Recommended NYC Sights:
Posted: Nov 25, 2012 | 9:21 PM
by Jared Goldstein
New and returning visitors to New York City frequently ask how to plan their tour. Some only have a few hours.
Here is a fun suggested list to help us plan the best tour for you.
Look at all three lists. Note what you want to see and how long you want to be there. Do you want just a picture, or do you want to explore it?
Don't be daunted by the number of sites. Some of them are on there twice, just with different names. For example, seeing the Time Warner Center means that you are experiencing Columbus Circle. If you still have no idea, I can create a tour for you.
If we go with an experienced driver, we can visit more sites. I can arrange this.
Three Apple Sights - are the most commonly requested, easiest to get to by foot and public transit, and sometimes can be experienced rapidly (15-150 minutes, depending on what you want):
Brooklyn Bridge - a view can be five minutes, a walk across thirty minutes
Central Park
Empire State Building
FAO Schwartz
Fifth Avenue
Flatiron Building
Macy’s
New York Harbor
New York Public Library
Rockefeller Center
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Statue of Liberty view
Theater District / Broadway
Times Square
Wall Street and the Financial District
World Trade Center
Two Apple Sights – commonly requested and easy to get to
by foot and public transit; may take a bit more time to experience (30-180+ minutes):
Battery Park
Bryant Park
Cathedral of St John the Divine
Charging Bull
Chelsea Market
Chinatown and Little Italy
Colonial & Early American
Columbia University
Columbus Circle
Dakota Apartment Building
Federal Hall
Grand Central
Greenwich Village
Harlem
High Line
Lincoln Center
Lower East Side
Madison Square
Meatpacking District
Museum Mile
National 911 Memorial
New York University
St Paul’s Chapel
SoHo
Strawberry Fields
Subways
Time Warner Center
Trinity Church
View of Manhattan from Brooklyn
Woolworth Building
Washington Square
One Apple Sites – Popular or wonderful sights that take
a bit more time to get to or experience:
American Museum of Natural History
Brooklyn Heights
DuMBO
East Village
Gospel Singing at a Baptist Church
Guggenheim Museum
Lincoln Center
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum Mile
South Street Seaport
Statue of Liberty from the Harbor
United Nations
View from the Top of a Skyscraper
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Just because an attraction has more apples than another does not make it more worth visiting. If you are an ‘Honorary New Yorker,' a returning guest, exploring the fewer-apple-sights is a great idea. If you like visiting places off the beaten track, fewer apples are appealing.
If you like visiting the places that New Yorkers like, fewer apples are great, too.
There are two common New York
sayings:
“I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never been to
the top of the Empire State Building,” or
“I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never been to the Statue of Liberty!”
In addition, there are many sites with no apples that are not listed here that are so good but only the most intrepid travelers visit, such as sites in the ‘Outer Boroughs.’
These are often sites that even New Yorkers don’t know about or have only vaguely heard of, and then they think ‘I really should go there...’ The Bronx’ Van Cortlandt House is an original 18th century home. In Astoria, Queens you can experience a dozen countries’ cuisines.
Did you know:
Until 1898, Brooklyn was a separate twin city to New York (now just Manhattan, which is what most people think of as New York City)?
Brooklyn or Queens each would be the third largest cities in the United States?
Brooklyn is the most populous borough, or county, of NYC?
Some think that Brooklyn is the most interesting part of New York City?
Manhattan is 8% of the area of New York City?
In addition, I specialize in themed tours listed here http://www.jaredthenyctourguide.com/destinations.htm .
Seeing or visiting a three apple sight may enable seeing or experiencing sites with fewer apples.
Taxi Cabs, if available, can allow for more sights.