New York City, specifically Manhattan, the most globally recognized of the city’s five boroughs, is the ultimate metropolis - the constantly moving, throbbing financial center of America. It’s the global hub of business, where an address alone is synonymous with an entire classification of international enterprise: Wall Street- finance; 7th Avenue - fashion; Madison Avenue - advertising; 5th Avenue - shopping; Broadway - theatre.
New York City is a sensual experience - a press of people, dizzying sights, and incessant sounds - taxis honking, subways clanking, street musicians entertaining. It’s a city that never sleeps, where revelers ending their night meet wholesalers beginning their day. Here, steel and glass skyscrapers compete to block out as much of the sky as they can and people stream from the underground subways, moving as one, shoulder to shoulder, as if with collective purpose, never glancing at each other, never sharing a word.
Despite its hard edge, fast pace, noise and congestion, New York is a magical city. It’s a city of riches - the best art, the best museums, the best restaurants, the best theater, the best shopping. Interwoven among these is an eclectic and unconventional street culture - subway art, street musicians, ethnic food sold from pushcarts - and yet to be discovered underground coffee shops, tucked away bookstores and galleries, intriguing shops, jazz clubs and Off-Off Broadway theaters.
While seemingly overwhelming, America’s most populated city is decidedly human. Surrounding superlative landmarks are neighborhoods with family-owned shops, diners and markets, which provide a way to truly engage with New York. Get to know the neighborhood around your hotel - find a place nearby for breakfast, go to a greenmarket, read a book in a bookstore alcove, stop by a jazz club.
Manhattan’s geography is simple, making it easier to navigate than it appears. Downtown is south; Midtown in the middle: Uptown north. At the lower tip of Downtown is Lower Manhattan, steeped in history. The port is there, as is South Street Seaport, Wall Street, the Stock Exchange and Ground Zero. Just a bit inland are Manhattan’s most colorful and ethnic neighborhoods: Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side and East Village, and also its trendiest: TriBeCa and SoHo, and Greenwich Village, still bohemian. Nudging on Midtown is Chelsea, with hundreds of galleries. Midtown is chock full of landmarks and activities: the Empire State Building, the Theatre District, the Garment District, Rockefeller Center, St. Patricks Cathedral, MoMa, Grand Central Station, to name but a few. The great green swath of Central Park centers Uptown, filled with shopping, restaurants and major museums in fashionable Upper East Side to the east. To the west, Lincoln Center, museums and more are in the Upper West Side. Everything in the city is accessible by a subway system that everyone rides and information on all places of interest always includes how to get there by subway. Once there, walk –everyone does.
by C. Belland - ccbelland@trustedtours.com
New York Trusted Tours and Attractions New York City information and tour, attractions and museum discount tickets.
