from May/June 2005
|
features_global.html
|
 |
 |
Insider's New York
|
19. Attend a kid-friendly Broadway play
"The New Victory Theater [209 42nd St.; +1 646 223 3020] is a parent's dream," says documentary filmmaker Elissa Birke. "Ticket prices range from $10 to $30, so for the price of a single Disney Broadway ticket you can take a family of four to enjoy great theater for kids. Each season includes drama, circuses, dance, music, and puppetry from around the globe. Every seat is designed to be a good one, and the theater always lets you know the age-appropriateness of each show. The shows start early and afterward you can wander through the lights of Times Square or eat BBQ at Virgil's [152 W. 44th St.; +1 212 921 9494]—it's a great family restaurant."
20. Get up to the Upper East Side
"All along upper Fifth Avenue is Museum Mile—smaller museums with different, eclectic collections," says health care executive Dr. Lorna Friedman. "They are certainly less crowded. There's the Guggenheim [1071 Fifth Ave.; +1 212 423 3500], the Frick [1 E. 70th St.; +1 212 288 0700; no children under eight], the Jewish Museum [1109 Fifth Ave.; +1 212 423 3200], and the Cooper-Hewitt [Fifth Ave. at 91st St.; +1 212 849 8400], which, if you have a toddler, will let you run around on the lawn. Or you can sit at their outdoor café and enjoy espresso and madeleines. If you want pizza, there's Pintaile's [1577 York Ave.; +1 212 457 4977], with their thin whole-wheat crust, or Sarabeth's [1295 Madison Ave.; +1 212 410 7335], a great brunch spot."
21. Sit with wit
"Those literary lions Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and Harold Ross epitomized Manhattan's nexus of publishing, theater, and publicity," says Kevin Fitzpatrick, web builder and president of the Dorothy Parker Society, a group conducting literary tours of New York (+1 646 435 2799). "The Algonquin Hotel—where the group would meet at their famous 'Round Table'—just finished a $4-million renovation. You can reserve the Round Table; above it is a painting of the members. It's a good lunch spot, or, if you prefer, you can relax at the Blue Bar, decorated with Al Hirschfeld prints. It's still packed with people from the book and magazine world." 59 W. 44th St.; 888 304 2047 (U.S. and Canada).
22. Discover a Grand Central Terminal hideaway
"The Campbell Apartment [15 Vanderbilt Ave.; +1 212 953 0409] makes you feel like you're walking into a Gilded Age time warp of railroad barons," says association executive Robin Kelley O'Connor. "The space was once a private office. It smells old and feels regal. You feel like you're in a private club. It's a hideaway no one knows about, considering the number of people who pass through Grand Central. Also, check out the constellations on the restored ceiling in the terminal. Looking up is like virtual stargazing."
23. Wander through Chinatown
"I've been coming to Chinatown since I can remember," says lifelong Manhattanite Bryan Lavietes. "The family would always wander along the narrow, crowded streets. I recommend a couple of places: Munchies Paradise [37 Mott St.; +1 212 233 7650] has exotic snacks (dried fruit and stuff), which they let you sample. Everyone goes to Joe's Shanghai [9 Pell St.; +1 212 233 8888] for Shanghai dumplings, but I think Goody's [1 E. Broadway; +1 212 577 2922] is better. Their soup dumplings? Delish. For dessert try Ten Ren's Tea Time [75 Mott St.; +1 212 349 2286]. They serve bubble tea, which is a blend of tea, milk, and tapioca. Favorite flavors include ginseng and honey, papaya, and taro root, which sounds wacky but is really good."
24. Get inside CNN
"The 'Inside CNN' tour winds its way around, above, and even inside CNN's New York studios [10 Columbus Circle; 866 426 6692 (U.S. and Canada)]," says CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper. "Parts of the tour are interactive, giving visitors a sense of what it's like to be on air. I often glance up from my desk and wave to tour groups, who have a bird's-eye view of the newsroom floor. I think it says something about television news in general that people are so interested in what goes on behind the curtain. What they see here is news gathering and reporting without the 'halo' of television. I'm more comfortable without the TV halo and hope that people enjoy a few minutes away from its glare."
25. Strike gold in the Financial District
"You can't tour the Stock Exchange anymore," says lawyer Elizabeth Reichard, "but the Federal Reserve [33 Liberty St.; +1 212 720 6130] gives a tour where you go down into the gold vaults. There are bars and bars of gold. It feels like the movie National Treasure. Other nearby landmarks include Fraunces Tavern [54 Pearl St.; +1 212 425 1778], where George Washington gave his farewell address. My favorite is Stone Street. It's cobblestoned and totally pedestrian. On nice evenings you can dine outside in the middle of the street, a lovely setting."
26. Glide on the Hudson
"You can kayak on the Hudson at 72nd Street for free during the season [May 15-October 15]; just show up at the boathouse in Riverside Park," says boathouse volunteer Mike Samuel. "The kayaks, both single and double, and life jackets are donated. Walk down, get a boat, and go. You can paddle down to about 59th Street opposite the Trump building, or up to about the 79th Street Boat Basin. It's a 20-minute limit if there's a crowd. You need absolutely no experience. There are also kayaks on the Hudson River at 26th Street, and at Chambers Street downtown above Stuyvesant High School."
|
