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Explore New York, Usa
Explore New York also referred to as “The Big Apple”, the most populous city in the United States, one of the 15 largest metro areas in the world. New York City is a center for media, culture, food, fashion, art, research, finance, and trade. It has one of the largest and most famous skylines on earth, dominated by the iconic Empire State Building.
Boroughs
New York City consists of five boroughs, which are five separate counties. Each borough has a unique culture and could be a large city in its own right. Within each borough individual neighborhoods, some several square miles in size, and others only a few blocks in size, have personalities lauded in music and film. Where you live, work, and play in New York says something to New Yorkers about who you are.
Manhattan (New York County)
- The famous island between the Hudson and East Rivers, with many diverse and unique neighborhoods. Manhattan is home to the Empire State Building in Midtown, Central Park, Times Square, Wall Street, Harlem, and the trendy neighborhoods of Greenwich Village and SoHo.
Brooklyn (Kings County)
- The most populous borough, and formerly a separate city. Located south and east of Manhattan across the East River. Known for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, The Brooklyn Museum, The New York Aquarium and a key NYC landmark Coney Island.
Queens (Queens County)
- Located to the east of Manhattan, across the East River, and north, east, and south of Brooklyn. With over 170 languages spoken, Queens is the most ethnically diverse region in the United States, and one of the most diverse in the world.
The Bronx (Bronx County)
- Located north of Manhattan Island, the Bronx is home to the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Gardens, and the New York Yankees professional baseball team.
Staten Island (Richmond County)
- A large island in New York Harbor, south of Manhattan and just across the narrow Kill Van Kull from New Jersey. Unlike the rest of New York City, Staten Island has a suburban character. It is known as the borough of parks. It has its own baseball team, several malls, and a zoo.
New York City is one of the global hubs of international finance, politics, communications, film, music, fashion, and culture. Alongside London it’s one of only two universally acknowledged to be “World Cities” – the most important and influential cities on Earth. Its home to many world-class museums, art galleries, and theaters. Many of the world’s largest corporations have their headquarters here. The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York and most countries have a consulate here. This city’s influence on the globe, and all its inhabitants, is hard to overstate, as decisions made within its boundaries often have impacts and ramifications across the world.
Immigrants (and their descendants) from over 180 countries live here, making it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Travelers are attracted to New York City for its culture, energy and cosmopolitanism. English is the primary language spoken by most New Yorkers although in many communities it is common to hear other languages that are generally widely understood. In many neighborhoods, there is a large Latino/Hispanic population, and many New Yorkers speak Spanish. Most cab drivers speak either Arabic, Hindi or Bengali. There are also many neighborhoods throughout the city that have a high concentration of Chinese immigrants where Mandarin or Cantonese may be useful. In some of these neighborhoods, some locals may not speak very good English, but store owners and those who would deal frequently with tourists or visitors all will speak English.
New York City has a humid subtropical climate and experiences all four seasons, with hot and humid summers (Jun-Sep), cool and dry autumns (Sep-Dec), cold winters (Dec-Mar), and wet springs (Mar-Jun).
People
The diverse population runs the gamut from some of America’s wealthiest celebrities and socialites to homeless people. There are millions of immigrants living in the city. New York’s population has been diverse since the city’s founding by the Dutch. Successive waves of immigration from virtually every nation in the world make New York a giant social experiment in cross-cultural harmony.
Τhe city is extremely well connected by air with flights from almost every corner of the world. Three large and several small airports serve the region.
John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport (the latter in New Jersey) are large international airports, while LaGuardia Airport is a busy domestic airport.
What to see. Best top attractions in New York, Usa
Like most of the great world cities, New York has an abundance of great attractions – so many, that it would be impossible to list them all here. What follows is but a sampling of the most high-profile attractions in New York City.
Many tourist attractions in New York City offer free or discounted admission on certain days, eg Museum of Modern Art’s Free Friday, or Museums on Us® program by Bank of America. see more in New York
Film
New York is one of the world’s greatest film cities, home to a huge number of theaters playing independent and repertory programs. Many major US studio releases open earlier in New York than elsewhere (especially in the autumn) and can be found at the major cineplexes around the city. As with everything else in New York, movies are quite popular, and even relatively obscure films at unappealing times of the day can still be sold out. It’s best to get tickets in advance whenever possible.
Parades
New York City hosts many parades, street festivals and outdoor pageants. These are some of the most famous:
New York’s Village Halloween Parade. Each Halloween (31 Oct) at 7PM. This parade and street pageant attracts 2 million spectators and 50,000 costumed participants along Sixth Ave between Spring St and 21st St. Anyone in a costume is welcome to march; those wishing to, should show up 6PM-9PM at Spring St and 6th Ave.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The morning of each Thanksgiving on Central Park W, this parade attracts many spectators and is broadcast on nationwide television.
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. The largest St. Paddy’s parade in the world! Route is up 5th Ave from 44th St to 86th St and lasts from 11AM to about 2:30PM. Celebrations in pubs citywide happen the rest of the day and night until the green beer runs out.
Labor Day (also known as West Indian Day Parade or New York Caribbean Carnival). An annual celebration held in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Its main event is the West Indian-American Day Parade, which attracts between one and three million spectators, thus taking in more foot traffic in one day than the entirety of Toronto’s Caribana festival. The spectators watch the parade on its route along Eastern Parkway. The large parade is held on American Labor Day, the first Monday in September.
What to buy
New York is arguably the fashion capital of the United States, and is a major shopping destination for people around the world. The city boasts an unmatched range of department stores, boutiques, and specialty shops. Some neighborhoods boast more shopping options than most other American cities and have become famous as consumer destinations. Anything you could possibly want to buy can be found in New York, including clothing, cameras, computers and accessories, music, musical instruments, electronic equipment, art supplies, sporting goods, and all kinds of foodstuffs and kitchen appliances.
Buying art
Anyone can freely create, display, and sell art, including paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures, DVDs, and CDs, based on freedom of speech rights. Thousands of artists earn their livings on NYC streets and in parks. Common places to find street artists selling their work are SoHo in Lower Manhattan and near the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 81st Street.
Outlets
New York City has a number of retail outlet locations, offering substantial discounts and the opportunity to purchase ends-of-line and factory seconds. Century 21 in Manhattan is one of the largest stores where New Yorkers get designer clothing for less.
Convenience stores
Basic food, drinks, snacks, medicine, and toiletries can be found at decent prices at the ubiquitous Walgreens/Duane Reade, CVS, and Rite Aid stores. For a more authentically New York experience, stop by one of the thousands of bodegas/delis/groceries.
Street Vendors
In New York City it is common for street vendors to set up tables on the sidewalk, close to the curb, and sell items. They are required to obtain a permit to perform this activity, but it is legal. Purchasing from these vendors is generally legitimate, although buying brand name goods from these vendors (particularly expensive clothing and movies) is ill advised as the products being sold may be cheap imitation products. It is considered safe to buy less expensive goods from these vendors, but most will not accept payment by credit card, so you will have to bring money. Be particularly wary of any street vendor that does not sell from a table (especially vendors who approach you with their merchandise in a briefcase) as these goods are almost certainly cheap imitation products.
Wi-Fi is available in city parks and quite a few public libraries. The Apple store has dozens of computers setup and doesn’t seem to mind that many people use them for free internet access, but they can be pretty busy at times. Easy Internet Cafe and FedEx Office are just some of the internet cafes which offer broadband internet at reasonable prices. Finding a store with an open power outlet may be difficult so be sure your device is fully charged and its battery is working properly.
Costs
New York is by far the most expensive city in the United States in which to both live and visit, although from a tourist perspective, you can expect the costs to be comparable to other major “world cities” such as London, Paris and Tokyo. One of the biggest expenses when visiting New York is accommodation – the median rate for a decent hotel room in Manhattan seldom dips below $200 a night. On the flip side, eating out in restaurants – is relatively inexpensive given the massive amount of competition and choice on offer. As with most major tourist destinations, New York has its fair share of “tourist traps” in terms of eating and drinking options, which can trap the unwary.
Smoking
Smoking in public places is highly restricted. It is prohibited in indoor sections of bars, restaurants, subway stations and trains, public parks, public beaches, pedestrian malls, both indoor and outdoor stadiums and sports arenas, and many other public places. There do remain a small number of legal cigar bars that are exempt, as are the outside areas of sidewalk cafes and the like, but these are very much the exception. If you need to smoke while eating or drinking, be prepared to take a break and join the rest of the smokers outside, whatever the weather; many establishments have large space heaters. As in most US cities, drinking alcoholic beverages on the street is illegal, so bars will not let you take your drink outside.
Official tourism websites of New York
For more information please visit the official government website:
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