Life in New York City is impossible to capture with words alone. It’s like trying to describe the color of air, or the feeling of déjà vu.
When you step off the train and join the 8 million fast-talking, fast-walking New Yorkers on these busy city streets it can be a little overwhelming, to say the least. But everyone has that magic moment when they fall in love with New York City. For some, it’s their first glimpse of its famous skyline. For others, it’s the wild spontaneity of a street performer, a home run in the Bronx, or the taste of a hot dog fresh out of a street cart. Life here is something you have to witness yourself - from the top of the Empire State building to the grass of Madison Square Park; from the mad crowds of Times Square to the relaxed locales of Brooklyn Bridge Park. The architecture, food, culture, and sheer ambition of NYC is awe-inspiring in every way.
landmarks
Popular New York City landmarks include The National 9/11 Memorial, Ellis Island, Lady Liberty, One World Observatory, the Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building, Grand Central Terminal, Times Square, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rockefeller Center, and Madison Square Garden.
activities
New York has something for everyone. Hip, historic, flashy, faded and graffiti-painted wonders abound. Aside from the typical tourist stops at Lady Liberty, Times Square, Broadway, and the Empire State Building, you’ll want to check out all these activities that define quintessential New York.
Big City Views
The best place to see NYC’s grand skyline is from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Unlike other spots, it’s free, low-key, and you can hang out for as long as you like. You can also walk across its promenade, a boardwalk between Brooklyn and Manhattan that takes about 40 minutes to trek.
Public Parks
New York is full of famous parks, hidden greenways, secret gardens and nostalgic local hangouts. Some of the city’s most popular spots include Central Park, Washington Square Park, The High Line, Fort Tyron Park, Gramercy Park, Riverside Park, Tompkins Square Park, Prospect Park, and Hudson River Park.
Culture
As a global hub for art and entertainment and a melting pot of lifestyles, New York has an endless list of cultural activities. From world-famous museums like the Met and the Guggenheim to high-action parades and street festivals, the varied personalities of this city provide an endless pipeline of things to explore.
Nightlife
For your typical night out, here’s the insider tip on how to have a great night: step outside your door, pick a direction, walk… and within a block or two you’ll stumble upon some of the best bars and food. It really doesn’t matter where you are, you’re going to find something to do in New York City. People generally gravitate downtown (which most consider below 14th street) for the going-out hot spots, which include the Meatpacking District for clubs, Lower East Side, Greenwich Village and East Village for your dives and trendy smaller bars, Nolita, Soho, West Village, Chelsea for wine bars and smaller restaurants that come alive after dark. But that doesn’t mean you should disregard the rest of Manhattan and the 5 boroughs. In midtown you have chic co*cktail bars with great views and sports bars near Madison Square Garden; in the Upper East and West Side you have local favorites that have been institutions for decades; and in Harlem are some of the best restaurants (Red Rooster is a local favorite) with lively bars that turn into hot spots at night. Head to pretty much any neighborhood in Brooklyn or Queens and you can find the same. While these are the easy stereotypes, really, no matter what neighborhood you find yourself in, you’ll be able to find a chic bar, next to a great late-night foodie spot, next to an experimental art exhibit, next to a jazz club, next to a pop-up party, next to the locals’ favorite dive bar. Enough to keep you busy from your first drink as early as noon until last call at 4:00 AM!
transportation
Everyone in New York is constantly moving. The most popular form of transportation is a brisk walk, even if the destination is over a mile away. For cyclists, there are plenty of bicycle lanes, parks and greenways to help you get around easily, as well as The Highline (a 1.45-mile-long elevated park in Manhattan). New York also has a shared bicycle program, called Citi Bike.
The New York subway and train system is efficient and widespread. Even if your destination is all the way across town, chances are there’s a subway route that will get you there.Taxis, buses, Uber and Lyft are also good choices depending on your neighborhood, budget and schedule.
For drivers, owning a car is extremely difficult in some neighborhoods and an absolute necessity in parts of others - namely the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx. Car owners should expect to spend hundreds each month on parking if they live or commute to the downtown area.
sports
Go see a game at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field and you’ll realize that baseball holds a very special place in the hearts of New Yorkers - and the Yankees / Mets rivalry is also very real. Nostalgia, camaraderie, loyalty and, of course, beer and hot dogs combine here to create one of the best sports experiences around. Whether you’re rooting for the Yankees or the Mets, a good old fashioned baseball game should be on anyone’s NYC bucket list.
And that’s not the only rivalry in town. There’s the Jets and the Giants (football), the Knicks and the Nets (basketball), as well as the Rangers, the Devils and the Islanders (hockey). If you really want a classic New York experience, head to Coney Island and catch a minor league baseball Brooklyn Cyclones game and grab a Nathan’s hot dog near the boardwalk games. Know your teams and you’ll find no shortage of friends at local sports venues, bars and tailgate parties.
weather
Spring and fall are the best times to visit the city. In Spring, everything is green and blooming with gorgeous sunny weather and mild temperatures, and fall is another good time to explore with all its colorful foliage and refreshing breezes. However, winter can get intense. Bitter cold winds are concentrated into arctic blasts by sky-high buildings, so get that moisturizer ready. Icy sludge, blizzards and melting snow can make those January commutes rough, but the preparedness of the city to deal with these these types of weather makes it easy to overcome. And finally, New York City summers are known for their sweltering hot and humid Eastern seaboard temperatures, but almost every building you enter has air conditioning and a cold drink waiting inside.
company headquarters
American big business was born in New York City. Finance giants like the NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, International Securities Exchange, Dow Jones & Company, Moody’s, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley employ nearly half a million people combined. NYC is also known as the Media Capital of the World, with television moguls like Time Warner Cable, HBO, Showtime, MTV, CBS, Food Network, Univision and DC Comics all headquartered in the Big Apple. Meanwhile, people are making millions in the fashion industry, with name brands like DKNY, Bloomingdale’s J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Aeropostale and Ann Taylor leading the way.
All this enterprising spirit is a perfect breeding ground for new startups too. An influx of capital, a tech-savvy population, entrepreneurial resources, and an enterprising ethos have given rise to famous startups like Etsy, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Blue Apron, as well as hundreds of smaller businesses like SponsorHub, Modern Guild, and Gotham Greens (which grows more than 120 tons of premium produce each year right in the middle of Brooklyn).
To top it all off, New York is home to all of America’s sports headquarters. The NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB are all based here.
