EYEWITNES S TRAVEL
New York City
001_EW_New_York.indd 3 4/3/17 12:08 PM
EYEWITNES S TRAVEL
New York City
001_EW_New_York.indd 3 4/3/17 12:08 PM
002-003_EW_New_York_City.indd 2 4/3/17 12:09 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Half-title/Title template “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.4)
Date 15th December 2016
Size 125mm x 217mm
EYEWITNES S TRAVEL
New York City
Main Contributor Eleanor Berman
002-003_EW_New_York_City.indd 3 4/3/17 12:09 PM
Project Editor Fay Franklin
Art Editor Tony Foo Introducing
Editors Donna Dailey, Ellen Dupont,
Esther Labi New York City
Designers Steve Bere, Louise Parsons,
Mark Stevens
Editorial Assistant Fiona Morgan Great Days in
New York City 10
Contributors Lester Brooks, Patricia Brooks,
Susan Farewell, Stephen Keeling
Putting New York City
Photographers
Max Alexander, Dave King, Michael Moran on the Map 14
Illustrators
Richard Draper, Robbie Polley, The History of
Hamish Simpson New York City 18
This book was produced with the assistance
of Websters International Publishers. New York City
Printed and bound in China at a Glance 36
First published in Great Britain in 1993
by Dorling Kindersley Limited New York City
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL Through the Year 52
17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Reprinted with revisions The sculpture of Atlas at Tiffany The Manhattan
1994, 1995 (twice), 1997, 1999, 2000, & Co., a premium jewelry store Skyline 56
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Copyright 1993, 2017
© Dorling Kindersley Limited, London
A Penguin Random House Company
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record is available from
the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-24127-731-7
Throughout this book, floors are referred
to in accordance with
American usage, ie the “first floor” is at
ground level.
Brooklyn Bridge, spanning the East River
The information in this
DK Eyewitness Travel Guide is checked regularly.
Every effort has been made to ensure that this book is as up-to-date as possible
at the time of going to press. Some details, however, such as telephone numbers,
opening hours, prices, gallery hanging arrangements and travel information are
liable to change. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for any consequences
arising from the use of this book, nor for any material on third party websites, and
cannot guarantee that any website address in this book will be a suitable source of
travel information. We value the views and suggestions of our readers very highly.
Please write to: Publisher, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, Dorling Kindersley,
80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL, UK, or email: [email protected].
Title page Towering skyscrapers in central New York Front cover image A taxi crossing Brooklyn Bridge
Back cover image The soaring skyscrapers of Manhattan
004-005_EW_New_York_UK_Contents.indd 4 08/05/2017 12:11
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Imprint/Contents template 2017 “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.1)
Date 9th February 2017
Size 125mm x 217mm
Contents
New York City Travelers’ Survival Guide
Area by Area Needs
Lower Manhattan and Where to Stay 280 Practical
the Civic Center 66 Information 362
Where to Eat
Lower East Side 86
and Drink 290 Getting to
SoHo and TriBeCa 96 New York City 372
Shopping 312
Greenwich Village 102 Getting Around
Entertainment in New York City 378
East Village 112 New York City 334
Street Finder 386
Gramercy and the Children’s
Flatiron District 118 New York City 358 General Index 420
Chelsea and the
Garment District 126 Acknowledgments 438
Midtown West and
the Theater District 136
Lower Midtown 146
Upper Midtown 162
Upper East Side 178
Central Park 198
The main concourse of Grand Central Terminal
Upper West Side 204
Morningside Heights
and Harlem 214 Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, Upper East Side
Brooklyn 226
Farther Afield 242
Seven Guided Walks
260
004-005_EW_New_York_UK_Contents.indd 5 08/05/2017 12:11
6 HOW T O USE THIS GUIDE
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
This Eyewitness Travel Guide helps you get with maps, photographs, and detailed illus-
the most from your stay in New York City. trations. In addition, seven planned walks
The opening section, Introducing New York take you step-by-step through standout areas.
City, locates the city geographically, sets Well-researched tips on where to stay,
modern New York in its historical context eat, shop, and on sports and entertainment,
and describes the highlights of the year. can be found in Travelers’ Needs. Children’s
New York City at a Glance is an overview of New York City lists highlights for young
the city’s attrac tions. New York City Area visitors, and the Survival Guide shows you
by Area guides you through the city’s sight- how to do everything from mailing a letter
seeing areas. It describes all the main sights to using the subway.
New York City
Area by Area
history and listing all the sights most interesting part of the area.
New York City has been divided covered in the section. Sights Finding your way around each
into 15 sightseeing areas, each are numbered and clearly area is made simple by the num-
described separately. Each area located on an Area Map. After bering system. This refers to the
opens with a portrait, summing this comes a large-scale Street- order in which sights are described
up the area’s character and by-Street Map focusing on the on the pages that follow.
Color-coding on each page makes
NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA 163
the area easy to find in the book.
UPPER MIDTOWN
Upscale New York in all its diversity is here, in the Waldorf salad originated and, in 1934,
this district of churches and synagogues, clubs the Bloody Mary was first served at the King
and museums, grand hotels and famous stores, Cole Bar in the St. Regis Hotel. In the 1950s,
as well as trendsetting skyscrapers. Upper architectural history was made when the Lever
Midtown was once home to society names, and Seagram buildings were erected. Today,
such as Astor and Vanderbilt. The Waldorf the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), one of the Recommended restaurants in the
Astoria Hotel, completed in 1931, is where greatest art galleries in the world, stands here.
area are listed and plotted on the map.
Sights at a Glance
Historic Streets Modern Architecture Churches and Synagogues
and Buildings 3 IBM Building 4 St. Thomas Church
1 Fifth Avenue w Lever House 7 St. Patrick’s Cathedral pp174–5
8 Villard Houses e Seagram Building 9 St. Bartholomew’s Church
0 General Electric Building r Citigroup Center t Central Synagogue
y Sutton Place Museums and Galleries Landmark Hotels
u Roosevelt Island 5 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) q Waldorf-Astoria
p Fuller Building
pp168–71 a Plaza Hotel
6 Paley Center for Media Landmark Stores Numbered circles pinpoint all the
2 Tiffany & Co.
AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS WEST 55TH ST 57th St WEST 57TH ST GRAND ARMY PLAZA Fifth Ave- E A S T 59th St 4.5.6 6 0 T H Lexington Ave- Parks and Squares 500 listed sights on the area map.
o Bloomingdale’s
CENTRAL PARK S
59th St
N.Q.R
i Franklin D. Roosevelt
F
Roosevelt Island, for example, is u
F I F T H A V E N U E P A R K A V E N U E L E X I N G T O N A V E N U E E A S T E A S T S T R E E T 5 8 T H 5 9 T H 0 yards S T R E E T 500
Four Freedoms Park
59th St
N.Q.R
0 meters
M A D I S O N A V E N U E
WEST 54TH ST
E A S T
Fifth Ave-
WEST 53RD ST
53rd St
E.M
SWING STREET
C O N D A V E N U E
E A S T
Lexington Ave-
53rd St
AERIAL TRAMWAY
E.M
E A S T
5 5 T H
E AS T 51st St R D A V E N U E 5 7 T H S T R E E T S T R E E T SUTTON PL Queensboro Bridge
E A S T 5 6 T H S T R E E T
E A S T 49T H 6 E A S T 5 4 T H A locator map shows you where
E A S T S T R E E T ROAD
48T H S T REE T S TREE T T H I E A S T 5 2 N D 5 3 R D I R S T A V E N U E S T R E E T SUTTON PLACE S
S E S T R E E T WEST you are in relation to surrounding
5 1 S T
E A S T E A S T 5 0 T H S T R E E T F S T R E E T W e s t C h a n n e l ROOSEVELT
ISLAND
E A S T FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT DR (E RIVER DR)
S T R E E T
4 9 T H areas. The area of the Street-by-
4 8 T H
S T R E E T WEST ROAD ROAD
Street Map is highlighted.
EAST
S T R E E T
Restaurants see pp294–305
1 Aquavit
2 BLT Steak
3 Dawat
4 Felidia
5 Four Seasons
6 La Grenouille
7 Pampano
8 Rue 57
9 Shun Lee Palace
10 Smith & Wollensky See also Street Finder maps 12, 13, 14
Beautiful stained-glass windows inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral For keys to symbols see back flap
164 NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA UPPER MID T OWN 165
Area Map Street by Street: Upper Midtown Trump Tower is CENTRAL PARK EAST SIDE UPPER
Donald Trump’s
signature tower
1For easy reference, the sights in The luxury stores that are Paley Park luxury residences. UPPER MIDTOWN
is a tiny
and contains
synonymous with Fifth Avenue
green oasis,
first blossomed as society
moved on uptown. In 1917, known as Roosevelt I.
a “vest-
each area are numbered and Cartier acquired the mansion 1 Fifth Avenue The University Club pocket” park. Locator Map East River
LOWER
MIDTOWN
was built in 1899 as
of banker Morton F. Plant,
supposedly in exchange for a
an elite club for
located on an area map. To help string of pearls, setting the Carriage rides have been replaced gentlemen. at the base of this polished See Manhattan Map pp16–17
3 IBM Building
with rickshaws and iconic yellow
style for other retailers to
A peaceful atrium is found
taxis, offering tourists more
Key
follow. But this stretch of
leisurely ways to view some
black granite building.
the visitor, the map also shows Midtown is not simply for of the main sights. distinctive “Chippendale” top. 0 meters Suggested route 100
shoppers. There are some
Sony Building has a very
distinctive museums and a
subway stations, heliports, and diverse assembly of archi 0 yards 100
tectural styles to enjoy, too.
ferry embarkation points. 4 St. Thomas Church w Lever House 2Tiffany & Co.
Renowned for its discreet
This building is one of
Much of the interior carving
luxury, this iconic store
the most prominent
contains many precious
was designed by sculptor
Lee Lawrie. A V E N U E “glass-box” buildings jewels (see p322).
in New York.
5. Museum A V E N U E
of Modern Art
Stars indicate the sights One of the
world’s finest
collections of
that no visitor should miss. modern art. E 5 3 R D S T
bulky glass prism containing
an airy atrium.
6 Paley Center M A D I S O N Park Avenue Plaza is a 0 General Electric Building
for Media The spiky pinnacle of
Exhibitions, seasons of F I F T H Racquet and Tennis Club, a Renaissance this building, built in 1931,
special screenings, live Fifth Avenue palazzo–style building, provides squash is meant to symbolize
events, and a vast library subway and tennis courts for its members. electrical waves.
of historic broadcasts (lines E, V)
are offered at this
media museum. 9 St. Bartholomew’s
Saks Fifth Avenue A V E N U E Church
has offered goods in E 5 1 S T S T A Byzantine dome sets this
impeccable taste to place apart from other
generations of New Midtown churches.
7. St. Patrick’s Yorkers (see p313). P A R K
Cathedral
This, one of the largest
Catholic cathedrals in
the United States, is a Olympic Tower
magnificent Gothic combines offices,
Revival building. apartments and a 51st Street
skylit atrium within subway (line 6)
its sleek walls.
8 Villard Houses q Waldorf-Astoria
Five handsome brownstone Old-world elegance has attracted
houses now form part of the
many famous guests to this hotel,
A suggested route for a walk Lotte New York Palace Hotel. from movie stars to heads of state.
takes in the most attractive and
interesting streets in the area. The Street-by-Street Map
2This gives a bird’s-eye view of the heart of each sightseeing
area. The numbering of the sights ties in with the area map
and the fuller descriptions on the pages that follow.
006-007_EW_New_York_City.indd 6 4/3/17 11:10 AM
HOW T O USE THIS GUIDE 7
New York City at a Glance 38 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y NE W Y ORK CIT Y A T A GLANCE 39
Each map in this section New York’s Best: Museums Museum of
New York’s museums range from the vast scope of
the Metropolitan Museum to the personal treasures
concentrates on a specific of financier J. Pierpont Morgan’s own collection. Several Modern Art Morningside
Picasso’s She-Goat (1950) is
museums celebrate New York’s heritage, giving visitors
among the impressive
Heights and
collection on display in the
an insight into the people and events that made the city
theme: Museums, Architecture, what it is today. This map features some highlights, with Intrepid Sea, Air renovated Museum of Harlem City of New York
Modern Art (MoMA).
a detailed overview on pages 40–41.
Museum of the
and Space Museum Costumes, works of art, and
Multicultural New York, and This military and maritime history museum and detailed picture of New York’s past.
household objects (such as this
also traces the progress of flight
1725 silver dish) create an intricate
exploration. It is housed in a large aircraft
carrier situated at Pier 86.
Remarkable New Yorkers. The top Upper West
Side
of Natural History
The Morgan Central American Museum
sights are shown on the map; Library & Museum Hudson R iver Park have fascinated generations of visitors here.
Dinosaurs, meteorites, and much more
One of the world’s
finest collections of
manuscripts, prints,
other sights are described on this rare French Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian
and books includes
Design Museum
Bible from 1230.
Whitney Museum Midtown A wealth of decorative arts is displayed in
the following two pages. of American Art the Theater East Side industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s former
West and
Upper East Side mansion.
This exceptional collection
Upper
District
includes many views of New
York. One of the best is Brooklyn
Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme
(1939), by Joseph Stella.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Upper Painting and sculpture by almost all major
Midtown avant-garde artists of the late 19th and
Chelsea 20th centuries fill Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Lower East Side and the stunningly renovated building.
Tenement Museum Garment Lower
Tours of this cramped District Midtown
Each sightseeing area is 1863 tenement building
highlight the living
conditions faced by Gramercy Metropolitan
color-coded. immigrant families.r Greenwich and the Of the millions of works in
Museum of Art
Flatiron
East R iver 12th-dynasty Egyptian
District
Village
its collection, this
faïence hippo is the
Ellis Island East museum’s own mascot.
This museum vividly re-creates Village
the experiences of many millions SoHo and
of immigrant families. TriBeCa
0 kilometers 2
Lower East Side 0 miles 1
Lower Manhattan
and the Civic Center
Brooklyn
Brooklyn The Frick Collection
The collection of 19th-century railroad magnate
Museum Henry Clay Frick is displayed in his former
home. Masterpieces include St. Francis in the
Desert (about 1476–8) by Giovanni Bellini.
166 NE W Y ORK cit Y AREA B Y AREA UPPER M i D t OWN 167
2 Tiffany & Co. 4 St. Thomas
Tiffany’s: 727 5th Ave. Map 12 F3. Church Practical Information
Tel (212) 755-8000. q 5th Ave-53rd 1 W 53rd St. Map 12 F4. Tel (212) 757-
St, 5th Ave–59th St. Open 10am–7pm 7013. q 5th Ave–53rd St. Open 7am–
Mon–Sat, noon–6pm Sun. 6pm daily. 5 frequent. ^ 7 8 lists all the information you
∑ tiffany.com. after 11am service & concerts.
Immortalized by Truman ∑ saintthomaschurch.org
Capote in his famous 1958 This is the fourth home for this need to visit every sight,
novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s, parish and the second on
this prestigious jewelery store this site. Today’s church was
was founded in 1837 and built between 1909 and 1914 including a map reference
remains a must-see for both to replace an earlier structure
fans of the book and film buffs. destroyed in a fire in 1905. The
Entrance to the captivating Tiffany & Co., With weathered wood and previous building had provided to the Street Finder at the
Fifth Avenue green marble interiors, the the setting for many high-
19th century. The most lavish of
1 Fifth Avenue Art Deco store is still best society weddings of the late
described by Capote’s fictional
Map 12 F3–F4. q 5th Ave–53rd St, Holly Golightly: “It calms me these was in 1895, when heiress back of the book.
5th Ave-59th St.
down right away . . . nothing
Consuelo Vanderbilt married the
very bad could happen to you English Duke of Marlborough.
In 1883, when William Henry there.” A bronze figure of Atlas The limestone building, The Beatles’ Paul, Ringo, and John on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964
Vanderbilt built his mansion at holds a clock on his shoulders Entrance to Tiffany & Co., the exclusive in French-Gothic style, has
Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, he above the doorway. jewelry emporium a single asymmetrical tower relive classic Olympic moments. The museum was the brain child
started a trend that resulted in Next door stands the Trump and an off-center nave, novel World War II footage might be of William S. Paley, a former head
palatial residences stretching as Tower, a glittering, expensive solu tions to the architectural chosen by students of history. of the CBS TV network. It opened
far as Central Park, built for apartment and office tower 3 IBM Building problems posed by its corner Six choices at any one time can in 1975 as the Museum of Broad-
wealthy families such as the rising above a gaudy six-story 590 Madison Ave. Map 12 F3. position. The richly carved, be selected from a computer casting on East 53rd Street. It was
Astors, Belmonts, and Goulds. atrium. Built in 1983, there is q 5th Ave. Garden Plaza shimmering white screens catalog that covers a library of so popular that, in 1991, it moved Numbers refer to each
Only a few remain to attest to an impressive 80-ft- (24-m-) Open 8am–10pm daily. 7 behind the altar were designed over 50,000 programs. The to this hi-tech $50 million home.
the grandeur of the era. high indoor waterfall inside, by architect Bertram Goodhue selections are then played in
One of these is the Cartier while the exterior is lined with Completed in 1983, this 43-story and sculptor Lee Lawrie. small private areas. There are
store at 651 Fifth Avenue, once hanging gardens. The tower is tower was designed by Edward Carvings in the choir stalls, larger screening sections and a 5 St. Patrick’s sight’s position on the
the home of Morton F. Plant, a flamboyant monument to Larrabee Barnes. It is a sleek, dating from the 1920s, include theater for 200, where Cathedral
millionaire and commodore affluence by the business five-sided prism of gray-green modern inventions such as retro spectives of See pp174–5.
of the New York Yacht Club. magnate and 2016 presidential polished granite, with a the telephone, plus presidents artists and area map and its place
As retailers swept north up the candidate Donald Trump. cantilevered corner at 57th Roosevelt and Wilson, and directors are
avenue – a trend that Street. The Garden Lee Lawrie himself. shown. There
began in 1906 – Plaza, with its are also photo in the chapter.
society gradually bamboo trees, is exhibits and
moved uptown. In open to the public 5 Museum of memorabilia.
1917, Plant moved to and has been Modern Art
a mansion at 86th redubbed “The See pp168–71.
Street, and legend Sculpture Garden.”
has it that he traded Eight new works,
his old home to which change four 6 Paley Center
Pierre Cartier for a times a year, are on for Media
perfectly matched view at any one time.
string of pearls. Near the atrium is a 25 W 52nd St. Map 12 F4. Tel (212)
Fifth Avenue has work by American 621-6600. q 5th Ave–53rd St.
been synonymous sculptor Michael Open noon–6pm Wed–Sun (to 8pm
Thu). Closed public hols. & ^ 7
with luxury goods Heizer, entitled 8 = ∑ paleycenter.org
ever since. From Levitated Mass. Inside
Cartier at 52nd Street a low, stainless-steel
to Henri Bendel at tank is a huge slab of In this one-of-a-kind repository
56th and Tiffany and granite that seems to museum, visitors can watch The Visitors’ Checklist
Bergdorf Goodman float on air. and listen to a collection of
at 57–58th, you will On the corner entertainment and sports
find many brands of 57th Street and documentaries from radio and provides the practical
symbolizing wealth Madison Avenue television’s earliest days to the
and social standing is Saurien, a bright- present. Pop fans can see the
today, just as Astor orange abstract early Beatles or a young Elvis information you will need
and Vanderbilt did sculpture by Presley making his television
over a century ago. Interior of the Trump Tower atrium Alexander Calder. debut. Sports enthusiasts can Watch 1960s television star Lucille Ball at the Paley Center for Media
to plan your visit.
Detailed information on each sight
3All important sights in each area are described
in depth in this section. They are listed in
order, following the numbering on the
Area Map. Practical information on 174 NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA UPPER MID T OWN 175
opening hours, telephone numbers, 8 St. Patrick’s Cathedral This chapel honors the Saint Elizabeth Ann VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
. Lady Chapel
Seton Shrine
The bronze statue and
The Roman Catholic Church originally intended
Blessed Virgin. The
Practical Information
screen depict the life of
websites, admission charges, and this site for use as a cemetery, but in 1850 stained-glass windows the first American to be 5th Ave and 50th St.
portray the mysteries of
Archbishop John Hughes decided to build a
Map 12 F4.
the rosary.
canonized a saint. She
Tel (212) 753-2261.
founded the Sisters of
cathedral instead. Many thought that it was
Open 6:30am–8:45pm daily.
Charity (see p78).
facilities available is given for each foolish to build so far beyond the (then) city 5 frequent Mon–Sat; 7, 8, 9,
limits, but Hughes went ahead anyway.
10:15am & noon, 1, 4 (in Spanish)
Archi tect James Renwick built New York’s finest
& 5:30pm Sun. 7 = Concerts,
Gothic Revival build ing, one of the largest recitals, lectures.
∑ saintpatrickscathedral.org
sight. The key to the symbols used Catholic cathe drals in the US. The cathedral, Transport
which seats 2,500 people, was com pleted
q 6 to 51st St; E, V to Fifth Ave.
in 1878, though the spires were added
@ M1–5, M50, Q32.
can be found on the back flap. between 1885 and 1888.
. Great Organ and
Pietà Rose Window
American Measuring 26 ft (8 m) in diameter,
sculptor William the rose window shines above the
O. Partridge great organ, which has more than
created this 7,000 pipes.
Pietà in 1906.
The statue
stands at the
side of the
Lady Chapel.
The facade of each major sight is The cathedral’s Fifth
shown to help you spot it quickly. Avenue facade
Stars indicate the most interesting . Great Bronze Doors
The massive doors weigh 20,000 lb
architectural details of the building, (9,000 kg) and are adorned with
important religious figures.
and the most important works of
art or exhibits on view inside. . Baldachin KEY 1 The Cathedral Facade’s exterior
The great baldachin rising wall is built of white marble. The
over the high altar is made Stations of the Cross spires rise 330 ft (101 m) above
entirely of bronze. Statues Carved of Caen stone in Holland, the pavement.
of the saints and prophets these reliefs won first prize in the Main entrance 2 Crypt
adorn the four piers field of religious art at the Chicago
supporting the canopy. World’s Fair in 1893. 3 Lady of Guadalupe
New York’s major sights
4These are given two or more full pages in the sightseeing
area in which they are found. Notable buildings are dissected
to reveal their interiors; and museums and galleries have
color-coded floor plans to help you find particular exhibits.
006-007_EW_New_York_City.indd 7 4/3/17 11:10 AM
008-009_EW_New_York_City.indd 8 4/3/17 11:40 AM
INTRODUCING
NEW YORK
CITY
Great Days in New York City 10–13
Putting New York City
on the Map 14–17
The History of New York City 18–35
New York City at a Glance 36–51
New York City
Through the Year 52–55
The Manhattan Skyline 56–63
008-009_EW_New_York_City.indd 9 4/3/17 11:40 AM
10 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
GREAT DAYS IN
NEW YORK CITY
New York is a city packed with things to first by theme and then by length of stay.
see and do. Whether you are here for There’s a mix of activities, and the schedules
several days, or just wanting a flavor of are not meant to be rigid – you’ll find ample
this great metropolis, you need to make the time to explore places that catch your fancy
most of your time. Over the following pages, too. Price guides show the cost for two adults
you’ll find itineraries for some of the best or for a family of two adults and two children
attractions New York has to offer, arranged including lunch.
or a platter of Long Island
City Landmarks
oysters at the Grand Central
Oyster Bar (see p302).
Two adults
allow at least $140 Afternoon
• A tour of the UN Back on 42nd Street is another
Beaux Arts creation, the New
• Modern, Art Deco, and
Beaux Arts edifices York Public Library (see p142;
free 1-hour tours at 11am
• Lights of Times Square
Mon–Sat and 2pm Sun). The
• Empire State Building marble halls, stairways, Main
Reading Room and Periodicals Glistening Prometheus Statue and
Room are highlights. Check Lower Plaza at Rockefeller Center
Morning your e-mail for free in the Bill
Start at the Flatiron Building Blass Public Catalog Room. Art and Shopping
(see p123) and stroll through Look out also for temporary
Madison Square toward the East exhibits. Behind the library
River. Join a guided tour of the is Bryant Park (see p141), a Two adults
United Nations headquarters welcome oasis of green in allow at least $170
(see pp156–9), with its striking Midtown. Ahead is New York’s • A morning of modern art
modern architecture. Then most famous crossroads, Times • Lunch at Rockefeller
head to 42nd Street, and drop Square (see pp142–3), gateway Center
in to admire the Art Deco to the glittering neon of • St. Patrick’s Cathedral
interior of the Chrysler Building Broadway. Just beyond is 42nd
(see p151). Next is Grand Central Street, now a bright avenue • Fifth Avenue shopping
Terminal, a great Beaux Arts of restored theaters, giant
landmark (see pp152–3). Admire movie palaces, and Madame
the Main Concourse and Tussauds wax museum, with Morning
explore the shopping gallery, many true-to-life celebrities. The spectacular Museum
colorful food market, and a food Hail a cab to the Empire State of Modern Art (MoMA) (see
court with everything from sushi Building (see pp132–3) and pp168–71) will easily fill your
to Southern barbecue to New end the day with a fine twilight morning with its wonderful
York cheesecake. Another view of the city from the art. Allow a couple of hours to
lunchtime option is chowder 86th-floor observatory. enjoy its great works, including
Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry
Night and Claude Monet’s Water
Lilies, as well as Pablo Picasso’s
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, to
name just a few. Don’t miss the
design exhibits on floor three;
one of MoMA’s best-known
facets. Leave the museum and
stroll over to Rockefeller Center
(see p140) for lunch at the Rock
Center Café, where you can
watch the ice skaters in winter.
In summer the rink is transformed
into a leafy garden, where you
The neon lights of Times Square, the city’s famous crossroads can dine at the Rink Bar.
The tip of Manhattan in 1942
010-011_EW_New_York_City.indd 10 4/3/17 11:40 AM
GREA T D A Y S IN NE W Y ORK CIT Y 11
GREAT DAYS IN Afternoon (see pp72–3) and Trinity Church
NEW YORK CITY After lunch, head for St. Patrick’s (see p71), built in 1839–46. Go
up Broadway to St. Paul’s Chapel
Cathedral (see pp174–5), the
largest Catholic cathedral in (see p85), miraculously unscathed
the US and one of the city’s finest after the World Trade Center
places of worship. Then continue fell behind it in 2001. Ahead is
along Fifth Avenue for an City Hall (see p84). Finally, head
afternoon of window shopping. for the South Street Seaport
Saks Fifth Avenue is just across historic district, heart of the
the street from St. Patrick’s at 19th-century port (see p84),
50th Street. Heading uptown, with a view of the awesome
the temptations on Fifth Avenue Brooklyn Bridge (see pp232–5).
include a dizzying variety of glitzy
shops, such as Cartier (52nd St),
Henri Bendel (56th St), Prada A Family Fun Day
(56–57th sts), Tiffany (57th St),
and Bergdorf Goodman (57 St). Family of four Central Park, a vast area of fun activities,
For more affordable shopping, allow at least $250 animals, and places to play
head to Macy’s (see pp130–31) • A morning in Central Park
or Bloomingdale’s (see p177). • The Marionette Theater Cottage Marionette Theater, at
West 79th, presents classic fairy
• Dinosaurs at the tales at 10:30am and noon
Historic New York American Museum of Mon–Fri (Wed also 2:30pm) and
Natural History 1pm Sat and Sun; book ahead.
Two adults Rent bikes or take a boat out on
allow at least $120 the lake, then picnic near the
• A boat trip to Ellis Island Morning Boathouse, which has a view of
and the Statue of Liberty Central Park (see pp198–203) the lake. In winter, you can ice
• Lunch at Fraunces Tavern was made for family fun. Ride skate at the Wollman Rink.
the vintage Carousel, watch
• A tour of Old New York
model boats in action at Afternoon
Conservatory Pond, visit the Depending on ages and
Zoo, where you can also watch interests, choose between the
Morning the animal parade on the interactive Children’s Museum
At Battery Park, board the Delacorte Clock on the of Manhattan (see p213), or the
ferry to the Statue of Liberty half-hour. There are themed famous dinosaurs and dioramas
(see pp78–9) or on to Ellis playgrounds to please all ages: at the American Museum of
Island (see pp82–3), the point Safari at West 91st Street (2–5 Natural History (see pp210–11).
of arrival for many immigrants years); Adventure at West 67th Finish up on West 73rd Street
(round trip includes both stops). Street (6–12 years). The Swedish for a “wee tea” at Alice’s Tea Cup.
If you have time on your return,
exit the park at Bowling Green,
the city’s oldest park (see pp76–7).
Walk to the Fraunces Tavern
Museum (see p80), New York’s
last remaining block of
18th-century commercial
buildings. The recreated Tavern
includes a museum of the
revolutionary period and a
restaurant that is the perfect
choice for an atmospheric lunch.
Afternoon
A block away is Stone Street
Historic District, rebuilt after
a fire in 1835. Look for India
House (see p58), once the New
York Cotton Exchange, now
Harry’s Café. Take William Street
to Wall Street and Federal Hall
(see p70), with exhibits on the
US Constitution. Nearby is
the New York Stock Exchange Ellis Island, the view greeting early immigrants to New York
010-011_EW_New_York_City.indd 11 4/3/17 11:40 AM
12 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
2 Days in
New York City
• Marvel at the master
pieces in the Met
• Ascend the Empire State
Building for iconic views
• Take a boat to the Statue
of Liberty and Ellis Island
Day 1
Morning Start with a one-hour
guided tour of the city’s vast
Metropolitan Museum of Art
(pp186–93), known as the Met, View uptown over the vast expanse of Central Park
daily from 11:15am (in English).
Follow this with a walk through head to historic South Street lobby of Frank Lloyd Wright’s
neighboring Central Park Seaport (p84), once the hub Solomon R. Guggenheim
(pp198–203), with views of the of New York’s seafaring activity. Museum (pp184–5) to admire
lake and the skyline beyond. Spend a couple of hours the amazing architecture, and
wandering this cobblestone linger to see some modern art.
Afternoon Hop on the Fifth neighborhood, now home to
Avenue bus to 59th Street and historic ships, museums, food Afternoon Take a walk on the
Grand Army Plaza, then walk on stalls, and shops. End the day High Line (p134), the city’s park
down Fifth Avenue (p166) to with a sunset walk across in the sky, then stroll around
Rockefeller Center (p140) at Brooklyn Bridge (pp232–5). the leafy lanes of trendy
49th Street, passing shopping Greenwich Village (pp102–11)
meccas such as Bergdorf 3 Days in and browse its many stores. At
Goodman, Tiffany, Trump Tower, New York City night, sample the lively cafés of
and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well SoHo (pp96–101), or opt for a
as the striking St. Patrick’s • Enjoy modern art at MoMA show at Lincoln Center for the
Cathedral (pp174–5). Visit the • Visit the National Performing Arts (p208).
86th-floor observatory at the September 11 Memorial
Empire State Building (pp132–3) and Museum Day 3
for the legendary panorama of • See a show on Broadway Morning Start with the city’s
the city. For souvenir shopping, symbol of freedom, the Statue
the “world’s largest store,” Macy’s of Liberty (pp78–9), and a visit
(pp130–31), is a block west. After Day 1 to the fascinating Ellis Island
dark, enjoy the bright lights of Morning Take in city views (pp82–3); arrive early at Battery
Times Square (pp142–3), and from the top of the Empire Park (p81) for shorter lines for
take in a Broadway (p338) show. State Building (pp132–3), then the boat ride. Afterward, take
Check the TKTS booth on Times stroll up Fifth Avenue (p166) time to visit the National
Square for discount seats. with its luxury stores. Detour September 11 Memorial
along 42nd Street to see the and Museum (p74).
Day 2 beautiful interiors of the Grand
Morning To avoid long lines Central Terminal (pp152–3),
head to Battery Park (p81) early then continue on to Rockefeller
to catch the boat to the Statue Center (p140) for a wander. St.
of Liberty (pp78–9) and Ellis Patrick’s Cathedral (pp174–5)
Island (pp82–3), the symbol of is across the street.
America’s immigrant heritage.
There will be time on your return Afternoon See masterpieces
to visit the moving National at The Museum of Modern Art
September 11 Memorial and (pp168–71) and shop for souvenirs
Museum (p74), in Lower at the MoMA store or Macy’s
Manhattan. Book in advance. (pp130–31). At night, the bright
lights of Broadway (p338) beckon.
Afternoon Stroll down
Wall Street, taking in the Day 2
monumental Neo-Classical Morning After a stroll through
facade of the New York Stock Central Park (pp198–203), visit
Exchange (pp72–3) on the the Metropolitan Museum of The spiral rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s
corner of Broad Street. Next, Art (pp186–93). Step into the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
012-013_EW_New_York_City.indd 12 4/3/17 11:40 AM
GREA T D A Y S IN NE W Y ORK CIT Y 13
Afternoon Visit the fascinating Day 3
Museum of Jewish Heritage Morning Spend the morning
(p76), then wander down Wall exploring two major museums,
Street to see the grand New the Museum of Modern Art
York Stock Exchange (pp72–3). (pp168–71) and Frank Lloyd
End the day with a stroll and an Wright’s Solomon R.
early dinner in South Street Guggenheim Museum
Seaport (p84), from where (pp184–5), both with exciting
there are also great views of modern art collections.
Brooklyn Bridge (pp232–5).
Afternoon Explore Manhattan’s
5 Days in neighborhoods: the quaint,
New York City historic streets and lively cafés
of Greenwich Village (pp102–11),
• Take a walk in Central Park
the shops and classic cast-iron The Immigration Museum on Ellis Island,
• Explore Greenwich Village, buildings of SoHo (pp98–9), or where 12 million US immigrants arrived
SoHo, and Chelsea peruse a few of the many art
galleries of Chelsea (pp126–35). a palatial gilded-age mansion,
• View the city from across
Take a walk along the city’s most has an outstanding collection of
beautiful Brooklyn Bridge
unusual park, the High Line Old Masters. Alternatively, visit
(p134), ending with the upscale the Whitney Museum (pp108–
Day 1 boutiques on 14th Street in the 9), home to the entire range of
Morning Head to Fifth Avenue trendy Meatpacking District 20th-century American art. In
(p166) to browse its famous stores (pp106–7). the evening, head to Harlem
and nearby sights, including (pp214–25) for a jazz club or
St. Patrick’s Cathedral (pp174– Day 4 to see a show at the famous
5) and Rockefeller Center (p140) Morning Explore the Upper Apollo Theater (p224).
with its Art Deco skyscrapers West Side (pp204–13), walking
and beautiful gardens. down to Columbus Circle Day 5
(p209). Head east to take Morning Walk across Brooklyn
Afternoon Enjoy the open a tour of the United Nations Bridge (pp232–5) to Brooklyn
spaces of Central Park (pp198– (pp156–9) headquarters, then Heights Promenade (pp270–71)
203), the masterpieces at The explore the Lower East Side for views of Manhattan. A
Metropolitan Museum of Art (pp86–95), where the Lower East subway ride leads to Brooklyn’s
(pp186–93), and great views from Side Tenement Museum (p92) impressive Grand Army Plaza
atop the Empire State Building tells the tale of life in the city’s (p236) and the world-class
(pp132–3). In the evening, take in old tenements. Orchard Street Brooklyn Museum (pp238–41).
the lights of Broadway (p338). (p93), a mix of bargain stores
and hip boutiques, serves the Afternoon Spend some time
Day 2 newest generation of residents. admiring the lovely Brooklyn
Morning The boat ride to the Botanic Garden (p237), famous
Statue of Liberty (pp78–9) and Afternoon Check out some for its Japanese Garden, and
Ellis Island (pp82–3) is a thrill, big-name stores, such as Lord & Prospect Park (pp236–7), laid
offering remarkable photo Taylor (p313) and Bloomingdale’s out by Central Park’s designers.
opportunities. Take the boat (p177), or take in at least one Visit the Brooklyn Academy of
back late morning and visit more museum. The Frick Music (p231) for avant-garde
the National September 11 Collection (pp196–7), housed in theater and dance.
Memorial and Museum (p74), a
very moving experience.
Afternoon Visit the vibrant
Museum of Jewish Heritage
(p76), then make your way to
Wall Street for a stroll through
the skyscraper canyons and
to see the New York Stock
Exchange (pp72–3). Look out
for the Federal Hall (p70) along
the way. Next, spend a couple
of hours exploring South
Street Seaport (p84), the city’s
old maritime center and now a
lively complex with museums,
shops, and restaurants. Elevated walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge, the world’s first steel-wire suspension bridge
012-013_EW_New_York_City.indd 13 4/3/17 11:40 AM
14 i NTro D u C i N g N e W Y ork Ci TY
Cornwall
Putting New York City on the Map
New York is a city of over eight million people, covering St Lawrence
301 sq miles (780 sq km). The city gets its name from
the state of New York, the capital of which is Albany,
156 miles (251 km) to the north. New York is also
a good base from which to visit the historic cities
of Boston and Philadelphia, as well as the Fort Drum
nation’s capital, Washington, DC. Watertown
Lester B Toronto
CANADA Pearson Lake Ontario Adirondack
Mississsauga Mountains
Cambridge
Burlington
Woodstock
Niagara Falls Rochester
Brantford St Catharines
Syracuse Utica
Port Dover Buffalo Geneva Auburn
Lake Troy
Erie Albany Gloucester
NEW YORK
Mountains
Ithaca MASSACHUSETTS Logan
North America Catskill Worcester Boston
Binghamton Brockton
CANADA Springfield
Hudson
Elmira
Mansfield Kingston Providence
Hartford
UNITED ST ATES New York CONNECTICUT RHODE
OF AMERICA City Poughkeepsie
Norwich ISLAND
Scranton
Atlantic
Gulf of Ocean Williamsport New Haven
Mexico
Wilkes-Barre Bridgeport
MEXICO Delaware L o n g I s l a n d S o u n d
Caribbean Sea Paterson Long Montauk
PENNSYL V ANIA Hazleton Phillipsburg Newark NEW Smithtown Island
Allegheny Mountains Harrisburg Reading Atlantic
Pittsburgh Altoona Susquehanna Allentown New Brunswick YORK CITY See inset Brookhaven
map above
Ohio Bedford Lancaster Philadelphia Eatontown Ocean Liverpool,
Trenton
York
Gibraltar
Philadelphia Camden NEW Toms River Southampton,
Cumberland Hagerstown Wilmington JERSEY
Morgantown
MAR YLAND
Frederick
Atlantic
Baltimore City
Clarksburg Winchester Baltimore-
VIRGINIA n d o a h Strasburg Washington Washington Dover Delaware
WEST
M o u n t a i n s
Dulles
Bay
S h e n a Washington, DC
Annapolis
VIRGINIA DELAWARE
Harrisonburg
San Juan, Cape Town,
Panama Rio de Janeiro
014-015_EW_New_York.indd 14 06/04/16 11:57 am
Put ting ne w Y ork cit Y o n t h e ma P 15
Cornwall
St Lawrence Greater New York City Englewood Long Island
Sound
Bronx
Passaic See next
page
NEW Union LaGuardia
JERSEY City
Fort Drum
Watertown Newark Manhattan
Queens
Jersey
City
Lester B Toronto Newark NEW YORK
CANADA Pearson Lake Ontario Adirondack Elizabeth New York John F. Kennedy
Bay
Mississsauga Mountains (JFK)
Cambridge Staten Brooklyn
Burlington Island
Woodstock
Niagara Falls Rochester
Brantford St Catharines Atlantic 0 kilometers 10
Syracuse Utica
Ocean 0 miles 5
Port Dover Buffalo Geneva Auburn
Lake Troy
Erie Albany Gloucester
NEW YORK
Catskill Worcester
Ithaca MASSACHUSETTS Boston Logan
Binghamton Mountains Springfield Brockton
Hudson
Elmira
Mansfield Kingston Providence
Hartford
CONNECTICUT RHODE
Poughkeepsie
Norwich ISLAND
Scranton
Delaware L o n g I s l a n d S o u n d
Williamsport New Haven
Wilkes-Barre Bridgeport
Long
PENNSYL V ANIA Hazleton Phillipsburg Paterson NEW Smithtown Island Montauk
Newark
Allegheny Mountains Harrisburg Reading Atlantic
Pittsburgh Altoona Susquehanna Allentown New Brunswick YORK CITY See inset Brookhaven
map above
Ohio Bedford Lancaster Philadelphia Eatontown Ocean Liverpool,
Trenton
York
Gibraltar
Philadelphia Camden NEW Toms River Southampton,
Cumberland Hagerstown Wilmington JERSEY
Morgantown Key
MAR YLAND
Frederick Interstate highway
Atlantic
Baltimore City State highway
Clarksburg Winchester Baltimore- Major railroad line
VIRGINIA n d o a h Strasburg Washington Washington Dover Delaware International border
WEST
Dulles
M o u n t a i n s
Bay
Shipping route
S h e n a Washington, DC 0 kilometers 50 100 State line
Annapolis
0 miles
VIRGINIA DELAWARE
Harrisonburg
San Juan, Cape Town, For keys to symbols see back flap
Panama Rio de Janeiro
014-015_EW_New_York.indd 15 06/04/16 11:57 am
16 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Central New York City
This guide divides Manhattan into 14 areas, with a further
chapter dedicated to Brooklyn. Many of New York’s oldest and
newest buildings rub shoulders in Lower Manhattan. It is from AVENUE
BROADWAY
here, too, that you can take the Staten Island Ferry for breath HENRY HUDSON PARKWAY HARLEM
taking views of the city’s skyline and the Statue of Liberty. AMSTERDAM AVENUE
Midtown includes the Theater District and Fifth Avenue’s AVENUE 135TH STREET
glittering shops. Museum Mile, alongside Central Park on MORNINGSIDE 125TH STREET
HEIGHTS
the Upper East Side, is a cultural paradise. To the north lies H u d s o n R i v e r Cathedral of EIGHTH SEVENTH MALCOLM X BLVD AVENUE AVENUE
St. John the Divine
Harlem, the US’s most famous AfricanAmerican community. 116TH STREET
Grand Central Terminal
This Beaux Arts station has been 96TH STREET 110TH STREET FIFTH
The Morgan Library a gateway to the city since 1913. PARK
& Museum Its concourse is a vast pedestrian CENTRAL PARK WEST
CENTRAL
One of the world’s area with a high-vaulted roof UPPER PARK AVENUE
finest collections of rare (see pp152–3). WEST SIDE
86TH STREET
manuscripts, prints, and AVENUE American Museum FIFTH
books is on display BROADWAY AVENUE of Natural History Guggenheim
in this palazzo-style Museum
AMSTERDAM CENTRAL PARK WEST AVENUE UPPER
building (see pp160–61). COLUMBUS Metropolitan
Museum of Art
CENTRAL
MIDTOWN WEST PARK AVENUE EAST SIDE
AND THE THEATER 57TH ST FIFTH AVENUE AVENUE 86TH ST
DISTRICT AVENUE
PARK 72ND STREET
48TH STREET
Rockefeller Museum of THIRD
Center Modern Art SECOND
42ND STREET
AVENUE AVENUE SQUARE AVE St. Patrick's FIRST
TIMES
34TH ST
Cathedral
AVENUE
MIDTOWN
CHELSEA AVENUE SIXTH Grand
TENTH Central 48TH ST
NINTH EIGHTH Empire State 42ND STREET
Building
SEVENTH FIFTH AVENUE UN
PARK AVENUE
Headquarters
GRAMERCY AVENUE
14TH STREET
Cathedral of St. John the Divine GREENWICH PARK AVENUE AVENUE
be the largest in the world. It is also a theater R i v e r WASHINGTON BROADWAY 23RD ST
VILLAGE
When it is finished, at some time after the
mid-21st century, this great cathedral will
SQUARE
VARICK ST
H u d s o n TRIBECA BROADWAY DELANCEY ST STREET VILLAGE
and music venue (see pp220–21). WEST ST CANAL ST SOHO THIRD SECOND FIRST
HOUSTON
EAST
BOWERY
WEST ST
LOWER BROADWAY LOWER EAST
CHURCH ST
SIDE
EAST BROADWAY
MANHATTAN AND
Ellis THE CIVIC CENTER T VIADUCT
Island SOUTH STREE Brooklyn
Bridge
E a s t R i v e r
Statue of
Liberty
Statue of Liberty
Presented as a gift Governors JAY ST BROOKL Y N QUEENS EXP
Island
from the French
to the American COLUMBIA ST
people in 1886, this
towering statue ATLANTIC AVE MYRTLE AVE
has become a F L AT BU SH A V EN U E E XT E N SIO N DEKALB AVE
BROOKLYN
symbol of freedom RICHARDS ST SMITH ST
throughout the world 3rd ST FULTON ST
(see pp78–9).
016-017_EW_New_York_City.indd 16 4/3/17 11:10 AM
PUT TING NE W Y ORK CIT Y ON THE M AP 17
0 kilometers 2
0 miles 1
HENRY HUDSON PARKWAY AMSTERDAM HARLEM
AVENUE
BROADWAY
AVENUE
H u d s o n R i v e r St. John the Divine EIGHTH 116TH STREET MALCOLM X BLVD AVENUE AVENUE
AVENUE
135TH STREET
HEIGHTS
SEVENTH
Cathedral of
MORNINGSIDE 125TH STREET
FIFTH
Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum
96TH STREET
A masterpiece of architecture by Frank
CENTRAL
UPPER CENTRAL PARK WEST 110TH STREET PARK Lloyd Wright, this unique building contains
PARK
WEST SIDE AVENUE a fine collection of 19th- and 20th-century
86TH STREET
BROADWAY AVENUE AVENUE American Museum Guggenheim painting (see pp184–5).
FIFTH
of Natural History
CENTRAL PARK WEST
Museum
AMSTERDAM COLUMBUS CENTRAL AVENUE Metropolitan Empire
State Building
Museum of Art
This is one of
UPPER
MIDTOWN WEST PARK AVENUE EAST SIDE America’s tallest
buildings and a
AND THE THEATER 57TH ST FIFTH AVENUE AVENUE 86TH ST symbol of New
DISTRICT AVENUE
PARK 72ND STREET York City. Built in
48TH STREET
Rockefeller Museum of THIRD the 1930s, it has
Center Modern Art SECOND since attracted
42ND STREET
AVENUE AVENUE SQUARE AVE St. Patrick's FIRST more than 110
TIMES
34TH ST
Cathedral
AVENUE
MIDTOWN
CHELSEA AVENUE SIXTH Grand million visitors
(see pp132–3).
TENTH Central 48TH ST
NINTH EIGHTH Empire State 42ND STREET
Building
SEVENTH FIFTH AVENUE UN
PARK AVENUE
Headquarters
GRAMERCY
AVENUE
GREENWICH BROADWAY PARK 23RD ST AVENUE AVENUE
14TH STREET
H u d s o n R i v e r TRIBECA BROADWAY WASHINGTON STREET THIRD VILLAGE United Nations (UN)
VILLAGE
SQUARE
SECOND
VARICK ST
WEST ST
FIRST
SOHO
HOUSTON
EAST
New York is
CANAL ST
the headquarters of
BOWERY
DELANCEY ST
WEST ST
LOWER BROADWAY LOWER EAST the global organization
CHURCH ST
set up to preserve
SIDE
world peace and
EAST BROADWAY
MANHATTAN AND security (see pp156–9).
Ellis THE CIVIC CENTER T VIADUCT
Island SOUTH STREE Brooklyn
Bridge
E a s t R i v e r
Statue of
Liberty
Governors
Island JAY ST BROOKL Y N QUEENS EXP
COLUMBIA ST Brooklyn Bridge
This bridge spans the East
MYRTLE AVE
River between Manhattan and
RICHARDS ST SMITH ST Brooklyn. Built in 1883, it was The Metropolitan Museum of Art
DEKALB AVE
ATLANTIC AVE
BROOKLYN
the largest suspension bridge
3rd ST FULTON ST and the first to be constructed With a stunning collection of artifacts dating from prehistoric times to the
of steel (see pp232–5). present, this is one of the world’s greatest museums (see pp186–93).
F L AT BU SH A V EN U E E XT E N SIO N
016-017_EW_New_York_City.indd 17 4/3/17 11:10 AM
018-019_EW_New_York_City.indd 18 4/3/17 11:40 AM
INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y 19
THE HISTORY OF
NEW YORK CITY
From its first sighting almost 500 years ago City became the country’s cultural
by Giovanni da Verrazano, New York’s harbor and entertainment mecca as well as
was the prize that all of Europe wanted to its business center.
capture. The Dutch first sent fur traders to
the area in 1621, but they lost the colony The Melting Pot
they called New Amsterdam to the English The city continued to grow, as thousands
in 1664. The settlement was re-christened of immigrants came seeking a better life.
New York, and the name stayed, even after Overpopulation meant that many at first
the English lost the colony in 1783, at the lived in slums. Today, the mix of cultures
end of the Revolutionary War. has enriched the city and become its
defining quality. Its eight-and-a-half million
The Growing City inhabitants speak some 200 languages.
In the 19th century, New York grew Manhattan’s skyline took shape as the
rapidly and became a major port. Ease city grew skyward to make space for its
of shipping spawned manufacturing, ever-increasing population. Throughout
commerce was king, and great fortunes its history, the city has experienced
were made. In 1898, Manhattan was alternating periods of economic decline
joined with the four outer boroughs and growth, but it remains one of the
to form the world’s second-largest city. world’s most vital cities.
From 1800 to 1900, the population grew The following pages illustrate significant
from 79,000 to 3 million people. New York periods in New York’s history.
A deed signed by New Amsterdam’s last Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, in 1664
The southern half of Manhattan and part of Brooklyn in 1767
018-019_EW_New_York_City.indd 19 4/3/17 11:40 AM
20 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Early New York City
Manhattan was a forested land populated by Algonquians
when the Dutch West India Company established a
fur-trading post called New Amsterdam in 1625. The
first settlers built houses helter-skelter, so even today
the streets of Lower Manhattan still twist. Broadway, then
called by the Dutch name Breede Wegh, began as a Native
American trail known as the Weekquaesgeek Growth of the Metropolis
Trail. Harlem has also kept its Dutch 1664 Today
name. The town was unruly until Peter
Stuyvesant arrived to bring order.
But the colony did not produce the Seal of New Netherland
expected revenues, and in 1664 The beaver pelt and wampum
(shell beads) on the seal were
the Dutch let it fall to the English, the currency of the colony of
who renamed it New York. New Netherland.
First View of Manhattan (1626)
The First New Yorkers
The Algonquians were The southern tip of Manhattan resembled a
the first inhabitants Dutch town, down to the windmill. Although
of Manhattan. a fort is shown here, it had not yet been built.
Dutch ships
Iroquois Pot
The Iroquois
were frequent visitors
to early Manhattan.
Native American
Village
Some Algonquians
lived in longhouses
on Manhattan before
the Dutch arrived.
Native canoe
1524 Giovanni da Verrazano 1626 Peter Minuit obtains Manhattan 1653 Wall is built for
sails into New York harbor from the Algonquians protection from
attack; adjacent street
1625 Dutch establish first is called Wall Street
permanent trading post
1600 1620 1640
1609 Henry Hudson 1625 First black 1643–45 Native American 1654 First
sails up the now slaves brought skirmishes end with Jewish
Hudson River from Africa temporary peace treaty settlers
in search of the arrive
Northwest 1647 Peter Stuyvesant
Passage becomes colonial governor
020-021_EW_New_York_City.indd 20 4/3/17 11:10 AM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 21
Dutch Delftware
Colonists brought
this popular tin -glazed
earthen ware pottery
from Holland.
Tijger timbers
Manhattan Skyline Where to See
The Strand, now Whitehall Dutch New York
Street, was the site of the
city’s first brick house. Dug up by workmen in 1916, these
remnants of a Dutch ship, the Tijger, which
burned in 1614, are the earliest artifacts of
the period and are now in the Museum
of the City of New York (see p195). Rooms
in this museum, as well as in the Morris-Jumel
Mansion (see p245) and the Vorleezer’s
House in Richmond Town (see p258), give
a good idea of life in Dutch New York.
Purchase of Manhattan
Fort Peter Minuit obtains the island from the
Amsterdam
Algonquians in 1626 for a bucket of
trade goods worth 60 guilders.
Peter Stuyvesant
The last Dutch governor was a
tyrant who imposed strict laws
– such as an edict closing all
the city’s taverns at 9 o’clock.
1660 First city hospital established 1676 Great
Dock built on
1664 British forces oust Dutch East River 1698 Trinity Church
without a fight and change city’s dedicated
name to New York
1660 1680 1700
The surrender of New 1683 First New York city 1693 Ninety-two cannons
Amsterdam to the British charter established installed for protection; area
becomes known as the Battery
1680s Bolting Laws give 1689 Merchant Jacob Leisler
New York exclusive right leads a revolt against taxes and 1691 Leisler sentenced to
to process and ship grain takes over the city for two years death for treason
020-021_EW_New_York_City.indd 21 4/3/17 11:10 AM
22 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Colonial New York City
Under British rule, New York prospered, and the population grew
rapidly. The bolting of flour (grinding grain) was the main commercial
enterprise. Shipbuilding also flourished. As the city prospered, an
elite emerged that could afford a more refined way of life, and fine
furniture and household silver were made for use in their homes
during the Colonial period. During more than a century of governing
New York, Britain proved more interested in profit than in the welfare Growth of the Metropolis
of the colony. The Crown imposed hated taxes, and the spirit of 1760 Today
rebellion grew, although loyalties were divided, especially in New
York. On the eve of Revolution, New York was the second-largest city
in the 13 colonies, with 20,000 citizens.
Bedroom
Colonial Street
Pigs and dogs roamed free on the streets of
Colonial New York.
Dining
room
Kas
This Dutch-style
pine wardrobe was
made in New York’s
Hudson River valley
around 1720.
Colonial currency
This early paper
money was based on
the British pound.
1711 Slave market
1702 Lord Cornbury, known for often set up at the foot 1734 John Peter
wearing women’s clothes, appointed of Wall Street Zenger’s libel trial
Colonial governor upholds freedom
1720 First shipyard opens of the press
1700 1710 1720 1730
1710 Iroquois 1732 First city
chief Hendrick 1725 New York theater opens
visits England Gazette, city’s first
newspaper, is 1733 Bowling Green
established becomes first city park;
first ferries to Brooklyn
022-023_EW_New_York_City.indd 22 4/3/17 11:10 AM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 23
Captain Kidd
The Scottish pirate William Kidd Where to See
was a respected citizen, lending Colonial New York
a block and tackle to help build Colonial buildings are open to the
the Trinity Church (see p71).
public at Historic Richmond Town on
Staten Island (see p258). Fine examples
of Colonial silver and furniture are on
Van Cortlandt House display at the Museum of the City of
Frederick Van Cortlandt New York (see p195).
(1699–1749) built this Georgian-
style house in 1748 on a wheat
plantation in what is now the
Bronx. Today a museum, it shows
how a well-to-do Dutch-
English family once lived.
West parlor
Richmond Town General Store
Colonial Kitchen
Plain white cheese, called “white meat,”
was often served in place of meat. Waffles,
introduced by the Dutch, were popular. Fresh
fruit was rare, but preserved fruits were eaten.
Pewter baby bottle
Cheese mold Waffle iron
Decorative Carvings
A face carved in stone peers
over each of the front windows. Sucket fork, for eating preserved fruits
1754 French and Indian War
1734 John Peter 1741 Slave uprising creates begins; King’s College (now
Zenger’s libel trial hysteria; 31 slaves are executed, Columbia University) founded British soldier
upholds freedom and 150 imprisoned
of the press 1759 First jail built
1740 1750 1760
King’s College 1762 First paid police
force established
1763 War ends; the
British gain control of
North America
022-023_EW_New_York_City.indd 23 4/3/17 11:10 AM
24 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Revolutionary New York City
Dug up into trenches for defense, heavily shelled by British
troops, and scarred by recurring fires, New York suffered
during the American Revolution. But, despite
the hardships, many continued to enjoy
cricket games, horse races, boxing matches,
and balls. After the British took the city in
1776, it became their headquarters. The Growth of the Metropolis
Continental army did not return to 1776 Today
Manhattan until November 25, 1783,
two years after the fighting ended.
Battle Dress
The Continental
(Patriot) army wore
blue uniforms, while
the British wore red.
Soldier’s Haversack
American soldiers in the
War of Independence British soldier
carried their supplies
in haversacks. Toppling the King
New Yorkers tore down the
statue of King George III in
Continental soldier Bowling Green and melted it
down to make ammunition.
Patriot
Battle of Harlem Heights
Washington won this battle on
September 16, 1776. However, he
did not have enough troops to
hold New York, so retreated,
leaving it to the British.
Death of a Patriot
While working behind
British lines in 1776,
Nathan Hale was
captured and hanged
by the British without
trial for spying.
1767 New duties
1765 British pass Stamp imposed with 1770 Sons of 1774 Rebels dump
Act; New Yorkers Townshend Act; Liberty fight British tea in New York
protest; Sons of after protests, the in the “Battle of harbor to protest
Liberty formed act is repealed Golden Hill” against taxes
1760 1770 1780
1766 St. Paul’s Chapel General William Howe, 1776 War begins;
St. Paul’s completed; Stamp Act commander-in-chief of 500 ships under
Chapel repealed; Statue of the British troops General Howe
George III erected on assemble in New
Bowling Green York harbor
024-025_EW_New_York_City.indd 24 4/3/17 11:10 AM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 25
Firefighters
Fires had long threatened the
city, but during the war a series
of fires nearly destroyed it. In
the wake of the Patriot retreat,
on September 21, 1776, a
devastating fire
razed the Trinity
Church and
1,000 houses.
Leather fire bucket
Flags of the Revolution
Washington’s army flew the Continental colors,
with a stripe for each of the 13 colonies and a
Union Jack in the corner. The Stars and Stripes
became the official flag in 1777.
First Stars and Stripes
General Washington Returns
Washington received a hero’s welcome when he Continental colors
re-entered New York on November 25, 1783,
after the British withdrawal.
Where to See the
Statue of Cheering
George III Revolutionary City
patriots
In 1776, George Washington
used the Morris-Jumel Mansion
in Upper Manhattan as a
headquarters (see p245). He also
slept at the Van Cortlandt House
(see pp22–3). After the war he bade
farewell to his officers at the
Fraunces Tavern (see p80).
Morris-Jumel Mansion
1789 George 1790 US capital is 1801 New York Post founded
1783 Treaty of Paris Washington moved to Philadelphia by Alexander Hamilton
grants US independence; inaugurated as first 1793 Tontine Coffee House,
the British evacuate president at first home of the Stock
New York Federal Hall Exchange, built
1780 1790 1800
1794 Bellevue
1785 New Hospital opens
York named on the East River 1804 Vice President
US capital Aaron Burr kills
1791 New York Hospital, political rival
1784 Bank of New the city’s oldest, opens Alexander Hamilton
York chartered Washington’s inauguration in a duel
024-025_EW_New_York_City.indd 25 4/3/17 11:10 AM
26 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
New York City in the 19th Century
Firmly established as the nation’s largest city and preeminent
seaport, New York grew increasingly wealthy. Manufacturing
increased due to the ease of shipping; tycoons such as
John Jacob Astor made millions. The rich moved uptown;
public transportation followed. With rapid growth came fires,
epidemics, and financial panics. Immigrants from Ireland,
Germany, and other nations arrived. Some found prosperity; Growth of the Metropolis
others crowded into slums in Lower Manhattan. 1840 Today
Croton Distributing Reservoir was built
in 1842. Until then, New Yorkers had no
fresh drinking water – they relied on
deliveries of bottled water.
Sheet Music
The Stephen Foster
ballad Jeanie with the
Light Brown Hair was
popular at this time.
Omnibus
The horse-drawn
omnibus was
introduced for
Keeping Fit public transportation
Gymnasia such as Dr. Rich’s Institute for in 1832 and remained on
Physical Education were established in New New York streets until World War I.
York in the 1830s and 1840s.
1811 Randel Plan divides Manhattan into
1805 First free The Constitution, most famous
state schools grid pattern above 14th Street ship in War of 1812
established in 1812–14 War of 1812; British
New York blockade New York harbor 1835 Much of old
New York razed in
city’s worst fire
1810 1820 1830
1807 Robert 1822 Yellow fever 1827 New York 1837 New Yorker Samuel Morse
Fulton launches epidemic; people evacuate abolishes slavery sends first telegraph message
first steamboat, to Greenwich Village
on the 1823 New York surpasses
Hudson River Boston and Philadelphia to
become nation’s largest city
026-027_EW_New_York_City.indd 26 4/3/17 11:40 AM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 27
The Brownstone
Many brownstone row The Port of New York
houses were built in the New York’s importance as a port
first half of the century. city grew by leaps and bounds in
The raised stoop allowed the early 19th century. Robert
separate entry to the Fulton launched his first steamboat,
parlor and ground-floor the Clermont, in 1807. Steamboats
servants’ quarters. made travel much quicker – it now
took 72 hours to reach Albany,
Crystal Palace was an which was both the state capital
iron-and-glass exhibition and the gateway to the West. Trade
hall erected for the 1853 with the West by steamboat and
World’s Fair. canal boat, and with the rest of the
New York in 1855 world by clipper ship, made the
Looking south from 42nd Street, Crystal fortunes of many New Yorkers.
Palace and the Croton Distributing Reservoir
stood where the main public library and
Bryant Park are today.
The steamboat Clermont
Crystal Palace
in Flames
On October 5, 1858,
New York’s Crystal
Palace exhibition
hall burned to the
ground, just as its
predecessor in
London did.
Grand Canal Celebration
Ships in New York harbor lined up to celebrate the 1825 Erie Canal opening. In connecting
the Great Lakes with Albany, the state capital, on the Hudson River, the canal opened a
water link between the Midwest and the Port of New York. The city realized huge profits.
1849 Astor Place riots; 1851 The New York 1861 Civil War 1863 Draft riots last
ships set sail for California Times first published begins four days; many die
Gold Rush
1853 New 1857 Financial
York hosts panic and 1865 Abraham Lincoln
World’s Fair depression lies in state in City Hall
1840 1850 1860
1845 New York Clipper ship card 1858 Vaux and
Knickerbockers, first Olmsted design
Early baseball organized baseball Central Park;
player team, chartered Macy’s founded
1842 Croton Reservoir built Crowds in Central Park
026-027_EW_New_York_City.indd 27 4/3/17 11:40 AM
28 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
The Age of Extravagance
As New York’s merchant princes grew ever wealthier, the
city entered “The Gilded Age” during which many of its most
opulent buildings went up. Luxury hotels such as the Plaza
and the original Waldorf-Astoria were built, and elegant
department stores arose to serve the wealthy, while crime,
poverty, and disease were rife in the slums. Even so, political
and social reform did emerge. In 1900, the International Growth of the Metropolis
Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union was founded to fight for 1890 Today
the rights of women and children, working at low wages
in hazardous factories.
Gateway to America
Almost five times as
crowded as the
rest of New York,
the Lower East
Side was the
most densely
populated
place in the
world at this time.
Crowded Conditions
Tenements were unhealthy
and overcrowded. They often
lacked windows, air shafts, or
proper sanitary facilities.
Inside a Sweatshop
Workers toiled long hours for
Overlooking the Park low wages in the overcrowded
The Dakota (1880) was the first grand sweatshops of the garment Streetcars on
luxury apartment house on the Upper district. This view of Moe Levy’s Broadway
West Side (see p212). shop was taken in 1912.
1876 Central Park opens to a design by 1877 A. G. Bell 1880 Canned fruits and meats first appear
Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux demonstrates in stores; Metropolitan Museum of Art
the telephone opens; streets lit by electricity
1872 Bloomingdale’s opens in New York
1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890
The interior of the 1873 Banks fail: Stock
Stock Exchange Exchange panics
1883 Metropolitan 1886
1879 St. Patrick’s Cathedral completed; Opera opens on Statue of
first city telephone exchange opened Broadway; Brooklyn Liberty
on Nassau Street Bridge completed unveiled
028-029_EW_New_York_City.indd 28 16/05/2017 09:53
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 29
Flatiron Building Where to See the Age
Overlooking Madison of Extravagance
Square, where Broadway, The Morgan Library (see pp160–61),
Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street once home to the legendary
meet, the 21-story tower merchant
was one of the city’s first banker Pierpont
skyscrapers (1902). Triangle- Morgan, is a
shaped, it was dubbed the good place
Flatiron Building (see p123). to experience
the city’s
opulent past.
Underlying steel The Museum
structure of the City of
New York also
Elaborate limestone has period
facade rooms (p195).
Only 6 ft (185 cm)
wide at the apex
of triangle
Mark Twain’s Birthday
Twain (1835–1910),
whose 1873 novel
The Gilded Age
portrayed the
decadent lifestyle
of New Yorkers,
celebrated
his birthday
at Delmonico’s.
Fashion City
Lord & Taylor
built a new store
on Broadway’s
Ladies’ Mile; 6th
Avenue between
14th and 23rd
streets was known
as Fashion Row.
Palatial Living
Fifth Avenue was lined with glorious
mansions. When it was built in 1882,
W. K. Vanderbilt’s Italianate palace at
660 Fifth Avenue, was one of the
farthest north.
1897 Waldorf-Astoria 1898 Five 1913 Woolworth Building is world’s
Hotel opens – the largest boroughs merge tallest; new Grand Central Terminal
hotel in the world to form world’s opens; Harlem’s Apollo Theater opens
second-largest city
1890 1895 1900 1905 1910
1891 Carnegie 1900 Mayor Robert Van Wyck 1911 Triangle
Hall opens breaks ground for city’s first Shirtwaist Factory
subway with silver shovel 1903 Lyceum fire kills 146
Theater opens – sweatshop workers;
1901 Macy’s opens oldest Broadway New York Public
Broadway department store house still in use Library completed
028-029_EW_New_York_City.indd 29 08/05/2017 12:11
30 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
New York City Between the Wars
The 1920s were a time of high living for many New Yorkers.
Mayor Jimmy Walker set the pace, whether squiring chorus
girls, drinking in speakeasies, or watching the Yankees. But the
good times ended with the 1929 stock market crash. By 1932,
Walker had resigned, charged with corruption, and one-quarter
of New Yorkers were unemployed. With Mayor Fiorello La
Guardia’s 1933 election, New York began to recover and thrive. Growth of the Metropolis
1933 Today
Exotic Costumes
Chorus girls were a major
Cotton Club attraction.
The Cotton Club
This Harlem nightclub was host to
the best jazz in town, as first Duke
Ellington and then Cab Calloway
led the band. People flocked from
all over the city to hear them.
Defying Prohibition
Although alcohol was outlawed,
speakeasies – semi-secret illegal
drinking dens – still sold it.
Home-Run Hitter
In 1927, baseball star Babe Ruth
hit a then-record 60 home runs Gangsters
for the Yankees. Yankee Stadium Dutch Schultz was
(see p251) became known as Sawed-off shotgun the kingpin of an
“the house that Ruth built.” illegal booze racket.
concealed in violin case
1918 End of World War I Opening of the
1919 18th Amendment bans alcohol Holland Tunnel 1931 Empire
and launches Prohibition Era State Building
1926 Jimmy Walker becomes
1920 US women get the vote becomes mayor world’s tallest
1920 1925 1930
1924 Novelist 1927 Lindbergh flies 1929 Stock market 1930
James Baldwin is across the Atlantic; crash; Great Chrysler
born in Harlem first talking movie, Depression begins Building
The Jazz Singer, completed
1925 The New Yorker opens; Holland
magazine is launched Tunnel opens
030-031_EW_New_York_City.indd 30 4/3/17 11:10 AM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 31
Big Band Leaders The Great Depression
Banned from many The Roaring Twenties ended
downtown clubs, black with the stock market crash of
artists such as Cab Calloway October 29, 1929, which set off the
starred at the Cotton Club.
Depression. New York was hard
hit: squatters’ shacks sprang up in
Central Park, and thousands were
out of work. But art flourished, as
artists toiled for the Works Projects
Administration (WPA), creating
outstanding murals and artworks
throughout the city.
Broadway Melodies
The 1920s were the heyday
of the Broadway musical,
with a record number of
plays opening.
Operators after the stock market crash of 1929
Lindbergh’s plane,
Spirit of St. Louis
Breakfast menu
Lindbergh’s Flight
New Yorkers celebrated
Lindbergh’s nonstop solo
flight across the Atlantic
in 1927 in a variety of
ways, including a
breakfast in his honor.
Rockefeller Center
Millionaire John D. Mass Event
Rockefeller drove the final Forty-five million
rivet to celebrate the people visited the
opening of Rockefeller 1939 World’s Fair
Center on May 1, 1939. in New York.
1942 Times Square blacked
1933 Prohibition ends; 1940 Queens– out during World War II;
Fiorello La Guardia begins Midtown Idlewild International
three terms as mayor Tunnel opens Airport (now JFK) opens
1935 1940 1945
1936 Parks 1944 Black
Department headed 1939 1941 US leader Adam
by Robert Moses; Rockefeller enters Clayton Powell
new parks created Center is World War II elected to
completed Congress
030-031_EW_New_York_City.indd 31 4/3/17 11:10 AM
32 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Postwar New York City
Since World War II, New York has seen both the best of times
and the worst. In the 1940s, the city became the headquarters of
the United Nations (UN) and, in the 1950s, saw major movements
in art, poetry, and jazz. The 1960s witnessed the Stonewall Riots and
the birth of the American Gay Rights Movement. Although always
a dynamic cultural center, the city has seen ups and downs with
its economy. In 1975, New York almost went bankrupt under a
mountain of debt. Despite a recovery, led by Wall Street in the
early 1980s, the tough times continued, culminating in the
recession of 1989.
1959
Guggenheim Museum opens
1945 End of World War II
1951 Jack Kerouac writes seminal 1963
1946 UN headquarters Beat novel On the Road in his Pennsylvania
established in New York Manhattan apartment Station razed
1945 1950 1955 1960
MAYORS: Impelliteri Wagner
1945 1950 1955 1960
1954 Ellis Island closes
1953 Merce Cunningham
founds dance company
1947 Jackie Robinson, first black baseball
player in the major leagues, signs with
Brooklyn Dodgers
1964 New York World’s
Fair; race riots in Harlem and
Bedford-Stuyvesant;
Verrazano Narrows Bridge
links Brooklyn and
Staten Island; the
Beatles play at
Shea Stadium
Souvenir scarf
032-033_EW_New_York_City.indd 32 4/3/17 11:10 AM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 33
1967 Hippie musical Hair opens on Off-Broadway, then
transfers to the Biltmore Theater
1983 Economic boom:
property prices skyrocket;
1968 20,000 anti-
establishment Trump Tower completed by
hippies gather real-estate tycoon Donald
in Central Park; Trump, who symbolizes the
student sit-ins ‘‘yuppie’’ wealth of the 1980s
at Columbia
University
1988 Twenty-five per
1971 Pop artist Andy Warhol has 1977 New York City Blackout, cent of New Yorkers
a retrospective show of his work which lasts 25 hours, live below
at the Whitney Museum triggers civil unrest the poverty line
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985
Lindsay Beame Koch
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985
1975 Federal loan saves 1981 New York
1969 The Stonewall Riots
New York from bankruptcy regains solvency
1986 Shock of corruption
1980 John Lennon is shot scandals rocks Mayor Koch’s
1973 World Trade administration; Centennial
Center completed outside his apartment on of Statue of Liberty
the Upper West Side
1987 Black Monday; the stock
market crashes
032-033_EW_New_York_City.indd 33 4/3/17 11:10 AM
34 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Modern New York City
Since the 1990s, New York has seen a dramatic drop in
its crime rate and an increase in gentrification, with
areas such as Harlem, Lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn
attracting redevelopment. Tourism and the economy
are booming as never before, even in the face of the
terrorist attacks of September 2001, which destroyed
the iconic Twin Towers; the financial crisis of 2008; and
Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This constant regeneration
is emblematic of New York’s position as an important
international cultural and financial center.
1996 Times Square is
redeveloped, and the city
becomes one of the safest and
statistically most crime-free
cities in the US
1997 Giuliani
re-elected mayor 2005 Bloomberg is
re-elected mayor
1990 David Dinkins, 2000 2002 Tribeca Film
New York’s first black Population Festival established
mayor, takes office reaches just with the support of
over 8 million Robert De Niro
1990 1995 2000 2005
Dinkins Giuliani Bloomberg
1990 1995 2000 2005
1990 Ellis Island
reopens as an 2003 Mayor
immigration 1994 New York Rangers win the Stanley Bloomberg
museum Cup, ice hockey’s biggest prize bans smoking
in bars, clubs,
and restaurants
1993 A truck bomb detonates in the basement
of World Trade Center, killing six people
2002 The lights go on in a
2001 Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center; regenerated 42nd Street,
both towers collapse. Mayor Giuliani is a great which crosses Broadway
support to the people of New York at Times Square
034-035_EW_New_York_City.indd 34 4/3/17 12:08 PM
THE HIST OR Y OF NE W Y ORK CIT Y 35
2008 US mortgage crisis hits Wall 2013 One World Trade
Street: the Dow Jones slumps 500 Center (formerly the
points, and, after more than 150 Freedom Tower) opens
years, Lehman Brothers merchant
bank goes bankrupt
2014 The National
2009 Michael September 11
Bloomberg is re-elected Museum opens
mayor for a third time
2011 National 2015 The new
September 11 Whitney Museum
Monument of American Art,
opens on designed by architect
tenth anni- Renzo Piano, opens
versary of 9/11 on the High Line
2005 2010 2015 2020
De Blasio
2005 2010 2015 2020
2010 One
2007 New York of the largest 2016 New York tycoon Donald Trump
Giants win snowstorms is elected US president
Superbowl XLII in the city’s
history
Mayor Bill de Blasio
2013 Bill de Blasio
becomes the first
Democratic
mayor since 1993
2012 Hurricane Sandy hits New York,
2009 US Airways causing widespread flooding, damage,
Airbus flight 1549 and power outage across the city
crash-lands in the
Hudson River after a
bird strike. All 155
passengers survive
034-035_EW_New_York_City.indd 35 4/3/17 12:08 PM
036-037_EW_New_York_City.indd 36 4/3/17 11:10 AM
INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y 37
NEW YORK CITY AT A GLANCE
There are hundreds of places of interest timesaving guide to New York’s most
in the Area by Area section of this book. noteworthy sights. Museums and architecture
They range from the bustling New York Stock each have a section, and there are guides to
Exchange (see pp72–3) to Central Park’s the people and cultures that have given the
peaceful Strawberry Fields (see p202), and city its unique character. Each sight is cross
from historic synagogues to dazzling sky referenced to its own full entry. Below are the
scrapers. The following 14 pages provide a top ten tourist attractions to start you off.
New York’s Top Ten
Tourist Attractions
Ellis Island Empire State Building National September 11 Memorial
See pp82–3 See pp132–3 See p74
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
See pp168–71
One World Trade Center Central Park
See pp74–5 See pp198–203
Statue of Liberty
See pp78–9
Metropolitan Museum of Art Brooklyn Bridge The High Line
See pp186–93 See pp232–5 See p134
Iconic Chrysler Building, illuminated at night
036-037_EW_New_York_City.indd 37 4/3/17 11:10 AM
38 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
New York’s Best: Museums
New York’s museums range from the vast scope of
the Metropolitan Museum to the personal treasures
of financier J. Pierpont Morgan’s own collection. Several
museums celebrate New York’s heritage, giving visitors
an insight into the people and events that made the city
what it is today. This map features some highlights, with
a detailed overview on pages 40–41.
Intrepid Sea, Air
and Space Museum
This military and maritime history museum
also traces the progress of flight
exploration. It is housed in a large aircraft
carrier situated at Pier 86.
The Morgan
Library & Museum Hudson R iver
One of the world’s
finest collections of
manuscripts, prints,
and books includes
this rare French
Bible from 1230.
Whitney Museum Midtown
of American Art West and
This exceptional collection the Theater
includes many views of New District
York. One of the best is Brooklyn
Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme
(1939), by Joseph Stella.
Chelsea
and the
Lower East Side Garment
Tenement Museum District
Tours of this cramped
1863 tenement building
highlight the living
conditions faced by Gramercy
immigrant families. and the
Greenwich Flatiron
East R iver
Village District
Ellis Island East
This museum vividly re-creates Village
the experiences of many millions SoHo and
of immigrant families. TriBeCa
Lower East Side
Lower Manhattan
and the Civic Center
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Museum
038-039_EW_New_York_City.indd 38 4/3/17 11:40 AM
NE W Y ORK CIT Y A T A GLANCE 39
Museum of
Modern Art
Picasso’s She-Goat (1950)
is among the impressive Morningside
collection on display in the Heights and
renovated Museum of Harlem
Modern Art (MoMA).
Museum of the
City of New York
Costumes, works of art, and
household objects (such as this
1725 silver dish) create an intricate
and detailed picture of New York’s past.
Upper West
Side
American Museum
Hudson R iver Central have fascinated generations of visitors here.
of Natural History
Park
Dinosaurs, meteorites, and much more
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian
Design Museum
Midtown A wealth of decorative arts is displayed in
West and industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s former
the Theater Upper Upper East Side mansion.
District East Side
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Upper Painting and sculpture by almost all major
Midtown avant-garde artists of the late 19th and
20th centuries fill Frank Lloyd Wright’s
stunningly renovated building.
Lower
Midtown
Metropolitan
Museum of Art
Of the millions of works in
East R iver 12th-dynasty Egyptian
its collection, this
faïence hippo is the
museum’s own mascot.
0 kilometers 2
0 miles 1
Brooklyn The Frick Collection
The collection of 19th-century railroad magnate
Henry Clay Frick is displayed in his former
home. Masterpieces include St. Francis in the
Desert (about 1476–8) by Giovanni Bellini.
038-039_EW_New_York_City.indd 39 4/3/17 11:40 AM
40 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Exploring New York’s Museums
You could devote months to New York’s museums and still Prints and Photography
not do them justice. There are more than 60 museums in The International Center
Manhattan alone, and half as many again in the other of Photography Museum is
boroughs. The wealth of art and the huge variety of offerings the only museum in New York
that is totally devoted to this
– from Old Masters to old fire engines, dinosaurs to dolls, medium. Collections can also
Tibetan tapestries to African masks – are equal to that of any be seen at the Metropolitan
city in the world. Some museums close on Monday, as well as Museum of Art and MoMA,
on another day. Many stay open late one or two evenings a and there are many examples
week, and some have one evening when entry is free. Most of early photography at
the Museum of the City of
museums charge for admission; for some, this is a suggested New York and Ellis Island.
donation rather than a mandatory fee. Prints and drawings by
such great book illustrators
as Kate Greenaway and Sir
Painting and Sculpture New York displays a fine John Tenniel are featured at
New York is best known collection of German and The Morgan Library &
for its art museums. The Austrian art and design. In Museum. The Cooper Hewitt,
Metropolitan Museum of Art Harlem, the Studio Museum Smithsonian Design Museum
houses an extensive collection shows the work of black artists. has examples of the use of
of American art, as well as prints in the decorative arts.
world-famous masterpieces. Crafts and Design
The Cloisters, a branch of the If you are interested Furniture and Costumes
“Met” in Upper Manhattan, in textiles, porcelain and The annual exhibition
is a treasury of medieval art glass, embroideries of the Costume Institute
and architecture. The Frick and laces, wallpaper, at the Metropolitan
Collection has a superb display and prints, visit Museum of Art is
of Old Masters. In contrast, the Cooper Hewitt, always worth a visit.
the Museum of Modern Art Smithsonian Also impressive is
(MoMA) houses Impressionist Design Museum, the American Wing,
and modern paintings. the decorative with its 24 rooms of
The Whitney Museum of arts outpost of original furnishings
American Art and the Washington’s tracing life from 1640
Solomon R. Guggenheim Smithsonian to the 20th century.
Museum also specialize in Institu tion. The Period rooms depicting
modern art, with the Whitney’s collections at New York in various
biennial show being the MoMA trace the Corn husk doll, American settings, beginning
foremost display of work by history of design Museum of Natural History with the 17th-century
living artists. Today’s cutting- from clocks to Dutch, are on display
edge art is at the New couches. The Museum of at the Museum of the City
Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design offers the of New York.
Art, while the work of craft finest work of today’s skilled There are also some
artists can be seen at the artisans in mediums from house museums that give a
American Folk Art Museum. furniture to pottery, and the realistic picture of life and
Housed in a grand Fifth Avenue American Folk Art Museum furnishings in old New York.
mansion, the Neue Galerie presents folk forms, from quilts The Merchant’s House
to canes. Silver Museum, a preserved
collections residence from 1832, was
are notable at occupied by the same
the Museum family for 98 years. Gracie
of the City Mansion, built by merchant
of New York. Archibald Gracie in 1799,
The fine now serves as the official
displays of mayoral residence and is
native art at periodically open for public
the National tours. The Theodore Roosevelt
Museum Birthplace is the brownstone
of the where the 26th president of
American the United States grew up,
Indian include and the Mount Vernon
The Peaceable Kingdom (c.1833–4) by Edward Hicks, at the jewelry, rugs Hotel Museum was an
Brooklyn Museum and pottery. early 19th-century inn.
040-041_EW_New_York_City.indd 40 4/3/17 11:40 AM
NE W Y ORK CIT Y A T A GLANCE 41
military progress, all based on million paintings. The Museum
the decks of an aircraft carrier. of the Moving Image in Queens
If you missed a classic Lucille has a unique collection of
Ball sitcom or footage of motion-picture history. The
the first man on the moon, Jacques Marchais Museum
the place to visit is the Paley of Tibetan Art is a rare find
Center for Media, which holds on Staten Island, as is Historic
these and many other classics Richmond Town, a well-restored
of TV and radio. village dating from the 1600s.
Exhibit from the National
Museum of the American Indian Art from Other Cultures DIRECTORY
Artwork of other
History nations is the Finding the Museums
American history unfolds focus of several American Folk Art Museum p213
at Federal Hall, the United special collections. American Museum of
States’ first capitol, where Oriental art is Natural History pp210–11
George Washington took the specialty Asia Society p183
his oath as America’s first of the Asia Brooklyn Museum pp238–41
president on the balcony Society and the The Cloisters Museum pp246–9
in April 1789. Japan Society. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design
Visit the Fraunces Tavern The Jewish Museum p182
Museum for a glimpse of Museum features Ellis Island pp82–3
colonial New York. Ellis major collections Federal Hall p70
Island and Lower East of Judaica and Fraunces Tavern Museum p80
Side Tenement Museum has changing The Frick Collection pp196–7
re-create the hardships exhibi tions of Gracie Mansion pp194–5
Historic Richmond Town p258
faced by immigrants. The various aspects International Center of
Museum of Jewish Heritage of Jewish life. The Photography Museum p95
in Battery City is a living Museo del Barrio Intrepid Sea, Air & Space
memorial to the Holocaust. is dedicated to the Museum p145
The New York City Fire arts of Puerto Rico, Jacques Marchais Museum
Museum chronicles heroism including many of Tibetan Art p258
and tragedy, while the Pre-Columbian Japan Society pp154–5
South Street Seaport Taino artifacts. Jewish Museum p182
Museum re-creates early Egyptian For an impressive Lower East Side Tenement
maritime history. mummy, review of African- Museum pp92–3
Brooklyn American art and Merchant’s House Museum p116
Technology and Museum history, visit the The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Natural History Schomburg Center pp186–93
for Research in Black Culture. The Morgan Library & Museum
pp160–61
Finally, the Metropolitan Mount Vernon Hotel Museum p194
Museum of Art excels in its Museo del Barrio p225
multicultural displays, ranging Museum of Arts and Design p145
from the art of ancient Egypt Museum of the City of New York p195
to that of contemporary Africa. Museum of Jewish Heritage p76
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Libraries pp168–71
New York’s notable libraries, Museum of the Moving Image p257
such as The Morgan Library National Museum of the
Forest-dwelling bonga, American Museum & Museum, offer superb art American Indian p77
of Natural History collections as well as a chance Neue Galerie New York p182
to view pages from ancient New Museum of
Science museums hold manuscripts and rare books. Contemporary Art p94
exhibi tions from nature to The New York Public Library’s New York City Fire Museum p101
space-age technology. The collection includes historic New York Public Library p142
American Museum of Natural documents and manu scripts Paley Center for Media p167
Schomburg Center for Research
History has vast collections of many famous works. in Black Culture p223
covering flora, fauna, and cultures Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
from around the world. Its Rose Beyond Manhattan pp184–5
Center/Hayden Planetarium Other museums worth a South Street Seaport Museum p84
offers a unique view of space. visit include the Brooklyn Studio Museum in Harlem pp224–5
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, with a huge Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace p123
Museum is a repository of collection of artifacts from Whitney Museum pp108–9
technology that chronicles across the world and over one
040-041_EW_New_York_City.indd 41 4/3/17 11:40 AM
42 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
New York’s Best: Architecture
Even when following world trends, New York has given its
own twist to the turns of architectural fashion, the style of
its buildings influenced by both geography and economy.
An island city, with space at a premium, must look upward
to grow. This trend was reflected early on with tall, narrow
town houses and later with the city’s apartment buildings
and sky scrapers. Building materials such as cast-iron and Apartment Buildings
The Majestic is one of five
brownstone were chosen for their local availability and Art Deco twin-towered
low cost. The result is a apartment buildings on Midtown
city that has developed Central Park West. West and
by finding flamboyant the Theater
answers to practical needs. District
A more detailed overview
of New York’s architecture
is on pages 44–5.
Hudson R iver Chelsea
and the
Garment
District
Gramercy
Greenwich and the
Cast-Iron Architecture Village Flatiron
Mass-produced cast iron was often District
used for building facades. SoHo has
many of the best examples, such as
this building at 28–30 Greene Street.
East East R iver
Village
SoHo and
TriBeCa
Lower East Side
Lower Manhattan
and the Civic Center
Post-Modernism
The quirky, yet elegant, shapes of
buildings like the World Financial
Center, built in 1985 (see p71), mark
a bold departure from the sleek
steel-and-glass boxes of the 1950s
and 1960s.
Brownstones
Built from local sand stone,
brownstones were favored by the
19th-century middle classes. India
House, built in a Florentine palazzo
style on Wall Street, is typical of many
brownstone commercial buildings.
042-043_EW_New_York_City.indd 42 4/3/17 11:40 AM
NE W Y ORK CIT Y A T A GLANCE 43
Morningside
Heights and
Harlem 19th-Century Mansions
The Jewish Museum (see
p182), formerly the home of
Upper the banker Felix M. Warburg,
is a fine example of the
West French Renaissance style that
Side
typified these mansions.
Central
Park
Beaux Arts
Midtown Opulent style,
West and created for the
the Theater richest of owners,
District Upper is exemplified by
East Side the Beaux Arts
grandeur of the
Frick mansion.
Upper
Midtown Modernism
The Seagram Building’s sleek
Lower bronze-and-glass walls, scant
Midtown decoration and the monu mental
scale typify postwar architecture
(see p173).
The Skyscraper
The glory of New York
architecture, these buildings
expressed a perfect blend
of practical engineering skill
and fabulous decoration,
East R iver such as this gargoyle on
the Chrysler Building.
0 kilometers 2
0 miles 1
Brooklyn
Tenements
Constructed as an
economic form of
housing, these buildings
were for many a stark
introduction to new lives.
Mainly built on the
Lower East Side, the
apartments were
hopelessly over -
crowded. In addition,
Federal Architecture the buildings’ design,
Federal style was popular in civic with inadequate air
architecture of the 19th century; shafts, resulted in
City Hall combines it with French apartments with little
Renaissance influences. or no ventilation.
042-043_EW_New_York_City.indd 43 4/3/17 11:40 AM
44 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Exploring New York’s Architecture
During its first 200 years, New York, like all of America, Cast-Iron Architecture
looked to Europe for architectural inspiration. None of An American architectural
the buildings from the Dutch colonial period survives in innovation of the 19th century,
Manhattan today; most were lost in the great fire of 1776 cast iron was cheaper than
stone or brick and allowed
or torn down to make way for new developments in the ornate features to be
early 1800s. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the prefabricated in foundries
city’s major architectural trends followed those of Europe. from molds and used as
With the advent of cast-iron architecture in the 1850s, the building facades. Today, New
Art Deco period and the ever-higher rise of the skyscraper, York has the world’s largest
concen tration of full and partial
New York’s architecture came into its own.
cast-iron facades. The best, built
in the 1870s, are in the SoHo
Federal Architecture best examples of brownstone Cast-Iron Historic District.
This American adaptation of can be found in Chelsea.
the Neo-Classical Adam style Because street space was
flowered in the early decades limited, these buildings were
of the new nation, featuring very narrow in width, but also
square buildings two or three very deep. A typical brownstone
stories tall, with low hipped has a flight of steps, called a
roofs, balustrades, and decor- stoop, leading up to the living
ative elements – all carefully floors. Separate stairs lead
balanced. City Hall (1811, John down to the basement, which
McComb, Jr. and Joseph was originally used for the
François Mangin) is a blend servants’ quarters.
of Federal and French Renais-
sance influences. The restored Tenements
warehouses of Schermerhorn Tenements were built to The original cast-iron facade of 72–76
Row (c.1812) in the Seaport house the huge influx of Greene Street, SoHo
district are also in Federal style. immigrants who arrived from
the 1840s up to World War I. Beaux Arts
Brownstones The six-story blocks, 100 ft This French school of arch i-
Plentiful and cheap, the (30 m) long and 25 ft (8 m) tecture dominated the design
brown sandstone found in wide, offered very little light of public buildings and wealthy
the nearby Connecticut River and air except from tiny residential properties during
Valley and along the banks of side wall air shafts and New York’s gilded age. This era
the Hackensack River in New windows at each end, (from 1880 to about 1920)
Jersey was the most common leaving the middle rooms in produced many of the city’s
building material in the 1800s. darkness. The tiny apartments most prominent architects,
It is found all over the city’s were called railroad flats after including Richard Morris
residential neighborhoods, their similarity to railroad cars. Hunt (Carnegie Hall, 1891;
used for small homes or small Later designs had air shafts Metropolitan Museum of Art,
apartments – some of the between buildings, but these 1895), who in 1845 was the first
helped the spread of fire. The American architect to study in
Lower East Side Tenement Paris; Cass Gilbert (National
Museum has scale models of Museum of the American
the old tenements. Indian, 1907; New York Life
Architectural Disguises
Some of the most fanciful forms on the New
York skyline were devised by clever architects
to disguise the city’s essential but utilitarian –
and rather unattractive – rooftop water tanks.
Look skyward to discover the ornate cupolas,
spires, and domes that transform the most
mundane of features into veritable castles
in the air. Examples that are easy to spot
are atop two neighboring Fifth Avenue
hotels: the Sherry Netherland at 60th Street Standard
A typical brownstone with stoop leading up and the Pierre at 61st Street. water tower
to the main entrance
044-045_EW_New_York_City.indd 44 4/3/17 11:10 AM
NE W Y ORK CIT Y A T A GLANCE 45
and châteaux, and Building that represented New
were built around York in 1932 in the International
courtyards not Style architectural survey.
visible from the The World Trade Center was
street. Favorite New York’s tallest building until
landmarks are the September 2001 (see p56). It
five Twin Towers represented the Modernist style,
on Central Park now super seded by the Post-
West, the San Modern style, such as the Citigroup
Remo, Eldorado, Center (1977). In 2013, One World
Century, the Trade Center became the Western
Beresford, and world’s tallest building, reaching
the Majestic. Built 1,776 ft (541 m), a reference to the
during the peak year of American Independence.
of Art Deco
(1929 to 1931), DIRECTORY
they create the
The Dakota Apartments, built in 1884, on the Upper West distinctive skyline Where to Find
Side across from Central Park seen from the park. the Buildings
Carnegie Hall pp144–5
Insurance Company Building, Skyscrapers Chelsea pp126–35
1928; United States Courthouse, In 1902, Daniel Burnham, a Chrysler Building p151
1936); the teams of Warren & Chicago architect, built the Citigroup Center p173
Wetmore (Grand Central Flatiron Building, so tall at City Hall p84
Terminal, 1913; Helmsley 300 ft (91 m) that skeptics said Empire State Building pp132–3
Building, 1929); Carrère & it would collapse. By 1913, the Flatiron Building p123
Hastings (New York Public Woolworth Building had risen Frick Mansion pp196–7
Library, 1911; Frick Mansion, to 792 ft (241 m). New zoning Grand Central Terminal pp152–3
1914); and McKim, Mead & laws demanded that skyscra- Helmsley Building p154
White, the city’s most famous pers be built in such a way as to James A. Farley Post Office
Building p131
firm of architects (Villard allow light to reach street level. Lower East Side Tenement
Houses, 1884; James A. Farley This suited the Art Deco style. Museum p92
Post Office Building, 1913. The Chrysler Building (1930) McGraw-Hill Building p143
was the world’s tallest until the The Metropolitan Museum
Apartment Buildings Empire State Building (1931) of Art pp186–93
As the city’s population grew was completed. Both are Art National Museum of the
and space became ever more Deco classics, but it was American Indian p77
precious, family homes in Ray mond Hood’s McGraw-Hill New York Life Insurance
Manhattan became much too Company Building p122
expensive for most New Yorkers, New York Public Library p142
and even the wealthy joined the One World Trade Center pp74–5
trend toward communal living. Schermerhorn Row p81
In 1884 Henry Hardenbergh’s SoHo Cast-Iron Historic
Dakota (see p212), one of the District pp98–9
first luxury apartment buildings, Twin Towers of Central Park
West p208
started a spate of turn-of-the- United States Courthouse p84
century construction on the Villard Houses p172
Upper West Side. Many of the Art Deco arched pattern on the Woolworth Building p85
buildings resembled castles spire of the Chrysler Building
245 Fifth Avenue 60 Gramercy Park North The Pierre Sherry Netherland
(Apartment Building) (Brownstone) (Beaux Arts) Hotel (Beaux Arts)
044-045_EW_New_York_City.indd 45 4/3/17 11:10 AM
46 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Multicultural New York City
Wherever you go in New York, even in pockets of the hectic
high-rise downtown, you will find evidence of the richly ethnic
flavor of the city. A bus ride can take you from Madras to
Moscow, Hong Kong to Haiti. Immigrants are still coming
to New York, though numbers are fewer than in the peak years
from 1880 to 1910, when 17 million people arrived. In the
1980s, a million newcomers, largely from Caribbean
countries and Asia, arrived and found their own special
corner of the city. Throughout the year you will encounter Hell’s Kitchen
crowds celebrating one of many festivals. To find out more For a while called “Clinton”
to reflect a new neighborhood
about national celebrations and parades, see pages 52–5. mix, this was the first home
of early Irish immigrants.
Little Korea
Not far from Herald
Square is a small
Korean enclave with a
variety of restaurants.
Midtown
West and the
Little Ukraine Theater
Services are held at District
St. George’s Church as part of
the May 17 festivities to mark the
Ukrainians’ conversion to Christianity.
Chelsea
and the
Garment Lower
District Midtown
Gramercy
Greenwich and the
Village Flatiron
District
East
Village
Little Italy
For 11 days in September, the Italian SoHo and
community gathers around the TriBeCa
Mulberry Street area, and the streets
are taken over by the celebrations of Lower East Side
the Festa di San Gennaro.
Lower Manhattan
and the Civic Center
Brooklyn
0 kilometers 2
0 miles 1 The Lower
East Side
The synagogues
Chinatown around Rivington
Every year, in January or and Eldridge streets
February, Mott Street is reflect the religious
packed as residents celebrate traditions of this
the Chinese New Year. old Jewish area.
046-047_EW_New_York_City.indd 46 4/3/17 11:10 AM
NE W Y ORK CIT Y A T A GLANCE 47
Hudson R iver Morningside
Heights and
Harlem
Upper West
Side
Central
Park
Harlem
Upper The Sunday-morning gospel
East Side service at the Abyssinian Baptist
Church is one of Harlem’s finest.
El Barrio
East Harlem, also
known as El Barrio
or Spanish Harlem,
Upper is home to
Midtown one of the city’s
East R iver largest Hispanic
communities.
Lower
Midtown
Upper East Side
The magnificent St. Nicholas
Russian Orthodox
Cathedral on East 97th
Street is a reminder of
the dispersed White
Russian community.
Mass is held
in Russian
each Sunday.
Brooklyn
Yorkville
Only a few cafés and bierkellers remain
Little Tokyo to keep the flavor of this former uptown
This tiny locality is peppered with Japanese stores, German district. The Steuben Day Parade
noodle shops, supermarkets, and sushi bars. is still held here each September.
046-047_EW_New_York_City.indd 47 4/3/17 11:10 AM
48 INTRODUCING NE W Y ORK CIT Y
Exploring New York’s Many Cultures 1940s, they were the city’s
fastest-growing and most
Even “native” New Yorkers have ancestral roots in other upwardly mobile ethnic group,
countries. Throughout the 17th century, the Dutch and extending the old boundaries
English settled here, establishing trade colonies in the of Chinatown and establishing
New World. Soon America became a symbol of hope for new neighborhoods in parts
of Brooklyn and Queens. Once
the downtrodden elsewhere in Europe. Many flocked across a closed community, Chinatown
the ocean, some penniless and with little knowledge now bustles with tourists
of the language. The potato famine of the 1840s led to exploring the streets and
the first wave of Irish immigrants, followed by German markets, and sampling the
and other European workers displaced by political unrest creative cuisine.
and the Industrial Revolution. Immigrants continue to
enrich New York in countless ways, and today an
estimated 200 languages are spoken.
The Germans
In the 18th century the
Germans began to settle
in New York. From John
Peter Zenger onward (see
p22), the city’s German Hispanic religious carving at the Museo del
community has championed Barrio (see p225)
the freedom to express The Hispanic Americans
ideas and opinions. It has also
produced business giants, Puerto Ricans were in New York
such as John Jacob Astor, as early as 1838, but it was not
the city’s first millionaire. until after World War II that they
arrived in large numbers in search
of work. Most live in the Bronx,
The Italians parts of Brooklyn, and El Barrio,
Italians first came to New York formerly known as Spanish
in the 1830s and 1840s. Many Harlem. Professionals who fled
Turkish immigrants arriving at former came from northern Italy to Fidel Castro’s Cuba have moved
Idlewild Airport in 1963 escape the failing revolution at out of the city itself but are still
home. In the 1870s, poverty in influential in Hispanic commerce
The Jews southern Italy drove many more and culture. Parts of Washington
There has been a Jewish Italians across the ocean. In Heights have large Dominican
community in New York since time, Italians became a potent and Colombian communities,
1654. The city’s first synagogue, political force in the city, exem- as well as those from Mexico,
Shearith Israel, was established plified by Fiorello La Guardia Ecuador, and El Salvador.
by refugees from a Dutch and Rudy Giuliani, two of New
colony in Brazil and is still York’s most popular mayors.
active today. These first settlers, The Irish
Sephardic Jews of Spanish First arriving in New York in the
descent, included such The Chinese 1840s, the Irish had to overcome
prominent families as the The Chinese were late arrivals harsh odds. Starving and with
Baruchs. They were followed to New York. In 1880, the barely a penny to their names,
by the German Jews, who population of the Mott Street they labored hard to escape the
set up successful retailing district was a mere 700. By the slums of Five Points and Hell’s
enterprises, including Macy’s, Kitchen, helping to build
co-owned by the Straus brothers. the modern city in the
Russian persecution led to the process. Many joined the
mass immigration that began police and fire-fighting
in the late 1800s. By the start forces, rising to high
of World War I, 600,000 Jews rank through dedication
were living on the Lower East to duty. Others set up
Side. Today, this area is more successful businesses,
Hispanic and Asian than such as the Irish bars
Jewish, but it holds reminders that act as a focus for
of its role as a place of refuge Eastern States Buddhist Temple, in central the now-scattered New
and new beginnings. Chinatown (see p91) York Irish community.
048-049_EW_New_York_City.indd 48 4/3/17 11:10 AM
The words you are searching are inside this book. To get more targeted content, please make full-text search by clicking here.
From unearthing archaeological treasures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to biking through Central Park to
strolling the streets of the artsy Soho and East and West Village neighborhoods, experience all that New York City has to offer. Plus, check out the best of the boroughs with suggested highlights for Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Upper Manhattan.
Included with the book is a download of the free DK Audio Walks container app, available from the Apple
Store and Google Play. Use it to scan the book's barcode and then download your five free audio walking
tours for New York.
Discover DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: New York City.
• Hotel and restaurant listings and recommendations.
• Detailed itineraries and "don't-miss" destination highlights at a glance.
• Illustrated cutaway 3-D drawings of important sights.
• Floor plans and guided visitor information for major museums.
• Free, color pull-out map (print edition) marked with sights, a selected site and street index, public transit map, practical information on getting around, and a distance chart for measuring walking distances.
• Guided walking tours, local drink and dining specialties to try, things to do, and places to eat, drink, and shop by area.
• Area maps marked with sights and restaurants.
• Detailed city maps include street finder index for easy navigation.
• Insights into history and culture to help you understand the stories behind the sights.
• Suggested day-trips and itineraries to explore beyond the city.
With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every
page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: New York City truly shows you what others only tell you.
Recommended: For a pocket guidebook to New York City, check out DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Top 10 New York City, which is packed with dozens of top 10 lists, ensuring you make the most of your time and experience the best of everything.
Discover the best professional documents and content resources in AnyFlip Document Base.
Search