Sharons Big New York Trip!
New York, New York! A rather busy and exciting place, but there’s too much to see in a week! So hopefully this might help you hit some funky cool places that you might miss. We’ve ordered this into a few different sections-
Travel Sights Food Shopping
Travel
There’s a few options for travelling into the city from Ian and Sarah’s house. The easiest way is to get the Long Island RailRoad from near their house right into Penn Station. You can get a 10 journey ticket which is pretty handy.
You HAVE to get a cab, even if it’s only once! If only because they all have some cool gear in the back seats like TV, GPS to show you where you are and all that. Very cool.
There’s another alternative, if you fancy it. If you buy a Metrocard, you can get a bus from Ian and Sarah’s house into Flushing and then the Subway into town, and then wherever you want on the Subway is easily in your grasp!
Ian and Sarahs Nearest Stop
Sights
Ok, let’s be honest- there’s mountains of stuff to see in New York. You’re never going to see it all. And everyone has different interests. BUT we’re going to make some suggestions of stuff we saw and loved, stuff we found randomly, and some tips and tricks. I suppose it is in some kind of order, but in all honesty everything is pretty great. Shamefully, I’ve been to New York twice now and have never set foot in Central Park. I know, I know, but I’ll rectify that next time!
1) Go High- Top of the Rock 2) Take to the Water- Elis Island 3) See a feet of engineering- Brooklyn Bridge 4) Get lost in a crowd- Times Square 5)Slow down, NYC style- The High Line 6) Remember the Past- Ground Zero 7) Be a culture vulture- NY Public Library 8) Little Kid in the Big City- NY Toy Stores! 9) Get International- Chinatown, Little Itally... 10) The Big Apple (and pizza and hot dog)- NewYork Food deserves its own section...
1) Top of The Rock Lots of people go to the top of the Empire State Building to see the city, but Top of The Rock is better, because you can see the Empire State from it! It’s located at 30 Rockerfella Plaza, and it costs $25. Keep going up and up, because there are lots of little observation decks that you might miss if you don’t look. Pro tip: Time it so that you go up when the sun is still up, but so that you’ll catch sunset. It’s incredible to see the city light up from up high. You can get some amazing photos from up there.
2) Ellis Island/ Statue of Liberty It has to be done. Such a symbol of NYC! If you want to go in there’s a ferry that costs $13, and entrance is free to the actual Statue. But if you’re not worried about going in, you can get the Staten Island Ferry as part of the Metrocard for free. The view is really cool, and on the journey out the Statue is on the right, on the way back it’s on the left. If you queue up early, run to the very front to the observation deck on the way back, and you get a great view of both the Statue and of the city.
3) The Brooklyn Bridge It’s oh so gorgeous. We went at night time and got the subway to East Broadway. I will say I didn’t feel 100% comfortable in that area (its also known as ‘the projects’) but it was completely fine. We got to look up at the bridge as a train passed and standing by the water with the bridge overhead was beautiful. You can walk across it too, and I can imagine that would be really awesome. If you go to the Brooklyn Bridge Park over in Brooklyn you get to see the whole of Manhattan with the bridge. Gorgeous.
Pro Tip; There are lots of subway trains which go over the next bridge up, Manhattan Bridge and give a really good view. Look out for Frank Gehrys new Wavy Building!
4) Times Square
Trust me, you don’t need to plan to be in Times Square at any stage, you’ll just naturally get there one way or another- most roads lead there somehow!
It’s awesome during the day, but it’s something else at night. Just incredible. There’s a really cool seating thing at the top of it, where you can sit and look down the strip. There’s always a MASSIVE crowd, so be careful. Lots of tourists, lots of pickpockets, lots of guys selling tickets to comedy shows, gigs and all sorts. There’s a TKTS Booth there where you’ll see massive queues for people trying to get discounted Broadway tickets. If you’re looking for souvenirs, there’s a few good places on the square that aren’t too much of a rip off, beside the TKTS booth.
5) High Line Park Never get Elaine stared on the High Line because she will have you bored to death. A creative and cool linear park, its located along an abandoned railway which runs from the railyards to the west of Penn Station down to the Meatpacking District. It has become so popular it is even marked on the subway maps! The history and ideas behind it just will not fit here but suficed to say even nerdbot enjoyed it! ProTip; Follow the High Line to Chelsea Market (shopping section) and get lunch there in the old Oreo factory. Yummy.
6) Ground Zero As weird as it sounds, it’s a must-see. It was still under a lot of construction when we were there last year, but it was still pretty amazing. There’s a museum near the site that is really well done, and very poignant. When you get there, you’ll see a church nearby- St. Pauls. It seems out of place and random, and it is- it was one of the only buildings left standing after 9/11, and it was used as a base for the rescue effort. Take half an hour and go inside and read and visit. It’s hard (I cried) but well worth it. And again random- there’s a deli next to the Church and the Museum called “Stage Door” and they do amazing grilled cheese sandwiches. Like, amazing. Nice to have something to cheer yourself up. Also really nearby is Century 21- see the ‘Shopping’ section for more details!!
7) New York Public Library and Bryant Park The NYC Public Library is a beautiful building from the outside, and just as beautiful inside. The architecture, the whole shebang. Bryant Park is where New York Fashion Week is held every year. It was an old, run-down park and now it’s completely regenerated. 8) Toy Shops FAO Shwartz. Go play the giant piano from Big, check out and play with piles of toys, and just have fun! This place is awesome. There’s a sweet shop on the top floor that’s pretty great too.
Lego Store, Rockerfella Plaza. Need I say more, Lego on a New York Scale, including the worlds largest lego pick and mix! Elaine was really bummed she didnt get in here so go before top of the rock! .
9) Chinatown & Little Italy The greatest thing about New York is that you can visit the four corners of the globe by taking a couple of subways or just walking for a while. Wander around Chinatown or Flushing to soak up Asian smells and sounds- get some dim-sum and see what else takes your fancy. Cut across and grab some pizza and gelato in Little Italy. Try find the street that’s on the border of the two, and check out Beijing on one side and Rome on the other- it’s an experience!
Food
There is a hell of a lot of amazing food to find in NYC. To be honest, the best thing you can do is just wander around and see what you find. However, here are a few places we found that if you’re nearby you should try. Oh, and there’s mountains of sugar in everything. I was banned from eating Twinkies when I was there- you can ask Ian and Sarah for the story… 1) Stage Door Deli, 26 Vessey St. (Near St. Pauls, beside the 9/11 Memorial Museum). A proper New York deli, they make incredible grilled cheese sandwiches, and lots of other great stuff. Super tasty, and probably a heart attack waiting to happen.
2) Hudson Clearwater, 447 Hudson St. This is a secret restaurant, which is just so awesome. You have to email them in advance and find the restaurant by going through this like green galvanised door with no markings… It’s not somewhere you’d find by accident. Some of the food was brilliant, some of it was just too experimental for its own good. Still really cool and worth going!
3) Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Brooklyn. Out in a regeneration area of Brooklyn theres a pie shop. The original home of Salted Caramel Pie, its become pretty famous. Funky and cool if youre wandering the Gowanus Canal area. 4) Bridge Café, 279 Water St. We didn’t make it to this place, but I had a few separate recommendations for it. It’s the oldest tavern in NYC, and used to be a brother. The Bison steak comes highly recommended.
Shopping
NYC has shopping to die for, but not just boring department stores (although there’s nothing wrong with them! Again, just wander around some of the cool areas and see what you find. Here’s a run down of some of the predictable and not-so-predictable shopping we did… 1) Macy’s, Square.
Herald
The Worlds Biggest Store! Worth it just to have a look around. You really cannot miss it.
2) Bloomingdales It’s huge, with tons of different sections. Perhaps not somewhere you’ll buy loads of stuff (some of the concessions are pretty pricey) but it’s nice to wander through, and when we were there this time last year there was a big flower exhibition thing on which was pretty cool.
3) Century 21, near Ground Zero. Be warned- this place gets PACKED. But I honestly cannot recommend it enough. It’s like TK MAXX on crack. Seriously. Things are insanely cheap (seriously, I got a Calvin Klein leather wallet for my brother here for $10) and there’s a massive range of stuff. Yes, ok, it gets jammed, and you have to do some digging, but you can unearth some major bargains. Make sure and hit downstairs for shoes, they have everything you could want. The location makes it a good place to wind down after visiting Ground Zero- something light hearted and 4) Inglot trivial can be good to take your mind Hidden behind the Olive off it, you know? But yeah, I’d love Garden on Times Square is to go back here again, and with a bit a make up shop that Elaine more time- I only had an hour in the LOVES. Its a polish brand, very store, I honestly could have done like mac but much cheaper. with more. 5) Jersey Gardens, New Jersey. Get the bus (No’s 111 or 115) out here from Port Authority, and give yourself piles of time. This is a massive (MASSIVE) mall made up of discount shopping outlets, including designers selling surplus stock from their current collections for 1/3 of the usual price. It’s hardcore, but if you want clothes, then GO. It’s about 30-40 minutes on the bus from Manhattan and it’s well worth it for the shops, if you have money to spend on clothes.
6) Nintendo World Store, 10 Rockerfella Plaza (near Top of The Rock) What more do you need to know? It’s the flagship Nintendo store, with a Nintendo museum!!! It’s not something to make a special visit for, but it’s near Top of The Rock and worth a wander if you’re in the area.
7) Chelsea Market, 75 9th Avenue (border of Grenwich Village and the Meatpacking District)
We stumbled on this place by accident when we were walking the Highline. It’s incredible, there’s tons of shops inside, mostly food or homewares, but not exclusively. You can get some odd stuff, some cool stuff, and it’s in an amazing old Oreo factory building which looks great inside. Make sure and find the shop that just sells oils and salts. They have chocolate salt, bacon salt, everything. We meant to go in a pick up a bunch of stuff before we came home, because it was all delicious! There’s also a great brownie place called Fat Witch- OH MY GOD.