New York City

INTRODUCTION

I always thought of New York as one of those places everyone should visit once. So when I was offered the chance of a week’s free accommodation in Brooklyn, I took the opportunity for my one off visit. I was fairly certain I wouldn’t like the place enough to ever want to go there again. I don’t like cities. And from what I had heard, New York epitomised everything I hate about cities. Noisy, stressful, tacky and very, very large.

But I booked my flights, packed my bags and decided to make the most of it. And much as I hate to admit it, New York proved me wrong. I loved it. I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was because I was shown round by some friends who lived there. So I am going to try to pass on some of the tips they gave me that made my stay so enjoyable. I will tell you about getting there and getting around, eating and drinking and my recommendations on what to do both during the daytime and the evening.

GETTING THERE AND GETTING AROUND

You can’t go far wrong with at flight to New York. It’s only a 7 hour flight, and whichever airline you go with, the economy class flight is pretty standard. You’ll be crammed in like sardines, and you can guarantee the person in the next seat to you will either snore like an express train or have terrible body odour. However, there are one or two things you can do to minimise the discomfort. For instance, I find virgin one of the more bearable airlines. You still don’t get masses of leg room, but they do give you a little bag of goodies that keeps you occupied for a few minutes, and the food’s pretty good too. You could also try asking for a bit more leg room. Sometimes if you’re really lucky they’ll upgrade you to business class, or failing that, the fire exit seats give you more space. There’s nobody in front of you so you can stretch your legs out to your heart’s content.

Once you’ve got through the flight, the next challenge is getting from the airport to your accommodation. I flew into Newark airport, which is in New Jersey. The easiest and cheapest way to get to your accommodation is to hop onto the airport shuttle bus to Manhattan. This costs about $12 for a return ticket, and it takes about 45 minutes to get to Manhattan. I would then recommend flagging down a yellow New York cab to take you the rest of the way to your destination. The drivers are trained to know where they’re going, so you just have to give them the address of your hotel and they’ll take you. It cost me about $20 dollars to Brooklyn, so its not too expensive.

The underground system in New York is relatively similar to the one in London. As long as you follow the map and make sure you get on the train going the right direction its fairly simple to get around. You can buy a week pass for the underground, or just pay for each journey. If you intend to use his as your main method of travel, it’s cheaper to buy the week pass. The underground is quite reliable. There are several different lines that stop at most destinations, so even if one is out of action, you can always find another route. It does get very crowded at peak times though, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re claustrophobic. And hold on to your valuables- pick pockets are always at work!

FOOD AND DRINK

American food really is everything you expect it to be. Very fatty, very stodgy and enormous portions. A slice of New York cheese cake can fill you up for an entire day, and a slice of pizza will be about the size of a whole small pizza in the UK. That said, food and drink in New York is an interesting experience.

I’ll start with breakfast. The best place to go for breakfast is to a diner outside of Manhattan. A real New York diner. You’ll pay a couple of dollars for a meal that will keep you going until mid afternoon, and the choice is great, although unconventional. You can have sweet pancakes or waffles with flavoured butter, meat, strawberries, syrup, melon, or a combination of the above. It’s not unusual to see Americans eating strawberry and sausage pancakes. I kid you not. You could also try home fries, a funny combination of potato, onion and goodness knows what else. They taste pretty good. As with any meal in the States, you can always get fries. They also do those strangely named egg dishes- sunny side up, over easy, etc. Although the food can be a little odd, diners are a good place to experience New York from a local’s perspective. There tends to be a lovely, friendly atmosphere, and the locals will be over the moon to chat to a British visitor.

If you can face lunch after all that, I would recommend heading into Manhattan, and stopping at one of the many French style cafés. There are quite a few dotted around, and they provide a bit of light relief from all the heart attack inducing American food. The French cafés serve delicious fresh salads, fresh bread, French cheese and home made lemonade among other things. There is loads to choose from, and you can either sit at your own table or join many others at a large communal table where people seem to congregate. There is loads of choice in the food, and you feel positively refreshed and radiantly healthy after your meal. Just keep putting what you had for breakfast to the back of your mind!

For an evening meal, there are so many places to choose from I won’t even try to list them. You could head to the Grand Central Station, where there are a few restaurants. This could be combined with a sightseeing tour. Or if you really want to see the sights, you could head to my favourite eatery, the revolving bar on the 80th floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

You don’t have to be staying at the hotel to use the bar. There are a lot of lifts when you enter the hotel on the ground floor, and trying to find one to take you to the bar is a bit hit and miss. You need to take the express lit from the 3rd floor. Your best bet is probably to ask someone who works there who will point you in the right direction. When you arrive at the bar, a waitress will show you to a seat. It’s advisable to get there by about 8pm, so you can get a seat right by the window for the best view in New York. You might not notice the bar revolving at first, because it is very slow. But the bar turns right through 360 degrees, so you can see the whole of the Manhattan skyline.

Whilst you are up there, you can enjoy as much food as you can eat from the buffet for $20. The food is amazing quality, and you get plenty of choice, including pudding. There really is something for everyone, and it is excellent value for money. However, if you don’t fancy eating there, it’s still a must see in my book, and you can always just go there for a drink.

DAYTIME ENTERTAINMENT

Many people will go to New York just to see the famous attractions. There really are quite a lot of things to see there, so I’ll just tell you a bit about my favourites.

You can’t go to New York without seeing the Statue of Liberty. You can get a ferry over to Liberty Island, but this is expensive, and possibly not worth the money. A cheaper alternative is to take the free ferry over to Statten Island. You can see Liberty as you go past, and you really do get quite a good view. I must say that Liberty wasn’t as large as I thought it would be, so don’t be disappointed if you’re not as enamoured with it as you expected to be. Its still worth seeing, especially when its free. There’s not much in Statten Island, so its probably not worth getting off the ferry. And its certainly not advisable to take the Statten Island ferry during rush hour, as it is used by many commuters and will be absolutely packed.

Another thing you can’t really miss is the empire state building. This is very commercialised, and can get really busy. You will undoubtedly have to queue for a substantial amount of time, then you can go up to the top on the lift. Once up there, you can walk right around the top of the building, and the view is indescribable. I would advise allowing at least a couple of hours to do this, as you really do have to queue up for a long time, even if you avoid the busy times like the weekend.

Although not the most cheerful of places, ground zero is also worth a visit. Seeing the place really brings it home to you what sort of effect the Twin Towers disaster had on the city. It is now just an incredibly large building site. The size of the gap where the towers were is something you could never begin to imagine without seeing it, and the atmosphere of sadness around the place is something quite unforgettable.

You can also get an idea of where the Twin Towers were and the effect the gap has on the landscape when you stand on Brooklyn Bridge and look across at the Manhattan skyline. Most people have seen the Manhattan skyline on films when the Twin Towers were there, and you can really see the difference now they are gone. Brooklyn Bridge is well worth a look at, and it looks especially spectacular at night when it is lit up like a Christmas tree.

The final landmark that I would recommend a look at is Central Park. It is advisable to put aside a whole day to explore the place, as it really is quite large. This is a real break from the stressful city atmosphere of the rest of New York. The pace of life is a little slower. You can sit by the fountain and watch the water, or listen to the buskers playing their music. Many people go jogging or roller blading there, and in the summer you can just sit and sunbathe and take in the atmosphere.

Of course, I couldn’t possibly move on to evening entertainment without mentioning that classic New York pass time- shopping! The shops in Manhattan offer amazing choice, and there is a selection from all different cultures. For example, you could head into China Town for some unusual souvenirs, or pay Little Italy a visit to sample the European atmosphere and real Italian ice cream and pizza! As far as you classic shopping goes, there’s not a lot you can’t find in Manhattan. The exchange rate is fantastic at the moment, you often find that you will pay the same amount in dollars over there as you would in pounds sterling here, which effectively means that everything is half price! For even more of a bargain, particularly on designer clothes, you could head to Century 21. This is directly opposite Ground Zero. It is a massive discount store, rather like an enormous TK Max. The only disadvantage is that you do have to hunt through some rubbish to find a bargain, but if you have the time it’s certainly worth it. Another store I fell in love with was Old Navy. This is a part of the Gap chain, and the clothing is good quality and slightly cheaper than Gap.

EVENING ENTERTAINMENT

I have already spoken briefly about how to pass an evening in New York, when I mentioned eating at the Marriott Marquis. However, there are a couple of other things that come highly recommended, namely seeing a Broadway musical and watching a basketball game.

Whether you are a massive fan of musicals or a musical virgin, you can’t go to New York without watching a one on Broadway. Although this is notoriously expensive, there are ways of cutting down the price. Firstly, you could go to a musical off Broadway. This will cut down the price, and the musical is often just as good, because the competition is so great to get to Broadway that many great quality musicals will not make it. However, if you want to see one of the Broadway classics, you can still get cheap tickets. If you go to Time Square on the morning you want to watch a musical, you can pick up cheap tickets for whatever musicals are still available. I managed to get standard seats for Chicago for $50, a fantastic price considering the amount you would pay if you pre-booked. Chicago was a fantastic show. The actors were amazing, the singing was great, and the storyline is good if you don’t already know it. The atmosphere at a musical is really good, everyone joins in and its really good entertainment for all ages.

The highlight of my trip to New York was something I never dreamed I’d do before I went. I watched the New York Nicks play the New Jersey Nets at basketball in Madison Square Gardens. If you are not a basketball fan, you might be tempted to give this a miss. However, I’m not the world’s biggest basketball fan either, but in my opinion it was the experience of a lifetime. If you have watched a football match or a rugby match in the UK, you would be forgiven for thinking that the atmosphere at a Nicks game might be similar. Think again. The Americans really know how to support their sports people, and over there, winning really is everything. When the players come out onto the court, the away side is announced in a very understated manner, and you get the odd clap out of the away supporters. Then the home team players are announced. The lights are dimmed and a spotlight is put on the player being named. The reaction to the crowd is similar to what you would expect from a crowd at a football match in the UK when the home side won. And it doesn’t end there. The atmosphere is electric throughout the game, and you can’t help but get excited even if you have no idea what is going on! If I have convinced you, I’d advise going to Madison Square Gardens Box Office as soon as possible after you arrive in New York to see if they have any Nicks tickets left. I think we were pretty lucky and got what seemed to be the last tickets. They were $60 each, and we did have a very slightly restricted view, so it’s not a cheap evening out. However, it really is something you won’t forget in a hurry, and it was certainly the highlight of my trip.

CONCLUSION

Getting to New York is pretty easy and painless, and not as expensive as you might think, you can pick up a flight for approximately £300, particularly if you buy it off the internet which allows you to search for the cheapest tickets from all the airlines. As I didn’t have to pay for accommodation, the trip was relatively inexpensive. I have given you a few money saving tips too, so I hope that you will consider taking a trip over there. Although I haven’t really changed my mind about hating cities, a visit to New York is an enjoyable experience, and there are many things you can do and see there that you just wouldn’t find anywhere else. A week is an ideal amount of time to spend there. You can visit all the major attractions, but you’re not there long enough for the stress of the place to get to you. So give it some thought, and if you do visit, don’t forget to take a half empty suitcase- you’re bound to have a mountain of shopping to bring home!