There is a lot to be impressed by in New York. Things like food, fashion, vibrant arts, and nightlife scenes besides the city’s mesmerizing skyscrapers and monuments. You can start your day by surfing through Fifth Avenue’s designer racks and follow it by catching beautiful city views from the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. And if you appreciate art you can see the spectacular works on display at the Met and the Guggenheim museums. Then grab some ethnic food in Chinatown or Little Italy or get the tickets to an award-winning Broadway show.
New York is truly one of the greatest cities in the world, and it is always a flurry of activity, having far-famed sites at every turn. It is really hard to find enough time to see them all. Some of the newer tourist attractions, like One World Observatory and the High Line, have opened in New York in recent years, and provide very distinctive perspectives of the city. There is an endless variety of things to do and see in New York at any time of day or night and any time of year.
New York City consists of five boroughs and is located on one of the world’s largest natural harbors. Each of those boroughs is a county of the State of New York. The five of them (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx) were created in 1898 when local governments were united into a single city.
History of New York City
In 1624 in Lower Manhattan a group of colonists from the Dutch Republic founded a trading post. That post was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and that’s where modern New York City traces its origins from. Later, in 1664, the city and its surroundings came under English control and were renamed New York. That happened after King Charles II of England had given the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1673, the city was recaptured by the Dutch and was afterward renamed New Orange for a brief period of time. Since November 1674 and to this day the city has been named New York. It was the capital of the United States from 1785 through 1790 and since then has been the largest city in the U.S. The Statue of Liberty is probably its greatest attraction and has been welcoming millions of people as they came to the U.S. by water since the end of the nineteenth century.
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is the most famous France’s gift to America. It was built in 1886, and still remains the best-known world symbol of freedom and one of the grandest American icons. It stands just under 152 feet tall from the base to the torch, which makes it one of the world’s largest statues. The weight is approximately 450,000 pounds.
You can see the statue from land, and Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan gives a particularly good view. But of course, the best thing to do is to take a brief boat trip to Liberty Island and see it up close to properly appreciate the Statue of Liberty. If you’ll choose to do so, you will be able to walk around the base and enter the pedestal, or even go right up to the crown, if you have advance reservations.
While being on a tour of the Statue of Liberty, you will have the option to stop at Ellis Island and browse the Immigration Museum. It is situated in the historic immigration station complex, where the immigrants were processed before being allowed to enter the United States. Displays of this fascinating museum focus on the process, the stories, and the experiences of the people who came through here on their way to the United States. If you want to see a record of immigrants who came through here, you can explore the available computer database.
Central Park
Visiting the crisscrossing pathways of Central Park is a must-do on anyone’s New York City travel guidebook. You can walk, carriage ride, or paddle through it, and in winter, even lace up your skates and glide right across Wollman Rink. This enormous park in the center of the city, 2.5 miles long and half a mile wide, is one of the main things that makes New York such a gorgeous and hospitable city.
Central Park has many attractions within its perimeter, besides simply offering a great place to experience a little nature. Most of them are free, which makes it one of the rare cheap things to do in NYC. Some of the favorite places to visit among tourists are Strawberry Fields, the Central Park Zoo, the Belvedere Castle, and the Lake.
Empire State Building
The magnificent Empire State Building is beyond doubt one of New York’s most famous landmark buildings and a key tourist attraction. Until the construction of the 1 World Trade Center tower 41 years later, this 381-meter-tall, 102 story building, topped with a mooring mast for airships was the tallest in the world. The Empire State Building opened in 1931 and immediately became a landmark and a symbol for NYC.
There are, in fact, two observatories on top of the Empire State Building, and both offer astonishing views. You can see up to 80 miles in the distance on clear days, and look into the neighboring states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
The 86th Floor Observatory located as high as 1,050 feet, is New York’s highest open-air observation deck. This experience is what most tourists are anticipating to find when they go up the Empire State Building. This area has been featured in innumerable movies and TV shows, and will definitely feel familiar. The building has a glass-enclosed area, which is cooled in summer and heated in winter, and wide outdoor promenades on all its four sides. Both can be reached by high-speed, automatic elevators and offer incredible views. On the 102nd floor, 1,250 feet above the crowded streets you will find the Top Deck.
