Whether you choose to fly and cruise or fancy making the most of your cruise ship facilities with a transatlantic crossing, having New York as a destination on your itinerary is always going to be exciting on a whole other scale.
New York is such a big destination with so much to offer that your only concern might be the limited time that you have to experience it!
At www.CRUISE.co.uk we want to show you how to make the most of your bite of the Big Apple, no matter how small.
It’s the city that never sleeps so you should be able to cram plenty into every 24 hours – but don’t waste time seeking out those hidden corners and secret surprises; we’ve found them for you!
So hail that yellow cab and get ready for a whistle-stop tour of NYC………………with a twist.
1 – Top of the Rock
The Empire State building is a classic New York landmark but the trouble with heading to the top of it for the best NYC view is that, well, one of the city’s most famous landmarks is missing from it!
Instead, head to the top of the less busy Rockefeller Centre for incredible views of the Empire State, Central Park and the Chrysler Building from its observation deck.
Also see if you can spy the five secret Rockefeller roof gardens. These are closed to the public so a view from above is one of the few ways to get to see them.
2 – Visit the American Hall of Fame
Less well-known than the Hollywood Walk of Fame but equally, if not more, impressive is the open air Hall of Fame for Great Americans. It is home to nearly 100 bronze busts of Uncle Sam’s most historically important nephews.
Look out for Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington and Franklin Roosevelt. It’s like a highbrow Madame Tussauds (no David Beckham’s or Kylie’s here!)
Find it on University Ave at 181st Street.
3 – See the Entire City
‘Impossible’, we hear you cry! We can prove you wrong…
It is possible to see the whole of NYC on a quick cruise stop when you head to the Queens Museum of Art and take a look at The Panorama of the City of New York model.
Ok, so it’s not quite the same as a helicopter tour but it’s a whole lot cheaper and what’s extra exciting is this: for a $50 donation you can even own your own piece of ‘the city’. Fancy telling your cruise dinner companions that you now own an apartment in NYC? Now’s your chance to do it (almost) truthfully.
4 – Take the Subway Back in Time
Want to see something that even New York natives might have missed?
Take the number 6 train to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall Station and stay on the train as it loops back on itself, travelling through a secret subway station under City Hall that has been closed since 1945.
Grab yourself some pearls and a fur stole, or a waistcoat and a peaked cap, and imagine that you’re a Prohibition Era New Yorker as you look out on the antique tile and glass.
5 – Visit London
New York is perhaps best known for the skyscrapers that grace its incredible skyline so you’re likely to be very surprised to spy a street of Tudor style homes on an Upper West Side street known as Pomander Walk. Enclosed by vast skyscrapers on each side, the quaint houses with their pretty coloured shutters and leafy gardens are quite a sight. You’ll have to peep through the gate though – this secret New York spot is so secret that it’s kept under lock and key!
6 – Goggle at the Guggenheim
Art lovers will be agog at this landmark museum that’s a piece of art in its own right.
Follow the spiral round right up to the top and you’ll pass everyone from Picasso to Monet to Van Gough to Renoir as well as more modern collections.
Alternatively, the MoMA is a mindboggling artist’s haven displaying modern art across many mediums, including film, photography, sculpture and architecture. One visit is a big enough culture hit to allow you to spend the rest of the year watching reality TV and reading celebrity glossies with a clean conscience. Result!
7 – Visit a Boat Graveyard
So this one might depend on whether you’re the superstitious type – and whether you’ve got an onward journey to make on your cruise – but, as boats are our business, we couldn’t let the chance to mention the Staten Island Boat Graveyard pass us by.
Rossville, Staten Island is the final resting place for abandoned boats of all types and sizes, and the sight of their rusting hulls slowly sinking further into a watery grave is a rather sad and spooky one.
Look away now cruise fans!
8 – Park Life
Central Park is a NYC must, whether you visit in winter for the ice skating rink or in summer for the zoo and a stroll. But if this isn’t your first trip to New York why not discover somewhere different and head to the Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens instead?
Just try not to think of the fact that the 4.5 acre park was created over a giant landfill site!
9 – Climb to the Crown
If the view of Lady Liberty from the water just isn’t enough, brave the climb to the crown for an amazing vantage point over New York harbour (and maybe play spot the cruise ship?) There’s also a museum on Liberty Island that is interesting for the fact that it shows how ambivalent New Yorker’s were at first to, what is now, the most iconic symbol of the city.
Just give the foam crowns at the gift shop a miss if you don’t want to be that person.
10 – Eat the Brooklyn Bridge
So you’ve burned some calories walking the Brooklyn Bridge- now you can put them back on again by eating a chocolate version.
The River Café is a New York foodie institution that’s nestled under the Brooklyn Bridge with views of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty.
People pretend that they go there for the views but what they really go for is the chocolate Brooklyn Bridge dessert topped with, you guessed it, a miniature chocolate Brooklyn Bridge. Definitely a food-photo opportunity!
Even the shortest bite of the Big Apple can be super sweet when you’ve got a handy guide to those hidden places that make NYC truly unique. Stick with us at www.CRUISE.co.uk and we’ll make sure that your New York Minute is a magical one that’s full of surprises.
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