Ten things to do in New York

I find myself in the middle of Times Square in New York City at midnight, marveling at bustling human traffic, glaring neon signs from giant billboards, and brightly lit stores. I feel a rush of adrenaline-my heart was racing, palms were sweating, thoughts scattered. It had just hit me that I’ve finally arrived in a city I’d always dreamt of visiting. After seeing it in countless movies and TV shows, it feels surreal to be finally here.

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There are a million and one things to do in the city, but with only eight short days, I need to plan and prioritize. Here’s my ten to-do list in the Empire State.

1. Visit Times Square

The energy here is indescribable. As early as seven in the morning, gawking tourists fill the Square, capturing the mandatory shot of posing in front of the billboard tower.

There’s a stepped seating area with the Giant Billboard view in the middle of Times Square. At any given time of the day, it brims with crowds. I bought a bagel and coffee one morning and sat at the top of the steps- the perfect place to people and billboard watch. You can never get tired of watching the billboards, a colorful blend of Broadway musicals, shows and brands of all sorts.

If you’re here on a weekday morning, you might even catch the taping of ABC’s live taping of the Good Morning America show.

Times Square is even more captivating at night. The velvet night sky creates the perfect canvas for glittering billboard signs. The crowds get thicker as the night deepens. You tend to lose sense of time, because the illuminated square and throngs of people lend illusion that the night is young. You don’t get the sense to rush off but to linger, but it could easily be 2am.

 Tip: If you think you spotted Snoop Dogg lurking around a corner, you most likely didn’t.  There’s a Snoop Dogg impersonator who bears an uncanny resemblance to the rapper and got many fooled. I spotted him one night, surrounded by adoring fans rushing to take a photo with him. He’s not the real deal because I saw him a few nights in a row, wearing the same clothes, standing at the same corner, in front of the Sephora store.

 

2. Take a Walk in Central Park

I entered the park for the first time and everything looks familiar- I’ve seen so much of it in movies that it feels I’ve been here before.  There are bicycle paths for cyclists, separated from the jogging lanes, and pockets of grass fields for picnic and play. Then there is this wondrous lake that gives a beautiful view of the city skyline.

If you don’t have time to linger, just head to The Bethesda Fountain and Terrace.  Featured in movies, TV series and books, I feel it’s the prettiest part of the park. The Angel of the Waters Fountain at the lower terrace level is a quaint respite from the concrete jungle surrounding the park. The aged look and color of the Angels sculpture adds an air of mystery to fountain. I was strangely mesmerized by it.

Tip: To take unobstructed shots of the Bethesda Fountain, come early. Once it hits noon, the crowds descend and your shots might be peppered with random strangers and errant children. 

3. Visit a Museum

There are plenty of museums in New York City. If time doesn’t permit, do at least one. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) ranks at the top.

One of the largest museums in the world, it packs over 5,000 years of culture. The Greek and Roman Galleries are the most captivating. Giant carved marbles of royalty, the suffering, and the dead lined along this gallery built according to the theme.

There’s also an Arms and Armor Gallery, showcasing a sparkling display of amusing-looking armors and varying guns and spears.  The medieval Art gallery, housed in a hall beautifully themed, is sadly lacklustre.

 

Next to visit is the American Museum of Natural History.

Here, you can find anything from Space to the earth’s core. My favorite is the fossil halls.

The wide collection of dinosaur fossils is a definite eye opener. It’s amazing how these giant creatures once roamed and ruled the earth. And this is the only place to see so many of the remains of these magnificent creatures.

 

The Milstein Hall of Ocean Life is another stunner. Forming the centrepiece in its hall is a 94-foot long giant blue whale, hung from the ceiling. Videos, interactive displays and beautifully restored ocean dioramas are dotted around the hall.

If you have time for three museums, visit MOMA- the Museum of Modern Art. It’s called by some one of the most influential museums in the world, with works dating from the 1800s too now. Some of the world’s most creative art reside here. You can stay hours in here, just marvelling at the works of great artists like Pollock, Van Gogh, Mattisse, Warhol, Haring and more. Designed by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, The MOMA building itself is a conversation piece.

4. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge

I’ve been told by a handful of people if I ever visit New York to stroll along the Brooklyn Bridge. So I did. A common fixture in movies, I thought I wouldn’t be impressed by it. It’s after all, just a bridge. Up close, there’s a lot of marvel about. That is, if you manage to get to the bridge’s walking path. Its surrounding area is being hoarded up for renovation.

There’s only a dubious makeshift sign on a piece of cardboard pointing earnest bridge-walkers in the direction of a questionable path. I took the leap of faith and did find myself at the beginning of the bridge, staring at the web of steel wires holding it up.

It’s the first steel-wire suspension bridge to ever be built, and 129 years later, it still stands sturdy. It’s mind-boggling how the structure can be held together by steel wires and limestone and granite. In its lifetime, it has carried horse-drawn carriages and trolley traffic. It currently has six lanes of traffic to and fro between Manhattan and Brooklyn. If you walk to the center of the bridge, you can catch a gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline.

Tip: Morning and evening views at the Brooklyn Bridge differ greatly. Sunrise views at Brooklyn Bridge lend an inspiring start to the day, with its yellow-orange hue casting a golden veil over the skyline; while the twilight scene gives a more mysterious and magical feel. Visit the bridge twice to experience a different view of the city.

5. Go to the top of the Empire State Building

It’s always a debate on which gives a more spectacular view, the Empire State Building or Rockafeller Centre. To me, it’s pretty clear. The Top of the Rock may offer a calming view of Central Park, but if you want an aerial view of the Empire State, you have to visit the building named after it. The Observatory deck gives a 360 degree view of the city. The active streets below are seen but not heard. From the 86^th storey, they are only soft murmurs. Like the Brooklyn Bridge, both day and night views are different. In the day, the view from the top shows a greyish city, except for that one illuminated spot of flashing billboard signs, and yellow ants crawling around the city grid. At night, the city lights up like fireflies in the dark and the city is still as busy.

Tip: For day visits, try to make it as early as possible, the queue to get to The Observatory Deck can be a long wait of two hours. Anytime between 11am to 8pm is peak period to get to the top. For night visits, the Deck closes at 2am and the last visiting time is at 1:15am. The queue is around half hour at midnight.

6. Get up close with the Statue of Liberty

I always thought Lady Liberty is an imposing woman, but up close, she’s quite petite. From Battery Park, you get a glimpse of her on Liberty Island, a tiny green figure staring out into the open sea, if it’s not foggy. A short 20-minute Ferry will take you to her, where you can take an audio tour around the tiny island and learn about how this Mother of Exiles landed here.

Ordinarily, you could climb up her head, but the lady is undergoing some cosmetic changes for her 125^th anniversary. At the foot of the statue, you get to appreciate the expert craftsmanship of this Freedom symbol. Her cloak looks as if it’s bellowing in the wind. Her features are an aristocratic sharp and her arms beautifully crafted. Hollow on the inside, this iconic statue is created out of copper. The seafoam green she now spots is a result of oxidized copper. There’s also a different view of the Manhattan city skyline here , compared to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Tip: Do not visit on weekends. The crowds taking the ferry are five times longer than weekdays. And try to buy your tickets before the actual day of visit. Otherwise you’d have to double your queuing time. You can easily get tickets in the city, at the Visitor’s Center.

7. Watch a Broadway Musical

You’ve not really been to New York if you didn’t catch a musical or two. And there are plenty to choose from. There are the classics like The Lion King, Chicago, Mama Mia and Wicked, and then there are the new ones like Spiderman: Turn off the Dark, Bring it On: The Musical (why would there be a musical for this is a mystery to me), Sister Act, Rock of Ages and Evita. The best case scenario is that you catch a classic and a new production. The former because the quality of the cast is superb, you are guaranteed a phenomenal time. And you’d want to also catch a more recent production because a contemporary take on musicals may be refreshing. I caught Spiderman: Turn off the Dark and loved it. The most expensive musical production, the show sees Peter Parker doing cartwheels in the air and hurtled himself across the stage and right above the audience. It’s like an acrobatic show and musical rolled into one. With music by Bono and The Edge from U2, this new breed of musical measures up the classics with its uniqueness.

Tip: Tickets to musicals are not cheap, especially when you intend to catch more than one. It’s not unusual for visitors to wait in line directly outside the theater on show days to try their luck on getting discounted tickets. There is however, no guarantee. It depends on the ticket sales for the day. Another way is to wait in line at the TKTS booth at Times Square (TKTS Discount Booths). The queue here may take up to three hours. But this allows you to go for your second choice if you can’t get your first. TKTS sells tickets to both Broadway and Off Broadway shows. However, my favorite way to get tickets is go straight to the Visitor’s Center. There, the staff are able to get discounts ranging from 30%- 60%, depending on the popularity of the show you’re after. No queue, no hassle. They print a discount coupon for you, and you just head to the desired theater and get your tickets.

8. Walk the High Line

I read that it’s a walkway, a garden park, a place to chill out, and an oasis to escape to. Sounds like a lot to live up to for a former elevated New York Central Railroad. But it really is all that. The one-mile High Line Park runs from Gansevoort Street, three blocks below West 14th Street, in the Meatpacking District, up to 30th Street, through the neighborhood of Chelsea to the West Side Yard. Open from 7 am to 10 pm, different sections of the walkway offer different views of the city.

Each section is unique. There’s a portion resembling a mini theater with tiered seating, except your show is the ongoing traffic from the street below you visible through a glass panel where a stage should be. There are deck chairs in another section, where you can lounge and catch a tan. At another section, you can roll around the long grass patch, or just relax with a good book in hand. The bridge also has cafes and stalls selling food, making it an ideal spot to catch up with friends. I’ve never seen anything as refreshing as this before.

Tip: In Summer, try walking on the High Line either early in the morning or in the late afternoons to evening. The sun might be too harsh for an afternoon stroll, unless your intention was to get a tan.

9. Visit the Grand Central Station

I took the subway to The Grand Central Station. The moment I emerged to the surface level, it’s like stepping into a movie set, because the station is yet another main fixture in movies. Titles like The Fisher King, Conspiracy Theory, I Am Legend and Hackers spring to mind. The largest station in the world, the station has an old school charm and an air of mystery to it. I stood right in the center, watching lines of people scurrying about, rushing to their next train. It makes an interesting sight. The architecture here is amazing, remember to look up at the ceiling and admire the design conceived by Paul César Helleu, a French portrait artist. The station serves more than a place of commute. It has a dining concourse and a market selling produce.

Tip: If you want to learn more about the history behind the Grand Central Station, there is an audio tour available at the Main Concourse where you can roam the place and get all the details and insights of its architecture and development.

10. Visit the 9/11 Memorial

There is a new World Trade Center being built right now, called One World Trade Center. It was previously known as Freedom Tower.  Next to it is the 9/11 Memorial. Visitors can visit the memorial, but you must reserve a pass first at the Memorial Preview Center. Yes, it all sounds a bit confusing. You take the subway to the Fulton Street and when you get out, there isn’t any sign pointing you to the Preview Site/ Center to collect passes to visit the memorial site. There are only huge signs pointing you to the memorial site, only to be told you need a pass with a designated visitation time. Then you turn around the hunt for the Preview Center, a small inconspicuous place easily missed.

Near this preview center is also a museum commemorating the victims. Between you and me, I’d say save the effort lining up for passes to visit the memorial unless you really want to, just visit the museum will do. The exhibits are powerful enough to convey the ugliness of the terrorist act.

And that’s how I spent eight precious days in New York. In between, there was also a lot of eating, plenty of shopping and a whole lotta walking. How would you spend a week in New York City?

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