© Lonely Planet INTRODUCING NYC In a New York minute: taxis zoom through bustling Times Square (p143) IZZET KERIBAR New York can be anything you want it to be. It’s why countless people have pinned their dreams on the place, thrown caution to the wind and shown up on its doorstep. And it’s why visitors keep streaming in from all corners of the globe, grasping at their silver- screen visions – and finding them – but discovering plenty more on the way. New York is a city that’s surprising yet malleable, incredibly straightforward yet bafflingly complex. It’s got so many sides and so much to offer that it can be intimidating, even to the most urban-minded of visitors. But approach it with a combination of organization and openness, and you’ll be met with some staggering and unexpected rewards. You could decide you’d like your day to be filled with high culture and trendy eating, for example, and – voila! – you’re working your way through the Museum of Modern Art, then watching the New York City Ballet perform at the Lincoln Center. Or perhaps you like your city to be tougher, and choose to spend an afternoon wandering through the twisting streets of Chinatown and in the edgy art galleries of Williamsburg. Just don’t be too shocked if your day of high culture turns gritty when you come across a gifted jazz singer on the subway platform – or if your bohemian day gets fancy when a trendy boutique seduces you and you’re shelling out for the perfect pair of shoes before you know it. Whatever. New York is easy that way. 2 CITY LIFE There’s both good news and bad news in New York City at the time of writing. The bad – the ‘It’s the city of the future. state of the city’s economy – is no surprise, considering the financial troubles of the entire And it’s here right now.’ country. With an unemployment rate mirror- ing the nation’s at just over 10 percent, the hotel occupancy rate down to 88.2 percent (from 92.8 in mid-2008) and countless new construction projects sitting empty or stalled altogether, some may wonder where the bright spots could be. But that’s where you come in, as 2009 brought in a record 47 million visitors, with nearly 10 percent from overseas, putting NYC in the coveted spot of number one tourist destination in the country. And the city is setting even higher goals for tourism in the coming years, ramping up its reach by opening new tourist offices in Toronto, Moscow and Mumbai, and launching new media campaigns in Italy and Germany, all in an attempt to bring in 50 million annual visitors by 2015. Luckily, visitors are drawn to new attractions, and a spate of them – with Harlem’s Dwyer Cultural Center, the renovated El Museo del Barrio of Hispanic art, and parks like the elevated High Line and the Water Taxi Beach on Governor’s Island among them – are here to help the cause. The low crime rate – which dropped to a 40-plus-year low in 2009 – doesn’t hurt, either. It’s good information for the many out-of-towners who still fear they will visit here and find the New York of the 1970s. Though the city’s major facelift has been widely flaunted, sometimes you just have to see something to believe it. New York is cleaning up its act in other ways, too. It’s been attempting to improve the state of public health with various programs, fix the school system and turn itself into the lean, ‘green’ machine that it should be, by calling for environmentally sound development and transporta- tion policies. It’s the city of the future. And it’s here right now. RICHARD I'ANSON The magnificently marbled main hall of Grand Central Terminal (p138) 3 THE AUTHORS Ginger Adams Otis Regis St Louis Although not a na- A Hoosier by birth, tive daughter, Ginger Regis grew up in a is proud to call New sleepy town where he York City home. A dreamed of big-city country girl from intrigue and small, New Hampshire, she expensive apart- starting living in the ments. He settled in city fast lane in the New York, which had late 1990s. Ginger all that and more, now considers herself in 2001. Based in a New Yorker except Boerum Hill, Brook- during baseball season, when she reverts to lyn, Regis is a full-time travel writer and has being a die-hard member of the Red Sox contributed to more than two dozen Lonely nation. Ginger’s done extensive reporting Planet titles. For this edition, Regis wrote the for radio outlets, newspapers and maga- Shopping, Drinking & Nightlife, Sports & Ac- zines in Central and South America, and tivities, Transportation, NYC Renaissance and worked on Lonely Planet guides in Brazil, The City of Arts chapters and cowrote the South America, Puerto Rico and the Carib- Neighborhoods and Eating chapters. bean. When not working for Lonely Planet she’s an intrepid beat reporter for one of New York’s daily newspapers. Ginger was the coordinating author for this book and wrote the Sleeping and Day Trips & Excur- sions chapters. Beth Greenfield A New Jersey native, Beth spent her teen- age years yearning to someday live on the other side of the river. She began living the dream in 1993, right after college, and has LONELY PLANET AUTHORS been a New Yorker Why is our travel information the best in the world? ever since. She’s cur- It’s simple: our authors are passionate, dedicated rently a staff editor at travelers. They don’t take freebies in exchange for Time Out New York magazine, and has written positive coverage so you can be sure the advice you’re about travel, entertainment, gay culture and given is impartial. They travel widely to all the popu- parenting for publications including the New lar spots, and off the beaten track. They don’t research York Times, Time Out New York Kids and Out. using just the internet or phone. They discover new Her memoir, Ten Minutes From Home, was places not included in any other guidebook. They per- recently published by Random House. For sonally visit thousands of hotels, restaurants, palaces, Lonely Planet, Beth contributed to the previ- trails, galleries, temples and more. They speak with ous three editions of New York City as well as dozens of locals every day to make sure you get the to Miami & the Keys, Mexico and USA. Beth kind of insider knowledge only a local could tell you. wrote this edition’s Introducing NYC, Getting They take pride in getting all the details right, and in Started, Background, Neighborhoods (Man- telling it how it is. Think you can do it? Find out how hattan), Eating (Manhattan), The Arts, Gay & at lonelyplanet.com. Lesbian NYC and Directory chapters. 19 GETTING STARTED New York will lead, and you must follow. Still, it can’t hurt to be armed with a well-mapped plan, as the head-spinning number of options in this vibrant city will pull you in all directions. It’s a dream destination, after all, and you’ll want to know you experienced as much as possible. So budget your time – knowing that everything will take about twice as much time as you’d figured – and you won’t be sorry. celebrating Christmas in the tradition of WHEN TO GO many Latin American and Caribbean coun- GETTING STARTED New York shines in all seasons. Spring and fall, tries. Check the website for route details. with their mild temperatures and disarmingly beautiful blossoms and foliage, are optimal WINTER RESTAURANT WEEK times for strolling, which you’ll do a lot of here. %212-484-1222; www.nycvisit.com Summer brings stifling heat and sizzling pave- One of two official Restaurant Weeks (the ments but other rewards aplenty, from outdoor WHEN TO GO TO WHEN other is in July), this marks a wonderful op- concerts and festivals to crowd-free weekends, portunity to try the expensive, high- profile reduced hotel rates and perfect opportunities restaurant of your dreams – nearly 200 for side trips to the seashore. Finally, while participating eateries offer three-course winter can be chilly, it’s nothing that can’t be lunches for $20 or so and three-course cured by lingering in cozy museums and cafes – dinners for $30. or by the fact that hotel rates tend to drop after the fun and frenzied holidays, when the crowds thin out. Plus, experiencing a New February York City snowstorm, when noise gets muffled LUNAR (CHINESE) NEW YEAR and jaded city folk act like wide-eyed kids, is FESTIVAL quite a heartwarming treat. www.explorechinatown.com One of the biggest Chinese New Year FESTIVALS celebrations in the country, this display of It seems as though there’s always some sort of fireworks and dancing dragons draws mobs celebration going on here. National holidays, of thrill-seekers into the streets of China- religious observances and just plain ol’ week- town. The date of Chinese New Year fluctu- ends prompt parades, parties or street fairs, ates from year to year, sometimes falling in with highlights such as the fireworks on July late January but often in early February. Fourth and the street parades for Halloween (October), Thanksgiving (November) and MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK Gay Pride (June). www.mbfashionweek.com/newyork Federal holidays such as Labor Day, Christ- The infamous Bryant Park fashion shows are mas and Thanksgiving may affect business sadly not open to the public.