New York Sights to See - Manhattan
On a slender island crammed with bikes, cars, taxis, buses, people and buildings, a
long string of innovators has managed to create both a major business
center and tourist paradise, with all its sights and services within easy reach by subway, bus or taxi.
Close to the southern tip of the island is the famed Wall Street
area. Showing its Dutch
origins and its geography, the streets run along at various angles and
for short distances. But within those confines is housed many of the
world's financial powerhouses.
To see them in action, visit the New
York Stock Exchange and listen to the traders
engage in the two-centuries-old "outcry" system, where orders are
literally shouted out in a demonstration of controlled mayhem.
Though destroyed in the heinous 9/11 attack by radical Islamic
terrorists, the World
Trade Center is scheduled to rise again in the form of The Freedom Tower.
At 1,776 feet it will be one of the world's tallest and the famous Windows on the World
restaurant and 360 degree viewing platform will be part of the building.
Ten minutes north on the subway is SoHo,
(SOuth of HOuston) the renowned art gallery nexus of New York's artist colony.
Here you can find everything from Old
Dutch Masters to the latest experiments with paint, metal,
stone and who-knows-what-next.
Just a short walk north from SoHo is Greenwich Village,
home to jazz, comedy clubs and small theaters, restaurants and the most
interesting assortment of eccentrics the city can display. Don't miss
the breakfast as MacDougal's
(at the corner of MacDougal and Bleeker)!
At the top of Greenwich Village is New
York University and Washington
Square Park, with a famous miniature "Arch d'Triomphe" and
should-be-famous chess players. Enjoy a cup of coffee and watch a
lightening-fast game.
Apartments dominate the scene until you reach 31st street where on the West Side
(7th Ave) you have Madison
Square Garden, which is neither square,
gardened, nor on Madison. (Two of the three were true a hundred years
ago.) Concerts, boxing, and a major train station form only three of
the attractions here.
A few blocks east to Fifth Avenue
and you come upon the eighth wonder of the world: The Empire State
Building. The Art Deco tower was
built in record time and still remains one of the largest office
buildings in the world, even seventy years later.
A short walk north and east you'll find Broadway
and 42nd Street
and Times Square,
the center of American theater. Only eight blocks east and two north of
there is the Art Deco Rockefeller Center
with an outdoor skating rink, Radio
City Music Hall and a very stylish restaurant:
the Rainbow Room.
Scattered throughout the mid-town business district are some of the
other justly famous buildings: The MetLife
building (Once the Pan Am building.) Underneath is Grand
Central Station. Here you will also find Lever Bros, Seagram's, Citicorp and - on
the East River
- the United Nations.
Whew! It's been a long walk, but just a few blocks more and
you reach Central Park.
843 acres of grass, hillocks and sidewalks where during the day you can
enjoy the scenery and watch the skaters or visit the Zoo. At
night, during the summer, there's Shakespeare
in the Park.
Even on a whirlwind tour, there's far more than one could take in
during a single visit. You haven't even made it yet to Lincoln Center
or the world-class Metropolitan Museum
of Art! If you go to New York
and visit Manhattan,
plan to stay a while, or make several trips. You'll need to just to
sample some of the stellar restaurants.
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