About 10 years ago I visited New York City with my junior high class as part of a field trip…

To be honest I hadn’t thought much about going back until recently. A few friends had made the decision to move out East from their homes in California to try their hand at a completely new lifestyle away from everything we had become accustomed to at home. To them, New York represented a new opportunity, a fresh start, a new job, and a general departure from the previous lives they lived back home. I was curious and wanted to really glimpse into my friends’ lives and see if this city of dreamers had given them a new outlook on life or was just purely hype. Along the way, I wanted to explore this diverse city and introduce my girlfriend (an avid international traveler) to some of the best destinations we have here in the states that she hadn’t had the opportunity to visit yet.

Putting the pieces together

I set aside 7 days for our visit to the city and lined up an Airbnb on the upper east side of Manhattan. The apartment was located a few blocks down from central park and had the 86th Street subway station on the Q line a few steps from our building’s entrance. Having the immediate access to the subway along with the apartment’s proximity to midtown made the location perfect for our exploits. Although we didn’t spend a lot of time there, our Airbnb was a lovely room that featured an enormous king size bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Our host gave us plenty of privacy as she left to visit family in France as soon as my girlfriend and I arrived.

So far as navigating around the city, Google Maps allowed us to go from Subway novices to experts pretty quickly. The week-long unlimited Metro Cards that we picked up afforded us convenient passage to all the boroughs in New York. The trains themselves didn’t feel unkempt or dirty (at least from what we saw) and other than one altercation where a man and woman got into a bit of a scuffle a few feet from where my girlfriend and I sat, we had a pretty easy time using the system. I actually felt more comfortable on the subway than the equivalent BART train, but maybe that isn’t saying much given BART’s recent track record. At certain points in the day, Uber was actually cost-effective but we tried to use it as sparingly as possible to maximize the benefit of our Metro Cards.

In order to make the most of our time, we relied on a Google Sheet with a rough schedule and a Google Doc with the locations we wanted to visit. The list broke down points of interest categorically so we could mix and match destination types throughout our day. The advanced planning made all the difference in allowing us to visit all the sites we wanted, along with the flexibility to build in free time to just roam around or let our local friends lead the way.

Hitting the ground running

Our first excursion out into the city was the evening of our arrival. My friend David, a recent transplant from California and a college classmate, had moved to New York a few short months before my visit and was the first person that I was able to catch up with. While David lives in Brooklyn, he took my girlfriend and I out to the West Village neighborhood. We ate at a place called Via Carota and treated ourselves to some delicious Burrata Insalate along with their Cacio e Pepe pasta. While we were treated to some incredible Italian food and gelato, we were really impressed with the neighborhood. The amount of cafés, restaurants, and high-end bars in the area was far more than we expected. It felt like no matter what corner you went down, there was always something to eat or drink. We quickly learned that you can try to plan out what restaurants to go to, but the sheer amount of unique dining options and places to have a drink are immense and really negate the need to plan this out unless there is a must visit restaurant you have in mind. In any given place you can pop open Yelp and find something delicious only a short walk from you. Despite the fact that it was a weeknight, the city was as busy as ever into the late evening hours. Formalities around when people went out to bars or higher end restaurants didn’t seem to necessarily exist here. At any time of day, something was going on somewhere. It was great catching up with an old friend, reminiscing about the past, and hearing about transitioning from Silicon Valley to New York City. We caught up with David a few more times and had the chance to check out his apartment in Brooklyn. Honestly I was of the frame of mind that all apartments in NYC were pressed for space, but every apartment I visited didn’t have this issue in such a pronounced way as I’d expected. Coming from the Bay Area, we weren’t strangers to high rents but the residences that my friends had both in Brooklyn and in Manhattan were really comfortable by NY standards.

Times Square and Reconnecting with family

All the main tourist traps on our list were the targets for the start of our trip. Our first day out started with coffee at the Flatiron Building, a walk through the Rockefeller Center, and quick pictures in Times Square. It was here in Times Square that I caught up with my cousin Robert. Robert had moved to New York several years ago and has since worked at Viacom. Viacom, for those of you who don’t know, is a major media company. In addition to a variety of media channels, they own MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and Paramount. Media is their business and their office in Times Square was an incredible place to visit that reflected their work. The café at Viacom overlooks Times Square and features a balcony with sweeping views while providing privacy from the crowds below. This offered the perfect place to catch up and snap a few photos. After our lunch, Robert gave my girlfriend and I a tour of the building. Various floors in the tower are dedicated to the wings of the company (MTV, Nickelodeon, etc.) and were adorned with graphics, decor, and creative collateral that reflected the media they produced. The work environment felt incredibly laid back and featured zero gravity chairs, neon signage, creative graphics, and of course the best views of the city. Our New York high-rise quota was checked off as the views from atop the Viacom building afforded an amazing view of the cityscape that we would likely have to pay for to get anywhere else.

After visiting the Viacom building, we walked a few blocks to Fifth Avenue where we did a little window shopping and stopped by the New York Public Library. In most of my travels I never really would have ever considered visiting a library but a recent visit to Chicago’s public library prompted me to want to check out the one in New York. The library was constructed in 1911 and is most known for the Rose Main Reading Room. With desks lined with lamps and a ceiling featuring frescoes, it felt like everything I would have imagined a high-class place of literature and study to possibly have. Sadly, photos of the main reading room weren’t permitted, but there was still plenty to admire. As far as a place to actually study, I’m not sure how I’d feel with all the tourists filtering through the desks, but the library features many private rooms that offer a haven from the crowds cycling through the main areas of the building.

Unexpected Surprises and Museums

One of the surprises that I hadn’t realized I planned the trip to coincide with was the New York City Marathon. There probably couldn’t have been better weather in Central Park on the bright and cloudless morning that the marathon took place. The whole park was enveloped in the crisp fall air and vibrant yellow and orange trees lined the race route through the park. I positioned myself at mile 24 of the race to see the competitors come into the final stretch. I found myself within inches of these world-class athletes as they raced past me. I’d never actually seen a professional level marathon run before and had no idea the blistering pace that these athletes would be achieving this far into the race. My very brief cross-country career in junior high made 5 miles seem like a challenge so it was all the more shocking to see these people basically sprinting at 24 miles in. The whole experience of witnessing the marathon was actually really moving. The event is one that people train many months to prepare for and the determination exhibited by all the athletes struck a chord in me. It really puts things in perspective when you see someone twice your age who does not even have the use of their legs complete something many of us who have full usage of our bodies wouldn’t consider.  I’m really not a fan of long runs, but it makes you think. Maybe one day…

Midway through the week, the weather took a wet turn and my girlfriend and I found ourselves enacting our rainy day contingency plan: Museums. You can spend an entire day in the Metropolitan Museum of Art alone, but we aimed to see both the MET and the Guggenheim in the same day. The MET is a very nicely laid out museum that allows you to cover thousands of years of history across various mediums of expression and artifacts. One of the pieces that we hadn’t anticipated we would see was The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai. The piece is only 25 by 37 centimeters in size and occupies a relatively nonchalant corner in the asian art exhibit. While multiple renditions of the woodcut exist, my girlfriend was particularly interested in this exhibit as she had recently visited Japan and wanted to see additional Asian art. We spent about half the day looking at paintings before fatigue and sore feet started to set in. It was only when we felt we could go on longer that we stumbled into the non-painting exhibits. We walked into a huge room adorned with every kind of medieval weapon and armor you could imagine. Knights, Samurai, archers, cavalry, gladiators, and pikemen frozen in battle stance surrounded various areas of the room. I went full middle school kid when we walked in here because, to me at least, this was really fascinating. The armor and chain mail weighed in at up to 110 pounds and shielded the entire body from puncture. The sheer effort of not only walking around in this armor but having to fight for your life in it seemed no small feat and made it all the more impressive. In addition to the sheer size and weight, the outfits featured ornate decorations and fleur-de-lis patterns in a familiar coloration and layout to that of a Louis Vuitton bag. Each piece of armor was meticulously crafted and decorated with its livery representing its region of representation. We strolled through the rest of the armor and into the weaponry where everything from Samurai katana to 1860’s Winchester rifles from the Civil War were on display. It was about this time that my girlfriend and I had enough and we made our way out of the museum after strolling back through the Egyptian exhibit. The MET is a marathon, not a sprint so I think our lesson learned was definitely to break it up to try to really appreciate the amazing items on display.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was our next stop. The museum itself is a sight to see. It moved to its location on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East side in 1959 and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The layout of the museum is in a spiral fashion. Guests climb the spiral walkway to the top of the gallery before making their way back down. The works of Hilma af Klint were on display during our visit, however we also did see a few of the museum’s Picasso works that were also on display. Klint’s work was a journey through abstract art that seemed very far ahead of its time. My girlfriend and I aren’t exactly art experts but we did our best to appreciate the artwork before us.

WTC Plaza and the Oculus

Our next exploits took us to the tip of Manhattan to visit the World Trade Center Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge. The WTC Memorial consisted of two reflection pools that outlined the footprint of the original WTC towers. Along with the pools, the edges of the memorial are etched with the names of the victims of 9/11. A single white rose is placed on the name of a victim on their birthday to commemorate them. The memorial is a quiet and beautiful place of reflection in the midst of a busy city and serves as a reminder to all Americans of the great tragedy that occurred at the site in 2001 while also paying homage to those who lost their lives. When I visited ground zero 10 years before, the new tower was only in its very early stages so it was amazing to see how it had changed into multiple new structures that make up the new plaza. While at the WTC plaza, the Oculus is definitely worth seeing despite the fact that this is mainly just a shopping mall. The cascading white façade of the walls that make up the sides of the building are similar to that of  a huge cathedral when viewed from the inside. At the plaza, my girlfriend and I had lunch at Eataly. We had been to the location in Chicago but hadn’t actually eaten at the restaurant. We enjoyed a phenomenal burrata pizza while overlooking the WTC plaza. Following this we walked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge before the rain forced us back. The bridge wasn’t crowded on account of it being a weekday and fairly rainy. Normally, the bridge can be difficult to visit from what I’d heard but we didn’t mind a little rain and the clear bridge allowed us to take some great photos.

Going Solo

My girlfriend took a train out to Philadelphia to catch up with a friend which left me with the opportunity to reconnect with my friend and former calculus tutor/savior/guru Sean from college. We had a chance to catch up on his rooftop overlooking the Flatiron building before heading out to walk central park with his girlfriend Colleen and enjoy the fall afternoon. We stopped at Levain Bakery for their incredibly popular cookies and rounded off the day with a concert that some of his NYU classmates invited me to. We met up at one of the student’s apartments before heading out to watch a Caribbean funk band (this was my first time even hearing this was a thing) called The Saturators. The venue was dark and crowded but the Mezcal was half off and the music was actually awesome. I never thought I’d be so into Caribbean funk. The band very fittingly capped off their show by throwing out a towel (appropriate for a band called the Saturators). After this we hunted for some customary NY late eats and had dollar pizza and incredible soul food (fried chicken with biscuits and honey that hit the spot so well after a night of drinking).

Momofuku and Hamilton

Two experiences that we knew we wanted to have going into our trip were a broadway show and eating at Momofuku.

Momofuku Nishi blended together asian flavor with Italian cuisine to make a really flavorful and cool take on traditional Italian dishes. As a little background, Momofuku and Milk Bar are the restaurants of David Chang and Christina Tosi. David Chang is known for his bestselling cookbook Momofuku and was a creative force behind the 8 part Netflix series Ugly Delicious. Chang’s mastery of harnessing distinctly asian flavors in dishes such as pasta are part of his acclaim. Chef Christina Tosi is also notable for her cookbook Momofuku Milk Bar and has appeared as a judge on the television shows Master Chef and Master Chef Junior. The two time James Beard award winning chef is behind the dessert branch of the Momofuku restaurants that feature the very popular cereal milk™ ice cream, compost cookies® and crack pie®. We couldn’t get enough (aptly named) crack pie but you luckily don’t have to go all the way to New York to get it as there is a location in Las Vegas.

As far as a broadway show, there was only one choice for us: Hamilton. The tickets were steeply priced (think almost the price of the flight expensive) but we never come to New York and I really wanted my girlfriend to have the broadway experience to the fullest. Hamilton was wonderful. I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said about how fun this play is and how excellent the musical numbers are. Lin Manuel Miranda’s Grammy, Pulitzer Prize, and Tony Award winning musical continues to shatter Broadway as the hottest musical on the block at the moment. The show combines traditional show tunes with hip hop, R&B, pop, and soul. The musical performances had my girlfriend singing the tunes long after our trip and is definitely a really creative take on Alexander Hamilton’s life and the struggles of a young United States. I think without a doubt our favorite character was King George, the comic relief to the show. Any trip to NY for first timers should try to incorporate a Broadway show of some sort and there are plenty of great shows at more affordable price points. If you’re considering it, I’d highly suggest incorporating a Broadway show into your trip schedule.

The Final Days

We rounded off our trip with a visit to Brooklyn’s DUMBO (down under Manhattan Bridge overpass) area. The intersection of Washington and Water street in Brooklyn offer the infamous view of the Manhattan bridge featured in many New York instagram pictures. I arrived on my own in the early morning before the crowds showed up to capture this iconic image and take in the sights on a clear day at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The park is gorgeous and provides incredible views of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges in addition to the Manhattan skyline. After strolling through the park, my girlfriend and I headed to Chelsea market for lunch. Chelsea market has some awesome vendors and food options, any of which you really can’t go wrong with. We had hand thrown fresh noodles in the Taiwanese La Mei beef noodle soup from Very Fresh Noodles. While enjoying our soup we were surprised to turn around and see Lucy Liu chatting with some friends. My friends had actually told me seeing celebrities was pretty commonplace here (He’d told me that he had a run in with Gerard Butler almost hitting him on his bike while walking through the city recently). We capped off our day with a walk down The Highline park from Chelsea Market back toward Grand Central Station. The Highline was also a must visit on our list of destinations just for its unique value. The park, completed in 2014, melds together a modern look while also emphasizing the nature that has been planted around the decommissioned elevated rail line that stretches the roughly 1.5 mile park. It definitely offers a unique take on the city by combining tall skyscrapers with foliage and shrubbery springing from the old rail tracks.  

Before leaving, I had one item that I wanted to visit on my own. I took the Subway to the Canal Street station and walked a few blocks to 368 Broadway. This is Casey Neistat’s studio. Much of what I’d heard about New York had been through his vlogs or his podcast. As someone who looks up to the work that Casey has done as a content creator and simply as an individual, it was nice to come full circle and see something that had seemed so much larger than life behind the YouTube screen in person.

All in all, our week in New York was definitely one of the best trips I’ve taken. Everything said about the diversity of this city and how it never sleeps is absolutely true. It has a magic to it that you can’t help but feel like you want to be part of. There’s so much to explore and such a diversity of culture, language, socioeconomic backgrounds, and people here. My friends and family that moved from California to New York were having fantastic new experiences and were very kind to show me the incredible charm that this city has. Even just from roaming on my own, there is sort of an indescribable charm to New York. It’s just a place that espouses a feeling of wonder. From aspiring creatives to Wall Street analysts, there’s an amalgamation of people who have contributed to the beauty that is New York. The trip left me incredibly excited for my next journey back and hungry (literally) for more.