Ready to escape New York City this fall? Here are the best day trips in the tri-state area Chinatown Best neighborhood for budget travelersīordered by Little Italy and the Lower East Side, Chinatown is like no other place in the city, with heavily trafficked streets and sidewalks packed with fruit-and-vegetable stands, vendors pushing designer knock-offs and swarms of people in every direction. To the east is the Asia Society & Museum on Park Avenue, and on Madison Avenue, you’ll find the temporarily relocated Frick Collection further south at Columbus Circle, technically in midtown but still within walking distance, there’s the Museum of Arts and Design, and a few blocks further is the Museum of Modern Art, which reopened in late 2019 after a $450 million renovation and expansion.
In the shadow of Central Park, Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile stretches from 82nd Street and the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the lesser-known El Museo del Barrio at 104th in between, there’s the Jewish Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Guggenheim and the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, among others. While the amenities are plentiful, museums are a main attraction here: the area boasts the highest concentration of cultural institutions in the city. The Guggenheim is one of several spots on Museum Mile © Alexander Prokopenko / Shutterstock At Barracuda, you’ll find nightly drag shows and 2-for-1 drinks Rebar is a go-to for dancing and debauchery and the Eagle hosts a leather scene unlike any other. Spanning the blocks from 14th Street to 23rd and Sixth Avenue to the Hudson River, Chelsea is home to queer-owned and -run shops, galleries, and restaurants as well as gay bars galore. Today, the two are memorialized as a national historic landmark and a national park, respectively, but while the Village boasts other relevant spots like Julius', one of the city’s oldest continually running gay bars, and Cubbyhole, one of its only lesbian bars, as well as the flagship location of the Big Gay Ice Cream shop (who doesn’t love soft-serve?), much of the community has migrated westward to Chelsea. Historically, Greenwich Village has been a hub of LGBTIQ+ life in New York for decades: its Stonewall Inn was the site of the 1969 riots that sparked the gay rights movement, and nearby Christopher Park was a popular hangout that saw huge crowds during the uprising. To sample a little bit of everything, check out the new Essex Market and its subterranean food hall, the Market Line, which features vendors from around the neighborhood and across the city.Ĭhelsea is home to a host of LGBTIQ+-owned establishments © Artem Vorobiev / Getty Images Chelsea Best neighborhood for LGBTIQ+ travelers
How to actually save money while visiting New York Cityįurther south on Orchard Street, Scarr’s Pizza grinds its own stone-milled flour to make the perfect unpretentious slice, while Dirt Candy on Allen Street serves some of the most creative vegetarian food in town. On Houston itself, two institutions nod to the area’s Jewish roots: Katz’s Delicatessen, equally beloved for its smoked pastrami and its appearance in the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene from When Harry Met Sally, and Russ & Daughters, an appetizing shop beloved for its caviar, knishes and smoked fish. The New Museum and the International Center of Photography Museum are also nearby. On the other side of Houston and stretching down toward Chinatown, the Lower East Side is a neighborhood molded by immigrants, and its history is a fascinating one best experienced at the Tenement Museum on Orchard Street.
When is the best time to go to New York Cityīut really, no matter which block you stumble down, it’s hard to go wrong – you’re sure to find something tasty, whether it’s blintzes and pierogi from the legendary Veselka or relative newcomer Empellón al Pastor’s cheeseburger tacos and spicy-cucumber margaritas at happy hour. Mark’s Place is one of the main drags, and while it’s jammed with kitschy stores and cheap vendors in spots, there are also some real gems hiding in plain sight, especially as you travel further east toward Tompkins Square Park. It’s just harder to see it now, thanks to the plethora of restaurants, bars, shops, theaters and concert venues that have sprung up in the past decade or two. The Overthrow Boxing Club on Bleeker Street in the East Village © Guillaume Gaudet / Lonely Planet East Village and Lower East Side Best neighborhood for restaurantsĮast of Third Avenue, south of 14th Street, and north of Houston is the East Village, once celebrated for its gritty punk-rock scene but now better known for its trendy, upscale vibe – albeit one that still has a hint of an edge.