There’s no such thing as a definitive ‘to do’ to NYC – isn’t that the whole point? But these are a few suggestions to get you kick-started…
A PERFECT MORNING… Begins with breakfast. We’re slow starters in the am (leaping out of bed with guidebook at the ready by o-eight-hundred is not really our strength) so, we favour a painless segue between caffeine kick-starter and the day’s activities.
start your day with one of the world’s great newspapers @ Pastis (Image: HWL)
If you wake up in the arty Meatpacking district: Start your day with one of the world’s great newspapers at Pastis, a New York style French brasserie, crazily popular for brunch. If the sun is shining, hope for a table outside.
Alternatively, the more economically priced Cafe Gitane (inside the Jane Hotel) will serve you up a decent fruit-juice, coffee and avocado toast for about $10 in a crumbling-Havana style atmos. (Note, the original Cafe Gitane branch at Nolita, 242 Mott Street, makes for a good coffee stop if you’re mooching around the New Museum and Bleeker St area.)
Much loved and even more hyped The Highline makes for a great morning stroll (it gets increasingly crowded in the afternoon) that simultaneously raises interesting ideas about the conversion of dis-used urban spaces into wildlife-friendly parks. Get on at the Standard Hotel and walk all the way up to Chelsea, past the new Frank Gehry building.
From here, do you can do a kind of art tour on 20th, 21st and 22nd street between 10th and 11th avenue – don’t miss Gagosian and Jonathan Llevine galleries.
biking: take one along the Hudson & set it free (Image: HWL)
As your sugar levels plummet, have lunch at Cookshop, a buzzy slow food restaurant with a contemporary take on Americana cuisine. (Book in advance.)
If you’re feeling frisky and the weather is fine there’s wholesome fun to be had: rent a bike and take it for a spin along the newly revamped bike track along the Hudson.
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If you wake up amid touristic-blockbusters Uptown: Wood-panelling and furnishings by Adolf Loos – is there a better accompaniment for a perfectly boiled egg? Muse it over with the elegant set breakfast at Cafe Sabarsky, the old-school Viennese dining room at the Nueue Gallerie. It’s busy on weekends, but jetlaggers might have the advantage, if you arrive early enough you might even score a booth. (Nb: The gallery and cafe are both closed on Tuesdays.)
Guggenheim, yeah baby (image: HWL)
From here, it’s a block from the iconic Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, check their website for exhibitions.
Alternatively, skip across the road for a walk through Central Park which is always fabulous, regardless of the season. Invariably a busker will be playing jazz covers, providing that all important –”I’m in a Woody Allen movie”– kind of ambiance. If it’s sunny, it’s a nice place to settle down with a book (or given we’re in a classic kind of mood why not a short story from The New Yorker?).
Like Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye, we’re very fond of the beautiful nature dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History – thank God they haven’t been transformed into interactive exhibits (though there’s no shortage of those either).
If you’re all high-cultured out, you might consider getting lunch from one of NYC’s’ very reasonably priced and – sometimes delicious – food vending carts! The so-called ‘Vendies’ are described as “the Oscars of food for the real New York“. You’ll find a list of the recent Vendy Recipients here, offering gourmet bargains throughout the city. Keep an eye on their site for developments.
Dreams of Diorama: North American flora & fauna @ the ANHM (Image: HWL)
