New York City

Bright lights, towering skyscrapers, frantic people: welcome to the Big Apple! New York City is one of the most fascinating cities in the entire world and its museums, restaurants, night-life, architecture and trends will conquer you

Manhattan

In Manhattan a lot of places should get into a list of “what’s-to-be-seen”: anyway, you can’t leave NY without having visited Grand Central main hall, the Rockfeller Center (in winter there’s an ice rink in front of GE building, close to the Christmas Tree; and Times Square, whose lights are simply amazing and thrilling

Brooklyn

Becoming famous for a bridge has never occurred before: for Brooklyn it happened, though this borough has many other remarkable places to visit, such as the beautiful quarters in front of Manhattan (whose small houses are made of red bricks), Coney Island, Prospect Park and multicultural Bensonhurst

Views from the Empire State Building 86th floor are overwhelming: you can see tiny cars in the traffic jams below as well as an incredible panorama in every direction. Giant skyscrapers look like small houses and Liberty Statue stands really minuscule from here. Long queues to access the facility are customary so come early in the morning

Museums

The following museums are just the most visited: for an exhaustive list, please see www.newyorklogue.com or www.ny.com. Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) is huge enough to spend days in it: its collections range from ancient Egypt and Greece to Picasso (which means MET has pretty much of everything). Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) features Contemporary Art, as well as Solomon Guggenheim. If interested in photography, you should probably visit the International Center of Photography

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

Located on Hudson River in Hell’s Kitchen quarter, facing New Jersey, Intrepid is the name an old aircraft carrier turned into a museum: you can visit almost any part of it, from hangars to flight deck where you airplanes from all over the world are shown

Buildings

Old Chelsea or China Town houses with fire escapes in their front, the grand City Hall, the incredible Chrysler Building, the Flatiron, Wall Street, glass skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan, GE building in Midtown, Grand Central, Trump World Tower, the Empire State Building, the Dakota Building… Each one is famous for a particular story or movie and staring at them reminds of what one has read or seen: it really seems to be in a film scene

Liberty and Ellis Islands

When millions of immigrants finally arrived in the New World, the first sight they saw was the Statue of Liberty: built in a perfect style, this old green lady seems to be walking towards the sea and there’s doubt she overawed people already frightened by their new future. In nearby Ellis Island there is a moving museum in which you’ll find suitcases and clothes belonging to immigrants, their stories and expectations and tears, a lot of photos; you can start a research on your relatives, too,who went through a tough journey to get here

The most famous is Central Park, obviously: paths leading to any corner of it cross little lakes and brooks. The most romantic places are Belvedere Castle and Lake, Frawley Circle in Harlem and the “Imagine” mosaic near the Dakota Building. New York has many other park: as a matter of fact, any small plot of land here claims to become a park; anyway, the best are Liberty and Battery Parks in Lower Manhattan and City Hall Park (especially at night), Riverside and the Cloisters in Harlem

New York City special advices

Three airports serve this city: JFK, La Guardia and Newark in New Jersey. Taxis fares are cheap only from La Guardia. JFK has a subway station nearby (Sutphin Blvd): don’t pay attention to unofficial taxi drivers outside the station.
Public transportation is efficient, extensive and cheap: subways run 24/7 and they’re best way to travel; buses lines are available, too. Be always aware of your belongings on trains. Travel cards (Metrocard) for 1 to 30 days can be purchased at stations.
Taxis are cheap and easy to use but remember to tell your driver, as well as the right address, the cross street of your destination. And tip him.
New York is a quite safe city, though you’ll always be alert in some quarters in The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens; besides, choose a taxi instead of a subway at night