New York Top Ten

The 'city that never sleeps' is one of the world's most exciting, most colourful and most intoxicating destinations. New York is shopper's Paradise and with over $2 to the £1 there has never been a better time to travel. The city is one of the world's greatest entertainment and cultural capitals and of course crammed full of sights. So whether it's for gifts, sales bargains, a Broadway show, jazz in the 'Village', the sight of the Manhattan skyline, or simply for the city's unique atmosphere, this is a city break to take before you die:

1 Central Park
New York's chill out zone, Central park, was the first landscaped park in the United States and it’s located in the heart of New York. It’s an oasis for Manhattan locals to escape from their skyscrapers and hectic lives. The park has appeared in so many films and TV series, it has its own celebrity status. Central Park, hosts the much anticipated annual Summerstage. This is a series of free concerts held throughout the summer months at the Rumsey Playfield in the centre of the park. In all there are 1,100 free concerts scheduled to take place, not just in Central Park but also city-wide in public spaces throughout New York. Show stoppers include Cassandra Wilson, Joss Stone, Arrested Development and Rufus Wainwright.

Don’t forget to visit the Strawberry Fields three-acre landscaped area of Central Park that has been dedicated to the memory of John Lennon who used to live across the street in the Dakota building. His wife, Yoko Ono, still lives there.
Central Park website

2 Empire State Building
First timers to New York should go directly to the lime-stone art-deco dazzler – the Empire State Building. The shimmering gold lobby is enough to make the trip worthwhile but it is the views of Manhattan you are after. The vista from the observatory on the 86th and 102nd floors is superb. Use the headphones and let Tony the Italian cab driver give you the lowdown on how to help you plan the next few bites of the apple. The queues can be tiresome but getting there really early or very late helps.

For a magical moment, get there in time for sunset and watch the play of light as the sun sets over the city.
350 Fifth Avenue, Admission $11 Open 9am-midnight
Empire State Building website

3 Statue of Liberty
This imposing statue, “Liberty Enlightening the World’, was a gift from France to celebrate the American Centennial in 1885. At 305 feet tall it remains America’s finest visual and spiritual landmarks and the first thing you see when you sail into New York’s harbour.
Statue of Liberty website

4 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
This amazing museum is New York’s most presitigious and has the largest collection of artwork created between 1880 to date.
Moma Museum website

5 Metropolitan Museum of Art
A staggering 2 million works of arts are part of the collection in New York’s favourite museum.
Metropolitan Museum of Art website

6 Times Square
Times Square is the central hub for nightlife, restaurants and entertainment for New Yorkers.
Times Square website

7 Grand Central Terminal
Manhattan’s Grand Central Station is famed worldwide as the bustling hub of transportation. Constructed in 1903-1913 it is a grand Beaux-Arts building serving as a transportation hub connecting train, metro, car and pedestrian traffic. Every day a staggering 5000,000 travellers pass through the monumental Grand Central railway station every day. yet few people know about the Whispering Gallery. Find it just outside the Oyster Bar restaurant in the lower concourse in a domed area where people generally congregate. As elsewhere in New York, the noise is constant but amazingly if you stand facing a pillar and whisper, someone standing facing a pillar diagonally opposite to you will hear it. Try it with a friend – it is actually more discrete than using your mobile.

When you leave Grand Central Station choose the tunnel marked Lexington Avenue which leads to the stunning Art Deco Chrysler Building.
Grand Central website

8 American Museum of Natural History
The best way to understand the past is to visit this interactive modern exhibit-rich museum. An IMAX theatre completes the picture.
American Museum of Natural History website

9 Ellis Island
Ellis Island, reached via ferry from New York, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants from 1892 to 1954. All were in search of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and prosperity. Since 1990 it has reopened to the public as a museum.
Ellis Island website 

10 Rockefeller Centre
This huge complex of 19 commercial buildings in the Theatre District stretching from 51st street and 48th Street, is world famous for its ice rink. It is located in midtown Manhattan straddling 5th and 6th Avenues. It also houses the largest indoor theatre – Radio City Music Hall – so named after the complex’s first tenants – the Radio Corporation of America. Beneath is a complete shopping extravaganza.

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1 August 2007