New York, New York!
“The city that never sleeps”, goes the saying. It’s not even a cliché, I have to say. The whole place just oozes life, and seems to breathe of its own accord. New York is one of those remarkable places that are literally bigger, glitzier and more cultural than you could possibly imagine. Everyone wants to see New York at some stage in their life, having seen this fascinating city on both the big and small screen. I decided to take my family for a 5 night whirlwind trip to the Big Apple in March 2009 and it truly seemed like stepping into a movie.
Most people think of New York City consisting exclusively of Manhattan, and whilst it’s true that the city’s fame has heralded mostly from this borough, we have to remember that Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island, and Brooklyn all make up part of New York’s incredible heritage. Nevertheless, we stayed in midtown Manhattan, only two blocks from the Empire State Building, and discovered that there’s no time to get bored in this colossus of a city. It was highly convenient for the various sights of interest and easy access to the subway.
Of the five boroughs of New York, Manhattan is the most densely populated, and home to most of the city's globally recognised sights, as well as the incredibly beautiful Central Park. The borough is also the financial centre of the city and contains the headquarters of many major worldwide corporations, the United Nations being but one example, as well as a number of leading universities. Also there to see are the many cultural attractions, including numerous museums, the infamous Broadway theatre district, Greenwich Village, and of course, Madison Square Garden.
Manhattan is loosely divided into Lower, Midtown, and Uptown regions. Uptown Manhattan is divided by Central Park into the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, and above the park is Harlem, a quite extraordinarily different area. Having visited the usual great sights of interest; Empire State, Rockerfeller, etc, we felt that there are almost too many world famous landmarks and neighbourhoods; partly reminiscent of London and Paris with their worldwide acclaim, but at times there was almost “pressure” to see everything this great city had to offer. We did everything that’s traditionally “New York”, all pre-planned so we didn’t waste a second! It was so totally different to “normal life” that the most accurate description would have to be magical; you truly feel that you’re in a fairy-tale world where everything is breathtaking and somewhat surreal all at the same time.
Arguably the most stunning way to see New York was the Circle Line cruise around the Manhattan coastline, over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were blessed by good weather on our days out, and that made the cruise a particularly special experience: New York in the cold, crisp spring sun is stunningly handsome from afar. We discovered the vibrancy of the city on our walks around; it’s so energetic that it almost becomes tangible - you can feel it, from the frenetic activity of Times Square and the bright lights of Broadway to the calm serenity of Central Park, an oasis of foliage and greenery that’s particularly pleasing amongst the skyscrapered chaos of the city. Lurking in the meretricious facade of the buildings is the architecture of New York to admire, perhaps not in the same way that one would admire a Parisian panorama, but in a more contemporary style, ranging from the gothic Grand Central Station to the art deco of the Chrysler Building, to the sheer ostentatiousness of the Empire State and Trump towers.
I could sit here for days, describing all the wondrous aspects of New York. There are so many different varieties of people, nightlife, restaurants etc; this city buzzes and throbs like no other. All you need to do is stand on the sidewalk and watch the world go by, and that's entertainment enough! You really can’t go wrong here in Caput Mundi, and all that’s left to say is New York, New York!