Sign in Using FacebookNew York Guide » More About New York: Overview
Overview
The Big Apple certainly lives up to its name, being the largest city in the US, and boasting an enormous assortment of entertainment, dining, shopping and cultural opportunities for tourists and residents alike. Juxtaposing sleek skyscrapers with genteel brownstones, miles of asphalt with acres of greenspace, just-arrived immigrants with dyed-in-the-wool natives, you'd be hard pressed not to find something to pique your interest, no matter what your pleasure.
It's a city of contradictions as well with workaday gruffness from store clerks contrasting with a well-placed hand holding open an elevator door, the haughty demeanor of Upper East Side dowagers with their philanthropic efforts, the hip-hop kid with a bling-filled grill who flawlessly plays a Bach cello solo in the subway station.
Proud New Yorkers and politicos alike extol the virtues of the city's clean streets, safety statistics and the ever-growing number of hotels, restaurants and clubs that brought in hordes of tourists to the tune of some 44 million in 2006. And despite all the progress, there are several thoughtfully-focused agencies to ensure that the Hudson River, Battery Park and other natural splendors are carefully preserved for future generations.
As new construction springs out of the granite bedrock in what seems like a New York minute, it is often difficult to remember that Nieuw Amsterdam, as it was originally called, was established by the Dutch in 1625. Developing as it did over the course of centuries, Gotham evolved as a series of neighborhoods from Manhattan to the outer boroughs. These microcosms of ethnicity, commerce and distinctive personality each have places to explore, both well-known and obscure. It's easy to get overwhelmed when walking through any one of them, so here's a helpful tip: pick one thing to focus on, be it people, architecture or objects, and let the pageant unfold before you.
Looking for history? Then look no further than lower Manhattan where the old Trinity Church stands in the middle of the modern Financial District and the span of the Brooklyn Bridge can be seen as a tribute to the engineering marvels of the Industrial Age.
You'll find the hipsters congregate in TriBeCa, families feathering their nests on the Upper West Side and across the bridge in Brooklyn. Greenwich Village is still a cradle of the bohemian beat and the Upper East Side is about as upper-crusty as an Edith Wharton novel. Liberally sprinkled throughout, you'll find the city's ethnic enclaves which continue to be the spice that livens up the great melting pot.
Eat Out and Save Money!
