Just That - New York, New York

Welcome to the CITY!

After quite a long time - I finally have another guest writer on the blog today!

I love featuring guests posts that are raw, frank and have different perspectives of places or travel. Last time my guest writer told us about a trek that finally made him confident about about solo travels. This time I have a writer who saw New York beyond the obvious by actually visiting the obvious 'New Yorker' Places! Something funny, something amazing, something not cool - here is a raw take on New York by a new guy in the town intending to give a lot of first timer tips and links to people visiting the city!

Guess where in New York?

Guest Post By - Kafkaesque

If ever there was a better time or an ironic time to write about New York (Trump’s home state where he lives in golden luxury in the middle of 5^th Avenue), I couldn’t find it. I was in the Red Apple for about 3 months for an internship and I wasted no time in exploring the city. 

City of Skyscrapers right?

It was as close to a homecoming as possible with New York’s fabled subways, the breakneck pace at which people go nowhere to; reminding me of Mumbai every alternating second. I got to do a lot of things which a “proper New Yorker” gets to do. The day immediately after I landed, I visited the Frick’s Museum for a book signing by one of my favourite authors: Julian Barnes. 

Frick's Museum

Cue *high-pitched fan-girl shriek* The museum, among one of the better ones among museums, houses rare art collections of the late industrialist Henry Frick and other educational events. The tranquility of this place is beyond compare; and I saw artists trying to recreate what Rembrandt, Bellini, Goya, Vermeer, etc. had created decades back. (If anyone is truly interested in painting forms, you should check out this movie reliving Vermeer’s unique way of painting)

Statue of Liberty! Not really that exciting.

The following day, I went to the Statue of Liberty (you should buy tickets in advance here) and the Ellis Island. With the amount of history seeped into these two places, it’d be a dream for a history buff and a soporific slumbering trip for one who is not. (I fall in the latter category) This trip takes about an entire day.

Bits from MET

Not London Bridge

Among the free and cheap things you can do in the following days; there is the Brooklyn Bridge (best visited at night; better yet during 4^th of July fireworks), Bryant Park, Central Park, Central Park Zoo, George Washington Bridge (only if you’re driving through it), the NY Public Library (skip this one if you don’t get time; it is on the opposite end of the city), the NY skyline from the Hudson Waterfront (Riverside Drive) at New Jersey; and *drum-roll* The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

One of the best views of the city for free!

Don’t miss the Met, at any cost, even if it is the only thing you do. It’s quantifiably the best kept museums from around the world and entrance fees are paltry (you can pay a minimum token amount of 1$ to get in) There are a few things you shouldn’t miss at the Met. 

The ever busy Times Square

Times Square is a passing phase; the same way non-Mumbaiites get bent out of shape about the Victoria Terminus. See it once, you have seen it all; but you’ll still love the electric energy when you walk through the place. Among the other free things; you can catch Stephen Colbert and John Oliver; both of whom host their Tonight Shows from the middle of NYC. (Free tickets here and here respectively) 

That is just a small not very expensive Broadway Show Set - Phantom of the Opera

John Oliver’s tickets are notoriously difficult to procure (a friend of mine reportedly tried every week for 6 months and she still couldn’t get it) Among the more expensive and artsy things to do in NYC; there are Broadway plays (I have seen 3 : “Wicked” – Amazing, “An American In Paris” – so-so, and “The Phantom of the Opera” – a well-its-the-longest-running-Broadway-show-so-you-have-to-watch-it kind of show) Front row tickets are crazy expensive (goes from 200$ to a long running show to a reported sum of 30,000$ for Hamilton’s last show) but oh well, where would we be without online lotteries. If you have to catch at least one show, make it “The Book of Mormon” or “Wicked”. Thank me later. 

Heights and Lights

Among the other expensive things that fall in the you-have-to-do-if-you-are-visiting-NYC-for-the-first-time feeling  are the Rockefeller Center “Top of the Rock” view (32$ here)

I loved MET more than anything!

Phew. That was a lot of information in a single breath. I hope you enjoy your stay in NYC as much as I did.

You know where now.

PS: If you have more time to explore the east coast, I suggest visiting Washington DC and Pennsylvania for its history; Atlantic City for its casinos and other things (*ahem*) and Boston for the suburban hip life. (all places are within driving distance) 

No New York trip can be complete without the New York Cheesecake! 

Do not miss Junior’s cheesecake (their traditional NY Cheesecake is yum) and their Red Velvet is second only to Cheesecake Factory’s. Also, keep your eyes open when you walk through Broadway and Times Square. There are a lot of art demos and live shows happening. See this.