Restaurants River Café Lobster, duck, and seafood are among many specialties. The Chocolate Duo dessert includes a mini chocolate Brooklyn Bridge. 1 Water St, Brooklyn Subway (A, C) High St 718 522 5200 Men require jackets after 5pm River Café The Grocery With its New American menu and fresh produce, The Grocery has been drawing … Read more
Walk on the West Side Morning Begin at Lincoln Center and admire the plaza, the Chagall windows at the Metropolitan Opera, and the Henry Moore statue in front of Lincoln Center Theater. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on Amsterdam Avenue, behind the theater, is notable for its enormous collection of books … Read more
The 3rd-century Aurelian walls are still largely intact and served as the defence of the city for 1,600 years until Italian Unification was achieved in 1870. After that, the walls were pierced in several places so that traffic could bypass the old gates and the modern city quickly sprawled far and wide in every direction. … Read more
Ethnic Shopping Household goods on display Broadway, Astoria Astoria has the largest Greek community outside Greece, with restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries on Broadway. Broadway, Astoria, Queens Subway (N, W) Broadway Main Street, Flushing Flushing’s Chinatown offers bakeries, food, gifts, restaurants, herbal remedies, and acupuncture. Queensborough Library has material in 40 languages. Main St, Flushing, … Read more
This area did not begin to develop until the 1870s, when the 9th Avenue El went up, making it possible to commute to midtown. When the Dakota, New York’s first luxury apartment building, was completed in 1884, it was followed by others on Central Park West and Broadway, while side streets were filled with handsome … Read more
Midtown Museums & Art Morgan Library & Museum The library reopened in 2006 after a major expansion to hold this private collection of rare books, prints, and manuscripts . 225 Madison Ave at 36th St Open 10:30am–5pm Tue–Thu (to 9pm Fri), 10am–6pm Sat & Sun Admission charge Morgan Library Museum of Modern Art Reopened in … Read more
Family Adventures New York Aquarium Walk through a swamp; stay dry beneath a waterfall . Surf Ave and West 8th St, Brooklyn Subway (F, Q) W 8th St Open Apr–May, Sep–Oct: 10am–5pm Mon–Fri (5:30pm Sat, Sun & hols); Jun–Aug: 10am–6pm Mon–Fri (7pm Sat, Sun & hols); Nov–Mar: 10am–4:30pm daily Admission charge New York Aquarium Brooklyn … Read more
Cabarets and Clubs Au Lapin Agile Poets and artists not only drank in this cabaret club, some such as Renoir and Verlaine also laid tables. Picasso even paid his bill with one of his Harlequin paintings (see Au Lapin Agile). Au Lapin Agile Moulin Rouge As old as the Eiffel Tower (1889) and as much … Read more
A Day Exploring Midtown Morning Start at the Morgan Library & Museum , and see Morgan’s opulent study, then proceed to 42nd Street and turn east for a tour through Grand Central Terminal . Continue east on 42nd Street, stopping to look at the outstanding lobbies of the Chrysler Building , the Daily News Building, … Read more
A Day Out in Brooklyn Morning Take the No. 2 or 3 subway train to Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum, for the world-class Brooklyn Museum . The museum is part of a civic complex that includes the stately Grand Army Plaza, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden , with its well-known Japanese garden, and neighboring Prospect Park. … Read more
A Day in Montmartre Morning As with all the city’s busy attractions, the sooner you get to Sacré-Coeur the more you will have it to yourself – it opens at 8am. Later in the morning, enjoy the bustle of Montmartre with tourists having their portraits painted by the area’s street artists in the place du … Read more
The lights of Times Square, The Spires of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations Headquarters, stores on 5th Avenue, museums, theaters, and grand buildings galore – all are found in the midtown area between 34th and 59th streets, extending from the East River as far as Broadway. The concentration of … Read more
Manhattan is just one of New York’s five boroughs, each of which has its own unique attractions. Brooklyn alone, with its fine brownstone neighborhoods and numerous top-class sights, would be one of the largest cities in the U.S. The Bronx, to the north, boasts one of New York’s finest zoos, plus the New York Botanical … Read more
Painters and poets, from Picasso to Apollinaire, put the “art” in Montmartre, and it will forever be associated with their Bohemian lifestyles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are plenty of artists around today too, painting quick-fire portraits of tourists in the place du Tertre. The area’s name comes from “Mount of … Read more
A Day in the Gardens Morning If it’s a fine morning get an early start and enjoy a stroll in the Jardin des Plantes before the city gets truly busy. The Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle doesn’t open until 10am, but the garden is close enough to rue Mouffetard to enable you to enjoy the fabulous … Read more
Restaurants Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen Great fried chicken, ribs, and collard greens at this no-frills spot. Also at 308 Lenox Avenue, between 125th and 126th Sts. 2839 Frederick Douglass Blvd, between West 151st & 152nd Sts 212 926 4313 Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen Acapulco Caliente Authentic Mexican food at easy-on-the-wallet prices. 3508 Broadway, between West … Read more
Exploring the North Morning Starting at Hampstead tube station, head left down pretty Flask Walk (The Flask pub once sold spa water) to the local museum in Burgh House for some background on the area. Then spend some time exploring the many attractive back streets, which are lined with expensive Georgian houses and mansions. Visit … Read more
Traditionally one of the most peaceful areas of Paris, the medicinal herb gardens which give the quarter its name were established here in 1626. It retained a rural atmosphere until the 19th century, when the city’s population expanded and the surrounding streets were built up. Near the gardens is the Arènes de Lutèce, a well-preserved … Read more
A Day in Harlem and Morningside Heights Morning Begin late Sunday morning and take the No. 2 or No. 3 subway uptown to 135th Street and Lenox Avenue. Walk to Odell Clark Place and turn west to hear the fabulous choir at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Continue west along the street to see the fine … Read more
Beyond Regent’s Park and the railway termini of Euston, King’s Cross and St Pancras, North London drifts up into areas that were once distant villages where the rich built their country mansions to escape the city. Many of these houses remain and several are open for the public to wander around and imagine a bygone … Read more