Take the Elavator not the Stairs! and other New York City, NY Things to Do Tips

On arrival in a city/town i always find it a great idea to get to its highest point, this allows you to get your bearings and normally gives you the best views available.

So we arrive in NYC and its late afternoon, we dump our gear at the pad and head straight for the Empire State Building(ESB), must've been about half 6 or so. Did'nt expect a massive queue though so we made a diplomatic decision and decide to head to a tempting looking pub nearby on the intention that we would enjoy going up to the top at night time, and by what time the queue would've subsided. Best laid plans always seem to work, yeh, thats why we found ourselves waking up the next morning nursing brutal hangovers and having not been back near the ESB.

Haha, so off we go again at about 10.30 am, queue was alot more reasonable so we fire up to the top floor, well worth it despite having a sore head. Views in all directions are breathtaking and you must make sure you have plenty of space on ur digi cam memory card.

Theres a tacky gift shop at the top, just ignore it, overpriced tat. They also try and sell you a few different packages when you are in line waiting for the elevator, again i would advise to avoid, we got the basic lift to the top ticket and found that it more than met our requirments.

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Phone: (212) 947-1360
Address: 350 5th Avenue
Directions: 1, 2, 3 or 9 (Seventh Avenue Lines), A, C or E (Eighth Avenue Subway) to 34th Street/Penn Station.

You can't really missit, its quite tall.
Website: http://www.esbnyc.com/

You will read in all the guidebooks to take the free trip onboard the Staten Island ferry and you should really try and do so, firstly it lets you get as near to the Statue of Liberty as i believe is required and also gives you a stunning view of the Manhattan skyline.

I would advise that you make your way to the opposite end of the ferry you board from quite sharpish in order to get a good vantage point in the open air deck. This area became a bitty crowded as the ferry filled up but we had managed to park ourselves in prime position.

You pass closer to the statue of Liberty on the return journey from Staten Island to Manhattan. We did not hang about for anytime in Staten Island so i could not say wether it would be worth a look around, we decided just to hop right back on the next departing ferry.

We actaully arrived in New York the same week that the Staten Island Ferry crashed into the pier at the Staten Island end, when unfortuantely there were a number of casualties.

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Phone: 718-727-2508
Address: trains N, R, Q & W to Whitehall St.
Directions: Downtown Manhattan
Website: http://www.siferry.com

Your in New York you gotta go to Central Park just for a wander around enjoying the fact that you are in one of the most bustling cities on the planet yet feel like you are in some country park.

Only that when you look up you see towering Skyscrapers, strange.

If you ain't been before then you will be surprised at how exspansive Central Park is, in a word its huge. Anyway just go here and chill, maybe take some nice food with you and have a picnic if the weather suits.

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Address: Big Green Place, Manhattan, NYC
Directions: We entered the park at the Natural History Museum.
Website: http://www.centralpark.org/

This one is almost solely for the architecture, the outside of Grand Central Terminal is not to bad, but once you get inside you will think 'no way is this a train station!!'. The sublime interior of the place is majestic. You would think you are in some grand museum not a friggin train station.

Not to be missed is the food hall at Grand Central, head for the 2 Boots Pizza outlet and grab a slice of mighty fine tasting Pizza with mad toppings.

What more do you want in a 'Train Station'??

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Address: 42nd St & Park Ave.
Directions: Not a hard one to find this.

Home to a city of office workers this place and worth a visit to see the architecture alone, there is an ice skating rink set up here from October time and it is also home to the massive Christmas Tree during the festive period.

Radio City Music Hall is part of the complex.

And there are some dam fine public toilets in the ground floor of the shopping mall, handy to know.

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Address: 47th-51st Streets and between 5th and 6th Avenues.
Directions: B,D,F,V Subways to 47-50th Sts, Rockefeller CenterNot sure on the busses right now. :(

Tourist Central, but a trip to NYC would not be complete without visiting this Iconic sqaure.

Bright Lights, Tacky Shops, overpriced eaterie.....take the good with the bad, it's worth it. And don;t forget to snap up those cut price show tickets and the TKTS booth.

Most people round here will be just like you, a tourist, feeling like they are on the set of a movie.

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Directions: 42nd Street, Brodway & 7th avenue

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Directions: Canal Street stop. From there, proceed by foot through Canal Street and explore the area.

This really is a stunning stunning building, a gothic art deco masterpeice.

Very pleasing on the eye, watch it shimmering in the sun, it really does stand out in the New York skyline. The top portion of the building is covered in stainless steel giving it an almost jewel like effect. Gargoyles jut out and look menancingly downwards toward the street.

The Chrysler building is used as a commercial office tower and was designed by architect William Van Allen and built in the late 1920's completed in 1930. At the time it was the tallest building in the world but only held this title for one year when it was overtaken by the Empire State Building in 1931.

This photo was taken from just outside Grand Central Station, a great area of the city to walk around for the day, seeing spectacle after spectacle.

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Address: 405 Lexington Avenue at 42nd Street
Directions: Midtown Manhattan

Having been to NYC a couple of times before and never had a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge i thought i'd better get it ticked off my list.

Supposedly an amazing feat of engineering, can't say i am to up to speed on these things, for the period when it was built. I joined many others using the elevated walkway over the famous bridge, scene of many a Hollywood movie.

Small tip keep to the left hand side of the walkway as you walk out of Manhattan, the right hand side as you come back to Manhattan cos i seen a few people dam near get run down from enthusiastic cyclists ringing their bells and hollering (the other side of the walkway is reserved for them you see). Fab views of lower Manhattan are to be had with the traffic thundering along a level below the walkway keeping the soundtrack interesting.

I had a pretty tight schedule to keep to and i did noy realise it was such a distance, hence about half way over i double back, i'd give yourself 45 mins each way prob 2 hours altogether to appreciate it fully. I hear there is a great Pizzeria, Grimaldi's and and ICe Cream shop at the Brooklyn side to keep your appetite happy!!

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Address: Lower Manhattan, East Side.
Directions: Take the subway A, C High St. - Brooklyn Bridge or 4,5,6 Brooklyn Bridge.