destination guide:
The most beguiling city in the world, New
York is an adrenaline-charged, history-laden
place that holds immense romantic appeal for
visitors. Wandering the streets here, you'll
cut between buildings that are icons to the
modern age - and whether gazing at the
flickering lights of the midtown skyscrapers
as you speed across the Queensboro bridge,
experiencing the 4am half-life downtown, or
just wasting the morning on the Staten
Island ferry, you really would have to be
made of stone not to be moved by it all.
There's no place quite like it.
While the events of September 11, 2001,
which demolished the World Trade Center,
shook New York to its core, the populace
responded resiliently under the composed
aegis of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Until the
attacks, many New Yorkers loved to hate
Giuliani, partly because they saw him as
committed to making their city too much like
everyone else's. To some extent he
succeeded, and during the late Nineties New
York seemed cleaner, safer, and more
liveable, as the city took on a truly
international allure and shook off the more
notorious aspects to its reputation.
However, the maverick quality of New York
and its people still shines as brightly as
it ever did. Even in the aftermath of the
World Trade Center's collapse, New York
remains a unique and fascinating city - and
one you'll want to return to again and
again.
There are the different ethnic
neighborhoods , like lower Manhattan's
Chinatown and the traditionally Jewish Lower
East Side (not so much anymore); and the
more artsy concentrations of SoHo, TriBeCa,
and the East and West Villages. Of course,
there is the celebrated architecture
of corporate Manhattan, with the skyscrapers
in downtown and midtown forming the most
indelible images. There are the museums
, not just the Metropolitan and MoMA, but
countless other smaller collections that
afford weeks of happy wandering. In between
sights, you can eat just about
anything, at any time, cooked in any style;
you can drink in any kind of company;
and sit through any number of obscure
movies . The more established arts -
dance, theater, music - are superbly
catered for; and New York's clubs are
as varied and exciting as you might expect.
And for the avid consumer, the choice of
shops is vast, almost numbingly
exhaustive in this heartland of the great
capitalist dream.
orientation and highlights
New York City comprises the central island
of Manhattan along with four outer boroughs
- Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx , and Staten
Island . Manhattan, to many, is New York -
whatever your interests, it's here...
New York City
comprises the
central island
of Manhattan
along with four
outer boroughs -
Brooklyn,
Queens, the
Bronx , and
Staten Island
. Manhattan, to
many, is
New York -
whatever your
interests, it's
here that you'll
spend the most
time and are
likely to stay.
New York is very
much a city of
neighborhoods
and is best
explored on
foot.
Offshore,
the Statue of
Liberty and
Ellis Island
comprise the
first section of
New York (and
America) that
most
nineteenth-century
immigrants would
have seen. The
Financial
District
takes in the
skyscrapers and
historic
buildings of
Manhattan's
southern reaches
and was hardest
hit by the
destruction of
perhaps its most
famous
landmarks, the
Twin Towers of
the World Trade
Center. Just
northeast is the
area around
City Hall ,
New York's
well-appointed
municipal
center, which
adjoins
TriBeCa ,
known for its
swanky
restaurants,
galleries, and
nightlife.
Moving east,
Chinatown is
Manhattan's most
populous ethnic
neighborhood, a
vibrant locale
that's great for
food and
shopping.
Nearby,
Little Italy
bears few traces
of the
once-strong
immigrant
presence, while
the Lower
East Side ,
the city's
traditional
gateway
neighborhood for
new immigrants,
is nowadays
scattered with
trendy bars and
clubs. To the
west, SoHo
is one of the
premier
districts for
galleries and
the commercial
art scene, not
to mention
designer
shopping.
Continuing
north, the
West and
East Villages
form a focus of
bars,
restaurants, and
shops catering
to students and
would-be
bohemians - and
of course
tourists.
Chelsea is a
largely
residential
neighborhood
that is now
mostly known for
its gay scene
and art
galleries that
borders on
Manhattan's old
Garment
District .
Murray Hill
contains the
city's largest
skyscraper and
most enduring
symbol, the
Empire State
Building .
Beyond
42nd Street
, the main
east-west artery
of midtown, the
character of the
city changes
quite radically,
and the skyline
becomes more
high-rise and
home to some of
New York's most
awe-inspiring,
neck-cricking
architecture.
There are also
some superb
museums and the
city's best
shopping as you
work your way
north up
Fifth Avenue
as far as 59th
Street. Here,
the classic
Manhattan vistas
are broken by
the broad
expanse of
Central Park
, a supreme
piece of
nineteenth-century
landscaping,
without which
life in
Manhattan would
be unthinkable.
Flanking the
park, the mostly
residential and
fairly affluent
Upper West
Side boasts
Lincoln Center,
Manhattan's
temple to the
performing arts,
the American
Museum of
Natural History,
and Riverside
Park along the
Hudson River. On
the other side
of the park, the
Upper East
Side is
wealthier and
more grandiose,
with its
nineteenth-century
millionaires'
mansions now
transformed into
a string of
magnificent
museums known as
the "Museum
Mile," the most
prominent being
the vast
Metropolitan
Museum of Art
. Alongside is a
patrician
residential
neighborhood
that boasts some
of the swankiest
addresses in
Manhattan, and a
nest of designer
shopping along
Madison Avenue
in the
seventies.
Immediately
above Central
Park, Harlem
, the historic
black
city-within-a-city,
has a healthy
sense of an
improving
go-ahead
community; a
jaunt further
north is most
likely required
only to see the
unusual
Cloisters, a
nineteenth-century
mock-up of a
medieval
monastery,
packed with
great European
Romanesque and
Gothic art and
(transplanted)
architecture.
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