Discovering the Best of New York City
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05_945501 ch01.qxp 10/2/06 11:26 AM Page 9 Chapter 1 Discovering the Best of New York City In This Chapter ᮣ Celebrating the most festive parades and seasons ᮣ Finding rooms in the best hotels, both grand and budget ᮣ Enjoying meals at the most delicious restaurants and street eats ᮣ Visiting Lady Liberty and other top attractions ᮣ Giving the credit card a workout at the top shops ᮣ Choosing the spots with the best nightlife elcome to New York City! No matter when you visit, there’s sure Wto be something of interest going on. In this chapter, I list my choices for the best events, hotels, restaurants, attractions, shopping, culture, and nightlife. Whether you’re looking for a world-class hotel, exotic cuisine to enjoy, or the view from the Empire State building, I have no doubt you’ll soon compile your own “Best of” list . but here’s a good place to start! Best Events Best Parade: West Indian-American Day Carnival and Parade. Held on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, this is the biggest parade in New York. The music (calypso, soca, reggae, and Latin), the amazing costumes, and the incredibleCOPYRIGHTED Caribbean food make this an MATERIAL unforgettable experience. If you’re lucky enough to be in town on Labor Day, don’t miss it. See Chapter 3. Best Time of Year to Come to New York: Summer. Most people prefer the temperate days of fall to visit New York, and that’s when the city is most crowded; but my personal favorite season is summer, when the streets are empty, restaurants and shows are easier to get into, and countless free outdoor cultural events abound. Best Season in New York: Christmas. Lighted Christmas trees on Park Avenue, the big snowflake at the corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, 05_945501 ch01.qxp 10/2/06 11:26 AM Page 10 10 Part I: Introducing New York City Downtown Orientation E. 13th St Greenwich Ave. Broadway Little W. 12th . Fourth Ave. St. W. 12th St. W. 11th St. Gansevoort St Waverly Pl. E. 11th St. W. 10th St. First Ave. Horatio St. Eighth Ave. W. 4th St. E. 10th St. Third Ave. Jane St. University Pl. W. 9th St. Fifth Ave E. 9th St. Wanamaker Stuyvesant E. 9th St. Bleecker Tompkins W. 12th St. Sixth Ave. W. 8th St. E. 8th St. M St. Mark’s Pl. M Square Bethune St. Waverly Pl. Lafayette E. 7th St. Park WashingtonWashington Waverly Pl. Astor Pl E. 6th St. Bank M SquareSquare ParkPark Washington E. 5th St. W. 11th St. M W. 4th St. Pl. Perry Grove Jones E. 4th St. W. 3rd St. Second Ave. Commerce Seventh Ave. S. Bedford Cornelia Gt. Jones Charles E. 3rd St. Bond W. 10th St. E. 2nd St. Hudson Bleecker Hudson River Christopher M Barrow Carmine E. 1st St. Sullivan La Guardia Thompson MacDougal Morton E. Houston M Downing M Allen Bowery Chrystie Leroy Forsyth M Clarkson n Varick St. Prince Elizabeth Greenwich St. W. Housto Mulberry King M Mott Washington Rivington Charlton M iamsburg Spring M Will Vandam Spring Bridge Delancey Sixth Ave. M Dominick Wooster Greene Kenmare W. Broadway Broome Eldridge East Broome Crosby Canal River Grand Broadway M Park el M Elizabeth Watts Lafayette M Howard Desbrosses Canal Mercer Holland Tunn Hester Vestry M Baxter West St. Lispenard M Laight Walker Mott M Mulberry Canal Bowery White Hubert Beach Cortlandt Bayard M Franklin Leonard Centre N. MooreFranklinHudson Division Worth Harrison Henry Jay Thomas Madison Catherine M Subway stop Duane W. Broadway Duane GreenwichReade St. M Closed indefinitely Chambers Reade M M Chambers M Warren 0 1/4 mi Murray M CityCity HallHall Robert F. N Park Pl. ParkPark Wagner Pl. 0 0.25 km Spruce Frankfor Barclay M Park BeekmanRow t Dover Vesey Ann Pearl World Trade M M As Little Italy has shrunk, Chinatown M Water M Beekman Center Fulton Front South End Ave. M Church has grown. The streets are mobbed daily John site M Cortlandt Maiden Cliff with seafood, fruit and vegetable, and Liberty Greenwich Platt Pier 17 BBatteryattery John DVD, CD, and sunglass vendors compet- Cedar Liberty Fletcher PParkark Albany Cedar Maiden ing for very little sidewalk space. Trinity Pl. Nassau CCityity Carlisle Broadway Pine Pier Rector Pl. M William 16 Chinatown also encompasses stores and M M Wall St. Rector M Water Exchange Pl. Front restaurants that specialize in Thai, Viet- W. Thames South namese, and Malaysian goods as well. J.P. Ward M South Street Viaduct Green New Morris Bowling 2nd Pl. Beaver S. William M Battery Pl. VVietnamietnam 1st Pl. Stone Pearl VeteransVeterans Narrow streets are lined with skyscrapers Whitehall SouthSouth Bridge Broad PlazaPlaza here and during the week the activity is GardensGardens Battery Pl. State relentless. You’ll also find some of the BatteryBattery M Pier 6 city’s oldest and most historic structures ParkPark M here. At night and on weekends the area, however, is eerily desolate. Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel 05_945501 ch01.qxp 10/2/06 11:26 AM Page 11 Chapter 1: Discovering the Best of New York City 11 E. 12th St. East River Szold Pl. The once-famous Bohemian enclave where off-beat became the Beats is still the city’s best people- TompkinsTompkins watching neighborhood. You won’t find any high- SquareSquare Washington ParkPark rises here, just quaint, narrow streets and beautifully Square Park preserved brownstones and townhouses. Ave. C Ave. Ave. D I’m not sure why this very tiny stretch of furniture stores, boutiques, and a few restaurants Ave. B Ave. A Mangin Baruch Pl. has been designated a neighborhood, but it has. E. Houston Maybe the powers that decide these things Columbia Attorney wanted a companion to SoHo so they came up Pitt Ridge Clinton Stanton Suffolk Norfolk Essex with NoHo (North of Houston Street). Delancey msburg A Kaza WWilliamsburgillia The East Village now is home to some of the city’s Bialy- stoker NewLewis idge M BBridger most interesting restaurants and despite its counter- Broome n EastEast culture reputation, real estate prices are very RiverRiver “establishment.” Grand Willet Jackson ParkPark Essex Orchar Ludlow Cherry Mont- Gouverneur Allen gomery FDR Dr. d Here’s another neighborhood that has a cute Jefferson Canal acronym (North of Little Italy). This is really old Little M Clinton Water Front Italy in architecture, but there is nothing old about Rutgers Gouv Slip the very hip boutiques and cafes that are sprinkled E. PikeBroadway throughout the relatively small enclave. Monroe Rutgers Market Slip Pike Slip East River Dr. What once was an artist’s destination has become a very affluent and very trendy tourist destination. Cherry You’ll find just about all the top designer names in Water South Manhattan Bridge East River retail here housed in historic cast-iron buildings. City Hall Park This is where so many immigrants, especially Jewish, settled as their first home in America. And there is BROOKLYN still some of that old world feel to the neighborhood Brooklyn Bridge but it is fading fast as it becomes the city’s newest hot spot for restaurants, bars, and clubs. Battery Park In the 1980s TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal), with its City sprawling lofts and hip restaurants, became one of Upper the most desirable places to live. After September 11, Manhattan 2001 and its close proximity to the World Trade Uptown Center, the area lost a bit of its luster, but that was only temporary. TriBeCa is thriving once again. Vietnam Veterans South Plaza Midtown Gardens Sadly, this once unique and charming neighborhood, squeezed by the expansion of Chinatown, has shrunk Battery to a mere block or two. And what’s left, with very Park Downtown few exceptions, is nothing like what it once was. You can’t even get a good plate of pasta here anymore. 05_945501 ch01.qxp 10/2/06 11:26 AM Page 12 12 Part I: Introducing New York City Midtown Orientation W. 64th St. Lincoln W. 63rd St. CCENTRALE N T R A L P A R K Center W. 62nd St. The heart of corporate Manhattan, W W. 61st St. e The Midtown East is also where you’ll find such st Drive Pond Columbus Ave. Central Park W. landmarks as Grand Central Station, the Amsterdam Ave. W. 60th St. Empire State Building, St. Patrick’s W. 59th St. M Central Park Queensborough Bridge South West End Ave. Columbus Cathedral, the Chrysler Building, and the W. 58th St. United Nations. Circle W. 57th St. W. 56th St. This bustling sprawl of an area includes W. 55th St. B r o many of the city’s best hotels, the Art Deco Ninth Ave. W. 54th St. a d DDeWitteWitt w masterpiece, Rockefeller Center, and a Tenth Ave. W. 53rd St. a M CClintonlinton y i neighborhood called Hell’s Kitchen where PParkark W. 52nd St. you’ll find some of the city’s most ethnically W. 51st St. diverse restaurants. W. 50th St. M M Seventh Ave. W. 49th St. M W. 48th St. E In the truly American tradition, everything W. 47th St. i E here is big and gaudy and, as a result, the W. 46th St. B streets here are constantly crammed with r o a Eleventh Ave. W. 45th St. Twelfth Ave. d people who have come to gawk at the big w W. 44th St. a and the gaudy — meaning the neon y Eighth Ave. wonderland of Times Square. W. 43rd St. W. 42nd St. M M Bryant This is a quiet, mostly residential neighbor- W. 41st St. Port Park Tenth Ave.