The New York City Traveler

Today’s guest post is from Mary Jo Manzanares, Travel & Culture Channel Editor and travel blogger at Flyaway Cafe.
United Nations Day, October 24th, was first declared in 1948, and honors the anniversary of the effective date of the Charter of the United Nations. This day is devoted to promoting and celebrating the aims and achievements of the U.N.
The United Nations Headquarters is located along the East River, at 760 United Nations Plaza, on First Avenue between 42nd & 48th (map it). The complex consists of the Secretariat Building, the domed General Assembly Building, the Conference Building and the Hammarskjold …read more

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Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s massive public art project New York City Waterfalls is now on display. For more information on these waterfalls (and how you can take a free boat tour) check out last week’s post. 
Photo credit: flickr
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The days are counting down to the U.S. premier of “Sex and the City: The Movie” and New York City is being overrun by fans eager to sample Magnolia Bakery’s famous cupcakes chased by a Cosmo. 
There are several tour companies vying for your dollar, ready to load you onto a double-decker bus and cruise the streets of Manhattan, rolling past some of Sex and the City’s hotspots.  But if you’re not interested in making reservations, paying big bucks, and getting lost in the crowd, I gathered a list of some of the most memorable filming locations and attached …read more

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Memorial Day weekend is just beginning and New York is preparing for the summertime influx of visitors to the Big Apple.  The city can be a pricey destination, but with careful planning, substantial discounts can found to top attractions.  The New York CityPass is one of best the deals in New York City tourism.   
The New York CityPass gives you admission to six of New York’s top attractions:

Empire State Building Observatory
American Museum of Natural History & Rose Center
Guggenheim Museum
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Metropolitan Museum of Art & Cloisters
And your choice of Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises -or- Statue of …read more

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is housed in a beautiful Greek-Revival building in Central Park, along Fifth Avenue. “The Met” as it is called, attracts over five million visitors a year– more than any other attraction in New York City.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art first opened in 1872 and was located in a Midtown brownstone. The museum quickly outgrew its space and moved a few more times before acquiring its current space in Central Park.
The museum’s permanent collection consists of over two million works of art from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Far …read more

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In the shadows of Rockefeller Center stands the largest Catholic church in the United States as well as the Archdiocese of New York. St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Neo-Gothic marble masterpiece, holds exquisite interior and exterior detail.
Designed by John Renwick, the construction began in 1859 and the building was consecrated in 1879. In the nearly 150 year history of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the building has operated as a Trappist monastery, an orphanage, and Catholic boys school.
The most prominent architectural features are the huge 330-foot spires that flank the entrance on Fifth Avenue. The spires were not part …read more

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The second stop on Statue of Liberty-bound ferries is Ellis Island. Originally called Gibbet Island by the British, more than 12 million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island during its sixty-two years of operation.
In 1990, after a major $162 million renovation, the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration reopened for visitors. Ellis Island’s Main Hall features self-guided exhibits that chronicle the island’s role in immigration history and include artifacts, photographs, prints, videos, interactive displays, and oral histories.
If you would like to find out if your family passed through Ellis Island you can use the online database to search …read more

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Standing proudly in New York Harbor, The Statue of Liberty is not just a symbol of New York, but of America and it’s enduring freedom. Liberty Enlightening the World, the full name of the Statue of Liberty, is an iconic must-see sight in New York.
The Statue of Liberty is comprised of Gustave Eiffel’s (designer of the Eiffel Tower) iron-framework design and is the creation of Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. It took Bartholdi ten years, from 1974-1884 to bolt the thin copper sheets together and create the 151-foot masterpiece.
Shipped from France to the United States in hundreds of pieces in 1884, …read more

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Headquarters of one of the largest public library system in the world, with a collection that only the Library of Congress can rival, the New York City Public Library main branch is a must-see attraction while in New York.  Conveniently located in Midtown, housed in a Beaux Arts building with white marble facing, the library reopened in 2005 after a $5 million renovation. 
Don’t miss the Rose Main Reading Room on the third floor of the library.  This 636-seat room boasts 23-foot long tables with matching oak chairs.  Author Norman Mailer and revolutionary Leon Trotsky, among others, have worked here.  …read more

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See how Manhattan glimmers in the early morning sun and Lady Liberty’s torch is a beacon in the night sky.  Some of the best views of Manhattan can be seen from the waters of New York Harbor.  Luckily you don’t need one of those mega-yachts docked at North Cove Marina to cruise the harbor. 
Guidebooks recommend taking a sightseeing tour and most visitors to New York choose Circle Line Tours Downtown.  Circle Line offers a selection of tours, the most popular being the cruise of New York’s Liberty Harbor.  The tour on the newly renovated Miss New York lasts …read more

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