NEW YORK CITY 
The Big Apple
New York is “THE” city, “THE BIG APPLE” it’s exciting,
full of competitive people trying to make it on stage and screen, 
and it’s a
city with people trying to make it on Wall Street and in real estate. Many New
Yorkers are not born in the city itself but they come to New York, a city that
never sleeps!!
Originally called New Amsterdam it was renamed in honour
of the duke of York after the British took control of the settlement prior to
the American Revolution.
Since RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI took the Big Apple in
both hands and sorted the city out, New York has gained a reputation has being
a safe city to visit
The West Village wakes up late and takes everything at a
slower pace, whilst the East Village wakes up late and parties till the small
hours!!
Washington Heights is noisy and moves to a Dominican
rhythm and Beekman Place is quieter and subdued in comparison.
Each part of the city has it’s own pace and energy.
New York satisfies everyone’s desires, whatever you want
to do at any time of day or night, this is the place to do it.
There are many places to visit, for example the
Metropolitan Museum receives over 5 million visitors per year!
Below is a sample of just a few of places I can
personally recommend from my own visit to this buzzing vibrant city, oh and
although the public transport systems are good, wear comfortable shoes you will
need them!!!
The Empire State Building.
This is the most famous sky-scraper in the world, built
in the 1930s and featured in the movies “An Affair to 
Remember”, starring Cary
Grant, and “Sleepless In Seattle” with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, you cannot visit
New York without going to the top to admire the great views of the city. I
visited the Empire building as the sun dropped down over the Hudson and at
night, the city twinkling from end to end with an array of starry lights even
made the stars in the night sky look dim in comparison, from the top 102nd
floor of the Observation Deck, it was a sight I will never forget.
It is now the highest building in the city, since the
dreadful 9/11 and the fall of the World Trade Centre
www.nyctrip.com/EmpireStateBuilding.
www.esbnyc.com
Chrysler Building
This gleaming building with its stainless steel spire
shines out over the eastern side of the New York skyline, designed in Art Deco
fashion, as a tribute to the automobile in the early 1930’s. Hubcaps are a
feature of its stainless steel top.
Built in direct competition to the Empire State Building
it lost out to its illustrious sister “The Empire State Building” in becoming
the highest building in New York.
Fifth Avenue
A must for shopaholics!!! Wonderful shops amongst world
class architecture; this avenue incorporates some of New York’s best known
addresses.
New York is made up of blocks. Avenues go from North to
South and Streets from East to West. Only Broadway cuts diagonally across the
city. This makes planning a tour or finding a location very simple indeed.
www.nyctourist.com
Rockefeller Center
This is a small village consisting of famous art deco
buildings, where if you visit in wintertime you will see ice-skaters, skating
around the UN flags. It is “the heart of New York”, and comprises of 19
buildings. Its highlights are the G E Building better known as the RCA
Building; for many years the NBC studios in the GE Building hosted the TV chat
show “Late Night with David Letterman” Take a rest on a bench at the Channel
Gardens, which are a reference to the English Channel. Look out for the famous
Atlas statue featured on US stamps and of course don’t forget the ice-skating
in winter.
www.rockefellercenter.com
Grand Central Terminal
All the tracks terminate here, it is a busy bustling
place previously known as Grand Central Station.
The current building dates from 1913, modelled partly on
Paris Opera, by architects Warren and Wetmore. You will see as you look up at
the magnificent ceiling, over 2,500 stars surrounded by medieval zodiac signs
designed by French artist Paul Helleu.
Also currently hanging in the lobby is the giant stars
and stripes flag, hung in there just after the 9/11 tragedy.
The famous four faced clock above the Information Booth
is out of proportion, and beneath here in one of the vaulted chambers is where
the Oyster Bar is located. Used on a number of occasions by the film industry
the Grand Central has featured in films such as Superman with Christopher
Reeves and the Hitchcock thriller North by Northwest with Carry Grant.
www.grandcentralterminal.com
www.virtualtourist.com
The Statue Of Liberty
This green lady is the symbol of the American dream of
freedom, unveiled in 1886,On her pedestal is Emma Lazarus’ poem The New
Colossus whilst the tablet reads July IV MDCCLXXVI, the date of the
Declaration of Independence.
Her seven-pointed crown beams liberty to the seven
continents and the seven seas.
The Statue of Liberty was
a gift from the people of France, weighing 225 tons, is 151 feet tall
(46metres),and has a 2 metre index finger. Her torch tip towers 305 feet (93
metres ) above sea level. Standing on Liberty Island in New
York Harbour and seen throughout the great days of the ocean going liner as the
first symbol of American liberty and freedom.
One of the best ways to see the wonderful icon is on a
boat trip around the Hudson and East Rivers, Manhatten Island.
www.LibertyTickets.us
Central Park
A must to visit, a beautiful park, where you
can stroll through, relax, jog like many of the locals, or visit the rinks,
playgrounds, the Wildlife Conservation Center(zoo),or see the fountains and
statues or sun-bathe pool-sideat the Laker Poolin Harlem, this park is vast,
and divides the city, a place for escapism, to calm.
The park was built by clearing out run down settlements
and draining marsh land in central Manhatten, Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
and English architect Calvert Vaux and based on Birkenhead Park on the Wirral, UK.
One of my happiest memories was our daughter’s 21st
birthday treat at the Tavern On The Green, quite expensive, but worth every
dollar for the food, surroundings, service and a wonderful memories. Try a
romantic trip in a horse–drawn carriage.
www.centralparknyc.org
American Museum of Natural History
Really worth a visit, almost too much to see in one day,
an amazing collection of everything from 
dinosaurs ,the complete
evolution of life on earth, to a new planetarium with it’s Friday night
jazz and Tapas.
Featured in “A Night at The Museum” and “The Day After
Tomorrow”
www.amnh.org
Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Only a quarter of the approximately three million objects
are up at any one time, wear comfortable footwear you will need it! The
highlights are Rubens’ Venus and Adonis,(1630’s) Grand Canal, Venice,
Turner(c1835 )and the 15th century Temple of Dendur in its glass
walled chamber, also a Ming dynasty scholar’s court-yard.
With approximately twenty American period style rooms to
take in, just to name a fraction of what you can view here.
On a Friday or Saturday evening it is quieter, with fewer
crowds and a string quartet serenades you, whilst on your visit.
www.metmuseum.org
Shopping in New York
Two store stand out above all, Bloomindales and Macys.
Macys alone take up a whole block and is 
the largest store in the world. It’s
Thanks giving parade was the central feature for the film Miracle on 34th
Street. If Macys hasn’t got it, no one has got it.
www.macys.com
www.bloomingdales.com
Time Square
Visit at night to get the best from
this location. Neon lights and flashing bill boards turn the square into a
dancing carnival of light. Always a great place to be as the clock strike
midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is also the heart of the Theatre district.
www.timessquare.com
The Bridges of New York
Although plenty of bridges now cross
the East river, the one bridge that stands out above them all is the Brooklyn
Bridge. Linking Brooklyn with Manhatten it was built in 1883. A spectacular
bridge even today, with great views across the East River. The Hudson being a
lot wider is breached by a number of tunnels.
Guides
Try
Amazon for a great range of travel guides
Hotels
The city has an amazing array of hotels
to suit everybody, from the Plaza to the smallest.
www.hotelconnect.co.uk
www.HotelAKA.com
www.booking.com/New-York
www.easytobook.com/en/new-york-hotels
www.new-york.hotelscheap.org
www.expedia.co.uk
Travel
The best way to get to New York from
another country is to fly, however if you are already in the states then New
York can be reached either by, rail, greyhound coaches or road.
www.americanairlines.co.uk
www.airfrance.com
www.virgin-atlantic.com
www.britishairways.com
www.searchtravelnow.net
www.jfk-airport.net
www.greyhound.com
New
York, New York so good the named it twice, I can assure you that you will want
to visit it not twice, but again, again and again!!!