New York is known to be the “city that never sleeps”, so I decided to see what all could be fitted into a 3 day whirlwind trip, and the only way to make the most of it and not waste time, is to plan on definite must see and do’s…. You could spend days doing just one thing like gallery hopping, or shopping, or just spending time in Central Park, but as It had been years since I was in the city and so much had changed, I wanted to re experience the classic old and typical NY, as well as the new…all in a short time.
Staying in Mid manhattan was a good idea as it was so central and the classic NY was all there – Broadway, Rockefeller Plaza, 5th Ave shops, Radio city and also Brooklyn was just a hop skip and a jump away.
DAY 1 – Friday
Arriving at about 9am, first on my list was to head to Central Park … somehow this green space is a fitting launchpad to explore the city, and gives you your bearings before heading out. I immediately noticed and felt the presence of many new skinny hi-rise apartments going up around the park – the contrast between the living concrete jungle and the green space became more apparent with these newbuilds .. in one way it felt encroaching, but in another quite protective – however life in the park went on as usual and seemed unaffected by this new growth all around it. The Horse and Buggy Park Tour Rides were decked out in all their finery, enticing people to hop on, and I couldn’t help wondering where the horses were all stabled.
All the food carts and artists were out early – ready for the day ..not a minute wasted in this city.After spending some time in the park, I was ready to head up 5th Ave – the store windows were amazing as usual with many trying to outdo each other.
Next up was The Museum of Modern Art “MOMA”, followed by Rockefeller Centre and Plaza and then across to the Chrysler Building (one of my all time favourite buildings) – from there it was up Park Ave to the Empire state Building. At this time it was late afternoon and I headed up back to Broadway and the Theatre District along 7th Ave, past Times Square & Radio City Hall. The evening was spent in the Theatre district – theatre, dinner and people watching.
The City That Never Sleeps
DAY 2 – Sat
Woke up early and cabbed it to SOHO …one of my favourite and more down to earth areas of the city. Its just such a creative neighbourhood with great restaurants and more affordable shops … All over Manhattan there were buildings going up, or being renovated and one was constanly walking past construction workers and sites, but it felt good and it made the city feel more alive than ever and that things were changing and improving, after breakfast and shopping in SoHO it was time to head over to the World Trade Centre which in a way has become a symbol of the cities resilience and strength – one cant help but be overcome by emotion standing in the spot where the towers came down – I spotted miniature flags over some peoples names and was told that family members come and place them there on that persons birthday. My new favourite building in NY is the half bird – half dragon like Transportation Hub at the World Trade Centre – gentle and fierce all in one. After spending some time there in Lower Manhattan it was time to head uptown again …this time via Greenwich Village – I was surprized that it has managed to retain its charm and strong sense of neighbourhood since the 60’s and 70’s and somehow when there, you forget you are in Manhattan – an old man turned to me in a Mom and Pop typical NY cafe, asking about my camera, and before long was telling me his life story and why he will never move out of the village – just those 15 minutes of chatting to him connected me more to the city than any other interaction, and made me appreciate the way that NY became such a great city – neighbourhoods developed over time, and creativity was born and developed – and not just bought and imported to showcase talent in a sterile city rising out of a middle eastern desert.
Next stop was the High Line just up from the Village – the transformation of this old elevated freight railway line that runs up as far as Hells Kitchen has injected new life into this old industrial area and after years of buildings being run down, as no one wanted to live facing a railway line. Its now fastly becoming one of the new IN areas. At this stage it was getting dark and time to head up along 7th ave past Macys to get ready for a Broadway show.
DAY 3 – Sunday
No sleeping in on this last day of the trip, so headed out early via Subway to Brooklyn for breakfast. I hadnt been to Brooklyn before, as for many years it was just a …not so pleasant hard edged bedroom community, but now it has been transformed into a place where people want to live and work, and Architects and other creatives have turned derelect viaducts and landfills into recreational attractions as well as developing new and interesting housing options – and suddenly shops and galleries and restaurants followed, and the area is now a magnet for Architecture firms and other Creative Enterprises. Its amazing how a neighbourhood can be transformed and If I had to ever live in NY, I think Brooklyn would be the place I’d head to – it felt more real and down to earth than Manhattan that is all image and has its head in the clouds.
After a few hrs in Brooklyn it was time to head back to Manhattan by walking over the Brooklyn Bridge – Its better to walk back towards Manhattan as you enjoy the Manhattan skyline ahead of you – it soon became apparent that this upper bridge level is very well used, not only by tourists but also by locals jogging or biking or heading out with babies in strollers.
Time was running out as I needed to be back at the hotel at 4:30pm to collect my baggage, as the airport shuttle was leaving at 5, but I was determined to have lunch and spend a bit of time in Eataly – in the Flatiron Building district in lower midtown, and so caught a cab to get there as soon as possible. Eataly is the worlds premier Italian Marketplace – first opened in Turin in 2007 – its a huge space comprising a variety of restaurants, countless food and beverage counters, bars, a bakery, retail sections and there is also a cooking school on site- the quality of the food prepared is out of this world, and you cant help but appreciate quality and tradition… and the “art of eating” suddenly makes sense – no wonder Italians take long lunches – food is a way of life – and its so apparent here ..the variety of food and products is astounding and I could easily have spent the whole day there eating my way around the place. There was a 2 hr waiting list for the upper Alpine Restaurant, so I settled for one of the counters where chefs prepare dishes infront of you, igniting all of your senses.
I made it back to the hotel just in time to catch the shuttle and thought I’d sleep on the plane, but that never happened as my mind was so full processing everything from the past few days, not to mention already planning my next trip to NY
