New York walks

Circle Line

Pier 83 / West 43rd Street. Phone: 563 3200. (A4).

The most interesting and comfortable sightseeing trip is to travel by boat around the island, embarking from Pier 83 at the end of West 43rd Street. We choose a bright day, preferably in the morning, as the air tends to get misty in the afternoon. We arrive early enough to get a seat on the port side of the boat, the left side, as it travels counter-clockwise around Manhattan.

We nestle down in a comfortable chair and sip our favorite drink while we see the city glide past. This is the best way to learn the relative position of the main towers and districts of Manhattan. The round trip takes three hours.

Island Helicopter

1 Penn Plaza / 7th Avenue / West 32nd. Phone: 683 4575. (B5).

A modern and a quick way to have a look around Manhattan is to take a chopper ride from Penn Plaza at Penn Railway Station. We can choose flights of different duration, from seven minutes. An half-an-hour trip along the whole length of the island and to the Statue of Liberty costs $100. This trip should only be undertaken on a bright day, preferably on a clear morning.

Downtown

Often called Financial District, the southern end of Manhattan, where the city was founded by Dutch settlers. Their defensive wall against Indians was at the present Wall Street. Now the district is a pile of bank towers of steel and glass, the largest banking district in the world. Until recently this was like a graveyard during weekends and nights.

Now a popular tourist attraction has been built up at South Street Seaport where an old fishing harbor and its warehouses have been converted into boutiques, cafés and restaurants. On the eastern shore new housing development has injected new life into the area around World Trade Center, Downtown is therefore gradually coming to life again.

Very few are left of old buildings but those who survive are now the main attraction, much more beautiful than most of the modern towers. One thing that makes Downtown more likable than many other parts of town is the old chaos of irregular streets with real names instead of the organized numbers that pass as the names of the greater part of Manhattan streets.

We start our walk at the southern tower of World Trade Center, WTC no. 2 and first take the express elevator to the 107th floor, then an escalator to the roof on the 110th floor.

World Trade Center

2 World Trade Center. (C10).

From the top of World Trade Center we have an excellent view to the banking towers of the Downtown area of Manhattan, the Financial District. We also have a view to the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano bridge in the south and to the Midtown office towers in the north.

The building of the towers was finished in 1974. At that time they were for a while the tallest buildings in the world, eight floors higher than Empire State. They are simple in appearance and stand apart from other Downtown towers.

The buildings of World Trade Center surround a central and a connecting area of 60 shops, restaurants, banks and other services, including an outlet of TKTS, which sells theater tickets at half price on performance day. There are famous sculptures by Koening, Rosati and Nagare on the square.

We return down to earth and exit into Liberty Street.

Liberty Street

Liberty Street. (C10).

The street connects World Trade Center and the recent developments in World Financial Center and Battery Park City with the main Downtown area. It ends in the west at the World Financial Center. An overpass links World Financial Center with the American Stock Exchange on the other side of Liberty Street. Another overpass links World Financial Center with World Trade Center.

We walk into the World Financial Center.

World Financial Center

(B10).

The four towers of World Financial Center house the headquarters of some of the worlds most important financial companies. At the heart of it is the beautiful and imposing Winter Garden with a 36 meter high roof of glass and steel, lined by boutiques and restaurants, opening to an esplanade and a marina on Hudson River.

The garden is often used for artistic events, free of charge. The audience then sits on the impressive marble staircase.

The World Financial Center is a part of the Battery Park City.

Battery Park City

(B10).

A recent development that is mainly residential and is supposed to house more than 25,000 people when it is finished, injecting human life into the Downtown area. It offers a fine walk on an esplanade that runs along Hudson River and has a good view to the Statue of Liberty. The area is on land that has been reclaimed from the river.

We return from Battery Park City and World Financial Center to Liberty Street which we follow to Broadway where we turn left. On the way we pass the red cube by Isamu Noguchi in front of the Marine Midland bank. On Broadway we soon arrive at St Pauls on our left

St. Paul‘s Chapel

Broadway. (C10).

The oldest church in New York, built 1764-1766 in Georgian style, probably the most beautiful church of the city, inside as outside. Its beautifully illuminated nave is often used for free concerts.

A little farther on Broadway we arrive at Woolworth on the left side.

Woolworth

233 Broadway. (C10).

A Neo-Gothic tower inside as outside, built in 1913 as the tallest building in the world. We enter the lobby to have a look at the works of art on the walls and in the ceiling.

We cross the garden opposite Woolworth. City Hall is in the middle of the garden.

City Hall

City Hall Park / Broadway. (C9).

Probably the smallest city hall in the United States, built in 1812 in an Early American style resembling the French Renaissance Chateau style. When it was built it was so far out of town that the north side was not laid in marble as the other sides until 1954. No one was expected to see it from that side.

The small and peaceful garden in front of City Hall has a fountain by Delacorte. It was formerly the place for public hangings, nowadays for some official proclamations.

We return on Broadway to the south, pass Liberty Street and soon have the Trinity Church on our right side.

Trinity Church

Broadway / Wall Street. (C10).

A Neo-Gothic church from 1846, built of red sandstone. It stands in a peaceful, grass-grown graveyard and fronts the end of Wall Street like a dwarf among the giants. It still attracts attention, not only as a symbolic guardian of Wall Street but also because of the long spire on the massive tower.

We walk into Wall Street and do not forget to look back at the church.

Wall Street

Wall Street. (C10).

The main banking canyon of the world. At lunchtime the whole street is so crowded that it can be difficult to walk. The street winds slightly just as the defensive wall that the Dutch erected here against the Indians. There are banks in all the towers.

When we come to Broad Street we turn right and see the New York Stock Exchange on our right.

New York Stock Exchange

20 Broad Street / Wall Street. (C10).

Built in 1903 in Neo-Classical temple style. We can enter it and go up to a balcony to observe the commotion of the exchange floor.

A guide tries to explain to us how the exchange works. We look in awe at the mad shouting and waving of 3000 brokers on 900 square meters, strewn with paper. They look at giant screens and hammer the computer keyboards, which are on 16 transaction islands, 60 on each island, 960 in toto.

All transactions are immediately shown on the walls, not only these transactions but also those in London and Tokyo.

We return out to Broad Street, go to Wall Street, cross it and continue into Nassau Street past Federal Hall on our right and go to the plaza in front of the Chase Manhattan bank.

Chase Manhattan

Nassau Street / Liberty Street. (C10).

A famous sculpture by Dubuffet is on the plaza, four trees in black and white. There is also a cellar garden of stone and water by Isamu Noguchi.

We return on Nassau Street to Wall Street, turn right to Trinity Church, turn left on Broadway and walk to Bowling Green.

Bowling Green

Bowling Green / Broadway. (C10).

A small garden, the oldest public part in New York, surrounded by an iron fence from 1771.

The United States Custom House is at the far end of the garden.

Custom House

Bowling Green / Broadway. (C11).

A Beaux Arts building from 1907, a fine granite palace, now converted into the National Museum of the American Indian.

Behind Custom House we arrive at Battery Park.

Battery Park

(C11).

The southernmost tip of Manhattan, named in memory of a gun battery defending the city during the Civil War. The park is a relaxed area for strolling, popular at lunchtime when bankers come and eat out of paper bags.

Ferries leave Battery Park to cross Hudson and East Rivers. One ferry goes to the Statue of Liberty and another to Ellis Island. We take that ferry first.

Ellis Island

An island on the western side of Hudson River, formerly the immigration office of the United States. Everyone who fled the wars and deprivations of Europe went through these buildings to get a permit to settle in the United States haven. It was closed down in 1954 and is now an immigration museum with guided tours.

We return on the ferry to Battery Park to take another ferry to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.

Statue of Liberty

Bartholdi designed it, the citizens of France paid for it in a collection and gave it to the United States in memory of the victory in the Independence War, in which the French supported the Americans. The statue has ever since been the national symbol of the United States and of freedom in general, a welcome sight for immigrants passing by on their way to Ellis Island.

The statue is 120 meters in height and weighs 225 tons. It is difficult to walk up the stairs and advisable to take the elevator up he 22 floors to the crown of the Goddess of Freedom. This is a pilgrimage that all true Americans must make once in their life just as Muslims make to Mecca.

The ferry from Battery Park to Staten Island also sails past Liberty Island.

We return to Battery Park. From the park we enter Water Street and turn left into Broad Street, where we find Fraunces Tavern on the corner of Pearl Street.

Fraunces Tavern

Pearl Street / Broad Street. (C11).

The brick building from 1719 is best known for being the restaurant where George Washington bid farewell to his officers at the end of the Civil War. The facade is original and the interior from 1927. The food at the restaurant is almost as old. There is also a museum in the house.

We return on Broad Street to Water Street and turn left.

Water Street

Water Street. (C10).

Once the waterfront of the city. On our right we pass Jeannette Park, also called Vietnam Veterans Plaza, an ugly place. The bank towers are on both sides of the street, each in its own style, some of them trying to look human on the ground floor.

We continue on Water Street for about 800 meters, turn right into Fulton Street. On the corner there is Cannons Walk.

Cannons Walk

(D10).

A 19th C. block with a lively market, cafés and shops.

We continue on Fulton Street and arrive on our left at Schermerhorn Row, between Front Street and South Street.

Schermerhorn Row

South Street Seaport. (D10).

A block of original Georgian warehouses, built 1811-1813, with wrought-iron ground floor fronts that were later added. It houses well-known shops and restaurants. The quaintest shop is the Brookstone ironmonger opposite the Giannis sidewalk café.

On the other side of South Street we come to the center of South Street Seaport, Pier 17.

South Street Seaport

South Street Seaport. (D10).

The old piers have been converted into an open-air maritime museum. It includes the tea clipper Peking, the Ambrose rig and a floating lighthouse. The warehouse on Pier 17 has been converted into a mall of boutiques for tourists, offering everything from fashions to whale hunting gear. It has some restaurants with a good view to Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn.

This is a kind of a theme park for tourists and a successful one. It shows how wise it is to protect old buildings and convert them into centers of attractions, as they are almost invariably more beautiful than recent buildings. South Street Seaport is now one of the landmarks of the city.

Alongside the Seaport on this side of South Street we arrive at the Fulton Fish Market.

Fulton Market

(D10).

The wholesale fish market is active in the early morning hours, especially after 06 in the morning. During the day the market building changes into a mall of small seafood shops.

We continue on South Street and turn left into Peck Slip.

Peck Slip

(D10).

An illusory mural of the Brooklyn Bridge covers one of the house fronts on the right side of the street.

Behind the mural we can see the pillars of Brooklyn Bridge.

Brooklyn Bridge

(D10).

The most beautiful bridge in Manhattan, built in 1883 and considered at that time to be an engineering feat, the first suspension bridge of steel wires and the longest bridge in the world at that time, with a span of 486 meters. There are excellent views from the elevated walkway over the motor traffic on the bridge.

From the bridge there is a short way on Pearl Street and its continuation in St James Place to Chatham Square on the Bowery, the starting point of a walk through the ethnic and exotic districts of lower Manhattan.

Exotica

The ethnic part of lower Manhattan is mainly on the east side. From the south it starts with Chinatown. Then comes Little Italy with the Jewish Loiasada to the east, and finally the formerly Polish and Ukrainian East Village to the northeast, now the center of punk. Chinatown and Little Italy have more or less retained their ethnic character but Loiasada has mostly lost it.

We start at Chatham Square where Bowery begins.

Bowery

Bowery. (D9).

The southern end of Skid Row, the refuge of drunks and hobos, stretching on Bowery from Chatham Square to 4th Street. The vagabonds are harmless but in some places you have to step over them.

We walk from Chatham Square into Mott Street. We are in Chinatown.

Chinatown

The district adjoining Downtown to the north and TriBeCa to the east, originally delimited by Bowery, Mulberry, Worth and Canal Streets but has now overflowed into the next streets. It heart is in Mott and Pell Streets. It looks Chinese. Posters are in Chinese letters and the pay phones have pagoda roofs. Seven newspapers in Chinese are sold on street corners.

The 150 restaurants are the main attraction of the district. They are among the most economical ones in Manhattan and some of them are very good. A pleasant Eastern scent emanates from the restaurants and food shops into the streets. The main action is on Sunday when Chinese from other districts and the suburbs arrive to shop and to dine out.

It is a poor district. People bet in casinos and sweat in the garment industry. Criminal gangs collect protection money from owners of shops and restaurants. But tourists are not aware of this shady side of Chinatown.

We walk along Mott Street.

Mott Street

Mott Street. (D9).

A street of Chinese signs and telephone pagodas, Eastern fragrances and lots of restaurants with a faraway cuisine.

We take a good time and have a look into side streets such as Pell and Bayard, have a Chinese lunch and enjoy being for a while on a different continent.

When we arrive at Canal Street we turn left one block and then right into Mulberry Street, the axis of Little Italy.

Little Italy

The district of immigrants from Sicily and Napoli is north from Chinatown, east from SoHo, south from Greenwich Village and west from Loiasada. It borders on Canal Street, Houston Street, Lafayette Street and Bowery. The central axis is Mulberry Street, which runs through the whole length of it. The Chinese have recently invaded the district from the south.

On Sunday Italians from other districts and the suburbs come here to buy pasta and salami and to dine in Italian restaurants. That day the merchants carry their goods out to the pavement and the restaurateurs their tables and chairs. Then the districts looks distinctively Italian. The espresso flavor wafts through the streets.

The main events are two week-long festivals, the St. Antonio festival in June and the St. Gennaro festival in September. Then Little Italy changes into a festival park.

We are in Mulberry Street.

Mulberry Street

(C8).

A long and narrow street that could have been imported wholesale from Palermo or Napoli. There are lots of small shops selling pasta and Italian specialties. People sit in sidewalk cafés and sip a glass of red wine or the excellent espresso coffee, waiting for time to pass until a proper lunch hour has arrived.

We continue on Mulberry Street to Houston Street, “howston” in Manhattanese, where we turn right. It is a lively street of junk shops, the border of Little Italy and Loiasada on the south and East Village on the north. We continue on Houston Street to Orchard Street where we turn right again.

Loiasada

Lower East Side is the full name of the district to the east of Little Italy and south of East Village. It reaches from Bowery in the west to East River in the east, Canal Street in the south and Houston Street in the north.

In the beginning of the 19th C. this was the Jewish ghetto and one of the poorest districts in New York, more densely populated than Calcutta. It has fostered many intellectuals and merchants. Most of the Jews have moved away and have left behind derelict synagogues. Black people have moved in, Chinese and mainly Puerto Ricans, so this is still a very poor district.

Jews still have shops here in Orchard Street or come here on Sunday to shop cheaply and to dine in kosher way. Prices are often very competitive in Orchard Street. It resembles an Eastern Bazaar. People haggle loudly and gesticulate. Pickpockets have a field day. Otherwise the district is quite safe, if people avoid going east of Essex Street.

We are in Orchard Street.

Orchard Street

(D8).

A kind of an Eastern bazaar or souk with lots of loud haggling and gesticulating. There are merchants in an Jewish Orthodox attire. Citizens of New York come here for the good prices.

If we return to Houston Street, turn left and then right into Bowery, we are entering East Village.

East Village

To the east of Greenwich Village, bordering on Broadway to the west, Houston Street to the south, East River to the east and 14th Street to the north. It is an old immigrant district of Ukrainians and Poles and has recently been converted into the punk district of Manhattan.

The most recent development is the moving in of artists from TriBeCa who are fleeing the rising rents. They will probably clean up East Village as they did before in SoHo and TriBeCa. The effect can be seen in the emergence of art galleries and rising rents in the very last years.

The punk music is mainly on Astor Place and St. Marks Place. The uniform is multicolor hair, leather clothes and steel chains. And of course they attract curious tourists. The punk shops are in the so-called NoHo district on the southern Broadway from 10th Street to Houston Street.

We can walk on Bowery to Astor Place and then follow 8th Street west to Greenwich Village, where we shall take another walk.

Greenwich Village

North of SoHo and west of East Village, the most European part of Manhattan, an old university and cultural district around Washington Square. It reaches from Houston Street north to 14th Street and from Broadway west to Hudson River. It is a world in itself, a district of low-rise residential buildings on winding streets, which are difficult to find, just as in Europe.

The City University is here, the world center of jazz, and the Manhattan center of experimental theater, often called Off Broadway. It is the most relaxed district in Manhattan. The bohemians started to move here in the Thirties and in force after World War II, when Greenwich Village became a kind of an American Left Bank of the Seine.

Later the gays came and the pop generation. The gays are mainly in the western part, west of 7th Avenue to Hudson River. Punk moved on to East Village and avant-garde art to SoHo, leaving Greenwich Village as a district of middle-aged flower people, almost an establishment. The villagers are socially conscious and stick together when needed.

Off Broadway theater is concentrated in Greenwich Village.

Off Broadway

Greenwich Village.

Modern theater, experimental and avant-garde, is less a hallmark of Broadway than of the so-called Off Broadway, which is a category of about 200 theaters all over New York, but mainly concentrated in Greenwich Village. New works are tried out there and in London before the successful ones move to Broadway. This change has occurred slowly since the end of World War II.

The weeklies New York and Village Voice show the offerings of Off Broadway. The problem is that Off Broadway has become such a classical theater that a new term has arisen: Off Off Broadway. That is where the action is supposed to be nowadays.

We start our village walk at Washington Square.

Washington Square

(C7).

The Sunday Room of Greenwich Village, a kind of St. Germain des Prés. Villagers congregate there to buy drugs, play chess, show off in roller-coasting, listen to traveling musicians and discuss how to defend Greenwich Village against lunatic city authorities who want to tear down anything of age and value. It gets livelier in the evening.

It is the largest park on southern Manhattan. Some years ago it had become intolerable due to loud radios. The introduction of pocket discos with earphones has saved the day, so that we can play a game of chess in peace and quiet.

Behind the northern side of the square there are two quaint alleys, Washington Mews and MacDougal Alley.

MacDougal Alley

(C7).

Formerly the entrance to the stables of the important people who lived in the Washington Square mansions, now the flats of intellectuals who have complete peace there in the vicinity of the lively square. MacDougal Alley and Washington Mews retain the atmosphere of village streets.

From MacDougal Alley we turn right into MacDougal Street, then left into West 8th Street and again left into Christopher Street. We have a look into West 4th Street before we turn once again left, into Bleecker Street. We are in Jazzland.

Jazzland

The area of jazz clubs and Off Broadway theaters, interesting food and crafts shops, antique dealers and eccentric shops, cafés and restaurants, partly residential and partly commercial. The streets are crooked and intricate, difficult to find. They remind you more of London than New York. This is the most comfortable part of the city, lively here and peaceful there.

On this side or east of Christopher Street is the conventional part of Greenwich Village. The gay district is to the west of Christopher Street. When we arrive into Bleecker Street the street scene gets livelier. In that street and in the side streets of Mac Dougal and Sullivan are the main shops of the area with beautiful displays of fruit and flowers on the sidewalk.

We are passing through an area of jazz holes such as Blue Note, Village Vanguard and Sweet Basil, cellars of folk music such as Folk City and City Limits, some gourmet shops and lots of good restaurants, cafés and bars.

From Bleecker Street we turn left into La Guardia Place, pass West Houston Street and continue south on West Broadway into the district of SoHo, the artists town.

Artists town

Manhattans superiority over other world centers of art centers around the depicting arts, painting and sculpture, etc. where Paris has lost its edge. All artists in such fields want to exhibit in Manhattan and the best market is there. Unknown artists make their breakthrough here and some make it into big money.

The traditional galleries are mainly at 57th Street, but modern art thrives in the galleries of SoHo and TriBeCa. West Broadway and Wooster Street are the main centers of the decorative arts.

We are now in SoHo.

SoHo

The most westerly of the districts that border on Canal Street to the south. It is delimited by Canal Street, 6th Avenue, Houston Street and Broadway. Its neighbor to the north is Greenwich Village. SoHo is a prime example of well-built and decorative industry buildings of wrought iron which were to be torn down in the early Sixties.

Happily it changed instead to a district of artists ateliers, galleries, wine bars and restaurants. Affluent artists live there, those who can afford the rising rents. Lately SoHo has also been changing into a district of fashionable shops.

The galleries are the landmark of SoHo. It is the motor and the navel of modern art. Paris has been relegated to second place after this Manhattan district.

We are on West Broadway, the main street of SoHo and TriBeCa.

West Broadway

West Broadway.

The main street of modern art galleries in New York, along with the parallel Wooster Street. The most interesting part is from West Houston Street in the north to Broome Street in the south.

We walk West Broadway to Broome Street, turn left and again left into Wooster Street and then right into West Houston Street and right again into Greene Street.

Greene Street

Greene Street. (C8).

The southern part of Greene Street has beautiful examples of the architecture of the buildings for light industry which characterize the district. The fronts are usually decorated with a giant order of columns. Affluent artists and those who want to be near successful artists have taken over the industry buildings and converted them into comfortable flats.

The fronts are usually made of cast-iron which has been formed into intricate forms, according to whims that were unbridled at the end of the 19th C. The cast-iron freedom was used to mass-produce replicas of different styles and periods, especially Renaissance and Classical. Later firescapes were added.

At the southern end of Mercer Street which runs parallel to Green Street there is the Museum of Holography.

From the southern end of Greene Street we turn right into Canal Street and then left into West Broadway. We have left SoHo and entered TriBeCa.

TriBeCa

The Triangle Below Canal Street is the full name of this district to the north of Downtown, west of Chinatown and south of SoHo. It composes a triangle bordered by Canal Street, West Broadway, Barclay Street and Hudson River. It is sometimes called SoSo, which means South of SoHo, as it is a continuation of that district to the south.

It was a district of well built and decorous warehouses and buildings for light industry. They have a structure of wrought iron. After a long period of disrepair, when this place was forgotten, the rents started to rise in SoHo and artists discovered TriBeCa and moved their ateliers over Canal Street.

They have breathed new life into the district. And the vicious circle has started again, rent is on the rise in TriBeCa and the artists are looking for cheaper accommodation. In the meantime bars, restaurants, discos and fashion shops have sprung up all over the district.

From West Broadway we turn left into White Street.

White Street

(C9).

Some of the best examples of the cast-iron buildings of light industry at the end of the 19th C. are in this street, similar to the buildings in Greene Street.

This is the end of our walk through the districts of modern culture in Manhattan, Greenwich Village, SoHo and TriBeCa.

West Side

This walk through the western part of Mid-Manhattan will cover three main areas, Theater District or Broadway; the fashionable Upper West Side; and Central Park, the lungs of Manhattan.

We will start our walk on Times Square in the Theater District.

Theater District

Sometimes called Broadway, the area between 42nd Street, 59th Street, 6th Avenue and 8th Avenue, crossed by Broadway. In this area around Times Square there are 42 theaters. For a century it has been the center of American theater, with the best actors, directors and critics. Americans come from all corners of the country to enjoy performances on Broadway.

This is the largest theater area in the world, larger than Covent Garden in London. In later years it has ceded first place in innovation to Covent Garden as it can be observed that plays and musicals that become a hit in London are moved to Broadway to cash on their fame. But the professionalism of Broadway remains at its high level.

To see what is on it is best to consult the list in New York magazine. In the center of Father Duffy Square, which really is the northern end of Times Square, there is a ticket office, TKTS, which offers tickets to the present day performances at half price. Often there are large queues outside the office. Inquire at 354 5800. Hotel concierges can fix tickets to everything.

We start our walk on Times Square.

Times Square

(B4).

The center of theater and cinema, sex and drugs, illuminated by neon advertising. Happily the area is less shabby than it was a decade ago. New developments, including large hotels, have contributing in moving the Times Square area into the Midtown mainstream.

We walk north Broadway, first through Father Duffy Square which adjoins Times Square.

Father Duffy Square

(B4).

It really is the northern end of Times Square, with a ticket office, TKTS, which offers tickets to the present day performances at half price. Often there are large queues outside the office. Inquire at 354 5800.

We continue our walk on Broadway.

Broadway

Broadway. (B4).

The Theater District of Manhattan is known by its main street, the Broadway, which cuts diagonally through it. In this area around Times Square there are 42 theaters. For a century it has been the center of American theater, with the best actors, directors and critics. Americans come from all corners of the country to enjoy performances on Broadway.

This is the largest theater area in the world, larger than Covent Garden in London. In later years it has ceded first place in innovation to Covent Garden as it can be observed that plays and musicals that become a hit in London are moved to Broadway to cash on their fame. But the professionalism of Broadway remains at its high level.

To see what is on it is best to consult the list in New York magazine. In the center of Father Duffy Square, which really is the northern end of Times Square, there is a ticket office, TKTS, which offers tickets to the present day performances at half price. Often there are large queues outside the office. Inquire at 354 5800. Hotel concierges can fix tickets to everything.

We continue our walk along Broadway, reaching Carnegie Hall on our right side.

Carnegie Hall

154 West 57th Street / 7th Avenue. Phone: 247 7459. (B3).

Before the arrival of Lincoln Center this was the main venue of classical music in New York, well situated just south of Central Park. Now famous symphony orchestras and famous soloists perform there, both classical music and jazz. The acoustics are excellent in the auditorium for 2,784 people.

We continue on Broadway to Columbus Circle.

Columbus Circus

(B3).

The tourist office of the city is in the Moorish tower on our left side. It has lots of valuable information for travelers.

We continue on Broadway to Lincoln Center.

Lincoln Center

Columbus Avenue betw. 62nd and 65th. Phone: 875 5400. (B3).

The world center of classical music is in the southern end of Upper West Side where a few modern and modernistic palaces surround a fountain square. It was built in 1962-1968 as a kind of a cultural Acropolis or Capitolum in honor of the gods of music, designed by some of the best known architects of America in a refined style of giant column orders.

When we enter the square from Columbus Avenue we have New York State Theater on our left, Avery Fisher Hall on our right and Metropolitan Opera House in front of us. Vivian Beaumont Theater and Alice Tully Hall are behind Avery Fisher Hall. To know what is on at Lincoln Center it is best to consult the lists of the New York magazine.

First we turn our attention to the Metropolitan Opera.

Metropolitan Opera

Lincoln Center. Phone: 362 6000. (B3).

The central point of Lincoln Center, a palace with a giant order of ten stories and five Romanesque arches fronting the square. Inside the windows we see two colorful murals by Marc Chagall, a carpeted lobby and an impressive staircase.

The Met as it is called can seat 3,788 people. It is considered one of the high points in the career of opera singers to perform at the Met. The season lasts from the middle of September to April. At other times of the year other ensembles have access to the palace, including ballet companies like American Ballet Theater and Royal Ballet.

Next we have a look at the New York State Theater.

N. Y. State Theater

Lincoln Center. Phone: 870 5570. (B3).

The home of New York City Ballet and New York City Opera. The ballet reigns in November-February and in April-July, and the opera reigns in July-November. At the front there are four pairs of a giant order of columns on seven floors. Inside there are four floors up to the golden ceiling, all of them with balconies. The palace seats 2,279.

On the other side of Lincoln Center there is the Avery Fisher Hall.

Avery Fisher Hall

Lincoln Center. Phone: 875 5030. (B3).

44 columns surround this symphony palace of 2,742 seats which in the decades leading up to 1992 was rebuilt several times on the inside to reach the desired acoustics. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic which has a season in September-May. In July-August there are inexpensive Mozart concerts and in September the New York film festival is held there.

Leonard Bernstein, Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski have been the dirigents of the Philharmonic. Now Zubin Mehta is in charge.

Next door to Avery Fisher Hall on its northern side is Alice Tully Hall.

Alice Tully Hall

(B3).

Entered from Broadway this is the main venue of concert music in New York, the home of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, seating 1,096. In September it is used for the New York film festival. In summer visiting artists perform at Alice Tully Hall.

Now we say good-by to Broadway and continue our walk on Columbus Avenue, the main street of the Upper West Side.

Upper West Side

North of 59th Street, south of 90th Street and west of Central Park, the residential district no. 2 after Upper East Side, a little less expensive and a little more tasteful. It boasts of the cultural Lincoln Center and the fashionable Columbus Avenue, which have spawned many restaurants and bars.

The inhabitants are generally younger than those on the other side of Central Park. You can even see children here. The night life is lively, especially on Columbus Avenue.

And we continue our walk north along Columbus Avenue.

Columbus Avenue

The newest fashionable street in Manhattan. It has blossomed after the infusion from the recent Lincoln Center, especially the stretch from 69th to 86th Streets. Fashion shops, bars and restaurants have mushroomed. Sidewalk hawkers are everywhere and we pass one market on our way, between 76th and 77th Streets.

We enter the castle on the opposite corner, the American Museum of Natural History.

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West / 79th Street. Phone: 769 5100. Hours: Open Sunday-Tuesday 10-17:45, Wednesday & Friday-Saturday 10-20:45. (B2).

A large Upper West Side castle facing Central Park with a large museum inside, including a 30 meter long replica of a whale. There are 34,000,000 items in the museum.

From the museum we go on 77th Street to Central Park and soon arrive at the northern end of The Lake.

Central Park

Central Park.

The lungs of Manhattan are the result of a campaign by the author W.C. Bryant, designed by Olmsted and Vaux in 1856. It took 15 years to lay out this enormous park of 840 acres between 5th and 8th Avenues, 59th and 110th Streets. Lakes and hills were built and 100,000 trees were planted.

Its main characteristic is that pedestrian and motorized traffic are separated. We can criss-cross the park without ever crossing a street and the car traffic is mostly underground. The 46 winding paths offer ever-changing vistas. The southern part is the organized and detailed part with small lakes, groves and cliffs. The northern part is more informal and simpler.

Central Park is liveliest on Sunday when many Manhattanites use it as their drawing room. Some go on picnics in the park, others jog or cycle. There are groups in volleyball and baseball. A few compete on rollers, others row in boats. And quite a few sleep with the newspaper over their face. The park is safe in daylight and where the crowds are.

At The Lake we turn north, cross Balcony Bride at the northern end of The Lake and have a good view over the lake, the wooden hills behind it and the Manhattan towers in the background. We soon come to Belvedere Castle and Belvedere Lake on the highest ground in the southern park.

Belvedere Castle

Central Park. (B2).

A small castle in Disney style with a good view to the north over the large baseball fields where many games are going on simultaneously and to the south over the wooden hills of The Ramble.

In the east we see Metropolitan Museum of Art and the obelisk of Cleopatras Needle. We walk to the Needle, past sleeping and reading people. Often there are open-air concerts at Cleopatras Needle.

Finally we walk around Belvedere Lake and on its southern side we enter The Ramble.

The Ramble

(B2).

The wildest part of the park, with forested hills and cliffs, winding paths in ever-changing directions, and bridges over small streams. This is popular with lovers.

We continue south, cross The Lake on Bow Bridge with a good view, turn left and come to the Bethesda fountain with a sculpture of angels. There is a bandstand and an area for rollers. We make a detour east to Conservatory Pond to see statues of H.C. Andersen, the Ugly Duckling and Alice in Wonderland. Then we go back to the Bethesda fountain and turn south on The Mall.

The Mall

The pedestrian avenue passes a bandstand, then The Dairy, the information center of the park. The old Zoo is there on the left, popular and tired, no competitor to the real Zoo in Bronx. Adjoining it on the north side is a Childrens Zoo.

Opposite the Zoo we turn right off The Mall and take a path to the southern edge of Central Park, where we leave the park opposite 6th Avenue, formally named Avenue of the Americas.

Avenue of the Americas

Some famous towers line the avenue on the right, below the Hilton hotel. They are recessed from the avenue and have nice little plazas in front of them, with fountains and works of art. These are the towers of Equitable Life, Time & Life, Exxon and McGraw & Hill.

Much effort has been put into humanizing this area of steel, glass and concrete. Still the towers look pasteurized and emasculated. Their piazzas do not attract people and lack the spark of life. Better results have been achieved at older towers such as Rockefeller Center and at newer towers such as some of those east of 5th Avenue and in World Financial Center.

We finish this walk on 6th Avenue behind Rockefeller Center.

Midtown

The area between 42th Street, 59th Street, 8th Avenue and East River. A slice of its western side is the Theater District. Midtown is a collection of office towers, fashionable shops, luxury hotels and famous restaurants. These are some of the most expensive square meters in the world, glittering with wealth. This small and busy area can be considered the navel of the world.

The elegant shops of the world, French, Italian, British and American, have outlets on 5th Avenue and 57th Street, the crossroads of Midtown, south of Central Park. There ladies buy for $100 handbags with the large letters: “Gucci”, They pay out of their nose to carry around an advertisement. In return they can show that they can afford $100 for an handbag.

Lately SoHo has been evolving into a district of fashionable shops. Also Columbus Avenue between 69th and 86th Streets. The punk shops are in NoHo in East Village, on the southern Broadway from 10th Street to Houston Street. South Street Seaport has become a shopping center for tourists. Shopping has also moved out to the sidewalks all over town. But Midtown is still supreme.

We start this trip in the southern part, at Empire State Building, preferably in the morning, when the air is likely to be clear. We take two lifts up to the 86th floor and a third one to the 102nd floor.

Empire State

350 5th Avenue / 34th Street. Hours: Open 9:30-23:30. (C5).

Once the tallest building in the world and still one of the tallest. It has often been used as the symbol of New York and also as a good example of the grandiose architecture of skyscrapers.

The view from the top is usually above par in the morning when the sky is more clear than in the afternoon. On a perfect day you can see 70 km in each direction. Another interesting view is after nightfall, when the lights are on in the city.

When leaving Empire State we can either take a taxi or walk the 700 meters to the New York Public Library, also on 5th Avenue.

New York Public Library

5th Avenue / 42nd Street. (C5).

Neo-classical with Corinthian columns, two famous guardian lions and extensive front steps where people sit in groups, observe the pedestrian and motorized commotion and smoke whatever has been bought in Bryant Park behind the library. Impromptu speeches are delivered on the steps in the vein of Speakers Corner at Hyde Park in London.

Inside there are 5,5 million copies of books. It is the second largest library in the United States after the Library of Congress in Washington. There are several reading rooms, the main one on the second floor. There are often interesting exhibitions on the ground floor.

We walk around the library into 42nd Street to Bryant Park behind the library.

Bryant Park

42nd Street / 6th Avenue. (C5).

Until recently one of the main centers of soft drugs sales in town, but less so now, as the authorities have made successful efforts to get other people into the park by offering free lunchtime concerts and organizing space for antique booksellers and chess or backgammon players.

We return to 5th Avenue and turn left, walk 500 meters along the avenue and turn left into 47th Street.

Diamond Row

47th Street / betw. 5th & 6th. (C4).

This is the unofficial name of the 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Most of the shops are jewelers. 80% of the wholesale business in jewels is conducted in this stretch of 100 meters, behind and above the shops. Some of the jewelers have their goods in their pocket and make their transactions in the street, without any paperwork or signatures.

We return to 5th Avenue, turn left a walk a short way to the Channel Gardens in front of Rockefeller Center, passing several airline offices and fashion shops on the way.

Channel Gardens

5th Avenue / 50th Street. (C4).

A comfortable oasis of flowers and fountains and a pedestrian street leading to Rockefeller Center and a convenient meeting point. The citys Christmas tree is put up here.

At the other end of Channel Gardens we come to the sunken Rockefeller Plaza with a café in summer and a skating rink in winter. A golden bronze statue of Prometheus guards the plaza.

Rockefeller Center

47th-50th Street. (C4).

It consists of the buildings around the plaza. The Art Deco towers were built just before World War II, connected by the extensive Rockefeller Plaza with luxury shops and restaurants.

The major tower is the RCA-building of 70 floors with a good view from the top balcony. Radio City Music Hall, the largest music auditorium in the world, seating 6,000 people, is behind the RCA-building.

We return through Channel Gardens to 5th Avenue, turn left, pass the Atlas statue by Lawrie in front of the International Building, cross the avenue and are in front of St Patricks Cathedral.

St Patrick‘s Cathedral

5th Avenue betw. 50th & 51st. (C4).

The major Catholic church in New York, built in Gothic style without buttresses in 1879, then far out in the country but now a dwarf under the office towers. In such a situation it is difficult to believe the fact that it is the 11th largest church in the world.

The long processions of the descendants of Irish immigrants on St Patricks Day end in front of the church. At that time there are oceans of people in the street and all bars full of thirsty people.

We continue on 5th Avenue and turn right into 53rd Street, where we see Paley Park on our left.

Paley Park

53rd Street betw. 5th & Madison. (C4).

A small lot has been converted into a relaxed garden where the sounds of falling water drown out the traffic noise. We can even sit down. This is a perfect example of good use of confined space.

We return to 5th Avenue, cross it and continue on 53rd Street to the Museum of Modern Art on our right.

Museum of Modern Art

11 West 53rd Street betw. 5th & 6th. Phone: 708 9500. Hours: Open Saturday-Tuesday 11-18, Thursday-Friday 12-20:30. (C4).

To walk through Museum of Modern Art is like walking through an illustrated history of modern art. We recall the works of art from pictures in books. MoMA, as the museum is usually called, owns many of the typical and best works by many of the 20th C. masters. And the museum is not even old, it founded in 1929 and was recently enlarged.

The museum covers mainly 1880-1960, that is Impressionism, Expressionism and Abstract art.

The air-conditioned museum is also a comfortable oasis in the crowded Midtown. Most relaxed is the back garden with sculptures and fountains, a café and a restaurant.

Joan Miro is one of the important artists in MoMA.

Joan Miro

A Catalan painter born in 1893, influenced by Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, one of the ideologists of Surrealism. Lived for many years in the Netherlands before returning to Spain where he lived in Mallorca.

Another important MoMA artist is Pablo Picasso.

Picasso

Born on the Costa del Sol in Spain in 1881, studied in Barcelona and settled down in Paris. Took an active part in developing several of the 20th C. styles of painting, including Cubism. The Young Women of Avignon is an example of that period.

Another famous artist is Piet Mondrian.

Mondrian

A Dutch painter born in 1872, lived in Holland, Paris and London. He went through many of the 20th C. styles of painting and founded the De Stijl movement. One of the main exponents of Abstract art. Broadway Boogie Woogie is a good example of his style.

Next we turn our attention to Henri Matisse.

Matisse

A French painter born on the Côte dAzur in 1954. Learned and lived in Paris, one of the main proponents of Expressionism. The Dance is one of his most important and defining works.

Jackson Pollock shall be the last example on our visit to MoMa.

Pollock

Born an American, one of the main movers and shakers of Expressionism. “One” is one of his best-known works of art.

When leaving MoMA we return to 5th Avenue and observe the goings on.

Fifth Avenue

Most of the shops in this part of the avenue are fashions hops. A lonely bookshop, Daltons is between 52nd and 53rd Streets. Above it there is a tower with the number 666 on 5th Avenue and with excellent views from the bar on the top floor, Top of the Sixes.

We continue north on 5th Avenue, pass lots of fashion shops. At 56th Street we arrive at Trump Tower on the right side of the Avenue.

Trump Tower

5th Avenue / 56th Street. (C3).

A tower with a difference, with a ground floor of six storeys of expensive fashion shops and still more expensive flats above them.

We continue on 5th Avenue and stop on the corner of the 57th Street.

57th Street

57th Street.

Two streets form the main cross of the Midtown area, 5th Avenue and 57th Street. The latter one is a street of fashion shops on the ground floor and of art galleries on the upper floors. Near the center of the cross there are several well-known hotels and restaurants.

We continue on 5th Avenue to 58th Street, where we come to Grand Army Plaza.

Grand Army Plaza

5th Avenue / 59th Street. (C3).

A square of expensive shops and hotels. The Pulitzer fountain is in the middle of the square. Horse-drawn carriages wait for tourists who want to make a slow trip into Central Park.

Museum Mile is the part of 5th Avenue north of Grand Army Place.

Museum Mile

5th Avenue.

Many of the most famous museums in New York face the Museum Mile. First there is Frick Collection, then Metropolitan Museum, Guggenheim Museum and finally Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Near the mile we have Whitney Museum on Madison Avenue.

We continue on that way, by taxi or foot the 1 kilometer to the Frick Collection on the right side of the avenue.

Frick Collection

1 East 70th Street / 5th Avenue. Phone: 288 0700. Hours: Open Tuesday-Saturday 10-18, Sunday 13-18. (C2).

An important Upper East Side museum facing Central Park, popular for being rather relaxing. It is a city mansion with works of art from earlier centuries hanging on walls above the luxurious furniture of the collector.

Another kilometer by taxi or foot brings us to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the left side of the avenue.

Metropolitan Museum

5th Avenue &/ 82nd Street. Phone: 535 7710. Hours: Open Tuesday-Thursday & Sunday 9.30-17:15, Friday-Saturday 9:30-20:45. (C1).

One of the largest museums in the world with more than 3,000,000 items. You have to make a plan for your walk through it. To visit it all in one day would be to much, a week is more to the point. This is a museum with a wide focus, a museum of art, of crafts, and of antiques. The rebuilt ancient Egyptian temple from Dendar is one of the central items.

Usually there are important temporary exhibitions.

Further 500 meters on 5th Avenue brings us to the Guggenheim Museum on the right side of the avenue.

Guggenheim Museum

1071 5th Avenue betw. 88th & 89th. Phone: 360 3500. Hours: Open Monday-Wednesday 10-18, Friday-Saturday 10-20. (C1).

Not only famous for being one of the most important museums of modern art in the world but also for its own architecture, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in a spiral form.

When we arrive at this Upper East Side location facing Central Park we take an elevator to the top floor and then descend down the spiral through the whole museum.

On our way down we go through the special galleries on the 6th, 4th and 2nd floors who have focused themes. The spiral itself is used for temporary exhibitions. The fixed artists include Kandinsky, Mondrian, Klee, Braque, Picasso and Calder.

Just a little further along on 5th Avenue on the same side of the street we arrive at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

Cooper-Hewitt Museum

2 East 91st Street / 5th Avenue. Phone: 860 6868. Hours: Open Tuesday 10-21, Wednesday-Saturday 10-17, Sunday 12-17. (C1).

An important Upper East Side museum facing Central Park. It has drawings by Rembrandt and Dürer.

If we want to finish this walk by going to the Whitney Museum we have to get to the corner of Madison Avenue and 75th Street.

Whitney Museum

945 Madison Avenue / 75th Street. Phone: 570 3676. Hours: Open Wednesday & Friday-Sunday 11-18, Thursday 13-20. (C2).

An Upper East Side museum of American Art, one of the important museums on Manhattan. The building itself is a work of art, designed by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton Smith, looking like a bunker turned upside down. The back garden of sculptures and the basement house about 50 works of art by Alexander Calder. The museum is well-known for its daring policy of buying art.

East Side

We use this designation to cover the affluent eastern side of Midtown and the Upper East Side. We start in the south at the United Nations Building and finish in the north at the Roosevelt Island Tramway.

We start on the corner of 1st Avenue and 43rd Street, in front of the United Nations building.

United Nations Building

1st Avenue / 42nd Street. (D4).

Designed by a committee of world-famous architects including Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Sven Markelius, built 1947-1953. The exterior is mainly the work of Corbusier. It is the first tower in Manhattan which is completely covered in glass.

The tower houses the central offices of the United Nations. The small building in front is the meeting hall of the General Assembly. Behind there are some other buildings with smaller meeting halls. Most of the halls are open to the public when meetings are not in session. The entrance is from the corner of 1st Avenue and 45th Street.

Opposite the U.N. between 43rd and 44th Streets is one of the most beautiful towers of Manhattan, the UN Plaza hotel.

We walk along 42nd Avenue to the Chrysler Building on our right.

Chrysler Building

405 Lexington Avenue / 42nd Street. (C4).

An Art Deco tower from 1930, influenced by car designs of that time, with a top that is reminiscent of a Chrysler 1929 water cooler. It was temporarily the tallest tower in the world. Some have found it to be ugly but lately it has been considered one of the most beautiful in town.

A little further on 42nd Street we come to Grand Central Terminal.

Grand Central Terminal

Park Avenue / 42nd Street. (C4).

The main railway station of Manhattan, a large pile built in 1903-1913, covering rails, roads and ramps on several floors. Half a million people use the terminal each working day.

The Beaux Art front has a clock with a width of 4 meters. Inside there is a main hall of 10 floors, with 38 meters up to the star-studded dome. Downstairs there is the incomparable Oyster Bar.

We cross Grand Central in the north direction through the Met Life Building.

Met Life Building

Park Avenue. (C4).

This graciously curved tower straddles Park Avenue, designed 1963 by Walter Gropius, Pietro Belluschi and Emery Roth, one of the landmarks of skyscraper architecture. The tower looks best from the Park Avenue north side. And it spoils the former vista along Park Avenue.

From the top floor there is a good view to the east to other Manhattan towers and west to Chrysler Building and United Nations Building.

We walk along Park Avenue.

Park Avenue

Park Avenue.

The only avenue in Manhattan with a grass island in the middle. On the right side we see how spacious glass gardens have been designed in the ground floor of the towers.

We pass the Inter-Continental and Waldorf-Astoria hotels on the right side of the avenue and come to St Bartholomews Church on the same side.

St Bartholomew‘s Church

Park Avenue betw. 50th & 51st. (C4).

A decorous Neo-Byzantine church of pink brick from 1919, with a small churchyard that contrasts with the towers around just as the church itself does. Its days may be numbered as the ever smaller congregation is too poor to refuse ever more inviting offers from greedy entrepreneurs who want to build a skyscraper on the lot.

We cross 5th Avenue and walk 51st Street to Madison Avenue. Villard Houses are on that corner.

Villard Houses

Madison Avenue / 51st Street. (C4).

Three houses from 1884, looking together like a Italian Neo-Renaissance palace on the outside. On the inside they have Rococo decorations. These architecturally important houses among skyscrapers were saved by hotelier Helmsley who transformed them into the lobby, bar and restaurant area of the hotel he built behind them.

After a look around in Madison Avenue we return to Park Avenue and turn left. Soon we come to Lever Building on the left side.

Lever Building

(C4).

Characterized by its dark blue glass walls, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in straightforward Bauhaus Modern style, built in 1952. The tower does not utilize its air-space completely and allows the rays of the sun to play with its sides. It is such an architectural milestone that it is already a protected monument.

We cross Park Avenue and go on 54th Street to Lexington Avenue. On that corner is Citicorp Center.

Citicorp

Lexington Avenue / 54th Street. (C4).

One of the younger towers of Manhattan, from 1977, designed by Hugh Stubbins, distinguished by its steep top and its giant order of columns at street level. The columns allow space for the small St Peters church.

A subterranean and comfortable garden, The Market, under the tower gives access to a mall of shops and restaurants.

We turn our attention to St Peters.

St Peter‘s Church

Lexington Avenue / 54th Street. (C4).

This modern church makes a striking contrast to the oversized surroundings.

We return to Park Avenue, turn right and continue northwards. On our left we arrive at the AT&T tower.

A. T. & T.

Park Avenue betw. 55th & 56th. (C3).

One of newest towers of Manhattan, from 1984, designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, well known by its Chippendale top, one of the most controversial towers in town. It is an example of the modern reaction against Modernism, clothed in reddish marble instead of aluminium, glass and steel. It looks like something that the lamp of Aladdin brought here by mistake.

The ground floor of the tower is a public garden with chairs and coffee tables spread around, quite a nice place.

We go on Park Avenue to the next corner. There we have three choices. We can turn right and walk along 57th Street to Madison Avenue and turn left there.

Madison Avenue

The next avenue to the east of Park Avenue and is one of the most fashionable shopping streets in Manhattan. From 57th up to 72th Street it is lined with shops and art galleries. Otherwise it is best known for being the center of the advertising and public relations services in New York.

From the corner of Park Avenue and 57th Street we can also walk west on 57th Street and then turn left on 3rd Avenue and right on 51st Avenue. There we arrive at Greenacre Park.

Greenacre Park

A tiny park nestling under office towers, a comfortable resting place with chairs and tables and a soothing waterfall in the rear, drowning out the noise from the motor traffic.

From the corner of Park Avenue and 57th Street we can also walk east on 57th Street all the way to 2nd Avenue and turn left there to enter Upper East Side.

Upper East Side

From the beginning of the 20th C. the area north of 59th Street and east of Central Park has been the quality residential district in New York. It is a tasteful district of city mansions and residential hotels. Everywhere there are uniformed guards in lobbies and long, black limousines at the curb. Many elegant bars, restaurants and nightclubs cater to the inhabitants.

It is also the main museum district, boasting of Metropolitan, Guggenheim, Frick, Cooper-Hewitt and Whitney Museums. And the district of embassies and respectable institutions. The residence of the mayor, Gracie Mansion, is on the East River. That part of the district is called Yorkville and was once the area of German immigrants.

We walk on 2nd Avenue to 60th Street to arrive at the Roosevelt Island Tramway, opened 1976. From there we take a colorful airborne tram for a four-minute ride over the western branch of East River to Roosevelt Island. Remember to bring subway tokens as tickets are not sold here.

Roosevelt Island

A modern residential district has been designed on the island, devoid of motor traffic. The river banks of the island offer good views over the river.

This concludes our walk around the eastern part of Manhattan.

1996

© Jónas Kristjánsson