New York for first-timers
NEW YORK—As a lively, sophisticated and colorful city with something uniquely suited for everyone, New York is one of the world’s best places to visit.
Coming in at night and driving past the flashing, neon bright billboards of Times Square to our Midtown hotel, the energy is palpable. Step out and everything you need is around you—yummy cuisine of all kinds, theater, shopping, culture, the high class and the kitsch. Just taking all this in is highly entertaining.
If you love art, there are so many museums that a fortnight barely makes a dent. If watching fashionable people is your thing, head to SoHo or the Flatiron. If you want to be awed, from the scale of Grand Central Station to the Brooklyn Bridge, from St. Patrick’s Cathedral to the solemn 9-11 Memorial, it’s a visual smorgasbord. If you like nature, head to Central Park and the many smaller pockets of green.
To take a bite out of the Big Apple in a fortnight, here’s what my daughter and I did.
A Midtown location
Our hotel near Times Square had a view of the lighted Chrysler Building and One Vanderbilt from our 38th floor window. Midtown is centrally located and makes a good base.
To the north you have the museums MoMa, the MET, the Guggenheim, the Cooper Hewitt to mention a few, plus Central Park. To the east are fashionable Madison and 5th Avenue, the latter also home to the Rockefeller Center, the New York Public Library and the gothic St. Patrick’s Cathedral. To the west you have the Lincoln Center for the performing arts and Julliard. But our favorites are the villages of lower Manhattan with their distinct charms and ambience.
Getting Around
You can go quickly by the subway if you stick to off hours for less crowds and safety, but we rode it only in the company of my nephew Paco Antonio, who lives in NYC.
We took taxis to get to the botanical gardens in the Bronx and the Moynihan Hall at Penn station for our train to DC. Apart from that my daughter and I walked, as is our custom whenever we travel.
By walking, not only do you save your precious bucks (for those incredible thrift shops and sample sales!), you work off all that delicious food, you can people watch and you miss nothing along the way.
Food
New York is a foodie’s dream and you don’t need to break the bank. Since American portions are huge, my daughter Hannah and split everything from giant slices of New York-style pizza to bagels stuffed with smoked salmon and cream cheese, to lobster and chips from Gordon Ramsey’s fish and chips place across from our hotel.
In chilly weather we savored spicy hotdogs and coconut Nutella crepes from the street carts in front of the MET. There was superlative ramen at Momofuku. We often visited Christina Toci’s Milk Bar and fell in love with marzipan rich almond ice cream at Jacques Torres’ chocolate shop in Brooklyn. You must try the doughnuts, smoothie bowls, Mediterranean restos, vegan shops — everything.
Many of the super must-visit spots like Los Tacos No. 1 and Little Italy Pizza have multiple branches. But worth the detour is Urban Hawker on west 50th street for Asian choices so good we couldn’t pick a favorite.
Our ultimate foodie destination which we returned to repeatedly was Eataly, an emporium of Italian ingredients and specialties located in the Flatiron district (the bookstore Rizzoli is nearby), which made it convenient for a tasty break before continuing south to SoHo, NoHo, West Village and the other areas in lower Manhattan.
Incidentally, you won’t find most Italian restaurants in the tiny Little Italy area, clustered around charming Mulberry Street. Instead they are all over the city.
Splitting American-portioned meals allowed me and my daughter to indulge in the exquisite offerings of Swiss chocolatier Laderach on 5th and the macarons of Laduree whose green carts and tea shops pop up in a number of places.
More on New York’s parks and squares later but no foodie should miss the Union Square’s farmers market for stalls of fresh produce, cheeses, foraged mushrooms and honey, breads and freshly baked goods. The offerings made me yearn for an NYC kitchen to cook in.
Then, not a market but a collection of yummy eateries inside one building: the Chelsea Market is not to be missed. Nearby are other must visits like the Gagosian art gallery, the Whitney museum, the High Line and Little Island. But go early.
Museums and special exhibits
There are museums for every subject under the sun including ice cream, mathematics, Broadway or the Chinese in America. But topping the list is the MET which is huge (2 million square feet, almost half of SM North EDSA). The galleries are so fascinating that in two full days we still had not covered everything. You can’t miss the iconic Egyptian temple of Dendur for a start.
Then there is the MoMa where we beelined for Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” So many great works are found here, from Picasso to Warhol, Dali to Claude Monet, yet we revisited Van Gogh’s masterpiece again and again.
The Guggenheim is an architectural masterpiece by Frank Lloyd Wright that makes you follow a slanted spiral floor plan to view the works. We serendipitously noticed the Neue Gallery near the MET and enjoyed a talk on the gallery’s famed collection of Klimts.
Fashion lovers can check the exhibits at the Costume Institute of FIT, which are as informative as they are eye catching. The New York Botanical Gardens has an ongoing Orchid Show with the theme “Florals in Fashion.” Be sure to look up exhibit schedules and visiting hours to make the most of your museum time. Strategies include heading directly to the pièce de résistance, usually towards the end of the museum, to avoid the crowds who proceed from the entrance onwards. It’s best to queue before the museum opens, or else a few hours before it closes.
Thrifting and Sample Sales
Once you get the hang of spotting them, thrift shops will start popping up all over the city. This being New York, a fashion capital, the thrift shops yield designer pieces at crazily affordable prices.
Tip one: it pays to be familiar with the niche designers who are mostly newer, younger and more experimental: Rick Owens, Comme des Garçons, Marni, Jacquemus, Diane von Furstenberg, Thierry Mugler, Alaia, Blumarine, Sacai. (A few of these brands are not new to my generation but familiar to my daughter’s and enjoying a revival.)
Look for brands that walk during New York Fashion Week; those who establish a certain look will always have a following. There’s more to luxury designers than just the ones you see all the time.
Tip two: the best thrift shops and sample sales we found were located around universities like NYU, Parsons and FIT.
The Villages
Hannah and I would walk through these every day if we could. Even the ones with strange names like the Meatpacking District will reveal gentrified residential areas with lots of cafes and restaurants plus galleries and trendy boutiques.
We love SoHo, which struggling artists once called home. They have been nudged out by the fashion brands you see on the New York runways plus IG stars (@young_emperors walked right past us), fashionistas of all persuasions (even pets) navigating the cobblestone streets. Tribeca is home to celebrities and famous galleries. These villages all lead to one another so visit Chelsea, NoHo, the West Village and the East Village.
The Sights
The Financial district is a reflection of New York’s financial clout, yet this was where the city was humbled and brought to its knees 23 years ago. After viewing spectacular architecture and couture houses, the 9-11 Memorial will bring you literally down to ground zero. It is heart-stirring and tragic, haunting and beautiful.
There are two large pools where the two towers used to be and they inspire quiet reflection. Stories of courage, lost loved ones and the eerily sculptural quality of the building remnants of twisted metal guarantee that you will not leave feeling unmoved.
Beside the 9-11 Memorial rises Oculus, a striking white structure designed as an homage to peace. The graceful white lines, which I thought were whalebones, represent a child’s hand releasing a dove into the air. Within it is a transport hub and also a beautiful mall but the white “bones” of this space only reveal the shops as you move along.
The High Line is an elevated park that runs along a former railway track lined with benches, landscaping and outdoor art. At one end is the Whitney Museum and at the other end is Hudson Yards, which boasts an upscale mall and the dramatic, beehive-like Vessel. It’s very enjoyable to walk the High Line, which offers great street views on either side.
Crossing the Brooklyn bridge to get to DUMBO (down under Manhattan bridge) will give you views of the skyline on either side, the Statue of Liberty and beautiful Manhattan Bridge. Head down to where you can take a photo of this iconic bridge between buildings and reward yourself with a visit to Jacques Torres’ chocolate shop before crossing back.
Little Island is a new attraction, an “island” of what look like giant white goblets holding greenery. It’s very popular on sunny days and located near the Whitney end of the High Line.
The Parks
Apart from Central where you can look for the Strawberry Fields monument to John Lennon (who was killed in front of the Dakotas across the street), you can look for spots made famous by movies.
Bryant Park, Union Square, Washington Square and Madison Square are just some of the pretty parks where you can sit on a bench on sunny days and listen to street performers while the world walks by.
The Department stores
Bloomingdales, Macy’s and Nordstrom are filled with well-made designer clothes as my fashion-designing daughter Hannah likes to point out. Not all the big brands are well crafted, especially in this age of mass manufacturing. But the curated collections of department stores can offer you a lesson in construction and technique when you examine their wares. Good for bathroom breaks too!
Broadway
We’re not really into theater but couldn’t help notice that Daniel Radcliffe was performing Merrily We Roll Along Broadway in the theater next door to us. The comedy Spamalot had long lines. You can buy half-priced tickets at TKTS in the middle of Time Square.
Other practical matters
Be careful and safe, noting directions to your destination ahead of time. It’s always good to look like you know where you’re going. Bags worn close to the body and under jackets will deter pickpockets. Avoid empty streets. These rules are the same for any big city.
When it comes to cash versus card, have both because some merchants prefer one to the other.
I purposely devoted two weeks to my daughter’s first visit to New York so that after taking in what mattered most to us, we could and did return again and again—to the MET, to the Flatiron district, Chelsea and SoHo. That’s because New York is one big apple that deserves to be savored slowly, one bite at a time.