New York Essentials ESCAPE FROM THE JUNGLE Visit New York’s Central Park. Take a walk, a boat ride or just enjoy a picnic and discover for yourself why Central Park is so popular www.centralpark.com HEIGHTS Go up to the observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building, one of New York’s tallest buildings. If you’d rather avoid ESB overcrowdings, you’ll enjoy Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center www.esbnyc.com www.topoftherocknyc.com MEATPACKING DISTRICT Head for a night out in the Meatpacking District, described by New York magazine as the New York’s most fashionable neighbourhood DON’T THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY There is so much to do in New York for free! NYC is a vibrant cultural centre, and has plenty to offer the curious traveler. Look out for rock jam sessions in Greenwich Village, famous for its bohemian vibe, free walking tours of Manhattan, even free summertime Shakespeare performances in Central Park. www.clubfreetime.com TAKE A DRINK AT THE M.E.T MUSEUM TOP DECK Apart from visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art itself, it’s worth to go up and take a break having a drink at the top deck with wonderful views to Central Park. Don’t forget to go over The Cloisters (same ticket is valid), the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. www.metmuseum.org www.metmuseum.org/cloisters CHELSEA MARKET Chelsea Market has become a boutique and cool food market. It used to be the National Biscuit Company complex. The seafood market is the best in the city. www.chelseamarket.com BROADWAY SAVINGS IN TIMES SQUARE TKTS Discount Booths offer tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays at up to 50% off. With dozens of productions on sale every day, there’s something for everyone! 47th street at Broadway Av www.tdf.org BRONX BOTANICAL GARDEN Just one of the world’s best gardens. For a casual fan of trees and flowers, a trip to New York Botanical Garden Bronx might just be the thing to launch you into the plant lover’s category. Either way, the Garden is so exquisite that it tends to be consistently found on even the savviest New Yorker’s suggested itinerary. http://www.nybg.org/ PS1 MOMA LONG ISLAND CITY (QUEENS) P.S. 1 is an internationally renowned museum devoted to contemporary art. It is known for its avant-garde exhibits and for leading the alternative space movement. Artists collaborate with the administrators, and some have studio space on site. P.S. 1 is affiliated with MoMA, but has a much looser, crazier feel. http://www.ps1.org/ MECCA AN HOME FOR GRAFFITI (QUEENS) Just blocks from P.S. 1 is 5 Pointz, the Institute of Higher Burnin’s. Not a museum or gallery, 5 Pointz is a living collage of graffiti art covering a converted warehouse full of artist studios. The art of famous and novice graffiti artists covers the building’s facade, all done with the encouragement of the building’s owner. It’s a well-known sight from the elevated 7 subway, which runs behind 5 Pointz. http://queens.about.com/od/thingtodo/ss/lic_art_2.htm SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK On the East River waterfront, the Socrates Sculpture Park hosts outdoor sculpture by contemporary artists and puts on community events. The events make the area come alive. Enjoy beautiful views of Manhattan skyline while strolling through amazing outdoor cutting edge art-work. Address: 32-01 Vernon Boulevard Long Island City, Admission: free, open 365 days a year from 10am to sunset PROSPECT PARK IN BROOKLYN Prospect Park is a 585-acre urban oasis located in the heart of Brooklyn, New York City’s most populous borough. Popular activities range from skating to birding to pedal boating to picnicking on the Long Meadow on beautiful days. The Park also boasts a stunning variety of natural and geological features. Brooklyn’s only forest is here, along with a complex water system, rolling meadows and shaded hillsides http://www.prospectpark.org/ SUNSET PARK IN BROOKLYN The park that gives Sunset Park its name is a beautiful piece of land that offers stunning views of Manhattan, downtown Brooklyn, and even Staten Island and New Jersey. Take your camera and get the higher point by sunset time. You’ll be amazed by what you’ll see from there. Sunset Park may be one of Brooklyn’s most diverse neighborhoods. Here you’ll find charming brownstones, a thriving Latin American culture, Brooklyn’s largest Chinese community, and a recent influx of young New Yorkers in search of cheaper rents. http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynneighborhoods/p/SunsetPark.htm
Harlem New York SUGAR HILL AREA Bounded by 145th and 155th Sts. and
Edgecombe and St. Nicholas Aves. Historical district named to identify
the "sweet life" in Harlem. It was a popular residential area of row
houses for wealthy African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance,
including W.E.B. DuBois, Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell, and
Duke Ellington.
STRIVERS
ROW AREA W. 138th and W. 139th Sts. between Adam
Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Blvds. Some of the few remaining private
service alleys that once ran behind the city’s town houses (where
deliveries would arrive via horse and cart) lie behind these elegant
1890s Georgian and neo-Italian homes, visible through iron gates. These
blocks attracted African-American doctors, lawyers, and other
professionals, earning its enduring nickname in the 1920s from less
affluent Harlemites who felt its residents were "striving" to become
well-to-do.
MOUNT
MORRIS HISTORICAL DISTRICT The Mount Morris Historic district is
one of the most architecturally attractive parts of Harlem. Bordering on
Marcus Garvey Park, most of the buildings were constructed in the late
19th Century as one-family residences for wealthy merchants. Currently
there is extensive renovation and construction as the area undergoes an
economic revival, as evidenced by scores of newly rehabbed homes.
JUMEL
MANSION Manhattan’s oldest house, was
headquarters to General Washington in September and October of 1776.
It’s true! Washington made his headquarters here at the Mansion during
the fall of 1776. It was during this period that the General’s troops
forced a British retreat at the Battle of Harlem Heights. Do not miss
the astonishing and unique new York architecture on 160th St, just nex
to Jumel Mansion, those houses use to be occupaid for soldiers during
American-English war.
THE
CLOISTERS Five original cloisters form France and
Catalonia were taken to New York in the early XX century by George Gray
Bernard. John D. Rockefeller Jr. took over the collection by donating
large sums of money for maintenance. The cloisters are the only medieval
museum in USA.
Harlem Jazz & Restaurants
Harlem is been the meca of jazz for decades in the United States. All around Harlem you can find interesting jazz clubs. Chic&Budget suggests:
Lenox Lounge: www.lenoxlounge.com
Showman’s Bar: www.allaboutjazz.com
St Nick’s Pub: www.stnicksjazzpub.net
America Legion Post: www.colchasyoungharlempost398.com. Live jazz every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday
Bill’s Place: www.billsaxton.com
Shrine: www.shrinenyc.com. Live music almost every day
The kitchen also highlights in this part of town with restaurants specializing in soul food. Chic&Budget suggests:
Londel’s: www.londelsrestaurant.com. Abundant dishes perfect for brunch. Live music on Fridays.
La perle noire: for breakfast or snacks. French style
Settepani: www.settepani.com. Italian style
Native: one of the best dining options near Chic&Budget
Revival: www.harlemrevival.com. Soul foo
Amy Ruth’s: www.amyruthsharlem.com. Soul food
Free and Super Low Cost things to do
Here Are
Free and Super Low Cost Ways To Have Fun All Year Round In New York
City.
1. Get free audience tickets to a New York TV show Click Here
2. Tour New York City with a resident who shares your interests through
the city’s highly successful Big Apple Greeters program 212-669-2896.
3. Find out who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb National Monument, and see
exhibitions focusing on the Civil War and the life of General Ulysses S.
Grant (212-666-1640).
4. Watch millions of dollars trade hands at the hustling, bustling New
York Stock Exchange 212-656-5167).
5. See the World’s largest (when finished) Gothic Cathedral, St. John
the Divine, near Columbia University (212-316-7540), and explore its
Biblical garden and children’s sculpture garden.
6. Take advantage of free or "pay what you wish" nights at the city’s
finest museums, including: The
Whitney Museum of American Art (Friday nights free, 212-570-3676) The
Solomon R. Guggenheim (Fridays 5-8 pay what you wish, 212-423-3500). The
Museum of American Folk Art, free (212-977-7170) The
Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, Tuesday evenings free
(212-860-6868). The
Steuben Gallery, free (212-752-1441)
7. Explore thought-provoking exhibitions at the breathtaking, beaux arts
New York Public Library (212-869-8084), and enjoy free concerts,
outdoor movies and other special events in adjacent Bryant Park
(212-983-4142).
8. Catapult into the future at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, where
interactive exhibitions thrill children of all ages (212-833-8100).
9. Take the Grand Tour of midtown on Fridays at 12:30 p.m.
(212-986-9317), or learn about the Late, Great Pennsylvania Station on a
monthly tour of the 34th Street facility (212-868-0521).
10. Discover an Art Deco masterpiece on a self-guided tour of majestic
Rockefeller Center (free, pick up maps in the main lobby of 30
Rockefeller Center, 212-698-2950, where you can also enjoy the summer
gardens or ice skating in winter in the shadow of Manhattan’s most
magnificent skyscrapers (skate rentals available, 212-757-5730).
11. Stroll the three-mile boardwalk at Coney Island in Brooklyn
(free--the adjacent New York aquarium with its multi-million dollar "Sea
Cliffs" exhibition and hot dogs at world-famous Nathan’s are extra).
12. Let African-American culture inspire you at Harlem’s Schomberg
Center for Research in Black Culture (212-491-2200).
13. Go back to a simpler time at the Queens Country Farm Museum, a
historic homestead (718-347-3276).
14. Taste the Big Apple at its sweetest at the Union Square Green
Market, where you can sample fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, cider
and much more (212-477-3220).
15. Discover Lower Manhattan’s greatest monuments and milestones on four
self-guided historic walking Heritage Trails, starting at the
Heritage Trails Visitor and Information Center at the Federal Hall
National Memorial (212-767-0637).
16. Explore the greenhouses and gardens of Wave Hill, a 28-acre former
estate overlooking the Hudson River in the Bronx (free during the week
and Saturdays before noon, otherwise $4 adults, $2 seniors/students,
718-549-3200.
17. Learn about New York’s historic neighborhoods on a free tour
sponsored by the Municipal Arts Society (212-439-1049).
18. Browse for bargains at the famous Sixth Avenue Antiques Market,
between 24th and 27th Streets (free, weekends only). Other markets
include the famous fleas at Columbus Avenue and West 76th Street
(Sundays only) and the weekend market on Houston Street between
Sullivan and Thompson.
19. Catch the breeze even in August on the Battery Park Esplanade,
complete with spectacular views of New York Harbor and the Statue of
Liberty. In nearby Hudson River Park, the Battery Park City Authority
presents a "Sounds at Sunset" summer series of poetry readings,
cabaret and classical music (212-416-5328).
20. Stop and smell the roses at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and learn
about botany and garden lore at special exhibitions in the conservatory
(718-622-4433).
21. Enjoy the best classical music, drama, opera, dance and jazz New
York has to offer--including the New York Philharmonic, City Opera,
Shakespeare in the Park, and much more--at free warm-weather concerts
in the city parks (information 212-360-3444).
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