New York: The City That Doesn’t Need Introduction, Just Navigation

Every piece of advice about New York begins with the same problem: the city has everything, so where do you start? The answer, genuinely, is the subway. An unlimited 7-day MetroCard costs $34; once you’re mobile across the city, the rest follows from whatever you care about.

The advice to see Times Square once and then leave is correct. It’s also somewhat unfair - Times Square at midnight in December, when the steam vents are running and you’ve just had too much to drink, has a specific atmosphere that no other place replicates. But the place where you should spend your afternoons is not Times Square.

Manhattan Neighbourhoods

The West Village repays aimless walking: Jane Street, Bleecker Street, the preserved Federal-style townhouses on Grove and Commerce Streets. The neighbourhood has been expensive for 30 years but hasn’t fully lost its residential character.

The Lower East Side has the best bar-to-square-metre ratio in Manhattan and a living archive of the Jewish immigrant experience in the Tenement Museum on Orchard Street (timed-entry tours, book ahead, around $30). Russ and Daughters at 179 East Houston Street has been selling smoked fish and herring since 1914; the appetising counter is worth visiting for the quality of the product regardless of the lines.

Chinatown’s main block on Mott Street is a tourist experience; two blocks in any direction and you find the actual neighbourhood. Dim sum at Golden Unicorn on East Broadway on weekend mornings involves a number system and a wait, both worth it.

Museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art covers so much that a strategy helps. The Egyptian wing alone takes 90 minutes if you’re paying attention; the American Wing’s period rooms are a specific pleasure that most visitors skip in favour of the Impressionist galleries. The rooftop sculpture garden, open May through October, has views over Central Park that justify the climb. Suggested admission $30. The ticket is valid for three days.

The High Line runs 2.3 km on a decommissioned elevated rail freight line from Gansevoort Street to 34th. Free. Well-designed planting, Hudson views from the west side, and good sight lines into the Chelsea neighbourhood below. Crowded on summer weekends; weekday mornings are better.

Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Bridge walk from the Manhattan side (City Hall Park) takes 30-45 minutes and delivers you to DUMBO with views that photography has been trying to replicate for 140 years. The bridge was completed in 1883 and the view of it from the DUMBO waterfront, with Manhattan behind it, is still the clearest argument for why 19th-century engineering deserves attention.

Time Out Market in DUMBO collects about 20 food vendors. Los Tacos No. 1 and a wood-fired pizza operation coexist here; $15 is enough for a genuine meal.

Williamsburg is fully gentrified and knows it. The food scene on and around Bedford Avenue is good; the vintage clothing shops are numerous; brunch on Saturday requires either a reservation or 45 minutes waiting. You’ll probably do it anyway.

Eating

Xi’an Famous Foods (multiple locations, cheapest in Chinatown) makes lamb noodles with cumin for around $12. Joe’s Pizza on Carmine Street charges $5 for a slice that is better than most $25 restaurant meals in other cities. Barney Greengrass on Amsterdam Avenue has been selling sturgeon and sable since 1908; the combination with a bialy is one of New York’s specific pleasures and costs about $20 for a proper appetising plate.

Carbone in the Village charges serious money for retro Italian-American food that is, genuinely, worth it - the veal parmesan is a religious experience. L’Artusi two blocks away does better pasta for $25-35 per plate with no wait of the same magnitude.

Getting Around

The subway runs 24 hours. The A train from JFK (Air Train connection at Howard Beach) costs $2.90 total. The taxi from JFK to Manhattan costs $70-90 plus tip. If you’re arriving with luggage in the middle of the night, the taxi is worth it. Otherwise, the subway is the right answer.