Insight Guides Experience New York City (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781786715562
• Topic: Crescita personale
• Subtopic: Viaggi

New York is a fascinating city, packed with iconic sights and an endless array of attractions, from great art to top restaurants and top-rate theatre to unrivalled shopping. Be inspired to visit by the new Insight Guide Experience New York, a beautifully-packaged full-colour guide to one of the world's most exciting cities.
Inside Insight Guide Experience New York:
A brand-new series covering all the very best experiences on offer.
Stunning, colourful photography brings this beautiful city and its people to life.
Local expert authors guide you to authentic New York experiences and fresh discoveries.
A dip-in "In the mood for..." section suggests the best places to go for fine dining, retail therapy, romance and family fun, amongst others.
The neighbourhoods sections contain our selection what to see and do from an insider's perspective, from browsing designer boutiques on the Upper East Side to exploring historic Harlem.
Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around and our Essentials A-Z section give you all the practical information you need for planning a memorable trip.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District

Tagger Yancey IV/NYC & Company

Enjoy the views along the Hudson River from a bike, a pier, or hanging from a trapeze

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Over the past decade, more than $400 million have been poured into converting industrial land and abandoned piers along the Hudson River into the Hudson River Park (www.hudsonriverpark.org) a 5½-mile stretch of parks, bike and pedestrian paths, tennis and basketball courts, and places to fish or launch a kayak. It’s quickly become a favorite escape for nature-starved, stressed-out New Yorkers and tourists. The paths run from Battery Park up to 59th Street, passing more than half a dozen converted piers with green space, outdoor theaters, and benches. But most New Yorkers agree the best stretch lies below 23rd Street.

Pier 45 ([map] A3) is perfect for lying out on the grass and taking in a rare sense of open space. Enjoy the views of the Statue of Liberty and the New Jersey shoreline, a sunset, or watch the river traffic ballet of police and tourist helicopters, tugboats, cruise-ships, and kayaks. The last can be rented for free for 20-minute trips further south at the Downtown Boathouse, Pier 40 (www.downtownboathouse.org, Sat–Sun 9am–6pm, [map] A2), life jackets and brief instruction provided.

For intrepid individuals looking for an upside-down view of the Hudson River, the New York Trapeze School offers 2-hour lessons for about $50–60, also at Pier 40 (tel: 212-242-TSNY; www.newyork.trapezeschool.com; [map] A2).

But one of the best ways to enjoy the new park is on two wheels. Bike rentals are available in Midtown from Pier 84 at 44th Street (www.bikeandroll.com) or at Battery Park ([map] B1).

Relax in St Luke’s Gardens and spot dozens of species of butterflies and birds

Tagger Yancey IV/NYC & Co

Tucked away off Hudson Street around the historic Church of St Luke in the Fields is St Luke’s Gardens, a warren of small green spaces linked by paths which is home to dozens of species of migrating birds and butterflies, blossoming cherry trees in spring, a rose garden, century-old maple trees, and wooden benches for contemplating it all.

These 3 acres of walkways, lawns, and rare plants form one of the more distinctive gardens in the city, in part thanks to the warm microclimate created by the gardens’ southwest orientation and the heat-retaining brick walls surrounding them. Over the years 100 types of birds have been spotted here, as well as 24 types of moths and butterflies, drawn to the berries and flowers planted here.

Enter by the south gate adjacent to the church and follow the paths to secluded areas. One is a small lawn, surrounded by trees and shrubs selected to attract the birds and butterflies. Around the corner from there is an alleyway, planted with 22 cherry trees that blossom in pink and white in mid-April. There are benches throughout, the perfect place to contemplate the greenery and enjoy a coffee or a book.

The gardens are part of the Episcopal St Luke’s School and Church, built in 1820 and the third-oldest church in New York, dedicated to the physician evangelist, in recognition of the Village’s role as a refuge from yellow-fever epidemics. One of the founding wardens of the church was Clement Clarke Moore, a gentleman scholar of biblical Hebrew and Greek who also penned Twas the Night before Christmas.

St Luke in the Fields, 487 Hudson St; [map] B3

Take in the vibe at a Village jazz joint

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These days, Greenwich Village is more upscale enclave than bohemian mecca, but many jazz clubs that opened in the 1960s and even in the ’20s are still going strong, largely thanks to dedicated owners who believe passionately in the cause.

The jazz club that many jazz fans call the greatest in the world is The Village Vanguard (178 Seventh Ave South, tel: [phone], [map] C4) where Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk all played and recorded. The low ceilings and shape of the room make for great acoustics, and its high professional standards have been kept intact since 1935. The space is cramped and a little dingy, but the $30-or-so ticket price (including two drinks) is lower than other high-end jazz clubs like the Blue Note (131 W. 3rd St, tel: [phone], [map] D3) nearby, which also hosts top-of-the-line shows but with a feel that’s more nightclub than jazz joint.

Originally a speakeasy in the 1920s, the unpretentious 55 Bar (55 Christopher St, tel: [phone], [map] C4) is one of the best-kept music secrets in the city. The cover charge ranges from free to $12 for two sets, the drinks are cheap, and musicians love to play here. The up-and-coming jazz, R&B, and jazz-world-folk crossover bands rarely disappoint thanks to the high standards of the owner who runs the club more for creative satisfaction than for profits.

Other authentic places include Smalls (183 West 10th St, tel: [phone], map C4), known for its jams into the wee hours, or Cornelia Street Café (29 Cornelia St, tel: [phone], [map] C3). For top-end experimental jazz, check out Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St, tel: [phone], [map] D2). And for a great traditional jazz brunch go to North Square (103 Waverly Place, tel: [phone], [map] D3) at the Washington Square Hotel, to hear seasoned New York jazz vocalists such as Roz Corral.

Step back into the ’60s and the Village folk scene

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The last cultural hey-day of Greenwich Village was the folk era of the early 1960s, when Bob Dylan crashed onto the international stage, getting his start in small clubs and writing songs in his Village walk-up apartment. Today, most of the traces of that era are gone, but a few remain more or less intact.

The corner of Jones and West 4th Street is a bit like the Ab...