What a unique, crazy, dynamic, stunning and dramatic city New York is, all of the superlatives rolled into one…and more! You might think you know it as you have already been a few years ago, but the City is constantly changing, growing and re-inventing itself that there will always be something new to do or to see.
Getting there, around and to stay
We managed to slip out early from work at a Friday lunchtime, set that out of office and hop on a plane to enjoy a fun packed weekend and then be back in the Netherlands in time for the Monday morning 9am meeting! KLM eased us into the trip perfectly by giving us an upgrade to their Premium Economy class…comfy seats, great service and tasty food and drinks that will have us looking to take this class whenever we have the choice in the future!
Almost anywhere on Manhattan can be your destination but for us it was properly central at the Sofitel at West 44th St. Perfectly placed for a lot of the big city sites but still tucked away on a relatively quiet street. Sofitel and KLM must have been conspiring ‘for us’ as we got our second upgrade of the day with the Juliette Balcony Suite that gave us picture perfect views and complimentary breakfasts that were beautiful feasts to kick off our jet-lagged mornings.
Friday Night – Midtown Manhattan
Staying awake for as long as possible is the goal of this first evening on a trip like this! For us that meant cocktails, stunning views and just light snacks rather than a full on dinner. Our venue was Dear Irving on Hudson that gave a lounge room with a view that had us re-ordering drinks so as to enjoy the cityscape as the sun went down and the lights came on. The weather, unfortunately did not get the memo from KLM and Sofitel and gave us a very rare and cloudy evening, so no sunset, but still some spectacular views, even if only in black and white!
Next, recreate that middle of the day bright light feeling by heading to Times square, using up to 160 megawatts (enough to power 160k homes!) for its screens and lighting, as soon as you venture into the crowds here you will get a shot of adrenaline that will power you through the jetlag for a few more hours. To the endless tune of Jay-z’s Empire State of Mind you can dive into the mass of humanity that seems to be here 24hrs a day. If you have some spare $$ you can buy yourself some advertising space on one of the surrounding boards or failing that head to the northern end of the square to the raised platform that will give you picture perfect views of the square and surrounds.
Keep pushing through the time-zone change with a trip on one of the open-top busses that patrol the square looking to entice dazed tourists just off the plane. The tour can take a couple of hours, and is a great way to get an initial orientation of the city, as well as lots of fun facts from the hard-working guide as well as plenty of fresh air to keep you oxygenated and awake. The touts are pretty persistent, so if you do go for a ride then make sure you haggle things down to at least $20pp (+tax + tip +++). The tour runs south from Times Square, across Bryant Park and then down 5th avenue, past the iconic Empire State and Flatiron Buildings, Korea Town, Noho, Soho, Chinatown, across the Manhattan Bridge and looping back at the creatively named Dumbo district.
Finish the evening with a local hot-dog from one of the many stands that crowd the city streets and at 2am you can head to bed, trusting that you have done a good job fighting the perils of jetlag!
Saturday – Lower Manhattan & Brooklyn
Escape midtown for the day by heading south; lucky for us Lyssa’s niece Doryl and her husband Mike had made a trip to the City to meet us and (blissfully for Matt) take over the guiding and directions for the day! Chinatown makes a good start, where if you did not eat too much for breakfast then you can fortify yourself with dimsum for the day ahead. Zigzag your way southwards by heading across to City Hall (that has that distinct Batman feel) and across to the 911 Memorial; a poignant and impressive memorial to the Twin Towers that stood here until 2001. Through the financial district, the seriousness of this mecca of capitalism slightly reduced by the huge queue of tourists waiting to get a bit of luck by rubbing the Bull’s balls!
The financial district quickly leads you to the Battery and the Whitehall Ferry terminal where you can pick up the best value tourist deal of New York…the free Manhatten Island Ferry. The Ferry will take you across to Staten Island, passing by that most quintessential icons of the City…The Statue of Liberty. Claim your spot on the boat as soon as possible, downstairs at the front (on the right) for going out and upstairs on the left for coming back. Beware the ticket touts out front of the terminal that will try to persuade you that you need to buy a ticket for their tour to the island rather than just hopping on this free service, no ticket required!
Having reached the tip of Manhattan, you just have to continue south, across the Brooklyn Bridge. A unique walk that has you walking on the pedestrian walkway that is directly over the busy traffic that runs over the bridge below. Expect crowds making the pilgrimage across the river and tourists spinning in circles to the tune of Jay Zee but also amazing views across the East River and back to Manhattan.
The bridge will take you across to ultra happening Dumbo (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass)…a very walkable part of town that has bars, restaurants and boutique at every turn plus rooftop terraces with perfect cityscape views.
Saturday Evening – back to Midtown
If you want to touch the sky in New York, you will be spoilt for choice with the grand dames of Chrysler and Empire State or New kids such as the Edge or SUMMIT One Vanderbilt. The latter was our pick and it was really the highlight of the trip. We expected a crowded trip up, some great views and then back down again 20 mins later…but 3 hours later we were still marveling at this wonderfully curated experience that brings together the World’s best skyline along with some fun and unique things to do.
We booked our ticket for 17.30, note that the ticket is seemingly timed and gets more expensive the closer to sunset, but as it turned our the initial entry takes time and you are not rushed through the visit, so in the end we still got sunset and the city lighting up even, so give yourself plenty of time for the visit and if going for sunset arrive at least 1 hr before.
After some ground floor prep (security checks, protective shoes, complimentary sunglasses, videos, and souvenir pictures), you’ll take the disco lift up to the 90th floor. From here, the first room is a huge, dazzling mirrored space overlooking midtown and downtown lead by the Empire State building. You can easily spend an hour here, gazing at the view and the reflections surrounding you.
The next few rooms have funky art and yet more views to the East, North and West. Followed by the big kid room, where hundreds of balloons fill a corner space and all adult discover their inner child!
Do make a pit stop at the toilets for a pee with a view! Then, slowly head upstairs to the bar / café to enjoy very good cocktails on the 93rd floor…it can get a bit crowded, bit if you find yourself a corner with a view then you can happily stay until the city light show starts up.
Tearing ourselves away from the view we had a dinner appointment Omakase by Korami. An intimate and relaxed Japanese place that has some of the best sushi we have tasted! Don’t be daunted by the 14 course menu, as each course is one piece of sushi, over a set time of 1hr. Be warned that if you arrive late (as we did) you’ll still get the 14 courses in the time you have left in your hour, still tasty, but less time to savour!
Finish your day with a couple of cheeky last cocktails with a view at the Daintree…this time looking up at The Empire State (a perspective change) along with some creative drinks and wonderful service.
Sunday Morning – Central Park, Hudson & Chelsea
Take a Sunday morning stroll to Grand Central Station where hopefully it will not be too busy just yet to wander around gazing up at the constellation ceiling, all exactly how you would see things in the night sky…apart from being backwards (east and west being mixed up)!
From here take the subway a few stops North to 86th St will drop you right in the middle of Central Park (vertically)…whilst it would probably take several days to visit the whole park, starting at the middle by the Reservoir will give you a feel for its size, plus makes for a wonderful stroll on a sunny morning (although be prepared to dodge the high speed joggers on a circuit mission!).
Exiting to the West of the park, just by the wonderfully named El Dorado, will bring you into Brownstone New York where you’ll feel you are part of the many sitcoms, movies with these classic old stone buildings and their curving stairways that we’ve grown up with on countless US tv shows. An added bonus is that this is a very pleasant part of town to stroll around and enjoy the delis, coffee shops and corner-side restaurants.
But no time for all that on this whistlestop visit, it was time for us to get back on the Subway and head south to Hudson Yards, a downtown mecca for cutting edge architecture, engineering and all around innovative use of once derelict industrial space. Home of the Edge…an Avengers inspired skyscraper that comes complete with landing pad for your Quinjet, plus another point from which to get astounding views of the city. But we kept our feet firmly on the ground for this visit with an exploration of the funky Vessel.
One of Sunday morning’s highlights is to follow the High Line from Hudson Yards for a green walk in the air that follows a former railway line and will give you a birds eye view to this gentrified part of the city, whilst still being shaded amongst foliage and flowers.
And with this last walk, it’s a cab ride back to the hotel and then back on the Subway and Airtrain to JFK to catch the flight home to NL…if you have one last pang for New York’s finest cuisine and you can get into the Delta Lounge then you’ll also get the treat of Hotdogs and Ice Cream…enjoy!!
