Easter in New York City

New York is one of the most diverse, exciting, and sophisticated cities in the world. It sees itself as the centre of the universe and, like few other cities, can probably justify the claim.

Highlights include walking in Central Park, the view from the Empire State Building, long twilights in Greenwich Village restaurants, and the bustle and buzz of Times Square.

This is the natural home of the skyscraper, and the skylines are both stately and inspired.

Quick Tips:

New York is made up of lots of smaller neighbourhoods, e.g. SoHo, Harlem, Upper East Side... all names that you'll have heard from television and the movies. As well as doing the big sights, it is worth spending some time just strolling, eating, and soaking up the disparate atmosphere in some of the neighbourhoods.

New York has lots to do for everyone, and that includes children. Don't underestimate a young child's interest in the 'adult' sights, big buildings, and bright lights, and Central Park has lots that will interest kids. If that can't keep them happy, the Toys 'R Us in Times Square has floors of toys, displays, and an overpriced ferris wheel. Whilst not easy, it is possible to make it out alive without buying anything.

Best Way To Get Around:

For a city so large, New York is remarkably pedestrian-friendly. Between the subway and the shoe leather, there are few places that are difficult to get to.

The street/avenue grid makes navigation easy.

The subway itself is efficient, relatively clean, and not nearly as crowded and daunting as you would expect. Most of the lines run north-south, with few crosstown lines beyond Midtown; however, with a little planning, this need not be a problem.

A flat fare of applies for every trip, and there are a number of travel-card or multi-buy options to save money. Consider your plans beforehand, because even the most ardent sightseeer would have trouble averaging four subway trips a day.

A fantastic, inexpensive, and friendly Korean/Japanese restaurant just near the corner of Bleecker and Thompson Street. The menu has both Korean and Japanese dishes; however, the staff is Korean and will guide you toward the Korean dishes for preference. Let yourself be guided.

The food is very good--lovely, fresh, clean flavours, with side dishes of kimchi and other pickles and sesame oil sauces.

The staff is good-natured and helpful without being obsequious.

Whilst not the most buzzing place we ate at, it was certainly great value and seemed to have a few regulars in.

Two adults and a child ate for $55, including drinks.

This is a friendly Spanish/ Mexican restaurant about 2 blocks east of 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village.

The decor is interesting, with plaster on the walls, cantina-style arches, etc, but the service is attentive and the food is very good.

As well as a reasonably priced range of main dishes and desserts, there is also a wide selection of starters. Rather than eat the standard two or three courses, you may want to try ordering a selection of starters as a tapas-style meal. Servings are generous without being stupid, so two or three starter dishes per person should be plenty. There is a decent range of wine and beer, but the sangria is especially good.

As with Spain itself, they are more than tolerant of children and treated our daughter very well.

First seen as you walk along 34th Street, the Empire State Building can be a little underwhelming. It is not until about Macy's that you start to see the scale of it, the huge tower rising in an elegant taper from the stacked blocks of its base. To be honest,though, what the Empire State offers as something to look at pales into insignificance beside its qualities as something to look from. This has got to be one of the best views ever.

Even on a cloudy day, it was possible to see for miles all around. After days of looking up at skyscrapers, it was at once humbling and empowering to look down on them.

The Silver Hub Caps of the Chrysler Building, the golden pyramids of the insurance buildings, letting your eyes run down the length of 5th Avenue all the way to the Washington Square arch. The green and brown blocks to the north mark out Central Park. This is New York from an entirely new perspective.

The viewing platfrom is 86 floors up and includes an inside and an outside platform. Though I normally suffer from vertigo, I had no problem on the outside platform. It's a testament to the apparent solidity of the railings and barriers. It can get cold that high up, so make sure you are well-covered.

The cost was $13 per adult and free for children under 6. Allowing for queuing for tickets and queuing for lifts, it took about 45 minutes, from getting in the front doors to stepping out onto the viewing platform. I imagine it would take longer on a clearer day.

Starting at Pier 83 on the west side of 42nd Street, the tour goes out past Ellis Island and Liberty Island before turning into the East River and up the east side of Manhattan.

The tour takes every part of three hours and did not, when we did it, go 'around' the entire island. It went as far as Harlem before turning around and doubling back on itself.

The commentary is informative and interesting, with the right mix of fact, figure, and anecdote to provide an individual perspective. The real star, of course, is the city view; the downtown skyline looks fantastic from the water.

It can get hot on the boat, and you will want some water; though there is a snack bar on board, it is not exactly cheap--better to take your own on with you.

Even on overcast days, three hours on deck in the sun will leave you sunburned, so a hat and sunscreen are a good idea.

It is almost unfair to describe Central Park as a park. It does it no justice. A park conjures up images of a few hectares of grass garden and a children’s playground. Central Park is so much more.

Stretching 3 blocks wide and over 50 blocks long, it is a patchwork of greenery, with over a dozen distinct areas, each of which is like a mini-park in themselves. The Rambles, in the centre of the park, is a cool wooded tangle of narrow paths. Belvedere castle rises above the lake of the same name like a 19th-century Victorian folly. Across the north meadow, a dozen baseball diamonds hold the promise of summer leagues.

And throughout all this, you are within sight of the New York City skyline, reminding you that this remarkable oasis is actually at the heart of one of the most important cities in the world.

Central Park is both a place to do things and a place to wander, doing not too much at all. It is fairly flat, making an ideal cycling, walking, or rollerblading area, and though there were invariably areas fenced off to allow the grass to grow back, there were also swathes of open green to run on and rocks to climb.

We went to the AMNH to see dinosaurs, and we did see dinosaurs. One of the best collections of dinosaur and pre-historic fossils in the world did not disappoint either myself or my five year old. There was the necessary T-Rex, as well as our respective favourites, Triceratops and Stegosaurus, all beautifully modelled and presented in walk around glass cases. Whilst it is an impressive collection, the display spaces themselves, voluminous and sterile white halls, do them little justice. Whilst there are interactive information terminals around the rooms, the stark 'you are in a museum' display halls leave the dinosaurs looking like a pile of old bones. Overall, I would suggest that the Natural History Museum in London, has done more with less in terms of its dinosaur display.

Other displays we saw included the Gottesman hall of Planet Earth on geological science. This was an extremely well laid-out hall, with a wide variety of different displays. There were touch-screen information terminals, tactile displays relating to continental drift, and the formation of rock types and the above mentioned seismograph. This hall showed what could be done with a little thought.

The Cullman Hall of the universe. Is one of the largest open spaces at the Musuem, and again doesn't utilize its space or its topic as well as it might. This is the universe—space—and in reality there are few things more interesting; however, with a few exceptions, (the Mars rover, the meteorite, and the Cinema Display), this hall comes across as almost empty and not making sense thematically. This hall, however, is very near an entrance, and it may be that it is kept clear because of this.

At a number of points throughout the museum, there are short cinema displays explaining or expanding on the static displays. In the dinosaur halls, these are narrated by Meryl Streep, and are well worth watching. None of them are longer than about 7 minutes, and they are very illuminating.

The Natural History Museum is well worth seeing. It is a great whole family activity, and you can easily kill a whole rainy day. It is well stocked, well-curated, and no doubt an invaluable scientific resource. But in the 21st century, we have come to expect more than static displays with an accompanying label, and the AMNH may need to do more to meet these expectations.

Greenwich Village has a history and a reputation as a Bohemian enclave, and more artists writers, and musicians have lived in the area than it is possible to name. Bob Dylan once lived at 161 West Fourth St., and 11 West Fourth St. is Electric Lady recording studios, made famous by Jimi Hendrix.

Now, though, the feel is very much that of a university town: a little bit Libertarian, a little bit left wing, but not too radical, not too dangerous, and just passing through on its way to something else.

This is understandable, of course, when NYU is right on the doorstep and apparently owns large parts of the village.

There are still the trappings of its past, though. Cafe Wha, still exists, though looking slightly faded, and Le Figaro still retains some of its charm. The statues in Stonewall Place still remember a time not so long ago, when personal liberties had to be fought for, and remind us that there are those who would turn back the clock in that regard. On the whole, though, Greenwich Village now feels quaint, safe, and a little ways away from the cutting edge.

It remains a great place, though, and has its highlights. Washington Square Park is a great area for people-watching and listening to buskers. The view from Sixth Avenue north to the Empire State Building is great, and Cafe Reggio on McDougal Street had the best coffee (and waffles) I had in New York.

On a fine evening, as the chess players set up their tables on Thompson Street and the cafés along Bleecker street and West 3rd start filling up, there is a buzz, and it is hard not to find yourself with a smile on your face. It is hard not to feel a part of something. Or maybe it is the ghost of something - who knows.

P.S. If you have young children (2 to 6) there is a great children’s playground at Abington Square (corner Bleecker and Bank sts.) in the West Village. It gets very hectic, but we have found that an hour in the playground keeps our daughter happy for a day or so of less obviously child-focused activities.