Whether you have one day or four, don’t feel like you need to see every city landmark to experience New York City. Here’s my list of attractions you can skip when visiting New York City.
- Washington Square Park. The park is busy, dirty and foul-weed-smelling. To experience lush greenness removed from the busyness of New York City, I highly recommend treading the High Line, which you can take from attraction to attraction like The Vessel in Hudson Yards.
The other park high on your list should be the huge Central Park. Where to go in the Central Park? Read on. - Carriages in Central Park. Even if you are tired and want to lift your feet off the ground, you can tread past the carriages because the park’s heart is pedestrian-only. When in Central Park, walk the Mall from Womens Pioneers Memorial monument down the steps to Bethesda Fountain—places the carriages can’t reach.
- The Bull. At Wallstreet by the Battery Park, always surrounded by a large crowd, is the statue of the Bull. It’s so busy you must meander through the photo-clicking crowd to view it. Skip this stop, and head to the Wall St. and witness the Fearless Girl Statue on a quieter backroad that not all tourists find. A lovely cafe lines one end of the road, too.
- Roosevelt Island Tram. This tram is often suggested to catch views of the city at a budget price of a subway ticket. However, OMNY system isn’t installed here. And they don’t sell tickets on the spot. You must walk to the adjacent subway station to get a metro card. And frankly the views aren’t comparable to one of the various observatories of NYC.
Instead of the tram, I recommend walking the Roosevelt Island, facing Manhattan, starting from the Lighthouse Park with the sculptures on women’s lives to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms’ Park and the Smallpox Memorial at the opposite end. The views of Queens and Manhattan are amazing from the Freedoms Park. Pace yourself on this two-mile long journey. - Empire State Observatory. You can’t go wrong with any observation deck in NYC. But I recommend the Vanderbilt Summit One, the newest of all decks, for two reasons. One, you get to see remarkable Empire State Building, which you wouldn’t if you were on top Empire State itself. It offers close views of the Chrysler Building. And you experience more than merely the view of the city: it’s mirror collage, bouncy balls, three floors of fun.
I will add on a third reason: it’s right next to the Grand Central Station, making it easily accessible and giving you the chance to see the Grand Central Station, too, in the same trip. The summit is close to the Times Square. So, evening tickets over sunset and night views and ending it in Times Square is a neat little tip. Book ahead because the popular times do tend to get booked early.
Being short on time isn’t a bad thing if it brings you to the best of the city with these tips.
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