New York
New York City is enthralling, exhilarating and exhausting, finds Emma Newlands on a whirlwind visit to the Big Apple
Emma Newlands takes a bite out of the Big Apple
For some, Times Square represents a gaudy, overbearing tourist trap. But not for me, smitten in less than a New York minute, and you don’t need to look far above the crowds, souvenir shops and people in dishevelled superhero costumes to the captivating vast, ever-changing neon landscape above.
The fluorescent landmark forms the epicentre of an intoxicating trip to the Big Apple, which starts with the Norwegian flight direct from Edinburgh.
We take off early evening and my excitement climbs along with the altitude, while the comfortable flight passes quickly as I admire the sunkissed cloudy skies and mentally draft my itinerary for the coming days. We then touch down at Stewart International Airport, and while it’s located in the Hudson Valley upstate, its compact size means that, in my experience, it’s much easier to navigate than other airports serving the city, and much quicker to get through customs.
Our arrival point in The City That Never Sleeps is the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square. It’s therefore just a short walk to my hotel, the Millennium Broadway New York Times Square, which is a discreet but easy-to-find presence at street level. It’s also Tardis-like inside, at more than 600 rooms, and handily located in midtown, a good base to see both ends of Manhattan, and with many bus tour stops nearby for those getting their bearings.
After checking in, any concerns that sound would travel up from street level disappear as soon as I open the door to my large room many floors above. It’s decorated in neutral, classic style and warm colours, with cosy lighting, but my attention is immediately grabbed by the breathtaking view. The Chrysler Building stands proudly illuminated before me, while on the streets below I can see yellow taxis doing their best to dart through the traffic.
There’s an armchair by the window and I’m tempted to sit there and take a prolonged look at the movielike vista, but I’m losing the battle to stay awake, and climb into my huge bed. Suitably rested the following morning, I decide the best way to see the city is on foot, and will walk an average of 15 kilometres a day during my visit. And despite my notoriously awful sense of direction, even I can navigate Manhattan’s super-logical grid system and miraculously manage to head down to the southern tip without getting lost.
From there I take the ferry to Ellis Island, which between 1892 and 1954 saw the arrival of more than 12 million immigrants to the US from across the globe, and whose descendants incredibly now account for almost half of the American population.
A sign on the way to the ferry pertinently displays a quote from President John F Kennedy stating: “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.”
His words echo in my mind as we travel across the water, with the
The best way to see the city is on foot, and I walk an average of 15 kilometres a day
journey affording amazing views both back across to the Manhattan skyline but also past the Statue of Liberty standing proudly in the sunshine, and we arrive at the immigration hub as so many before us but in such different circumstances. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are also jointly one of the options included with a New York CITYPASS ticket booklet that includes pre-paid access to six top attractions, and which I use to maximum effect.
You navigate your way around the Ellis Island Immigration Museum with a self-guided audio tour, and I imagine the Great Hall has barely changed from when crowd after crowd arrived, often speaking no English and no doubt wondering what lay ahead of them.
The ferry then takes me back to the mainland, and I head towards the 9/11 Memorial, with the huge footprints of the original Twin Towers now filled with waterfalls and reflecting pools, around which the names of every person who died, also including the 1993 attack, are inscribed in bronze.
I head into the 9/11 Memorial Museum itself, and every aspect of the attacks is laid out in thorough, transfixing detail. Some of the most memorable exhibits include the recovered steel girder contorted into an agonised ‘claw’, and images of exhausted emergency personnel dwarfed by the wreckage taken by French photographer Stephane Sednaoui.
It’s then time to walk back to midtown, noticing how the neighbourhoods change from, say, upmarket office or shopping district to gentrified hipster haven and wellto-do residential area, with plenty in between.
I also turn my attention to some of the amazing free attractions, and grin as I walk across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, craning my neck to take in the view in every direction. I also make a prolonged visit to the leafy haven of Central Park, which dates back to 1853 and measures a whopping 843 acres. I stop by the John Lennon memorial Strawberry Fields, and also visit two of the many museums bordering the park, in both cases again using my CITYPASS.
The American Museum of Natural History on the west side proves a tranquil haven, where I admire the spectacularly detailed and lifelike dioramas, including a pair of Alaskan brown bears hunting for salmon. Then, on the east side of the park almost directly opposite, there is The Metropolitan Museum of Art, better known as The Met. Recently voted the best museum in the world, it spans more than two million square feet and covers more than 5,000 years of art, while its stunning exterior seems worthy of being classed a work of art in its own right.
My last evening then approaches, and I head for dinner at the Asiate restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental at Columbus Circle, next to the south west corner of Central Park and with a spectacular 35th floor location.
It is decorated in an elegant combination of white, including pristine tablecloths, and raspberry pink, with several booths around the edge, as well as its renowned ‘wall of wine’ housing more than 1,300 bottles. My table looks back across Central Park and the Upper East side, with the sky slowly changing from day to night as I dine on sashimi, Arctic char and passion fruit soufflé.
So the meal draws to a close, in many ways one of several high notes in a trip that has well and truly acquainted me both with the city’s history, tapping into the raw emotion found in its roots and more recent past, and its unique character today that is as fascinating and rapidly evolving as those Times Square billboards.
Norwegian (0330 8280854 option 1, www.norwegian.com/uk) offers Scotland’s only direct flights to Stewart, New York, with fares from £138 one-way in brand-new Boeing 737 aircraft. Stewart International Airport is a gateway to New York State’s key attractions and offers a 90-minute express shuttle service direct to New York City. Rooms at Millennium Broadway New York Times Square (+ 1 212 768 440, www.millenniumhotels.com) start at £189. Asiate (+1 212 805 8881, www.mandarinoriental.com/new-york/ manhattan/luxury-hotel) 80 Columbus Circle at 60th Street; www.citypass.com/new-york; www.nycgo.com