New York, New York

Aussie in New York

I had a good friend, Tom, visit me from Melbourne, Australia last week. Tom and I met at the Absolute Paris Hostel back in June of 2011. It was a cramped space, the bathroom smelled like someone continuously pissed all over the walls, but it somehow facilitated and solidified our friendship. We (along with our respective travel-mates) conquered the Louvre and Centre Pompidou together.

Tom had a wedding to go to in Colorado, so he decided to make a trip out of it and visit New York, Mexico and Cuba as well. Since it was Tom’s first time in New York, I felt especially pressured to condense the best of the city’s offerings into his four day time frame. Before he landed in the States, I mapped out an itinerary for him to comb through so he could plan his trip accordingly. Here’s what I came up with (this was taken from an email I sent him):

Sights/Main Tourist Attractions

The Statue of Liberty is actually closed (due to Hurricane Sandy) until July 4, but you can still see it from Battery Park downtown if you have any interest.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also downtown, close to Battery Park), a tribute to those killed in the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 terrorist attacks. Apparently security is pretty intense there (think TSA airport security).

Times Square is every New Yorker’s nightmare, but every tourist’s haven (maybe). It’s definitely cool to check out and walk around (albeit, it’s also a bit overwhelming and congested). Take your obligatory photos posing in the glow of the billboards and get the hell out of there before you get accosted by Superman or Cookie Monster asking for you to put tips in a Christmas stocking. The attractions and restaurants here (TGIFridays, Discovery Museum Times Square, The Olive Garden, etc.) are way over-priced and hardly worth it.

Central Park is a must-see. It starts at 59th Street and extends to 106th Street. Some fun highlights include: Strawberry Fields, The Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, The Hans Christian Andersen Monument, Sheep Meadow (a 15-acre lawn), The Carousel, and The Pond (“Where do the ducks go in the winter?” -Holden Caufield).

The Empire State Building is a little pricey and (in my opinion) overrated. You actually get better views from The Top of the Rock (but that’s a bit pricey too, it’s $27 to go to the top).

Museums:

MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) is pretty awesome. It’s a $25 entrance fee ($14 if you’re a student), but it’s a pretty impressive building and their collection is amazing. There is a really cool exhibit (the rain room) that is going on right now, (but there might be a line for it).

The Museum of Natural History is great if you’re into, well, natural history. It’s huge and it’s right near Central Park. The permanent exhibitions are pretty spectacular (there are lots of dinosaur fossils and animals).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is also pretty amazing. It’s HUGE through. There’s a permanent Ancient Egypt exhibition, a Medieval (arms and armor) exhibition, and tons and tons of classic European paintings, modern art. The Met basically has everything from antiquity to Van Gogh to Warhol. I think that if you only have time to see one museum it should definitely be this one.

The Brooklyn Museum and Botanical Gardens You can probably skip the Botanical Gardens (unless botany is really your thing). I really want to see the Kehinde Wiley pieces at the Brooklyn Museum.

Cool (Less tourist, more New Yorker-y) Things to Do:

The Highline I really, really love the Highline. It can be a little crowded on the weekends, but if you go during a weekday, it’ll be fine. It’s in Chelsea (which is a fun area to explore). It used to be a railroad (originally built in the 1930s and hasn’t been used as such since 1980), but they’re in the multi-step process of converting it into a large, elevated park.

The Frying Pan is a bar on a boat. It’s everyone’s favorite place to drink outdoors. Fun fact: the boat was abandoned for 10 years and then underwater for 3 years before it was salvaged, acquired by its current owners and shipped to NYC where it’s currently docked at Pier 66 Maritime.

5 Pointz is right near my apartment (within walking distance). It’s an outdoor art (graffiti) space and it’s awesome (and free!) It’s one of New York’s lesser-known somewhat hidden gems in Long Island City. You can actually get great views of the building from the 7-train (in between the Court Square and Hunters Point stops). You can book a tour in advance as well if you want to do more than circle the exterior.