Can I really do New York in ten hours?
WHEN are you going back?’ asked the US immigration guy at JFK. ‘Tonight,’ I said. ‘You’re coming to New York for the day?’ He looked bemused.
‘There’s a new early flight from London that gives you ten hours in Manhattan,’ I said. ‘I fly back at 11pm tonight.’
When Concorde was the pride of the British Airways fleet, a morning flight across the Atlantic to New York was the ultimate commute. Now a lowcost airline has taken up the baton. Norwegian’s new flight leaves Gatwick at 6.45am and arrives in JFK at 9.45am.
Even with a lengthy queue at immigration, I’m in Times Square – all neon signs, yellow cabs, skyscrapers, honking cars, gridlock and attitude – by 11.30am. As immersions go, it’s fast and furious.
To make the most of my day, I realise I have to rationalise things. Ellis Island is great, but takes too long to get to. The Lower East Side, however, is only 17 minutes from Times Square by subway.
I pop up at Delancey Street in low-rise New York, awash with vegan bakeries, custom coffee roasters and vintage shops.
Now highly hipster, in the late 19th Century this was where most new arrivals ended up after Ellis Island – Italians, Irish, Swedes, Germans and Eastern Europeans all mixed in together.
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum offers a fast track to New York’s past, providing fascinating details about the families who lived in the area and recreating their apartments. Rich in detail, tours last an hour and make a perfect pre-lunch introduction to the Big Apple.
Hopping on the subway again, I’m back at Times Square in time for a posh lunch. At The Knickerbocker Hotel, built in 1906, I’m surrounded by serious New Yorkers in business attire, sleek suits, dresses and pearls, as I devour chateaubriand and passion fruit souffle in the restaurant on the fourth floor.
An hour and a half later, I’m back on the subway up to 77th Street on the Upper East Side. Here the stately mansion blocks between Park and Madison house millionaires and their art works. It’s an entirely different vision of New York, moneyed and decidedly posh with doormen and expensive boutiques.
And at the end of 77th Street is Central Park, a glorious oasis of green in the centre of Manhattan. Full of picnicking families, with meadows, lakes and playgrounds, and surrounded by benches, each one inscribed with a plaque, including one to Biscuit the dog, it feels like New York’s heart.
I take a breather to soak up some sun, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art is only a few steps away. This colossus usually has queues to match, but there’s also a handy, little-used side entrance by 81st Street.
I get lost in art for a couple of hours, taking in the must-see Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons exhibition and Roman antiquities before I head to the roof terrace.
Each summer, this hosts an art installation but for many, including me, the real draw is the view of the New York skyline.
I grab a bus from outside the museum and head down Fifth Avenue, passing Bergdorf Goodman and Saks – the current poor exchange rate makes it easier to withstand temptation.
And then I’m back in Midtown. My lightning trip has given me just enough time to head to the Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center. I walk out on to the terrace, cocktail in hand, to watch the sun set over the Hudson River before setting off back to JFK.
New York is a wonderful city, even if you only have ten hours.