest
private bequests. The Whitney Museum of American Art, which specializes
in contemporary art, is nearby.
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th St, is
most famous for its three large dinosaur halls but don't dismiss the rest
of the permanent collection (which numbers about 30 million artifacts).
Temporary exhibitions often have an emphasis on hands-on or interactive
displays, making the museum extremely popular with kids. Couch potatoes
should definitely check out the Museum of Television & Radio, a great
place to head when it's raining or when you're simply fed up with walking.
Over 75,000 US TV and radio programs are available from the museum's computer
catalog and you can sit down and veg out at one of 90 consoles.
SoHo
SoHo (from 'south of Houston') is the city's leading area for art galleries,
clothing stores and boutiques selling oh-so-precious curios. The area
is a paradigm of inadvertent urban renewal, having transmogrified from
the city's leading commercial district post-Civil War, to a tuned-in artists
colony in the 1950s, to the impossibly expensive gorgeousness of today.
Its beautifully restored cast-iron buildings are some of the best examples
of this style in the world. Some cutting edge cats (self-styled, of course)
say it's all over for SoHo - too self-conscious, too trendy, too pricey
- but the galleries are undeniably good and no-one's forcing you to buy
autographed tea-cosies from hustler-designers with wares to sell.
Tribeca
Though not as touristy or architecturally significant as SoHo, Tribeca
has an even cooler etymology: it's the 'TRIangle BElow CAnal' St. This
neighborhood of old warehouses and loft apartments has a fair share of
sceney restaurants and bars, along with Robert De Niro's Tribeca Films
production company. It's not unusual to spot a star hanging out at a local
restaurant or bar, and Tribeca's desolation chic makes the area a favorite
for fashion photographers. As yet, the neighborhood isn't overrun with
boutiques and chain stores, and some of the warehouses are still derelict.
Atlantic City
The Jersey shore is where the good folk of New York City head when summer
heats up and the big apple gets a bit squishy. The New Jersey coast stretches
127mi (205km) from Sandy Hook in the north to Cape May in the south. The
towns along the coast offer something for everyone, from public drunkenness
to Victorian gentility.
Hudson Valley
The area is particularly beautiful in autumn, and many New Yorkers head
up this way just to see the leaves change colour. For a scenic drive,
take Route 9 along the eastern side of the river, or take the Taconic
State Parkway if you're in a hurry. Trains run here from Grand Central
Station, or you can take a boat tour of the Hudson River. There is very
little reliable public transport around the valley, but it's a lovely
spot for cycling.
Long Island
Long Island is a study in geographic and economic contrasts. For most
visitors, crossing the East River from Manhattan means a trip to the beach,
whether the destination is crowded Jones Beach or Fire Island in Nassau,
quiet Shelter Island or the showy Hamptons. You can get to Long Island
on the Long Island Expressway from Manhattan or catch one of the many
buses running from the East Side (the bus drivers know all the short cuts
and may well get you there quicker than driving).
In t he wine district, thirteen wineries are clustered together on Long
Island's North Fork, mostly around the town of Cutchogue. Pindar Vineyards
is the largest, with frequent tours, daily tastings and wine festivals
throughout the year. When your cup runneth over, head for the charming
17th-century town of Orient at the eastern tip of the North Fork. It's
a very pretty collection of white clapboard houses and former inns, with
a nearby beach and oyster ponds.
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