Empire State Of Mind

10 and a billion more Reasons
why NYC is the greatest city in the world
– PART 1

This are just 10 (of many) reasons, why New York City is such an amazig City. Undoubtedly, there are many beautiful places allover the world, but there is something just magical about NYC. Located at the southern tip of the eponymous State, New York City is the center of the largest metropolitan area and one of the most popular megacities in the world. It´s especially known as a financial and trading centre.

Short historical overview

The city was inhabited by native Americans, till 1524 the first European explorer visited the city. In beginning of 17th century, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York area and the north river (today Hudson River) for Dutch East India Company. The Neatherlands began with the founding of a Dutch settlement, on present-day Manhattan Island, which was named Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam). But the Neatherlands were unable to call any significant resistance so they surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops. The settlement was renamed to “New York” after the future King James II, Duke of York.

In the 19th century, the province with its harbor grew in importance as a trading port, till it finally transformed to its present-day status as a national and international tradin centre. After World War II the city recorded a huge economic boom and its national and global influence raised. New York became the first megacity in human history during the 1930s. During the years, the metropole envolved into a meltingpot of diverse nations from allover the world. Since 1950s the Big Apple*, which is meanwhile the most popular city of U.S., with a population of approximate 8 million people, records an permanent increase of visitors year by year.

*The nickname “Big Apple” was popularized in the 1920s in reference to the “big money” (or “big apples” for the horses) rewarded at the popular horse races at Belmont Park and Aqueduct at New York.

1) best city for foodies

All big cities tend to be better for foodies, but New York is on a completely different level. Part of this is due to, the Big Apple with less than 30.000 restaurants is not such a big player like Tokyo (with nerly 150.000 restaurants), but food trucks, street food and a huge cultural diversity contribute to the city’s incredible culinaric variety. People have traveled to New York from all around the globe, which is why New York is filled with such a variety. No matter if you´re looking for Indian, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, delicious French cuisine or mouth watering Cuban food, this is the right place for you!

Even if the food scene is inpired and characterized from all those influences, the city also createt own food trends. Which visitor hasn´t eat, at leat once, a traditional hot dog at one of the many stands, which belongs to the townscape at least as much as the popular yellow taxi cabs. You can make an authentic food experience at every corner. Many trends were born here, just think of Sex and the Citie´s famous Cosmopolitan, New York style pizza, New Yorkcheese cake, bagles, cronuts or cragels (the hybrid of bagel and croissant). To put it mildly – New York is definately a foodie’s heaven.

NewEST Food Trends OF NEW YORK

Raindrop Cake at Williamsburg, Smorgasburg Market
Mochi at SoHo
Wowfulls at Brooklyn
Ube Ice Cream at Williamsburg, Lower East Side, Chinatown and many more
Burrata Ice cream at West Village
Sushi Donut at Manhattan
Unicorn Latte at Brooklyn
Ramen Burgers at Williamsburg, Smorgasburg Market
Okonomiyaki at East Village / East Village, Lower East Side and Brooklyn
Hummus Sweets and Milkshake at Upper East Side
Sushi Bakes at TriBeCa

2) MECCA FOR FASHIONISTA´s

Not just Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City, New York is a mecca for fashion victims and shopahoic´s all over the world. This is where trends are born! Many of our fashion trends from magazines are spotted at streets of NYC, where diverse and creative styles seem to be soaked up in the mornings fom fashionista´s with the extraordinary matcha-oat-double-choc-macciatos. It is therefore not surprising that you can see it reflected on city streets, stomping grounds of the world’s best-dressed.

New York is truly a shopaholic’s dream. Manhattan is home to some of the best department and outlet stores in the world. NYC offers luxury haute couture fashion as well as mainstream brands and second hand clothes, for the small budget. Whether scouting out Macy´s, Bloomingdales, the boutiques lining Fifth Avenue or the Green Flea Market, there’s always something to buy and something to sell in New York City. >> Read more <<

There are just four fashion capitals around the world: Paris, Milan, London and New York. Last one has been multiple crowned as the fashion capital of the world! Everyone who is interested in fashion knows the show, which meanwhile takes place four times a year: the New York Fashion Week. Sitting here in the first row is not desiable just for fashionisa´s, even film-stars, top athletes or music stars hope to get a place there and to be photographed in one of the gossig rags – see and bee seen.

3) Biggest Music City

New York City is one of the biggest city in the world for the music business and it´s for sure the greatest city for live music concerts. Unexceptional every international music act includes New York in their tours, so you’re guaranteed to see them here. NY offers incredible venues for concerts like the Madison Square Garden or Brooklyn´s Barclays Center, though venues like Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theater, Irving Plaza, the Hammerstein Ballroom, Webster Hall, Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Steel or Kings Theater in Flatbush.

And don´t forget about the countless subway performances of newcomer dancers and singers every day! The New York City subway line is filled with talented artists trying to make it in the big city. So with a little luck you can enjoy live performancs simply while waiting at one of the nearly 500 subway stations. While I was in NY last time, I enjoyed several performences, every single day! The city also inspired many big pop, rock and jazz artists and it´s still home of hip hop. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys tryed to capture the uniqueness and the special flair of this city it in a nutshell, in their song “Empire State of Mind” from 2009:

These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York
…
One hand in the air for the big city
Street lights, big dreams, all lookin’ pretty
No place in the world that could compare
–

4) Great Museums & Art galleries

New York City is home to some of the best museums in the world. NYC’s art scene is unparalleled and you´ll find art, even outside of the buildings, ´cause some are real eye-catchers. In terms of visual arts, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Brooklyn Museum hold world-famous works that will melt art-lovers’ hearts, while galleries in the Lower East Side and Chelsea promote new talents. Watch the famous blue whale and animal dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), learn about America’s most famous jazzman at the Louis Armstrong House Museum and about the history of Lower East Side immigrants at the Tenement Museum or ask everything you ever wanted to know about lovemaking at the Museum of Sex.

5) Theatre-lovers will get their money worth

As good as New York is for live music venues, it’s arguably even better for theatre. With a number of more than 40, in fact New York has the worldwide highest number of broadway theatres in a city. Most of them are located at “Theater District”, in the centre of Midtown Manhattan. Here you can watch popular muaicals like Aladdin, Lion King or Phantom of the Opera. At Broadway (15.5 mile, 25 km long road), you´ll also find lots of big and small theatre and entertainment venues, like Shubert Theatre, Lincoln Center or Apollo Theatre, the Radio City Music Hall (where Pink Floyd, Mariah Carey or Lady Gaga already played concerts), incredible museums such as The Met and Moma, as well as radio and television studios, record lables or typical tourist attractions like Madame Tussauds.

6) an ArchitectIal iconE

“Skyscraper National Park.” That is what Kurt Vonnegut famously labeled New York City in his 1976 novel Slapstick. Even if NY is not the birthplace of the skyscraper (´cause Chicago is), the city is filled with incredible tall buildings and stunningly breathtaking architecture. There are two main concentrations of high-rise buildings – You´ll find New York´s typical skyscrapers especially at Midtown Manhattan and at Lower Manhattan. (Meanwhile even Brooklyn, on the other side of the bridge, is planing to build such towers.) But as a city of such history, architectural evidence of practically every era is combined to make a unique mixture of past and present.

In between skyscrapers of glass and metal you´ll find Art Deco and Gothic revivalist structures that seem like works of art. One of the famous Art Deco building of the city is definately the Chrysler Building, it´s perhaps the most famous one, but there’s also the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center, the Waldorf Astoria, the Verizon Building or the Flatiron Building, which represent this style. When you´re at Rockefeller Center, go just fe meters accross to visit gothic architecture at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is a neo-gothic Catholic cathedral, eracted in 1846 inbetween of modern skycrapers of Fifth Avenue. The contrast is crazy! That´s New York!

New York´s incredible architecture of all different styles, is what has put NewYork on the map. If you´re looking for more modern architecture, you can visit the World Trade Center Transportation Hub (also known as Oculus), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) or the Guggenheim Museum. Another relative new, architectual icone that could also get away as art itselfs easily, is the Vessel at Hudson Yard. This new monument is a visitor attraction, built of 2.500 connected staircasesas, in 2019. Next to the Vessel, you´ll find the Shed, also an example of very modern architecture and representative for NYCs new face and a new century that has began.

7) New York´s (NighT)life!

Guess nobody will forget their first time walking through the hectic plaza of Times Square, with its countless people, endless seeming skyscrapers, lines of yellow cabs and flashing of millions of neon lights – you may fell like a canne sardine beeing here for the first time. New York, “The City That Never Sleeps”, has an incredible nightlife, may even some of the most epic one in the entire world. Not just since legendary Studio 54 NY is known for good parties, but the city also has an almost endless array of bars, clubs and locations to choose between, and it stays open much later than most American cities. Most have last call at 2am, at NYC party is just getting started at 2am. Markets, hookup spots and restaurants are open into mornings too. You can watch burlesque performance, sing karaoke, go gameing, take part at tavia nights, go latenight bowling, spend a night at museum, and many more…

If you’re bored in New York, it’s your own fault

–

According to this quote – which is totally true! – you can experience a lot, even at day at this fantastic city – shows, parks, art, culture, history and and and… There are a billion and one things to do at NY. Countless iconic tv shows like Friends or Sex and the City, gave viewers an image of what life at “Big Apple” can be like. If you´re interested in more inspitations of things to do in NYC, >> Read more << here.

8) a melting pot of cultures

New York is as colorfull as it´s habitats. It´s truly a universal melting pot of different cultures and languages. In the early history of the city, around 17th century the population (beside urban Natives) began to expand, starting with the first exporers from Europe (France and Neatherlands) and later with immigrants from Africa and further european Countries. Meanwhile NY is a “Melting Pot” of cultures in America. This is a metaphor, which means that the society is becoming more homogenouse. And that´s definately a reliable statement! Many of the different cultures and ethnicities that exist can be seen through food present in the city. NYC is home to some of the best Italian food, and some even say locals offer better pizza than is offered in Naples itself. But you can also see the diversity in the variety of languages which are spoken in town.

One of two New Yorkers speak another language besides English; like Spanish, French, Creole, Armenian or Yiddish. Approx. 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it one of the most linguistically diverse places on the planet. Today, like at boom perdiode starting in 1910, round 40% of the city’s population is foreign-born, coming from the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Mexico, Ecuador, and hundreds of other countries. The cultural diversity is just immense. New Yorkers are also very aware of the surrounding religions and cultures. It´s common to work with people of different religions. New York City metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, the largest Asian community outside of Asia and home for the largest African American community of all American cities.

9) EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE

It´s all about the money – not only – but NY is a financial city. Everything is possible here – like slogan says: “from rags to riches”, you are able to achive everything you want, in this city. That´s what many people think about the Big Apple, still. Without a doubt, the energy and the vibe of here is unique. That´s why year by year people still come here and hope to have an groundbreaking idea and finally to climb up the social ladder. You´ll find here a never-ending stream of new and crazy people and ideas. So people try to make money with – partly weired – bussiness ideas. Here are two seriouse examples of ways to make money.

Everyone knows ATM´s, but I´m sure you haven´t seen one like this before:

Don´t worry, eat a cupcake!

Manhattan now has a very special ATM: a cupcake ATM. No joke! Sprinkles cupcake ATM dispenses freshly-baked, delicious cupcakes 24/7.

Don´t want to many dollar bills in pocket? No problem – take gold!

Would you buy gold from ATM? I wouldn´t, but NYC´s many millionaires and billionaires may do this seriously. Located at West 57th Street, surroundet by the new and luxury super skycrapers a gold ATM dispenses real gold bars and rare coins, to those who have the necessary money.

10) Richness of the boroughs

One of the most visited boroughs of New York is definately Manhattan. But Manhattan´s hectic jungle also offers some little green oases, for those who want to escape the hustle and the bustle of big city life. Like the High Line, a narrow (1.5 mile, 2 km long) public park, that runns cross Chelsea, from Gansevoort Street in Meatpacking District to 34th Street. It´s a green lung in middle of town, it´s an arts space, a destination for dates and a place to sit and dream. Unfortunately, many tourists only visit Manhattan, and – YES – for sure, walking from SoHo into Little Italy or Chinatown, you find yourself in a new world, but although you miss out so much of the diversity, the sights and activities that other boroughs in the city offer.

In some parts of NY´s English is even not spoken as the main language, at least it´s spoken in neighborhoods like Flushing (Quenns) or Sunset Park (Brooklyn), which record the most foreign-born-residents of all boroughs. So if you´re brave and open-minded and cross the Manhattan Bridge and wander at the other side around Brooklyn, you´ll find Russian skin specialists practicing ancient remedies, people only speaking Yiddish, or people who sport the clothes of the old country.

How about trying something completly new? How about visiting the beautiful New York Botanial Garden or the Zoo in The Bronx? May your first question, when thinking of The Bronx is: “isn´t it dangerous there?”. Well, it´s true that The Bronx still is one of the poorest districts in America and crime rate there is bit higher than in other New York boroughs, but The Bronx is no longer what it used to be and, similar like Brooklyn, boroughs are going through changes. The Bronx offers a lot to do and to explore – like The Bronx Zoo (one of the the biggest in USA), Botanical Garden, Yankee Stadium, Museum of Bonx History or Van Cortlandt Museum. Moreover you´ll find fantastic restaurants here, especially deliciouse italian once.

NEW YORK´s boroughs & neighborhoods

Manhattan: i.a. Upper East / West Side, SoHo, TriBeCa, Chelsea, Midtown
Brooklyn: i.a. Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Carroll Garden, Brooklyn Hights
Queens: i.a. Astoria, Flushing, Sunnyside, Bayside, Bellerose, Forest Hill
The Bronx: i.a. Kingsbridge, Morris Park, Bedford Park, Concourse, Riverdale
Staten Island: i.a. New Drop, West New Bringhton, Livingston, Oakwood Beach

POPULAR boroughs for a stay

Midtown (Manhattan): Ideal for first stay in NY or for short stays. It´s close to many attractions and you´re in the middle of happenings.
Upper East Side (Manhattan): Ideal for luxury-lover, fashion-victims and museum enthusiasts. You´re in the middle of things, instead of just being there.
Chelsea & Greenwich Village (Manhattan): Ideal for romantics and nature lover. Offering green spaces or oasis in middle of the big city, next to Hudson River.
SoHo & TriBeCa (Manhattan): Ideal for hipsters, creative heads and scene lover. Chic design-district with a huge scene for art, fasion and theatre.
Queens: Ideal for all who travel on a budget and don´t want to spent to much money. Quiet neighborhoods, outside of hutle and bustle, but still not far away.
Lower East Side (Manhattan): Ideal for those who travel on a budget and love italian and asian food and don´t want to be that far from city centre like in Queens.

But there are many more neighborhoods to stay at and new boroughs are booming recent years. If you´re interessted in to >> Read more <<

10 and a billion more Reasons why NYC is the greatest city in the world– PART 1