Things to do in New York, NY

The 39 venues that make up Broadway are iconic theater destinations but New York's number and variety of theatrical performance venues are for more expansive. Off-Broadway shows usually take place in smaller (less than 500 seats) theaters and are less pricey, while Off-Off-Broadway shows are downright obscure, but most likely to please more avant-garde theater lovers. New York City also boasts some of the most high-profile music and dance venues and companies in the world. Carnegie Hall is the pinnacle of classical music venues, The Beacon Theater offers comedy and music performances, Brooklyn Academy of Music offers cutting-edge, contemporary musical and dance performances, and renowned Radio City Music Hall is equally ideal for catching a concert or seeing the Rockettes.

It may seem surprising that the most populous metropolitan area in the world is known for its parks, but consider that New York City is home to Central Park, the world's most visited green space. Central Park is home to the Reservoir, Belvedere Castle, an ice skating rink, a carosel, public tennis courts, walking and bike paths, and a host of other attractions. Summerstage, which features free live music...  

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The 39 venues that make up Broadway are iconic theater destinations but New York's number and variety of theatrical performance venues are for more expansive. Off-Broadway shows usually take place in smaller (less than 500 seats) theaters and are less pricey, while Off-Off-Broadway shows are downright obscure, but most likely to please more avant-garde theater lovers. New York City also boasts some of the most high-profile music and dance venues and companies in the world. Carnegie Hall is the pinnacle of classical music venues, The Beacon Theater offers comedy and music performances, Brooklyn Academy of Music offers cutting-edge, contemporary musical and dance performances, and renowned Radio City Music Hall is equally ideal for catching a concert or seeing the Rockettes.

It may seem surprising that the most populous metropolitan area in the world is known for its parks, but consider that New York City is home to Central Park, the world's most visited green space. Central Park is home to the Reservoir, Belvedere Castle, an ice skating rink, a carosel, public tennis courts, walking and bike paths, and a host of other attractions. Summerstage, which features free live music throughout the summer season, has also played host to a number of legendary concerts. Elsewhere, Brooklyn's Prospect Park offers an idyllic 90-acre meadow thought to be among the most expansive of any US city park. Eleven massive pools, opened in 1936 by Mayor La Guardia, are spread throughout New York's five boroughs, are also major draws, and free to the public.

What visitors need to understand first and foremost about New York City cuisine is that it encompasses virtually every kind of ethnic cuisine in the known world. This is in large part because of the plethora of neighborhoods that serve as enclaves of particular cuisines and cultures, but you can also find all types of fare across each of New York's five borough's. Pizza litters the landscape in abundance; don't be surprised to find a truly great slice for little more than a dollar. Be on the look out for delis (bagels and Reubens are the mainstays of Big Apple deli fare) and street vendors peddling hot dogs, Indian food, smoothies and vegetarian lunches. Food trucks are situated all over the city, offering top quality fare such as gourmet takes on cupcakes, sandwiches, ice cream and coffee. Salad bars are plentiful and fresh alternatives.

In addition to its numerous major museums and galleries (which, it goes without saying, are some of the finest in the world) New York boasts hundreds of small, private galleries, many concentrated in the Chelsea neighborhood. Major museums like the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, The Frick Museum, The Jewish Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History are international destinations. Brooklyn and Queens have as much to offer as Manhattan. The Brooklyn Museum of Art has a superb collection of ancient Egyptian and Assyrian art, while the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens and The Museum of Television and Radio are must-sees for videophiles. Be sure to note when planning your itinerary, many of the city's major museums are closed on Mondays.

From historic sports venues to distinguished teams that have captivated (and at times, enraged) fans all around the world, New York is a city that loves sports. The Big Apple is the only metropolitan area in the United States with more than one team in each of America's four major sports; indeed, New York boasts nine. Baseball is the premier spectator sport in New York, with an intense rivalry between the Mets and Yankees eclipsed only by the legendary rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Basketball, football, and hockey are other popular sports in the city, and the New York City Marathon, held in November, is one of three pre-eminent long-distance running events in the world. The U.S. Open for tennis, held in late August is a world-class event.

If you're walking down a New York City street, you can spot a fashion model checking her reflection in the window of a haute boutique, a gentleman selling designer watches out of a briefcase, a college kid dressed in a chicken suit handing out flyers for promotional pricing on rotisserie poultry, a cab driver leaning out the window and exhaling a stream of expletives at the mail truck abruptly double-parked in the turn lane, all within the throng of office denizens that shuffle along carrying on cell phone conversations, and all within a half block, you've arrived. Welcome to New York City.

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...  Read more »

If you're walking down a New York City street, you can spot a fashion model checking her reflection in the window of a haute boutique, a gentleman selling designer watches out of a briefcase, a college kid dressed in a chicken suit handing out flyers for promotional pricing on rotisserie poultry, a cab driver leaning out the window and exhaling a stream of expletives at the mail truck abruptly double-parked in the turn lane, all within the throng of office denizens that shuffle along carrying on cell phone conversations, and all within a half block, you've arrived. Welcome to New York City.

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.