There is so much to see and do in New York, but here is my top 5 things that you have to see and do whilst you are there:1. Go Up The Empire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is probably the most famous of all the…Read More

There is so much to see and do in New York, but here is my top 5 things that you have to see and do whilst you are there:

1. Go Up The Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is probably the most famous of all the mega famous things in New York City and is well worth a trip up to the top. The views are absolutely outstanding, even on a not so clear day. We loved looking straight down the side of the building to get an idea of just how high up you are. Tickets aren’t as expensive as we thought they’d be – it’s about twenty dollars per person to get up to the top. There are queues, but don’t be fooled by the reps who try to sell you tickets to get to the front of the queue. They told us the queue was two hours at least and we only ended up waiting about thirty minutes, which we thought was a bit naughty really.

2. Get a helicopter ride over the city

It isn’t cheap, but it is fantastic. I think we paid about a hundred dollars each and we got a twenty five minute sightseeing flight over the city. The helicopters are very modern and very comfortable and they have glass sides so that you can see absolutely everything. If you are a bit nervous, you probably shouldn’t sit next to the window, because it is quite hair raising went the helicopter banks to the side! We got some fabulous photos of the city skyline, the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson River. I’d definitely recommend it.

3. Shop, Shop and Shop!

You can literally find everything and anything in New York – Manhattan has got to be the shopping capital of the world and for good reason. I loved the huge department stores; Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue are all world famous names and have a mind boggling amount of things in them. Expect to shopping with thousands of other people at any time of the day, but it is worth it – and don’t forget to pick up a small / medium / large brown bag from Bloomingdale’s!!

4. See a Show

Broadway is famous the world over and, as a result, has some fantastic shows and you really should try to see one whilst you are there. There is something for everyone – there are musicals, comedies, dramas and everything in between. We actually went to see The Addams Family which was nothing short of brilliant and I’d highly recommend it – great cast (including Brooke Shields as Morticia Addams), great stage design and great story.
Tickets for Broadway shows aren’t cheap – you can get cheaper shows at off-Broadway theatres – but there are ways to reduce the price if you really want to see one. There is a cut price ticket booth in the centre of Times Square where you can get up to 50% off any shows that have seats left, which is great if you aren’t particularly bothered which show you see, but you do have to queue and the wait can be quite long. We actually picked up a flier from one of the guys on the street which gave us 50% off without the queues – definitely worth looking out for!

5. Walk

You’ll need some comfy shoes, but it’ll be worth it. We loved walking along the narrow streets and just looking upwards at the inconceivably tall buildings everywhere. And everywhere you look there is something else to see, whether it is an overfilled shop front or a world famous statue or building. We loved walking around Central Park, which is a wonderful oasis of natural beauty in the middle of this super busy city.

These are just a few of the many things there are to do in New York. If I had the time I could do a list of 50 and still not cover everything, but if you only have a couple of days there, you should definitely do the above!
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Love it or hate it. New York City is one of the most recognizable cities in the world. It is known as the fashion capital of the world. It's well-known for its international cuisines. It has more Broadway shows play at anytime than any other…Read More

Love it or hate it. New York City is one of the most recognizable cities in the world. It is known as the fashion capital of the world. It's well-known for its international cuisines. It has more Broadway shows play at anytime than any other cities. It is the place movies like 'Spiderman' and 'Batman' call home, and it is 'Sex And The City' that put it in the world map as the place to be for guys and girls with dreams to succeed. With world class museums, galleries, and theaters, it is the most visited tourist destination in the United States, and it is constantly ranked among the top ten cities in the world.

I have lived and worked in New York City for the last eight years. The city that never sleeps is constantly evolving.

Known as the crossroad of the world, Times Square is the official site for the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. It is intensely lit with megawatts of animated neons and signboards. It's made into a traffic free zone a few years back, and most recently, it is also made into a smoke free zone. The Radio City Music Hall is located here. It is home to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular since 1933, which features the women's precision dance team - the world famous Rockettes.

Of course there is Central Park, which receives approximately 25 million visitors annually. Its 843 acres of artificially created lakes and ponds, walking tracks, the Central Park Zoo, a Conservatory Garden, wildlife sanctuary, swimming pool in the summer and ice-skating rink in the winter, is the most visited urban park in the United States.

Close by is 5th Avenue, which has one of the highest retail space at cost per square foot in the world. It is home to well-known designers' boutiques and high-end departmental stores, and it is constantly ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Many of these stores feature spectacular window displays during Christmas Seasons – some of the bests in world.

New York City is the world's 'melting pot'. It has a high population density and is exceptionally diverse with a multitude of different ethnic groups. People come here from all over the world. There are more than 150 languages spoken in the city and today, more than 40% of the city population is foreign-born like myself.

Take a walk down Chinatown in lower Manhattan, and you feel like you are somewhere in Asia. Or take a train to Jackson Heights, Queens and you think you are in Central America. Or further down Williamsburg in Brooklyn you might think you are in a tiny town in Poland. What makes the city so great is that its inhabitants are very tolerant of each other's religion, culture, and race, although every once in awhile you might find someone who is not.

Getting around the city is very easy and inexpensive. The mass transit system is one of the few in the world that runs 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The subway system is the fourth busiest transit system in the world. Its 'one price fits all' system is one of the cheapest in the world; it does not matter how far or short the distance is, you can go anywhere in the five boroughs for just one price!

Love it or hate it, everything about New York is one of the bests in the world. No matter where you are, if you said you live in New York, it seems like people have a lot of respect to the ones living here cause if you can survive in the Big Apple, you can survive anywhere in the world. And, I'm proud to say I am a New Yorker.
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These days international travellers come not by ship but by plane. This means that they will generally land at either New Jersey’s Newark International Airport or New York’s JFK International out on Long Island. Flying with Delta from Manchester we touched down at JFK.I have…Read More

These days international travellers come not by ship but by plane. This means that they will generally land at either New Jersey’s Newark International Airport or New York’s JFK International out on Long Island. Flying with Delta from Manchester we touched down at JFK.

I have to say my memories of JFK are not great ones. The airport is rather run down and dilapidated to be honest – not exactly a great advertisement for the city. Upon arrival we had to walk down endless narrow grubby corridors with ‘70s decor and missing roof-tiles. Upon departure we couldn’t help but notice no less than 11 kite-like devices attached to the ceiling of Terminal 3 with hose running down from them to catch leaks. I also found the staff at Terminal 3 to be conspicuous by their absence. Arriving there to catch our flight home we found a melee of four separate queues but with no one to tell you which particular queue you should be in. We joined one, got to the desk at the front, and only then discovered that this was the desk for baggage drop and that we needed to check in either at another desk or on a computer terminal. The terminals did allow us to check in but curiously only gave Rebecca a seat number, 19B, which was in an emergency exit row (where she did not particularly want to sit !). I was not given a seat number though I was checked in. We managed to find a member of staff who had just come on duty who assured us that we would be seated next to each other at the gate. The desk attendant at the baggage drop counter (once we had got to the front of that queue for the second time) also assured us that we would be seated next to each other at the gate. At the gate I was finally given my seat number – 38F. Rebecca was still in 19B. We were assured that this was the best they could do. Only when I made a scene did they admit that, okay, 20B was actually free and moved me there. The next problem was that Rebecca did not want to sit in the emergency exit aisle where they had put her. The gate attendant then tried to move her to 38F. In the end we accepted the seats allocated to us but illegally swapped over once on board the plane so that I was sat in the exit row and Rebecca was in the row behind me. The really ridiculous thing was that she was then sat next to someone whose partner had been sat somewhere else on the plane. Every person we spoke to seemed to have a partner or family member that had been allocated a seat at the other end of the plane from them. I honestly don’t know who was to blame for this cock-up, JFK International or Delta Airlines, but it left a bad taste in our mouths after a genuinely lovely holiday. I can now understand why our friend Marie paid extra to fly into Newark on a carrier that was not Delta.

However, the one cause for concern I had prior to my arrival – Immigration – turned out to be painless. Frequent visitors to the US had laughed at me saying that with my passport being so full of stamps from North Africa, the Middle East, Russia and China there was no way I would be allowed into the country without a stern interrogation. As it was the fellow at the Immigration desk was friendly and even plonked my entry stamp right opposite my Syrian visa ! (It probably also helps that they have a video in Immigration explaining the process that seems to be narrated by Tom Hanks. If there is an American voice more likely to put you at ease and make you feel welcome than Tom Hanks I honsetly do not know who it could be).

There are a number of ways to get between JFK and Manhattan. One of the easiest – other than a private taxi – must be the New York Airport Service bus. These are regular mini-buses that spirit you straight from the airport to Grand Central Station (an easy walk from our hotel). At $15 per person and a 45-minute rideI can’t really argue with the service.

Coming back we found a cheaper (if slightly more time-consuming) way of getting to the airport from Penn Station. We caught the Long Island Railroad out to the Jamaica stop. There we bought $5 tickets for a shuttle monorail that deposited us at the terminal of our choice. Total travel time was maybe a shade over an hour but cost less than $10 each. Knowing how painless the journey was I would actually be inclined to use this method of travelling to and from the airport on any future visit.Close

This was all about to change as we head back to Greenwich Village, the birthplace of the Beat Generation. Those who called "the Village" home: William Faulkner, Eugene O’Neill, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Truman Capote and Maya Angelou. It was here…Read More

This was all about to change as we head back to Greenwich Village, the birthplace of the Beat Generation. Those who called "the Village" home: William Faulkner, Eugene O’Neill, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Truman Capote and Maya Angelou. It was here that Off-Off-Broadway found ground, Jazz and Folk music combined, and political unrest was not uncommon. Marcel Duchamp set off balloons from atop Washington Square arch, proclaiming the founding of "The Independent Republic of Greenwich Village". And, it was in this neighborhood that the gay community would be welcome.

Stonewall Inn
53 Christopher Street
(in Greenwich Village)

As my better half went up to the bar to order our glasses of wine I wandered through the small bar, which is all of 18 foot wide. The walls are completely wood-paneled, except for the red brick behind the actual bar, with wooden beams and pillars and a painted tin ceiling. Its boasts only one long room, with facilities and a coat area attached. The lone pool table is surrounded by mirrors, Tiffany-style lamps hang over the tables and little butterflies dangle over the bar. I followed the framed newspaper clippings and old black and white photographs hung along the walls, which tell the story of Stonewall.

The gay rights movement had predecessors in Chicago’s Society for Human Rights (1924), the Los Angeles-based Mattachine Society (from 1950) and DOB founded by San Francisco lesbians in 1953, but it was in this tiny bar during the early morning hours of June 28th, 1969 which brought the community into the national spotlight.

The Stonewall Inn was then owned by the mafia and attracted a diverse clientele from drag queens to transgendered persons, those on the fringes of society. The bar was subject to frequent police raids, but that fateful Saturday, the drag queens took their stand. Fueled by booze, and mourning the death of their beloved Judy Garland, chaos and violence ensued.

The standard police raid was to have undercover officers enter the few bars which allowed men to dance together and collect visual evidence. Then, uniformed officers would arrive to verify the customers identification. "Women" were taken by female officers into the bathroom to confirm if they were truly female. Men dressed as women were arrested.

That night things didn’t go exactly as planned. There was a crowd of nearly 200 -- and they were not going to show I.D. or be examined in the bathroom. A squad wagon was called as the bar’s customers were lined up outside. The end result: the gay community (which was sizable in Greenwich Village after WWI) joined in. A squad wagon was overturned, bottles, garbage, rocks and coins were thrown, and a parking meter was torn out of the ground. The police were outnumbered by 500 and took refuge in the bar. The parking meter was then used as a battering ram. Lighter fluid was squirted along the front of the bar, but before a fire could be lit, more police arrived.

The story spread because it was covered by major New York newspapers. The community began protesting over the next several evenings, and over a thousand people gathered in a rally outside of the Stonewall Inn. Two organizations were formed and by July 4th parades and marches broke out from New York to Philadelphia. The GLBT community had found its voice.

Julianna and I sat quietly reflecting on the meaning of the event in the tiny bar and toasted those courageous drag queens. "The key to change is to let go of fear."

The history of New York is exhausting, and the culture, architecture and people overwhelming. The best place to find solitude is Central Park, established in 1857 with 770 acres of landscaped grounds. We entered at "Strawberry Fields".

Strawberry Fields
West 72nd Street

On Monday, December 8th, 1980, in front of the Dakota building, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were returning to their home from Record Plant Studio, when Mark David Chapman shot at Lennon five times using hollow point bullets. Lennon was killed immediately.

Across the street from The Dakota is Central Park. In 1981, 2.5 acres of the park was donated as a memorial to the singer. It's called "Strawberry Fields", and every nation of the U.N. donated plants or shrubbery to enhance this living monument. The centerpiece is a simple mosaic with one word, "Imagine".

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From New York City we departed for Phase 2 of our journey, Budapest. Close

You can only stroll so far in New York before public transportation because necessity. We jumped online to plan our journey on the MTA website, which has a "Journey Planner" on the front page. On the downside, it didn’t work. So we…Read More

You can only stroll so far in New York before public transportation because necessity. We jumped online to plan our journey on the MTA website, which has a "Journey Planner" on the front page. On the downside, it didn’t work. So we found a subway map on the same website (www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm).

The subway lines were listed in both numeric and alphabetic order, along with being color-coded. It seemed to be in completely random order. There wasn’t an explanation for how to read the maps either. How hard could it possibly be? We had used subways in London, Prague, Chicago and Boston. Once down in the tunnels, these systems all made sense. Three wrong train choices later, we gave up on the New York subway. It seemed disjointed, and I was determined to find out why.

The first subway system was only 312 foot long and opened in 1869. It was demolished. But, after a blizzard in 1898 the need for underground transport became clear. Today, the subway has grown to 660 miles of track, with over 6,400 subway cars making their way across them (the largest fleet of subway cars in the world). Perhaps the system simply grew too fast? We began our investigation.

In 1898, besides having a blizzard, greater New York city spread through five counties (New York, King, Richmond, Queens and Westchester). Each county, town, city and village within this area already had established their own form of mass transit. Combining these was anything but cohesive, and, add in the "War of Currents" . Should electricity be supplied by a direct current or alternating current? Eventually 600 watt alternating current would win out. But then it became the battle of BRT versus IRT. These two private companies owned "subways", one in Manhattan, the other in Brooklyn, and guess which company wanted to expand into the others territory? That’s right, both of them.

By 1940 the city realized how much these private companies were profiting from their services so the city took them over -- and tried to smooth out the discrepancies. The IRT became the A Division with numbered lines and BRT (which had swallowed up IND) became B Division with alphabetical lines. Now the only problem was that each division had a different length of train car (47 foot long vs. 51 foot long). The city underwent a series of expanding track and widening of tunnels to accommodate the cars.

This explains some of the disjointed plan, but we tired of the subway quickly and found the closest corner to hail a taxi. The driver recognized us as tourists instantly. Natives simply hold up their hold, while we flapped our arms like a chicken trying to get a cabbies attention.

Cars had invaded New York streets by the late 1800s, just as they had across the nation. By 1899 there were 100 taxis on New York streets. It was in that same year when Henry Bliss gained fame -- as the first pedestrian to be hit and killed by a taxi. Well, we know how the New York taxi driver’s reputation got its start.

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Between 1900 and 1930 there was another building boom throughout New York. During this era the Flatiron Building, Low, Morgan and the Public Libraries, the New York Raquet Club, Woolworth and Chrysler Buildings, Pennsylvania Station and the Daily News Building were all completed. But, it would be the following year before New York’s most famous building opened to the public: The Empire State Building.

This Art Deco skyscraper is 102-stories (1,250 foot) tall. For more than 40 years it was New York’s tallest building. It took a year and 45 days to build, at a cost of $24.7 million (not including the cost of the land). During construction only five workers perished, though more than 30 people have lept off the building in suicides. There are 1,860 steps up to the 102nd floor, and 6,500 windows so that the 3,400 workers inside can get a good view. The building itself can only be used commercially as there are not enough bathrooms to convert it to residences.

Its located at 350 Fifth Ave (at West 34th Street), but to get a better view try from Rockefeller Plaza’s observation deck.

The completion of this landmark came just a year into the Great Depression. By 1930 there were 50 breadlines serving 50,000 meals a day on the Lower East side of Manhattan alone. By 1932 half of New York’s manufacturing plants had closed, and one in six was unemployed. Vacancy rates doubled and 1.6 million were on some form of government assistance.

It was into this complete social and economical collapse that New York’s "greatest" mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, entered in 1933. La Guardia (yes, of airport fame) was close friends with FDR who developed the Civil Works Administration as part of his "Great Deal". By 1935 La Guardia had captured one-seventh of CWA’s funding.

These economic struggles and social change also transformed Broadway. During the 1927-1928 season 264 productions had taken place. It dropped to 187 in 1930-1931, and only 72 in 1940-1941. 80% of Broadway actors were unemployed by 1948. Television now offered free entertainment and many of the former stage theatres now served as movie houses. Yet large-scale productions still debuted. Most were musicals, including "Porgy and Bess", "Oklahoma" and "Meet Me in St. Louis."

Actors, artists, writers and musicians would find their refuge in Greenwich Village. But, we’re skipping ahead. For now the eyes of New York are on one thing. Baseball. The city hosted three major league teams. The "Bronx Bombers" (Yankees) were in the World Series every year but two between 1947-1957. They played in the "House that Ruth built", and it was in this stadium that legends played: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the Dodgers played in an area called Pigtown on a former garbage dump which became Ebbetts Field. The had several name changes from the Trolley Dodgers to the Dodgers to Robins and back to the Dodgers, but mostly they were referred to as "Dem Bums" by their fans. They managed to get to the World Series once before heading to Los Angeles. The Brooklyn Dodger’s biggest claim to fame was signing Jackie Robinson in 1947 effectively breaking the color barrier.

As the 1950s rolled into the city, New York was the music center, boasting three major record labels (RCA, Decca and Columbia), had become a leading city in the fashion industry, and jumped into the arts scene with Abstract Expressionism and the city was over-run by tourists. The 1940s and 1950s are often referred to as New York’s "Golden Age". Close

An article about New York city would be incomplete without discussing immigration. In New Amsterdam in the 1640s, seventeen languages were spoken. By 1855 New York had become the most Irish city in America. By the late 1800s Italian and Jewish immigrant…Read More

An article about New York city would be incomplete without discussing immigration. In New Amsterdam in the 1640s, seventeen languages were spoken. By 1855 New York had become the most Irish city in America. By the late 1800s Italian and Jewish immigrant populations peaked. (Nearly 1/3 of Italians returned to their homeland). By 1970, 18.2% of the city’s population was foreign-born, however, where they were coming from shifted. The countries of origin had been Italy, Poland, Russia, Germany, Ireland, Cuban, the Dominican Republic, United Kingdom, Australia and Jamaica. In 2000 they changed to the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Mexico, Guyana, Ecuador, Haiti, Trinidad, India and Columbia.

These groups of people brought with them their culture and cuisine. They made a lasting impact on the restaurant scene. We visited two of the most-famous New York landmark restaurants and a neighborhood renowned for noodle bars.

Katz’ Deli
205 E. Houston Street
(subway: 2nd Avenue)

First made famous in WWII with "Send your boy in the Army, a salami". Then, more famous with a little film called "When Harry Met Sally". You know the scene I'm referring to... Yes, it was filmed right here. And we had "what she was having."

By the way, she had pastrami. It is super moist, and they serve it with spicy mustard on rye. And the pickles, are not fully pickled, more like slightly brined cucumber. Julianna liked them but wouldn't recreate "that" scene for me.

All in all, we viewed this as over-hyped.

Lombardi’s
32 Spring Street
Subway: Spring St. & Lexington

It was 1897 when a native of Naples, Italy, Gennaro Lombardi, opened a grocery store at 53 Spring Street in the "Little Italy" neighborhood of Manhattan. In 1905 his employee, Antonio Totonno Pero began selling pizza pies for 5¢. They adapted the Naples classic to the coal-fired oven and topped it with fior di latte (Mozzarella-style) cheese. The pizza caught on and Gennaro licensed the first pizzeria in New York (and the United States).

In 1924 Pero left to open his own pizzeria on Coney Island, and the original Lombardi’s closed in 1984. A decade later the new Lombardi’s opened a block away. It is owned by a friend of Lombardi’s grandson, John Brescio.

Lombardi’s began as a pizzeria, promoting and spreading New York-style pizza across America. What was so special about this American classic? We had to find out for ourselves.

It’s about the sauce -- the freshest I’ve tasted, as if made just moments before we ordered. But it isn’t pizza sauce, instead, something that you would expect on lasagna. The crust wasn’t as thin as anticipated either. We’d heard that you should "fold" a slice of New York pizza to eat it. You couldn’t fold a Lombardi’s slice easily. Plus, it had a flatbread flavor. And then we found the charcoal spots. Dig into those! The charcoal-fired spotted bottom adds a smokiness to the crust.

We cannot express how wonderful the staff was. They were beyond compare, and even opened the pizza oven door to show us the coal-fired method. No wonder locals return over and over.

Next, we were on the hunt for for an authentic noodle bar. At every window in Chinatown we'd stop for a peek and read the menu posted outside. Julianna doesn't eat beef, pork or anything that remotely looks "cute" when alive. Writing "meat with noodle" on the menu didn't entice her. Famished, I finally persuaded her to give a not-so-noodle bar a chance.

It was clean, had strange decor and staff which spoke very basic English. We were given the standard pot of hot tea and ordered "winter melon" soup, Peking-style pork, shrimp fried rice and cashew chicken. It was far too much food for just two people, and the only solid hit was the Peking-style pork, rich and tangy with a crispy layer on the outside.

Probably many places in Chinatown are better. (The Dining Room at 104 Mott Street, subway Canal). Because Julianna had only picked at her food we found dessert at one of the dozen Chinese bakeries. I opted for mango pudding while Julianna dug into an angel food style cake with fruit. Delicious! As we sat on a park bench enjoying the evening and our treats, I wondered how Chinatown came into being.

The Gold Rush brought Chinese laborers by the thousands to the U.S. But as the gold dwindled and railroads were completed, the immigrants moved east to work in cigar-making and textile factories, and laundries. The biggest cities allowed them to congregate into areas (for protection). By 1880 the Five Points slums hosted 1,100 Chinese.

In 1882 the U.S. enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act, essentially banning immigration for 10 years, but still the Chinese trickled in. This little New York enclave became home to 7,000 Chinese by 1900. And, when the ban was lifted in 1943 Chinatown's population exploded. Today there are an estimated 150,000 Chinese people living within two square miles, making it the largest Chinatown in the world.

And for dessert...

Max Brenner
841 Broadway
Subway: 14th-Lexington-Union Square

Its classy, stylish and contemporary, and it has tubes of chocolate running across the ceiling into large barrels near the hostess’ station. Yes, this place has hip servers and a Mojito and Margarita bar, along with serving the standard pizzas, salads and pastas. But, you’re really here for chocolate.

The first chocolate "boutique" opened in 1996 in Ra’anana, Israel and has expanded nearly worldwide. One can see why, this place is a chocoholics fantasy gone mad. Their large sweet tooth menu contains chocolate-drenched goodies such as ice cream, cookies, cakes and then dips into new frontiers with "choctails" and crispy chocolate eggrolls.

We tried four different sweets off of the menu, but my favorite was the Berry Lovely off of the "food" menu under "chocolate aphrodisiacs". They mix up Chambord, fresh raspberry sauce and white chocolate. The perfect blend of berry and chocolate, without one overshadowing the other. Julianna declared that her chocolate Granita was amazing, with less calories and more taste.

As a note: four items off of the menu was way too much for us. One treat per person will easily satisfy the chocolate monster in anyone.
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The first British governor was appointed by Queen Anne. Her cousin, Lord Cornbury, was (probably) New York city’s first drag queen. That same year (1702) one in nine of the city’s residents perished during an outbreak of yellow fever. Less than 30…Read More

The first British governor was appointed by Queen Anne. Her cousin, Lord Cornbury, was (probably) New York city’s first drag queen. That same year (1702) one in nine of the city’s residents perished during an outbreak of yellow fever. Less than 30 years later 600 souls were lost to smallpox. But, by 1733 the city had still swollen to 11,000 residents.

Progress was coming rapidly to the city. King’s College (now Columbia) was established in 1754, whale oil lamps illuminated the streets within a decade, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade takes place (1766) and New York hospital opens in 1771. With progress comes change, and some of it is not so smooth.

In 1765 the British pass the Stamp Act which resulted in the formation of the "Sons of Liberty" and protests took place. In retaliation the British created the Townsend Act (taxes on imports) and in 1770, on Golden Hill, the British and Sons of Liberty clashed resulting in first bloodshed. The Boston Massacre occurred quickly after this.

In 1776 George Washington led his troops against 25,000 British soldiers. They pulled down a statue of George III in Bowling Green, melted it down and used the metal for musket balls. In the end, Washington was defeated and the British begin a long seven-year occupation of the city. In 1783 the British departed permanently from Battery Park.

A boom time ensued for the city. The Bank of New York was organized by Alexander Hamilton in 1784 (original location at 48 Wall St.), trading began with the Chinese and St. Peter’s Catholic church (the city’s oldest) was consecrated. The first directory of New York city was published in 1786, and New York’s city council allowed the federal government the use of City Hall thereby becoming the nation’s first capital. In 1792 a stock market was established along Wall Street under a grove of trees (prior to this trading took place in a coffeehouse on the corner of Wall and Water streets), the New York Post hit newstands in 1801 and the first fire department was established. The city’s population was now over 60,000 including 2,500 slaves.

Expansion occurred rapidly. Brooklyn was incorporated as a village in 1816 (and as a city in 1834) and over 1,000 moved northward into Greenwich Village to flee a yellow fever outbreak in 1822. To feed this population, the Erie Canal opened in 1825, connecting midwest farmers to the city. The Erie railroad replaced the canal in importance by 1832.

The Great Fire of 1835 claimed 674 buildings below Wall Street. A massive building boom would follow. Some of the buildings erected over the next few years include: the Astor House hotel, original City Prison and St. Paul’s (Brooklyn). However, most impressive were the churches designed by James Renwick Jr.

Renwick was born in 1818 to a wealthy Manhattan family. At the age of 12 he entered Columbia University to study engineering. He eventually obtained a Master’s degree. In 1843 he secured his first commission, Grace Church, located at 802 Broadway in Greenwich Village. It was built in the Gothic Revival style. He followed up this project with other church projects, including Calvary Church (1846) and St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1858).

It was over the next 75 years that New York really came into its own, and the history of the city can be readily seen. The arts makes their entrance into city life in 1842 when the Philharmonic was organized and the first concert took place in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway. Thirty years later, the original Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its doors.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th Avenue
(subway: 86th Street & Lexington)

In art school certain museums are spoken of with reverence: the Louvre, Prado, Vatican and Uffizi Gallery. In the U.S. its "the Met", and it was this former art student’s first visit. I scampered up the stairs and was very quickly overwhelmed by the scale of this treasure trove.

Behind the Beaux Arts facade (completed in 1902) lay riches -- over two million square feet of floor space in a building nearly a quarter mile long -- which boasts two million works of art from nineteen different departments. Its all here, from antiquities to Egyptian works, European masters, photography, sculpture and primitive works from around the world. Hard to believe that this developed from a single person’s collection (John Taylor Johnson, a railroad executive) in a building twenty times smaller than the present location in 1872.

You simply cannot take in everything. Instead, we picked a specific area to focus on, and headed to the second floor’s collection of European paintings (roughly, 2,200 works). The walls are lined with the names of genius, Monet, Cezanne, Raphael, Rembrandt and Duccio. What grabbed my attention was Van Gogh. (I had never thought much of the artist, but had only seen a simple self-portrait with my own eyes.) His thick, rich, vibrant Irises, Roses and Oleanders were startling, unexpected treats. You can find each brushstroke hidden in the petals and stems.

I promised myself to research Van Gogh when I returned home, and exhausted we made our way to the roof top terrace. Besides a magnificent view of Manhattan and Central Park, you can find a simple snack shop.Close

Standing in Union Square, its hard to imagine the history of this vast city. Dominating the square is Zeckendorf Towers, four towers shooting up into the sky 26-stories, and topped by green glass pyramids which light up at night. To the north is…Read More

Standing in Union Square, its hard to imagine the history of this vast city. Dominating the square is Zeckendorf Towers, four towers shooting up into the sky 26-stories, and topped by green glass pyramids which light up at night. To the north is the Flatiron District, boasting trendy Madison Avenue, to the south once-Bohemian Greenwich Village and sprinkled about are dorms for N.Y.U. Within the looming stone, granite and brick structures rests this sanctuary, laid out in 1832, and named "Union" for the intersection of Manhattan’s two main thoroughfares (Broadway and the former Bowery Road, now 4th).

Over three hundred years prior to this square’s creation an Italian explorer hired by the French, Giovanni da Verrazano, sailed into New York harbor in search of the Northwest Passage. Henry Hudson would follow in 1609, and within a year fur traders would travel the coast seeking their fortunes. But, it wasn’t until 1621 that the Dutch recognized the area as valuable, and chartered the Dutch West India Company to protect their interests. A colony of Belgian, Dutch and French-speaking Walloons was formed three years later, and they called their settlement "New Amsterdam".

The growing settlement purchased the island of Manhattan in 1626 from the Algonquian Indians for beads, axes, cloth and other items valued at $1,000 (in 2006 currency). There were now 270 colonists, 30 houses and six farms in the area. Within a decade 104 muskateers and a fort, also called Amsterdam, were established. By 1638 New Amsterdam expanded into what is now Brooklyn and a ferry service was organized. Within two years the Dutch purchased all of the boroughs of present-day New York.

In 1653 New Amsterdam broke away from the province of New Netherland, ended the control of the Dutch West India Company, and celebrated with (what was probably the first) parade down Broadway. The new director-general, Peter Stuyvesant, also ordered a quarter-mile long wall to be built along what is now Wall Street.

Immigration began in ernst the following year as 23 Jews from Spain and Portugal arrive. (Italians had already been in the area for 20 years.) The Jews and Quakers were fleeing persecution and the first laws regarding religious freedom were established in the New World. However, this new freedom and peace was not to last.

In 1664 the Duke of York sent a British armada to this growing port. They quickly captured Staten Island, sent troops into Brooklyn, and forced the surrender of the city to Britain. New Amsterdam became New York. The British controlled the city until the American Revolution.

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To view some of this very early history of New York, we made our way to Battery Park, a 22.9-acre public park hugging the southern shoreline of Manhattan, and named for the military compound established by the Dutch.

At the southern end of the park, just off of South Street, rests Castle Clinton. The round red brick building was built between 1808-1811, and called West Battery (it became Castle Clinton in 1815, named for a New York mayor). Originally the structure stood on an artificial island, but during the 19th century the island was incorporated into a park on the mainland when landfill connected the two.

The U.S. Army ceased using the fort in 1821 and three years later the area became Castle Garden, which now contained an opera house, promenade and restaurants. In 1855 an Emigrant Landing Depot was established at the site (the nation’s first) and processed eight million immigrants, including Oscar Hammerstein, Harry Houdini and Joseph Pulitzer, until 1890 when Ellis Island opened.

Battery Park: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/batterypark. Nearest subway: 4, 5, R, W, 1. Facilities include bathrooms, water fountains, playgrounds and surrounding eateries. The park also boasts numerous statues, memorials and gardens.

Today, Castle Clinton (and Liberty State Park in New Jersey) are where you can purchase ferry tickets to both Liberty and Ellis Islands. Purchase tickets online in advance (as far in advance as you can) at: www.statuecruises.com.

Line 1: opens at 8:15 to pick up tickets. Tickets sell out very quickly.
Line 2: security check (think airport security) opens at 8:30
Line 3: board the ferry to Liberty Island, first departure 9:00
Line 4: exit ferry after a 15 minute ride
Line 5: second security check if you purchased either "crown" or "pedestal" tickets.
Line 6: elevator. Or you can climb the 153 steps to the pedestal.

We opted for "pedestal" tickets. This means you are allowed out on the granite pedestal which Lady Liberty stands on. Its roughly ten stories up and offers a 360° view of New York harbor.

Although the lines are horrific, and you begin to feel like herded cattle, I would still recommend seeing Lady Liberty up close and personal. As an American, I bet you’ll get choked up too.

To think that the colossal statue (a bit over 151 feet tall, weighing 225 tons) almost never reached the United States. The majestic robed figure, Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, holds a torch and tablet of law, and was the brainchild of Frenchman, Frederic Bartholdi. In 1875 it was decided that the French would build the statue if the Americans found a site and provided a pedestal. Easier said than done.

"Liberty Enlightening the World" was to be proudly displayed in Philadelphia but then-President Rutherford B. Hayes selected Bedloe’s Island in New York harbor as the final destination of the monument. Meanwhile, publisher Joseph Pulitzer began a campaign to raise the needed money to build the pedestal. Over 120,000 citizens donated and the Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28th, 1886. Celebrations of the completion of the statue included New York City’s first ticker-tape parade.

Another 15 minute ferry ride will drop you at Ellis Island. (If pressed for time, this is missable). The island was originally home to Fort Gibson, but from 1892 to 1954, twelve million immigrants passed through the large building, which is now a museum. Inside, you can wander through the "Registry Room" in which immigrants were processed or visit the genealogy library ($5 for an hour search).

On both Liberty and Ellis Island are snack bars and facilities. Sidenote: The original torch was deemed too fragile during a renovation and is now displayed in the bottom of the pedestal.Close

The attractions of Letchworth State Park in Livingston County, NY are amply described on the park's website at www.letchworthpark.com and illustrated by the many photos on IGOUGO. The website includes a good map showing the many hiking trails and describes other activities and accommodations…Read More

The attractions of Letchworth State Park in Livingston County, NY are amply described on the park's website at www.letchworthpark.com and illustrated by the many photos on IGOUGO. The website includes a good map showing the many hiking trails and describes other activities and accommodations within the park. The latter include tent and trailer camping sites, as well as cabins, multi-room houses, and lodge and inn rooms that can be reserved and rented. Families with young children would enjoy a day or a week here and hiking enthusiasts could easily spend many days exploring all the 14 thousand acre park offers. The foliage is especially beautiful around October.

Some practical information that might not be readily apparent from the website is highlighted below:

ACCOMMODATIONS - Aside from what is available within the park, accommodations in the immediate vicinity are limited primarily to a Country Inn & Suites near the Mt. Morris entrance to the park and a Quality Inn in nearby Geneseo. However, the city of Rochester and its suburbs is only about 30-40 minutes away and provides many other options.

FOOD - There are grills you can use in the park and snack bars that provide grilled items, snacks, and ice cream. Choices outside the park are again limited, although there could be some hidden gems my wife and I have not found -- and you probably won't either. My best guess for the best nearby choice for hearty, homestyle cooking is Brian's USA Diner near the park's Mt. Morris entrance. I haven't eaten there, but the number of cars that are usually there indicate that either the food is good or there are no other choices anyway.
Again, you can always drive to Rochester. Or, if you want to stay in the country, I can highly recommend the Valley Inn (Ph: 585-786-3820) west on Route 20A one block before you hit the main crossroads in the village of Warsaw. This just might be the best gourmet dining value in Western New York. The chef has cooked for Navy admirals and at several big city hotels.

ORIENTATION / OTHER ATTRACTIONS - The park literature refers to the north and south entrances. For some reason, my personal internal compass tends to think in terms of east and west. Actually, the park follows the Genesee River as it flows mainly from the southwest to northeast. This also means there is a northwest side of the river and a southeast side. You only pay ($8) at the entrances of the northwest side and you will then receive a larger version of the park map found on the website. This is the side of the park that has the most attractions in terms of trails, picnic areas, waterfalls and spectacular views.
You may enter the park on the southeast side for free through the Mt. Morris dam entrance by following the signs from the center of the village or through the Parade Grounds Entrance at the other (southwest) end of the park near Portageville. In both areas you will find well-maintained, marked hiking trails. But the views are not as good as on the other side. If you visit the Mt. Morris Dam, one trail running along the gorge starts at the far end of the parking lot.

The park itself will keep most people fully occupied. Go to Rochester if you need to get away from nature for an evening or a day. Stony Brook State Park on Rt. 36 south of Dansville and the Genesee Country Village and Museum in Mumford are definitely worth a visit. To the east lies the Finger Lakes wine country. And very close to the park you can make a short visit to The Abbey of the Genesee on the southeast side of the park at 3258 River Road near the village of Piffard. There you can visit the Abbey church with some impressive architecture and stained glass windows, attend a prayer service, or make a purchase at the book and bread store. The Trappist monks make the bread (called Monk's Bread!) and a sliced or unsliced loaf can make a good snack on the hiking trail. The store also sells preserves, honey, coffee and various cakes, including a tempting Blueberry Whiskey Cake.Close

One thing in the New York area which I've always wanted to do but had never taken the opportunity before was to visit the nearby Coney Island. The reason, partially was because we'd always visited in the colder seasons, and also because our time there…Read More

One thing in the New York area which I've always wanted to do but had never taken the opportunity before was to visit the nearby Coney Island. The reason, partially was because we'd always visited in the colder seasons, and also because our time there was normally packed with other things to do that we couldn't take the extra trip.

This past trip, however, was a bit more relaxed. Although we only had three days in NYC, we'd mainly gone to see a specific show and the other days were open. We did explore the city a bit more and visited a museum which we'd never seen, but we had some extra time on our last day up there, that when we woke up that morning, we decided we'd have enough time before our late afternoon flight home to take the train to Coney Island.

Since it was May, and the weather had been quite spring-like and lovely, this was an even better excuse to go to the seaside. Unfortunately it was pretty chilly with the ocean breeze, and we were glad to have brought our warm coats.

From the city (after a stop for a morning coffee and pastry), we hopped on the N Subway Line and settled in for the approximately 45-minute ride south. It was an easy and relaxing ride down there, and we were almost the only ones in the subway car. I'm guessing that it's a different story in the height of summer though. When we exited at the end of the line, we could see the carnival rides a couple of blocks away lining the shore.

I've always been interested in seeing this famous boardwalk, and the trip was definitely worth it for a stroll on the iconic beachside promenade. As soon as we got off the train and walked to the street, it felt like we stepped back in time to some weird deserted carnie time-warp. There were even strange creaking noises coming from the wind moving something metal around, and all the colorful signs seemed an out-of-place-bright to advertise to just the 9 or so people meandering around.

But the vintage style painted signs, old carnival rides, fair food displays, and wooden boardwalk seemed oddly comforting in an Americana sort of way. I'm at least glad we got to see this strange place before all the summer crowds and before (if) it ceases to exist any longer.

We didn't ride anything, but the vendors were just getting set up that morning. I tried just imagining the crowds that are probably here in the height of summer. If you go, some of the rides you can take (or just take photos of) are the "World Famous Cyclone" rollercoaster and the Wonder Wheel ferriswheel. You can also visit the New York Aquarium just off the boardwalk, or take part in the annual Nathan's Hotdog eating contest!

• http://www.coneyisland.com/
• Subways D, Q N or F from ManhattanClose