08_598287 ch05.qxd 10/20/05 1:53 PM Page 124 5 Exploring New York City Don’t try to tame New York—you can’t. Decide on a few must-see attractions, and then let the city take you on its own ride. Inevitably, as you make your way around the city, you’ll be blown off course by unplanned diversions that are just as much fun as what you meant to see. After all, the true New York is in the details. As you dash from sight to sight, take time to admire a cornice on a prewar build- ing, linger over a cup of coffee at a cafe, or just idle away a few min- utes on a bench watching New Yorkers parade through their daily lives. 1 The Top Attractions American Museum of Natural History This is one of the hottest museum tickets in town, thanks to the Rose Center for Earth and Space , whose four-story-tall planetarium sphere hosts the Harrison Ford–narrated Space Show “Are We Alone?,” the most technologically advanced sky show on the planet. Prepare to be blown away. The show is short—less than a half-hour from start to finish—but phenomenal. (New York magazine has called it “the world’s largest, most powerful virtual-reality simulator.”) Buy your tickets in advance for the Space Show in order to guarantee admission (they’re available online); I also recommend buying tickets in advance for a specific IMAX film or special exhi- bition, such as the Butterfly Conservatory (see below), especially during peak seasons (summer, autumn, holiday time) and for week- end visits; otherwise, you might miss out. Other must-sees include the Big Bang Theater, which re-creates the theoreticalCOPYRIGHTED birth of the universe; the Hall MATERIALof the Universe, with 1 its very own 15 ⁄2-ton meteorite; and the Hall of Planet Earth, which focuses on the geologic processes of our home planet (great volcano display!). You’ll need a minimum of 2 hours to fully explore the Rose Center. Tip: Friday night is a great time to plan your visit, as the center isn’t overcrowded, live jazz and food fill the Hall of the Universe, and, bathed in blue light, the sphere looks magical. 08_598287 ch05.qxd 10/20/05 1:53 PM Page 125 THE TOP ATTRACTIONS 125 Value A Money- & Time-Saving Tip CityPass just may be New York’s best sightseeing deal. Pay one price ($53, or $41 for kids 12–17) for admission to six major Big Apple attractions: The American Museum of Natural History (admission only; does not include Space Show); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Empire State Building; the Intre- pid Sea-Air-Space Museum; the Museum of Modern Art; and a 2-hour Circle Line harbor cruise. Purchased individually, you’d spend more than twice as much. More important, CityPass is not a coupon book. It contains actual admission tickets, so you can bypass ticket lines. This can save you hours, since popular sights such as the Empire State Building often have ticket lines of an hour or more. CityPass is good for 9 days from the first time you use it. It’s sold at all participating attractions and online at www.city pass.net. To avoid online service and shipping fees, you may buy the pass at your first attraction (start at an attraction that’s likely to have the shortest line, such as the Guggenheim or the Whitney, or arrive before opening to avoid a wait at such spots as the Empire State Building). However, if you begin your sightseeing on a weekend or during holidays, when lines are longest, online purchase may be worthwhile. For more information call CityPass at & 208/787-4300 (note, however, that CityPass is not sold over the phone). The rest of the 4-square-block museum is nothing to sneeze at. Founded in 1869, it houses the world’s greatest natural science col- lection in a group of buildings made of towers and turrets, pink granite and red brick. The diversity of the holdings is astounding: some 36 million specimens, ranging from microscopic organisms to the world’s largest cut gem, the Brazilian Princess Topaz (21,005 carats). Rose Center aside, it would take you all day to see the entire museum, and then you still wouldn’t get to everything. If you don’t have a lot of time, you can see the best of the best on free highlights tours offered daily every hour at 15 minutes after the hour from 10:15am to 3:15pm. Free daily spotlight tours, thematic tours that change monthly, are also offered; stop by an information desk for the day’s schedule. Audio Expeditions, high-tech audio tours that allow you to access narration in the order you choose, are also avail- able to help you make sense of it all. 08_598287 ch05.qxd 10/20/05 1:53 PM Page 126 Downtown Attractions UUnionnion . WW.. 115th5th SSt.t. E.E. 15th15th M SquareSquare e E. 15th St. v A M M M W.W. 14th14th St.St. E.E. 14th14th StSt M M E. 14th St d n . WW.. 113th3th SSt.t. o e e EE.. 113th3th SStt c v BBroadway v GGreenwich Ave. e LLittleittle WW.. 112th2th . r r FFourth Ave. A . S Second Ave. e A t l o e o S e . t t WW.. 112th2th SSt.t. l v n P a u d SSt.t. r s E. 12th St. o w P r d r o A r i v ic y w t i e t h h F First Ave. s h d i h e n t. l E s a Third Ave. a t W.W. 11th11th St.St. T S v A r EE.. 11th11th St.St. GGansevoort St. o io h WWaverly Pl.A y z A e t v . v a a g a e v r i e S e o . v . WW.. 110th0th SSt.t. i t EEighth Ave. h . EE.. 110th0th SSt.t. HHoratio SSt. e v t t e WW. 4th St. n n s r f sa A n l i e . y UUniversity Pl. v JJanea St. t . y t Fifth Ave S 4 P F SStuyvesanttu th t l h WW.. 99thth SSt.t. EE.. 99thth SSt.t. WWanamakeranamaker EE.. 99thth SSt.t. 2 BBleecker h . t 1 t. x Tompkins ALPHABET . l S i S ee t WW. 12th eSt. S Sixth Ave. EE.. 88thth SSt.t. M un ck . WW.. 88thth SSt.t. SSt.t. MMark’sark’s PPl.l. CITY th e WWaverly Pl. M l Square R BethuneBe St. r averly Pl. r P Lafayette o L EEASTAST st EE.. 77thth SSt.t. i . WWashingtonashington AAstor Pla Park k t WWaverlyaverly Pl.Pl. f v S B a VVILLAGEILLAGE C n D . a h WWESTEST y EE.. 66thth SSt.t. t M . e . BBank 1 SSquarequare PParkark e e WWashingtona e e s v 1 hing t r to v . n t VVILLAGEILLAGE s v e EE.. 55thth SSt.t. A e WW. 11th St. v e PPl.l. A a M A ry o n li WW.. 4th St. r r o e 4th St. e s GGrove JJones PPerry le rn WW. 3rd St. EE.. 44thth SSt.t. ar t. CCommerceommerce SSeventh Ave o . 3rd St. S e h GGt. Jones BBedford CCornelia t. Jones A CCharles h e v t r . 0 e d e EE.. 33rdrd SSt.t. f e 1 h o n . p r GGREENWICHREENWICH v o d t e h BBond WW. 10tht St o A n nd M is i B r EE.. 22ndnd SSt.t. HHudson A VVILLAGEILLAGE h a m BBleeckerleeck a CChristopher r er r w u v n ro a M n u r d e g sto a ou g l H BBarrow CCarmine E. c s . S. in EE.. 11stst SSt.t. i a h a n o n i n S n o g NNOHOOHO t d n o or . w P r s u C MMorton o n M l . a EE.. HHoustonouston p o M a DDowning o y u AAllen o v r D i BBowery CChrystie A l e m FForsyth LeroyL l u c G l l SSOHOOHO o P o o l R h t e m n a C n i o u to t w n a r S s M h ta i t r S n N k o d E r SSullivan s l t LLa Guardia y b a TThompson u l MMacDougal NNOLITAOLITA i y e r CClarkson s o g s n i VVarick St. f n n r t s t a o r e t h f t y s i e a EElizabeth e u f o o o e PPrincerince x o H r l y GGreenwich St. g l . n i MMulberry i n i k WW. Houston z l KKing c M MMott k WWashington r a k y e n u on b t a g e to o RRivingtonivin a rl S l a b e n h t t ey s w r nc CCharlton t ela . e t D h w urg e h b M d s r m e lia t l i A Wi m r n i a a SSpringpring s c d n M y g B w n e s g h a in o N L e e g VVandam r o K rid r t B LOWER i e t SSpringp e o a o a o B S w r y y ce k n l la c e k i DDelancey z n t SSixth Ave.