A New
Yorker's Top 10 Must-Dos in New York City
by Lauren
Hauptman
By all means, visit the Statue of
Liberty and the Empire State Building, hop on the
Circle Line around Manhattan, stroll over the
Brooklyn Bridge. But if you were my best friend and
you were visiting Manhattan for the very first time
(what kind of best friend are you?), there are
better things to do and see, including a bevy of my
favorite places to visit, shop, eat and gawk. As
your new best friend, I am thrilled to share with
you my own personal Top 10 things I would do if I
were you:
1. Grand
Central Terminal
42nd Street and Park
Avenue,
www.grandcentralterminal.com
Grand Central is like a big,
beautiful Beaux-Arts box, wrapped in marble, topped
with a cerulean bow. My love for the place has
grown through the years, and I recently decided I
want to move in. I would never have to leave: plenty
of restaurants and food stalls, a gourmet market,
shops galore and a century’s worth of architecture
and history to explore. Try the new self-guided
Official Grand Central Tour (choose the local or
express version), which you can either
download to
your phone or rent at one of the tourist-information
windows. It’s a great way to learn about the
history, architecture and little-known facts of this
landmark. Whether you decide to take the tour or
wander on your own, be sure to really take some time
in the main concourse (sit on a step or move off to
the side, so you don’t get knocked over by
rushers-by) to appreciate the sun streaming in
through the soaring arched windows and look up at
the Sky Ceiling — the full, albeit backward, zodiac
will look back at you. (Extra: If you’re visiting in
December, Vanderbilt Hall, on the south side of the
building, hosts a phenomenal Holiday Fair filled
with world-class artisans. And don’t miss one of my
favorite spots for NY souvenirs: the Transit
Museum Store in the Shuttle Passage.)
2. High Line
Gansevoort Street to W.
34th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues (section
1, to 20th Street, opened in 2009; section 2, to
34th Street, opens in June 2011);
www.thehighline.org
A public eco-park built on
raised railroad tracks from the 1930s: I was
skeptical. Well, it’s magical. Meandering above the
Meatpacking District and West Chelsea, the High Line
is like a magic carpet ride — if said magic carpet
were made of concrete, wood and rusted railroad
parts. Wooden chaises move along old tracks, and
copious benches host sunbathers in summer, students
in fall, walkers in winter and tourists in spring. I
love how the original tracks and railroad things
weave in to and out of the new construction, which
is dotted by waving wild grasses, public art and
clever perching areas; plop on one of the benches at
the brilliantly handicap-friendly 10th Avenue
Square, where you can watch traffic pass
surprisingly peacefully underneath you for hours on
end. Enter (via stairs or elevator) toward the south
end, near Chelsea Market at 16th Street, and
get some iced coffee to cool you or hot cider to
warm you on your ride … I mean walk.
3. ABC
Carpet & Home
888 Broadway at 19th
Street,
www.abchome.com
The first floor of ABC looks
and feels like a fairytale wonderland. Everything
from handmade tabletop accessories to fine papers to
clothing to chandeliers to estate jewelry greets you
from its own eclectic little corner, and you may
have to catch your breath as you take it all in. I
know people who’ve never ascended to any of the
other five floors, because floor 1 is so enchanting.
The actual carpet part of the store is on the sixth
floor and across the street (never gone there
either). While the prices may take your breath away,
too, buying anything — anything — is a thrill. ABC
also has three in-house restaurants, the newest of
which, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s fabulous
“farm-to-table” ABC Kitchen — is worth a trip
on its own. Tucked into this cornucopia, it just
adds to the embarrassment of riches. (Extra:
Diagonally across the street is Fishs Eddy,
which offers both vintage and house-designed dishes,
glasses and the like. Anything in the 212 pattern is
a perfect souvenir.)
4. Museum of
the City of New York
1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd
Street, www.mcny.org
Of all the museums in New
York, this is, by far, my favorite. It bills itself
as a “celebration of New York’s heritage of
diversity, opportunity and perpetual
transformation.” Maybe that’s why I like it so much:
It’s a constant yet ever-changing reminder of how
incredible this city I love has always been and why.
Exhibits cover a freakishly large variety of
subjects, times, media and cultures — from furniture
to photography to cars to fashion to architecture to
mayors to Broadway to anything and everything New
York. One of my favorite exhibits, The Glory Days:
New York Baseball, 1947–1957, left me feeling as
excited as if I had just left a Yankee game (you can
still see the online version of this exhibit on the
website).
5. Central
Park Zoo
Near 64th Street and Fifth Avenue;
www.centralparkzoo.com
I could certainly write a Top
10 list of things to do just in Central Park:
Frederick Law Olmsted’s 843-acre pastoral paradise
contains an endless array of amusements. Every New
Yorker has his or her favorite part of the park, and
mine is the area around the Central Park Zoo. The
zoo, itself, is lovely: not too big, just
interesting enough to spend a couple of hours, and
the seals who populate its nucleus are swimming
around their ring no matter the weather (you don’t
have to actually enter the zoo to see them — or to
visit the Zootique). In the southeast corner
of the park, the zoo is open every day of the year
and is surrounded by lovely brick tunnels and
walking paths and tons of trees. Time your visit to
be there on the hour or half-hour to see and hear
the dancing animals of the George Delacorte
Musical Clock; it never gets old.
6. Ess-A-Bagel
831 Third Ave., between
50th and 51st streets;
www.ess-a-bagel.com
It’s virtually impossible to
get a decent bagel outside New York. Ess-a-Bagel is
more than decent; it’s arguably the best there is.
(Some will say H&H is the best. Let them.) Expect a
line, and use your waiting time to decide exactly
what you want to order. Seriously, you’ll
upset
both the employees and those waiting behind you if
you hem and haw. It is perfectly acceptable to ask,
“What’s hot?” and order that with a shmear (cream
cheese). And don’t even think about asking for your
bagel to be toasted. You never, ever toast a fresh
bagel.
7. Lower
East Side: East Houston Trifecta
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery: 137 E.
Houston St.,
www.knishery.com
Russ & Daughters:
179 E. Houston St.,
www.russanddaughters.com
Katz’s Delicatessen:
205 E. Houston St.,
www.katzdeli.com
Within two blocks of each
other on East Houston Street (pronounced: HOW-ston),
on the increasingly hip Lower East Side, these three
shops represent the Jewish immigrants who “settled”
this area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
and they stand in the same places they’ve stood
since then.
Both Yonah Schimmel and Russ & Daughters began life
as pushcarts — the type of business to which
immigrants aspired when they were tired of carrying
their wares on their backs. Yonah Schimmel
still makes knishes the way they always have, under
the same tin roof that’s always been there. Order a
regular potato knish, and eat it with a drop of the
spicy brown mustard you’ll find on the table.
Russ & Daughters, the most modern-looking —
and cleanest — of the three, is a traditional
appetizing store and reportedly the first American
business to use “& Daughters” in its name; a
fourth-generation granddaughter currently works
behind the counter. One taste of their lox (smoked
salmon), and you will understand not all lox is
created equal. I swear. And while you’re eating your
bagel with cream cheese and lox, and ogling the
smoked-fish cases, consider a drink of what they
inexplicably call a “beet shrub,” which is some kind
of mixture of beet juice and lemon. If you happen to
have an accessible mini bar in your hotel room, the
vodka will be ever so grateful if you bring some
back.
Serving the best pastrami you will ever eat
(seriously) since 1888, Katz’s Deli is
probably the most famous of the three, having
starred in its share of movies. Feel free to sit at
the table that hosted Meg Ryan’s food-gasm in
When
Harry Met Sally. Order your (huge) sandwich at the
counter; put a dollar in the tip jar and your
slicer will give you a preview taste.
(Extra: I recently rediscovered these gems during
the super-fun
Lower East Side Eats Tour, which also
included real New York pickles and the best
doughnuts I’ve ever had, as well as fascinating
history and a walk around this hard-to-navigate
neighborhood. I highly recommend it.)
8. New York
Public Library, main branch
Fifth Avenue at 42nd
Street, www.nypl.org
Taking your picture with
either Patience or Fortitude, the lions who guard
the front of the library is a must. Doing just that,
however, means you’ll miss out on the treasures
found inside the incredible Stephen A. Schwarzman
Building (not to mention the awesome Library
Shop), as I did until pretty recently. The sheer
volume of marble in the lobby of the Beaux-Arts gem
is overwhelming, and the names of the patrons carved
into the soaring walls read as a historical who’s
who of New York society. A free docent-led tour of
the building is offered twice a day
(Mondays–Saturdays 11 am and 2 pm, Sundays 2 pm;
just show up at the reception desk) and is actually
quite interesting, if a drop academic.
If the tour tuckers you out, take refuge in
Bryant Park, stretching to Sixth Avenue right
behind the library. Once a haven for drug dealers,
the park was revitalized and reopened nearly 20
years ago and now serves as a hangout for locals,
commuters and visitors. It can get downright crowded
at lunchtime, as local workers take full advantage
of the lovely gardens and plentiful tables, chairs
and benches. Check the website (
www.bryantpark.org ) for a list of programs and
activities (as well as a downloadable audio tour),
including Monday-nights summer films, after-work
performances and the free(!) winter ice-skating
rink.
9. Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th
Street,
www.guggenheim.org
Truth be told, my patience for
museums is limited. That is part of the reason that,
of all the art museums in Manhattan, I like the
Guggenheim best. In addition to a world-renowned
collection of 20th century art, an excellent shop
and a very hip restaurant, the Frank Lloyd
Wright–designed building, itself, is just fun. It is
the only place on earth where I actually feel an
urge to hop on a skateboard (though a shopping cart
might be more my style) to ride around like a
pachinko ball and end up in the gift shop. If you’re
on a budget, consider visiting on a Saturday from
5:45–7:45 pm, when you (and hordes of others) can
“pay what you wish.”
10. TKTS
Discount Booth
Broadway and 47th Street,
www.tdf.org
You can certainly buy tickets
to a Broadway show before you arrive in New York
(and, if there’s something you are dying to see, you
should do just that — unless it’s Spiderman, in
which case you should stay home), but then, in
addition to paying full price, you’ll miss the
fun-filled experience of waiting on line (yes, we
say on line, not in line) at the TKTS Discount
Booth. Renovated a few years ago, TKTS in Father
Duffy Square (sort of a subset of Times Square) is
even easier to spot due to its red neon steps above
the booth — and it now takes credit cards. Get on
line immediately, while someone in your group goes
to the electronic boards up front to see what shows
are available. It’s a good idea to do your homework
and come equipped with a list of what you’d like to
see. Yes, the lines look painfully long, but it’s
OK: First, they move quickly, and second, you can
get great advice while waiting. The TKTS line is
always a mix of visitors and locals who are usually
willing to share their hits and misses on shows
they’ve already seen, as well as any other
recommendations you need. As with most gatherings of
New Yorkers, a sense of camaraderie will develop
quickly, with everyone wanting to tell you where to
go and what to do. Just like me.
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