UltimateCity Guide New York
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Stories from New York City

Every story, long read and guide in the ULTIMATE New York City Guide, in one place.

Culture

Arts & Culture in New York

All of Arts & Culture

Museums, Broadway, opera, ballet and jazz: from the Met, MoMA and the Guggenheim to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the jazz clubs.

Chelsea from the High LineThe back storyArt, architecture & cultureThe High Line, the Chelsea galleries and the ShedThe Fifth Avenue façade of The MetArts & CultureArt museumsThe Met, MoMA and the GuggenheimThe theatre lights of Times Square and the Broadway district at nightArts & CultureBroadwayThe theatres and the long-running showsThe Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln CenterArts & CultureOpera & balletThe Met Opera and New York City BalletCarnegie Hall on Seventh AvenueArts & CultureConcert halls & jazzCarnegie Hall and the jazz clubs

Our advice

A day on the West Side

Begin at the Whitney when it opens, walk the High Line north with a detour through the Chelsea galleries, and end at the Shed or Little Island for an evening performance. The back story

History

History & heritage

How Lenape land became New Amsterdam, then New York, and how the Irish, Germans, Italians, Jews, African Americans, Puerto Ricans and the world made it the great city of immigrants.

The main building of Ellis Island in New York HarborHistory & heritageFrom New Amsterdam to Ellis Island: how waves of newcomers made New YorkLenape, Dutch, British and the worldCentral Park from Top of the RockThe back storyNew York’s observation decks comparedTop of the Rock is the deck to choose if you want the Empire State…Times Square lit up at nightThe back storyBroadwayHadestown is the longest-running show in the Walter Kerr Theatre’s…

New York’s grand hotels

Where to stay, from Fifth Avenue to DUMBO, with each hotel’s restaurants, bars and spa, and our pick of the grand and the boutique.

The Carlyle at Madison Avenue and 76th StreetHotels guideGrand hotels by areaDining, bars and spasThe Park Avenue entrance of the Waldorf AstoriaHotelsWhere to stayGrand and boutiqueA helicopter over Lower ManhattanLuxuryLuxury New YorkHotels, dining, jets

Our advice

Broadway tickets

Book the big musicals ahead, and try TKTS or the box office for plays. Broadway

Areas

New York by neighbourhood

Manhattan from Midtown to the Financial District, and DUMBO across the bridge: Museum Mile, the High Line, cast-iron SoHo and the townhouses of the Village.

Midtown Manhattan from across the HudsonNeighbourhood guideMidtown & Fifth AvenueGrand hotels and flagshipsThe rooftop terrace at The Knickerbocker above Times SquareNeighbourhood guideTimes Square & BroadwayBroadway’s theatresBrownstones in Carnegie Hill on the Upper East SideNeighbourhood guideUpper East SideMuseum Mile and Madison AvenueLincoln Center at dusk, with the Metropolitan Opera HouseNeighbourhood guideUpper West Side & Central ParkLincoln Center and the parkA sitting room at Hotel Chelsea, with rattan armchairs, a brick fireplace and doors onto a terraceNeighbourhood guideChelsea & the High LineThe High Line and the Whitney

Downtown

Take the first ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, then walk from Battery Park up through the Financial District to the Lower East Side.

  1. Neighbourhood guideHudson YardsEdge, the Vessel and the Shed
  2. Neighbourhood guideFlatiron & NoMadMadison Square and great restaurants
  3. Neighbourhood guideSoHo & TribecaCast iron, lofts and great tables
  4. Neighbourhood guideGreenwich VillageJazz, cafés and townhouses
  5. Neighbourhood guideLower ManhattanThe 9/11 Memorial and the harbour
  6. Neighbourhood guideDUMBO & Brooklyn HeightsBetween the bridges

Property in New York

Brokers, new developments and how buying works in Manhattan and DUMBO, from co-ops and condos to the supertall towers of Billionaires’ Row.

The towers of Billionaires' Row along 57th Street, Central Park Tower among themProperty guideNew York property guideNeighbourhoods, brokers, buildingsApartment buildings on Central Park WestPropertyBrokers and developersWho to callThe towers of Billionaires’ RowNew developmentsBillionaires’ Row to DUMBOThe new towers
  1. In depthBuying property in New YorkCo-ops, condos and taxes

Day trips

Beyond New York

The Hamptons, the Hudson Valley, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Niagara Falls and Williamsburg.

Montauk Point Lighthouse at the eastern tip of Long IslandBeyond New YorkThe HamptonsBeaches and villages on Long IslandA monumental sculpture on the lawns of Storm King Art CenterBeyond New YorkHudson ValleyArt and history up the riverIndependence Hall, PhiladelphiaBeyond New YorkPhiladelphiaIndependence Hall and the Liberty BellThe United States CapitolBeyond New YorkWashington DCThe Mall and the SmithsonianThe American and Bridal Veil FallsBeyond New YorkNiagara FallsAmerica’s oldest state park
  1. Beyond New YorkWilliamsburgRooftops and Brooklyn dining

Plan your trip

Entry and money, tipping, the airports, the subway and the ferries, and where to find medical care. In an emergency, call 911.

Terminal 8 at JFK AirportBefore you goNew York essentialsEntry, money, tippingMoynihan Train HallGetting aroundAirports, subway and ferriesJFK, OMNY, the ferriesNewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical CenterHealthHospitals and urgent careEmergency: call 911

In depth

New York in depth: from New Amsterdam to Hudson Yards

Grand hotels, the observation decks, Broadway, Central Park and Billionaires’ Row: the stories behind New York, and its table of delis, pizza and steakhouses.

The Channel Gardens angels and the Christmas tree at Rockefeller CenterRockefeller CenterChristmas in New YorkThe tree, the Rockettes and the ball dropCandlelit thermal pool and brick walls at AIRE Ancient Baths, TribecaIn depth: wellnessNew York’s best spasFrom candlelit Tribeca baths to a Fifth Avenue banyaA red-tailed hawk in Central ParkIn depth: nature & wildlifeWild New YorkHawks, warblers and Jamaica Bay

The views

Book a timed ticket for about an hour before sunset, and stay on the observation deck as the lights come on.

  1. In depth: music & clubsNew York After DarkWarhol, Blondie, Basquiat and Studio 54
  2. Road tripsNew York to Key West, and America’s other great drivesThe Atlantic Coast in fourteen days
  3. The back storyThe grand hotelsThe Plaza to the Waldorf
  4. The back storyCentral ParkSouth to north

In depth

If you love Greenwich Village…

Seven New York neighbourhoods and their twins in our other guides, from the Village and London’s Soho to Midtown and Tokyo’s Ginza. Find your twin

The ULTIMATE letter

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