I <3 NY

I wrote this piece for my co-workers who were travelling to New York on a business trip. I had visited New York a few months earlier and had things or two to share with them about the city.

Hi Ashish and Pradyot, as you will be travelling to New York, it is upon me to pass on the tribal knowledge about the city. New York is also the name of a state in the United States, and coincidentally New York city is situated in the New York state. New York City is also popular as the World's Capital, City that never sleeps, Big Apple etc. and what not.

Map with all the below destinations: NY: Things to do in NY before you leave!

I have prepared the below itinerary for you:

1. Utsav Restaurant on 46th St, Avenues of the Americas

You will be arriving late at night at JFK, but worry not, this city will be wide awake. After spending 24 hours in transit, you would definitely want to have a good North Indian meal. This restaurant is a bit on the higher side of the price scale, but the buffet served here is delicious. You will get pav bhaji, aloo tikki, noodles as starters, and the standard main course spread of Indian dishes.
Time: 1 - 1.5 hours | Zomato | Map

2. Times Square

There is no bollywood movie which was shot in NY and did not feature ‘Times Square’. After dinner, move straight to Times Square. Best time to visit Times Square is after 9pm in night and before 9pm in evening. You will be amazed to see the giant electronic billboards.
Time: 1 hour | Map

Walk to your hotel and have a good night’s sleep. Now you will have a full 3 days to enjoy NY. You can visit the following places at the time of your choice.

3. Citi Bike

You would not want to travel in cabs while you’re in NY. It’s time to burn calories and enjoy the streets of NY. A Citi Bike costs $12 for a day. You will get a citi card which can be used at Docking stations to retrieve a Citi Bike. Main thing to remember is you can ride a bike for 30 minutes for free of cost. If you cross the 30 minutes mark you will be charged $4 per 15 minutes. You should have the map of Citi bike docking stations, for this you can download the Citi bike android app which shows all the docking stations and the availability of bikes there.

4. Central Park

Take your camera and hop onto your citi bike and visit this place. This is a bigger version of Nehru Park of South Delhi, 10-15 times bigger in area. There are multiple Citi bike docking stations around the Central Park, so you can ride for a while, find a station, take a walk and then again hop on to a citi bike. If you decide to cover the entire park without any stoppage, it will take you around 45 minutes. I walked and explored the whole park and it took me around 3.5 hours to cover the entire park.
Time: 2 hours on a citi bike, 3 - 4 hours on foot. | Map

5. Battery Park

You have to come here to purchase the tickets for Statue cruise. Statue cruise includes a tour to Statue of Liberty, Ellis Islands and back to Battery Park. Cruise departs from here. Tickets cost $18. Statue cruise starts from here and ends here. Have enough time before you start the tour.
Map

6. Statue of Liberty

National monument of USA, gifted by France. An $18 ticket will give you access to the garden at Liberty Island. For shelling out more bucks you can gain access to the Crown of the Statue. There is a Food Court here, but birds will give you a hard time if you decide to eat out in the open area. You can stay here as long as you want.
Time: 2 hours | Map

7. Ellis Island

Although not as picturesque as Statue, but it has lots of historic value. Visit the museum, and do not miss the 30 minute documentary about the history of Ellis Island. The 4pm show of the documentary is hosted by one of the funniest National Park Ranger. There is a Food Court here as well. Spend as much time as you like, and then take the ferry back to Battery Park.
Time: 2 hours. | Map

8. Staten Island and Governors Island

I was not able to see these two places. I do not remember correctly, but Ferry to one of the islands costs $2 and the ferry to the other island is free. See the time-table of the ferries before going here.
Map

9. National Museum of American Indian

Huge building with the architecture of olden times.
Time: 10 minutes | Map

10. Charging Bull

Charging Bull of Wall Street, actually it's on Broadway St. It will be surrounded by lots of tourists, you will have to force your way into the crowd to take a selfie with the bull.
Time: 10 minutes | Map

11. 9/11 Memorial

There are two pools: North pool and South pool. These pools are at the exact same location where the twin towers of WTC used to be before 9/11.
Time: 20 minutes | Map

12. Liberty Park

Just a small memorial park in front of two pools. Nothing much to see, it was opened to the public this July only.
Time: 5 minutes | Map

13. One World Trade Center

This is the New WTC. This time it's only a single tower. It also houses the One World Observatory from where you can view the entire NY city. But it costs $32. You can have the similar experience from Empire State Building, and Top of The Rock Rockefeller Centre at the same price. If you have to choose between these 3 options I would not recommend One World Observatory. Vineet went to One World Observatory.
Time: 10 minutes | Map

14. N Esplanade

You should take a walk through the hudson river front. I have marked this walk on the map.
Time: 30 minutes | Map

15. Masala Times

If you’re craving for Masala Ginger Tea, come to this place. It also serves value for money North Indian food.
Time: 30 minutes | Zomato | Map

16. New York County Supreme Court

You should definitely come here to see the architecture of the buildings which houses government offices. The Manhattan Municipal building and US District Court building are at walkable distance from here.
Time: 30 minutes | Map

Two Bridges: Brooklyn bridge and Manhattan bridge are collectively known as Two Bridges. I would recommend covering both the bridges by foot. Both the bridges connect Manhattan island to Brooklyn island.

17. Manhattan Bridge

After coming to Chinatown, you should take the route to Manhattan Bridge. Once you’re on it, there is a road, and a railway track beside the pedestrian footpath. Whenever the train approaches, you will feel the bridge shaking, although the vibrations will be of very small magnitude. You should take Pics of Brooklyn bridge from the Manhattan Bridge.
Time: 1 hour | Map

If you want, you can spend some time in Brooklyn

18. Grimaldi’s Pizza

It is a very famous shop for pizza in DUMBO. Expect a long queue here. On the eve of 4th of July 2016, I had to wait in the queue for 1 hour.
Time: 1 - 2 hours | Zomato | Map

19. Brooklyn Bridge Park

You can spend some time at this park facing the East river. It was one of the vantage point for Macy's 4th of July fireworks. Time: 30 minutes | Map

20. Brooklyn Bridge

It is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the US. You will be literally walking over the cars, buses and other vehicles. Take a pic of Manhattan bridge from the Brooklyn bridge.
Time: 1 hour | Map

21. Empire State Building

This building requires no introduction. It was the tallest building in the world for 40 years. Amazon’s new office is across the road. You can go to the top floor for $32 and see New York City, but you would not be able to see the Central Park from here. So, I would not recommend this building too if you want to have the view of the city from the top.
Map

22. Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Plaza

This is also a very tall building, but unlike ESB, it is a sub hundred storey building. At the top there is Top of the Rock observatory. From here, you will be able to see the Empire State Building on one side, and Central Park on the other, that is the USP of this place. Ticket price is $32. You will usually get an entry slot of 1-2 hours after you purchase the ticket. Ideal time to go here will be in the evening, before the sunset. This way you will be able to have the view of New York city in daylight and at night as well. There is no time-boundation with the ticket, you can stay as long as you want. Two floors of the observatory have glass walls, so it will be difficult to take pictures, but the top floor does not have any such restrictions. Empire State Building and One World Trade Center both have glass walls on the observatory deck.
Time: 2 hours | Map

23. Angela’s Sandwich Shop

This eatery serves very good American breakfast. I had something with eggs, and it was delicious.
Time: 1 hour | Zomato | Map

Map with all the above destinations: NY: Things to do in NY before you leave!