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| The Statue of liberty |
This American icon and the most prominent landmark in New York is situated on the Liberty Island and the the work of a great French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. Following his trip to New York in order to select the location of the sculpture, he spent ten years in Paris carefully making the figure that is more than 150 feet tall. The sculpture was then transferred to New York and revealed in 1886. Gustave Eiffel is the author of the iron skeleton, whereas the outer layer is made of copper that has turned green over the time.
Due to recent introduction of stiff security measures the tourists are no longer allowed to go up to the Statue and enjoy the view of the city. The only possibility left is to admire the artwork from the bottom through a specially designed ceiling made of glass. New York Harbor can best be seen from the Liberty island which is usually visited together with Ellis Island in the vicinity. If you are wondering how to get here - ferries depart form Battery Park every half an hour between half past nine and half past 3 in the afternoon. These hours are extended during summer. The most convenient subway stations are Bowling Green and South Ferry.
The nearby Ellis Island is reachable if you decide to pay a visit to the old Lady Liberty (derived from Libertas, a Roman Goddess of freedom of slavery), because Ellis is the second ferry stop right after Liberty Island. This used to be the first immigration stop of the United States between 1892 and 1954 where more than ten million people first sensed what the New World feels like. Ellis Island is home to an Immigration Museum that used to be a building dedicated to immigration issues. The official museum web site is www.ellisisland.com. The museum is full of immigrant history retelling their experiences and impressions.
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| A detail of the Wall Street |
The Street got its name from the wooden barrier that Dutch settlers constructed mid 17th century. It had the purpose of protecting Nieuw Amsterdam from the British and the Native Americans. This street in Lower Manhattan became the symbol of financial power of the United States. The street has several stock exchanges like NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX and NYMEX, although many firms that used to have headquarters on the premises are now stationed in other boroughs like New Jersey, Westchester county or Long Island. New York Stock Exchange (20 Broad Street (at Wall Street)) is the most important institution of this kind in the world, and visitors are sadly not allowed to the first floor anymore, due to security issues.
This is a beautiful 18th century building that has a large statue of George Washington who took the oath here as the first United States President (the building itself is not original but the location is). Bowling Green Park is home to two museums: the National Museum of the American Indian and the Museum of American Financial History. Just up from Broadway from the American Indian Museum is a African Burial Ground discovered by accident during a downtown office building construction in 1991.
Besides being hip for its in restaurants, super expensive apartments and see-and-be-seen crowd, Tribeca is home to the biggest collection of Federal architecture. Built between 1804 and 1829, houses in the area around Harrison Street west of Greenwich Street are a beautiful example of the remaining architectural wonders of New York. Tribeca is also home to the famous Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca film Center where visitors can attend to various special projects on the premises.
This another 'in' New York district that has taken its name from first letters of its geographical position: SOuth of HOuston. The area is abundant in robust industrial buildings built right after the Civil War, when the area used to be the center of New York's commerce. Besides being perfect in terms of shopping for knitwear, jewelry and clothes, it is also home to a hundred years old building hosting the New York City Fire Museum.
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| Little Italy around 1900, Mulberry Street |
These old ethnic enclaves are located just north of the Financial district of New York. Little Italy is famous for its Old St Patrick's Cathedral that became the first Roman Catholic cathedral at the beginning of the 19th century up until 1878. Another attraction is the Ravenite Social Club in Mulberry Street that is a vivid memory of the mob era of New York. Little Italy is still a thriving Italian community although locals think that the real Little Italy is actually Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.
Chinatown remains a cultural and social center of New York's Chinese population where more than 120,000 people currently live. This minisociety commonly operates without a single word of English. The area is also populated by a lot of Vietnamese people who came here some twenty years ago and among other things opened some of the finest and cheapest restaurants in New York. The essence of Chinatown can best be captured simply by walking through its vibrant streets and trying food from cheap restaurants and street stalls while taking a break from enjoying fragrancies coming from nearby herbal shops scattered along the streets. Of course this is not the only thing that can be seen there - if you are interested in getting to know the history of Chinese people in the United States then head to 70 Mulberry Street to a museum dedicated in preserving Chinese cultural heritage. The official website of the museum is www.moca-nyc.org and for a mere five dollars take a stroll through Chinese history in America. Visiting Columbus Park early in the morning is an excellent way of seeing how locals live.
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum 90 Orchard Street at Broome Street offers a heartbraking story about the rich heritage that countless immigrants brought through the gateway of America, the Lower East Side. Their goal is promoting tolerance and respect of both immigrants and between them.
Eldrigde Street Synagogue in 12 Eldrigde St was constructed in 1887 and was home to more than a thousand worshipers on the High Holidays, but due to strict immigrant laws the number decreased rapidly in the 1920s. The Sinagogue has been undergoing restoration for years and now only serves the purpose of late Friday and early Saturday worships. Tours are available for 5 dollars on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays form 11:30am to 2:30pm and on Sundays from 11am to 4pm.
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| Washington Square Arch, New York City. March 2001 |
Greenwich Village (although this is not the name the locals use) once used to be a thriving artistic community with a bohemian mood surrounding the neighborhood. Nowadays it is believed that the most of artists moved to Williamsburg and Bushwick because of extremely high rent prices in the area. Locals are nevertheless very proud of their rich history that is being preserved until the present day through various bookstores, inns, museum and theaters. West Village is known for being the leader in gay liberation movement as well as housing the famous Beat Generation that spread their unstoppable energy in the area.
The northern part of the park is home to a famous landmark known as The Arch, designed by Stanford White in 1889, a well-known social architect. The Park is the center of the Greenwich Village community.
Sheridan Square and Christopher Street Pier
These two locations honor gay population in various manners - a street located a block East of the famous Stonewall Inn is officially named named Gay Street while the square is actually a park with white sculptures honoring gay pride movement that was born in the nearby Inn. Christopher Street Pier used to be an all-gay meeting place but recently all kinds of people come to the premises to enjoy a walk down along the riverside, especially after the Pier was renovated and embellished by flowers, green grass and benches.
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| The Flatiron Building in a photograph of 1904, taken by Edward Steichen |
This small district is roughly located in the area between Union Square, Greenwich Village and 14th Street to the south; Gramercy neighborhood to the east; Chelsea and Sixth Ave to the west and Midtown South and 28th Street to the north. It is home to the famous Flatiron Building, a triangular shaped edifice that used to be the world's tallest until 1909. The nearby Museum of Sex depicts the inseparable stories of sex and New York City.
Empire State Building is a prominent symbol of the New York city's skyline. It is located in 350 Fifth Ave at East 34th Street. The edifice is 1452 feet high and it used to be the tallest building in the world in the period between 1931 and 1977. It was built in a relatively short period of 410 days and it cost around 40 million dollars back in the day. The biggest attraction are the 86th and 102nd floor observatories. If you do not like long lines, try to make it up the either early in the morning or at night when the view is really romantic. Make sure you buy your ticket ahead.
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| Chrysler Building |
The most prominent New York square has forgotten about its past packed with prostitution and drug abuse and it is currently being reborn under the old name 'Crossroads of the World'. Home to sixty megabillboards and 64 kilometers of neon, Times Square has over 27 million people coming to see it every year. The location is informally New York's theater center with many productions being played every day.
Grand Central Station is located in 42nd Street at Fifth Avenue and is the symbol of cross-country traveling in the United States, although it now serves mainly just for commuting. Built in 1913, the station is still the biggest in the world in terms of the the number of platforms. Its real name is actually Grand Central Terminal, but people prefer to call it a station or rather, Grand Central. The colloquial name is the name of the nearby post office.
The edifice is a beautiful example of art-deco completed by William Van Alen in 1930. It used to be the tallest in the world for a short period of time (from completion until 1931 when it was surmounted by the Empire State Building). However, it still remains the highest brick-built building in the world. The American Institute of Architects ranked it ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture in 2007. New York Public Library, Rockafeller Center and Radio City Music Hall are also an important part of New York's historical and cultural heritage showcasing beautiful features of Art Deco and Beaux-arts-style.
Besides being THE shopping area of the United States and possibly of the entire world, it is also the home of St Patrick's Cathedral that is the official bishopric of more than two million Catholic people in New York. The United Nations Building is a rich source of priceless artwork from around the world. They include stained-glass window by Marc Chagall and the Japanese peace bell that rings at two separate occasions every year; on the official start of Spring and on the opening days of annual session of the General Assembly every September.
The square is home to New York General Post Office beautifully built in beaux-arts-style decorated with a long row of Corinthian columns. Many museums are in the are as well.
| Central Park, New York |
This park is one of the main reasons of falling in love with New York because it offers a getaway from crowded and chaotic streets, unbearable traffic and the noise that comes with it. This huge park has 340 hectares and it was landscaped by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux in at the end of the nineteenth century. The park closely resembles nature because of its informal and almost shuffled scenery that includes both small forests, cosy lawns and natural-looking ponds. The park has an area dedicated to John Lennon whose apartment was overlooking the Park ('Strawberry fields'). a theater (Delacorte) and a zoo, perfect for ones who are traveling with children.
Besides being home to breathtaking architecture and some lovely green areas, this side of Manhattan also has the oldest museum in the city, New York Historical Society. The nearby Lincoln Center is a complex of theaters built during 1960s decorated by grande chandoliers and Chagall paintings.
This is where the concentration of cultural activities is greatest in all of New York City. Fifth Avenue above 57th Street is also called 'The Museum Mile' with the most prominent being Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of the City of New York.
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| Pedestrian lane of Brooklyn Bridge |
This famous American symbol is the first steel suspension bridge in the world. it is almost two kilometers long and it crosses over the East River connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan. Before being formally called Brooklyn Bridge by the city government in 1915, the bridge was named the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Crossing the bridge on a path intended for pedestrians and bicycles offers a beautiful view of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Another attraction worth seeing is a set of illustrations depicting various vistas from the bridge in several eras of old New York. You can get to the bridge from Exit 28B of the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway or coming from either Tillary and Adams Streets or Sands and Pearl Streets.
Prospect Park
The park was designed by the same artists that designed Central Park (Vaux and Olmsted) and it is considered to be their greatest achievement. The main attractions are the children's museum, a zoo, ice-skating area and boating. The Park is also home to the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, an impressive sight during spring blossoming.
The Bronx offers numerous sites and tourist attractions within a small area. First of all, there is the 'Real Little Italy' located along Arthur and Belmont Avenue. It is also home to the New York Botanical Garden as well as the Bronx Zoo that is said to be one of the biggest and most progressive ones in the world. The Woodlawn cemetery is prominent for being the burial ground of notable American icons like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and many more. Visitor guides are available from the Bronx Tourism Council. The Yankee Stadium is located in 161 Street at River Avenue.
