If you come to New York you have to go to as many of the places listed below as possible.
Brooklyn Bridge: East River, across form City Hall. NY's favorite bridge and the world's first steel suspension bridge. The walk across the bridge takes about 30 minutes and the views are awesome.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine: Amsterdam Ave & 112th St.. The largest Gothic Cathedral in the world is still undergoing construction!
Central Park: 59th to 110th Streets between 5th Ave. and Central Park West. This park has it all! Grassy meadows, wooded groves, paths for jogging, biking, strolling, horseback riding, playing fields, a small zoo, an ice-skating rink, a carousel; an outdoor theater; and numerous fountains and sculptures. Click here to see a special section with details on Central Park
Charging Bull: Broadway & Whitehall St. (Bowling Green). The 7,000 pound bronze bull represents Wall Street optimism.
Chrysler Building: 405 Lexington Ave. A
rt Deco masterpiece
built in the 1930's that has become one of Manhattan's most loved
structures with its gargoyles and arched stainless steel pinnacles.
Visitors are only allowed in the lobby.
Chelsea: Broadway between 14th St. and 34th St. Home of a number of art galleries, theaters, and performance venues along with a growing gay population.
Chelsea Hotel: 222 West 23rd St. The highest building in New York City until 1884. Only the main entrance with its memorial plates remains the great past of the hotel. Celebrities and artists the like Mark Twain have stayed at the Chelsea. It has also housed rockers like Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Jim Morrison and Patti Smith. It is also famous for being the place where Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols tragically killed his girlfriend Nancy.
Chinatown: Canal St. & Broadway. It is said to be the largest
Chinese community outside Asia. Walk down Canal St. towards the Bowery
and smell the food market, it
s fishes and vegetables.
City Hall: Broadway and Chambers St. Home of New York City's government. Active Mayor is Michael Bloomberg.
Empire State Building: 350 5th Ave., at 34th St and 5th Ave. New York's original skyline symbol. Visit the observation deck, tickets are $11 adults $6 children.
East Village: Astor Place. The East Village is the center of the counterculture and liberal arts. On St. Mark’s Place you can be body pierced or get a tattoo, or buy from cd’s to vintage clothing, from cheap sunglasses to fancy alternative designer clothes. There is an active nightlife and many restaurants, pubs and clubs are open late..
Federal Reserve Bank: 33 Liberty Street. One of 12 regional reserve banks that serve as central banks for the USA. It stores tens of billions of dollars worth of gold bars. Free 45 minute tours Mo-Fri,10:30 to 2:30. Call (212) 720-6130 or email frbnytours@ny.frb.org for reservations.
Flatiron Building: 23rd St & Broadway. New York's first
skyscraper. Built in 1903 and famous for its triangular design.
Grand Central Terminal: 42nd St.& Park Ave. Majestic railway station. Its main concourses' ceiling has the robin's egg-blue ceiling, covered with a celestial map of the constellations of the zodiac. There are restaurant and shops all over. Train go to upstate New York and New England.
Greenwich Village. 14th St. to Houston St. and from the Hudson River piers to 5th Ave. The Village is ideal for strolling, window-shopping, and café hopping.
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum: 42nd St & Hudson River. Veteran World War II aircraft carrier made museum. Tickets:$13 adults, $6 children.
Note: Intrepid Museum closes for two-year renovation since October 1, 2006. It will include repainting the Intrepid’s hull and rebuilding of the Hudson River pier.
The Intrepid will be kept in Bayonne, New Jersey for initial repairs to its hull, and then on to the Staten Island homeport for a major overhaul.
The museum is scheduled to reopen in time for Fleet Week in May 2008.
Lincoln Center: Broadway between 62nd and 66th St. Largest performing arts center in the world. The three principal venues are grouped around the central Fountain Plaza: the New York State Theater, home to the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera; the Metropolitan Opera House is home to both the Metropolitan Opera and the American Ballet Theater, and the Avery Fisher Hall, host to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Little Italy: Canal St. & Mulberry St. Right next to Chinatown, Little Italy has been limited to a couple of blocks on Mulberry street but it still holds its charm with its fabulous restaurants and the Italian feeling in the air.
Lower East Side: 8th St. & 2nd Ave. Second Avenue is known for the number and variety of ethnic restaurants: Caribbean, Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, Yemeni, Italian, Japanese, Tibetan, Mexican, and Israeli cuisine can all be found here. East 6th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, is Manhattan’s Little India—with more than a dozen restaurants.
Radio City Music Hall: 6th Ave. & 49 St.America's largest indoor theater. Its year-round schedule includes major performers, awards presentations, and special events, along with its own Christmas and Easter extravaganzas.
Rockefeller Center: 5th Ave. & 52 St. Art deco marvel consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering 11 acres in midtown Manhattan. It is also the capital of the communications industry, containing the headquarters of a TV network (NBC), several major publishing companies (Time-Warner, McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster), and the world's largest news-gathering organization, the Associated Press.
SOHO: South of Houston St. Neighborhood considered to be
the home liberal artists, chic boutiques, expansive
loft apartments and
restaurants.
South Street Seaport East River & Fulton St. Old pier transformed into a commercial center. Shops and restaurants that today fill the historic buildings have created -- in spirit and activity -- a contemporary version of the original Seaport community.
St. Patrick's Cathedral: 50th St & 5th Ave. Largest decorated gothic-style Catholic Cathedral in the United States.
Staten Island Ferry: Bowling Green. Offers a free 20- to 30-minute ride across New York Harbor that provides great views of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.
Statue of Liberty: The most enduring symbol of New York City - and indeed, the USA. Boats to the Statue leave from Bowling Green, Castle Clinton. Tickets: $10 for adults, $4 for children.
Stock Exchange: 20 Broad Street. Heart of financial trade. Billions of dollars in shares are traded every day.
Strawberry Fields: Central Park
West & 72nd St. Memorial to John
Lennon.
Times Square: 42nd/50th St and Broadway. The city's flashing neon heart, home of the theater district. Lots of restaurants, shops, street artists and, of course, theatres.
Tribeca: TRIangle BElow CAnal St. is the new generation of artists district and the home of Robert de Niros' Film Production Co and restaurant (Tribeca Grill at 375 Greenwich St.)
Union Square: Broadway & 14th St. Relaxing park in Greenwich Village. Check the farmers market on weekends.
United Nations: 1st Ave. & 46th St. Officially an "international
zone," the U.N. Headquarters is a s
ymbol of global cooperation. Guided
tours daily ($8.50 adults)
Washington Square Park: 5th Ave. and 7th St. Villages' main park shared by NYU students, street musicians, skateboarders, jugglers, stand-up comics, joggers, chess players, and bench warmers, watching the grand opera of it all. At the square's north end, stands the triumphal Washington Memorial Arch ..
World Trade Center: The twin towers were the tallest buildings in New York City and two of the tallest in the world. On that fateful day of September11th, 2001, hijacked jetliners rammed into the towers, toppling them and destroying the complex's other five buildings. About 2,900 people lost their lives.
World Trade Center Sphere: Bowling Green. This sculpture stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center for three decades as a symbol of world peace. It was damaged during the tragic events of September 11, 2001 but endures as an icon of hope and serves as a memorial to the lives lost that day. The eternal flame was ignited on September 11, 2002.
Museums
Ellis Island Museum: In front of the Statue of Liberty. Now restored as a Museum, Ellis Island served as a pass-through for some 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1924.
Guggenheim Museum: 5th Ave.& 88th St. Spiral space designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright to hold one of the 20th century's greatest private
bequests ($12; donations suggested Fri. 6-8).
www.guggenheim.org.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): 33rd St. at Queens Boulevard, Queens. Home of masterpieces Picasso's , Van Gogh's Monet's Water Lilies rates a whole gallery to itself. MOMA also has an outstanding photography collection and a very cool gift shop ($12 adults, Friday 4:00–7:45 p.m., pay what you wish). www.moma.org.
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 5 Ave. & 82 St. The largest art museum in the western hemisphere (spanning 4 blocks, it encompasses 2 million square ft), the Met is one of the city's supreme cultural institutions. Its permanent collection of nearly 3 million works of art. www.metmuseum.org.
Whitney Museum of American Art: 945 Madison Ave., at 75th St.
Specializes in contemporary art ($10; pay what you wish Fri. 6-9).
www.whitney.org.
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. www.amnh.org.
For a full list of museums, click here.