Chelsea, West Village, Meatpacking and Garment Districts
One of the most beautiful sections of the city (save the Garment District, sorry to say), the western portion of Downtown above Houston Street and West of Fifth Avenue is known for its townhouses, art scene, campus life – as New York University does encircle historic Washington Square Park – and yuppie-acquired gay flourishes. (The gay community tends to doll up their ’hoods, thrive, then move on to the next spot when too many straight folks start horning in on their territory. These days, it’s all about Hell’s Kitchen.)The West Village features a delightfully confusing maze of streets, some boasting cobblestone, and most offering incredible scenery – tree-lined, with brownstones and things like flags or window boxes (delightful!). These streets were paved in the early 1800s before the city’s grid plan was put into effect, and are an incredibly chic place to get lost.
The neighborhood boasts the picturesque Abingdon Square and the High Line project (what will be an elevated green space on former elevated train tracks); and – at its westernmost point - the marvelous Christopher Street piers. The northern portion that bridges the West Village to Chelsea is the Meatpacking District – a formerly gritty section where animals died by day and trannies tricked by night. But now, it houses pricey, trendy boutiques, hotels, and restaurants, and attracts tastemakers who love the irony of the locale.
Chelsea, meanwhile, is one of the most diverse charming areas in town, with its row houses, galleries, and fabled “Chelsea boys” (muscular gay men who flock to Eighth Avenue and trade on the stereotypes of physical perfection, youthful attire, and house music).
Chelsea Piers sits along the water, and numerous cafés and hotspots give the area a magnetic appeal.
To its north is the Garment District… the epicenter of the city’s clothing industry and a very vital neighborhood that’s coming a long way these days as Chelsea’s influence expands north.
Still, unless you’re hitting Macy’s, the Manhattan Mall, or Madison Square Garden, don’t expect too much – although next year it could be a whole new story.
Flatiron, Noho and the East Village
Some say that you’re either an “east side person” or a “west side person.” While we love each half of the city equally, like the diplomatic parents of two very different children, the east side of Manhattan – particularly the East Village, Union Square, and the Flatiron District – possesses such unique, enlivening virtues that we can’t help but beam with pride and pledge our allegiance.As for the East Village – what is now an affluent expanse of personality-packed stores, eateries, and institutions used to be, well, dangerous, categorized by drug deals, seedy goings-on, and unbridled, raw artistic expression. A longtime haven for artists and musicians who moved east to “keep it real,” this neighborhood housed some of the most legendary music clubs and bars – most of which have buckled under the pressure of skyrocketing rents. (R.I.P. CBGBs.)
The scene along First and Second Avenues, not to mention around Alphabet City – Avenues A, B, C, and D, between 14th Street and Houston – is often electric, characterized by its alternative residents and boundary-pushing establishments. (Do note, however, that some of the city’s very best cuisine can be found here, too.)
The East Village gives way to Union Square Park at 14th Street, bordered by Park Avenue South, Broadway, and 17th Street. Here, Manhattanites of every stripe check each other out, decompress, chow down, protest (many city protests and demonstrations start or end here), and – in sunnier months – chill out on the grass or the block-long stairs that face 14th Street.
All the while, the city’s hub of transportation exists underneath the park, connecting most of the city’s subway lines. Then there is the famous greenmarket, a beloved outdoor emporium where we cityfolk get to sample and take home the finest produce, honey, breads, and flowers driven in from the rural areas. Do check out the famous George Washington statue, or chill out in Ghandi’s Garden.
To its north, the Flatiron District – named for the historic triangular Flatiron Building at the intersection of 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway – is where many of the city’s top furniture stores (such as ABC Carpet & Home) and printing houses reside, not to mention a host of chic businesses up and down Park Avenue South.
To its east – at the northern point of beautiful Irving Place – the city’s fabled, fenced-in private park, Gramercy Park, inspires envy in the passing masses without the privilege of a key. (Those are reserved for park-adjacent residents and guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel.) Further north is Murray Hill – running all the way up to 42nd Street and Grand Central Station – with its many Indian establishments, the neighborhoods of Kips Bay and Tudor City, some noteworthy places to grab grub (Penelope on Lexington and 30th Street is adorable), and, of course, the Empire State Building.
Midtown East and the Upper East Side
Above 42nd Street on the east side of Fifth Avenue, the terrain begins to change… There’s Grand Central Terminal and the confusing section of avenues that bend to accommodate it. Vanderbilt Avenue appears for a few blocks, Madison Avenue takes on a whole new feel, and Park Avenue becomes an extra wide thoroughfare with flower-rich medians separating the directions of traffic. Big business is everywhere – as is evidenced by the millions of suits that pound this pavement.The United Nations Headquarters is tucked off the east, right on the East River, as is the historic apartment complex Tudor City. As the 40s meet the 50s, Sutton Place appears along the river, as well – a swanky, exclusive stretch of park-flanked streets. Further up, where Midtown East becomes the Upper East Side, the Queensboro Bridge can be found as can the Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Manhattan to the two-mile long island community of Roosevelt Island.
Further to the center of the island, things get very hoity-toity. Ritzy doesn’t begin to describe the Upper East Side – considered the most concentrated pocket of wealth in the US, with the 10021 zip code being the most expensive real estate in the world – with its many museums, historic townhouses, prohibitively expensive restaurants, and dazzling shops within which you can blow lots and lots of money.
Featuring everything highbrow – restaurants like Daniel and Orsay; artistic institutions like the Whitney, the Met (right), and the Guggenheim; iconic private schools like Chapin and Dalton – the UES is seen as a bastion of gentility – particularly by its own well-funded residents. A rather beautiful neighborhood to stroll is Carnegie Hill, from the mid-80s through the 90s between Fifth and Third Avenues, with their gorgeous, single-family residences. Oh, and if you have an emergency in this hood, take comfort by the fact that half of the city’s hospitals are close by.
Of course, a major element of the neighborhood’s charms is Central Park. Upper East Siders love that they can call this sprawling, verdant expanse their “back yard.” UES residents are constantly enjoying the park’s bike trails, running paths, picturesque fountains, lakeside spots, concert series, playgrounds, and meadows.
Particularly entertaining is the “meat market” scene in Sheep’s Meadow that heats up as soon as summer temperatures arrive. A sea of sexy, single folk – or those who wish they were single – flock there to work on their tan lines, cavort, and flirt like mad people. If it’s a hottie you’re after, this is the place to scope out your options.
Midtown West and the Upper West Side
There’s a reason why, upon the mention of New York, most out-of-towners picture the following: Times Square’s neon, the monolithic skyscrapers of Avenue of the Americas (also known as Sixth Avenue), Rockefeller Center’s ice skaters, Carnegie Hall’s majesty, the Rockettes’ high kicks, Lincoln Center’s fairytale fountain (thank you, Moonstruck), and the hyperactive applause at the conclusion of a Broadway show.This area – the west side of the city, from 42nd Street up to Harlem – offers residents and visitors a million ways to experience New York at its most pure, in all of its hyper metropolitan grandeur. The Theater District – which includes a thoroughly scrubbed, tourist-friendly Times Square – is frenetic and inspiring, with its myriad theaters offering flashy stage plays and musicals.
Although at times it feels like a raw nerve, Times Square possesses an awe-inspiring energy that has to be felt, at least once. Here, you will also find an ever-increasing number of reputable restaurants, particularly as you continue west. The gay community has settled into this area, known as Hell’s Kitchen, and inspired many new establishments – bars, eateries, coffee shops, boutiques - to roll out their awnings.
At 59th Street, a couple of blocks up from Carnegie Hall, you’ll come upon Columbus Circle – America’s first traffic circle – and the most recent landmark to grace the Manhattan skyline, the Time Warner Center. This striking complex, with its luxury shops and world-class cuisine, is definitely worth a visit.
Further west, you’ll find majestic entertainment at the Lincoln Center, while up the park sits the marvelous American Museum of Natural History – an absolute blast for folks of all ages. Not to ignore the obvious, Central Park is there at your disposal – and if you get peckish as you traverse this marvelous expanse of green, the Central Park Boathouse or legendary Tavern on the Green (reserve first) will fit the bill nicely.
Further up and west, it’s all about gorgeous side streets, happy urban families, wider avenues, and – as you reach Morningside Heights, just above100th Street – the Ivy League influence of Columbia University. Spanning the area, along the river, are the Hudson River Park and Riverside Park – you’ll be wise to spend a little time there.
So, take our advice…When you want to sink your teeth into the Big Apple, head northwest, young travelers.
Lower East Side, Nolita, Soho, Tribeca, Little Italy and the Financial District
Welcome to Downtown Manhattan! There is so much to see, do, eat, smell, touch, and – yes – buy that we hardly know where to begin. Why not Houston Street, since that is the dividing line we’ve chosen. Houston (pronounced House-ton, not Hue-ston) Street is one of the city’s busiest – and widest – thoroughfares in town, above which is NoHo (North of Houston) and below which is SoHo (South of Houston).SoHo was the longtime artistic heart of the city, where the bohemian set seduced high society from their cheap, airy lofts. Nowadays, it’s a prohibitively pricey nabe, off-limits to most everyone but the wealthiest or those lucky enough to find rent-stabilized apartments. Lined with designer shop after designer shop, it is one of the most attractive places to while away the hours in town, with plenty of expensive eateries to duck into with shopping bags in tow.
Nolita borders Soho to the east, starting at Lafayette Street, and essentially plays the role of Soho’s funkier younger sister. The boutiques and eateries here are artsier and more indie spirited, though don’t be fooled into thinking that means less expensive. Little Italy used to be much larger, but now it’s essentially a touristy strip of Mulberry Street. Sad.
What was Little Italy is mostly now Chinatown, as that community has absolutely exploded – in fact it’s the largest grouping of Chinese immigrants in the Western Hemisphere. Around Allen Street Chinatown gives way to what is known today as the Lower East Side, severely hip in its northern regions and slightly less gentrified to the south (though that changes by the second these days).
To Soho’s south and west is Tribeca (the Triangle Below Canal), a longtime industrial neighborhood that in recent years has become the go-to destination for monied hoity-toits who love the privacy and spacious real estate it provides. There are some great eateries and bars popping up all over the place, too. Then, at the southern tip of the island is the Financial District, Wall Street and such, home to Battery Park, South Street Seaport, the Stock Exchange, and some very cool architecture.
The street you live on – or even better, the street you shop and party on – really says a lot about you when you get down here. Mistakenly call a Nolita resident a Soho resident and fire will flash in their eyes. God forbid you mistake Tribeca for the Financial District. And yes, there are edges on the Lower East Side that, without warning, will land you in the center of Chinatown. Do get a map, kids… but even then, be prepared to roll with the punches.
New York City
Welcome to New York City – the ‘Big Apple’, the ‘Melting Pot’, ‘Gotham’, the ‘Empire City’, the ‘City that Never Sleeps’ and what we affectionately call the ‘City That’s Seen It All’. And we’re not talking in a tired, old prostitute way. We’re talking a true cradle of culture, the world’s greatest walking city where citizens of every nation – speaking every tongue – come to find their place and prosper.It’s a place where excellence – in terms of art, business, media, finance, fashion… everything – is not just a possibility, it’s an expectation. If you touch down in this frenetic burg and give it a fair shot, it might just change your life. But if you come expecting a metallic version of your hometown, you’re better off taking your hard-earned vacation dollars and hitting some lower impact city like Allentown, Pennsylvania, a.k.a. ‘Cement City’, or better yet a Club Med.
Comprised of five boroughs – the Bronx, Brooklyn (below), Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island – New York City is the most densely populated city in world, with over 8.1 million residents pounding its pavement, causing its neighborhoods to change like water over rock, and indulging in the purity of its seasons. (Winter here means heavy coats and slushy sidewalks; summer means breaking a sweat and taking refuge in air conditioned cabs and boutiques.
Spring is out of a storybook, and the autumn – with its fallen leaves on the parks and stoops and cool, mollifying breeze – offer its citizens a reminder every day how lucky they are to have landed here.) There are many different kinds of cities overlapping one another all the time… It’s the New York of Woody Allen films as much as it is that of Edith Wharton novels.
The traders on Wall Street, the vendors along Canal Street, the gallerists of Chelsea, the socialites of the Upper East Side, the restaurateurs, cab drivers, shop owners, Broadway performers, tycoons, artists, authors… Each person has a distinct story to tell, one that could only have come to life here.
As far as the good life goes, there is no finer place to chase down your dreams or indulge your fantasies. Countless restaurants, boites, and shops are yours for the discovering… Neighborhoods boast their own distinctive charms, and the fact that everyone walks everywhere makes it the most interactive place you’re likely to experience.
Those who think it’s only about Times Square and Midtown’s skyscrapers need to cover some more territory – hit the cobblestone in the West Village, cozy up in a Nolita café, roll in Central Park’s grass, or take in the sunset over the Hudson River at the 79th Street Boast Basin. It’s a lot to take in – especially on your first visit – but you can handle it! Welcome to New York City, a place where you fit in, no matter who you are.
