Not for tourists guide to New York City
People who are visiting New York City for the first time need a great guide. Every year you can buy updated Not for tourists guide to New York City. This is a small format book with maps and an overview of every neighborhood with a key marked favorite place for eating, entertainment, and other essential areas.
Although it is designed for New Yorkers and business visitors, tourists can use it as an in-depth guide. If you don’t want to buy this book, you can check our article with some essential New York City attractions and fill in the blank places with online apps.
Visitors arriving from Singapore or other countries in Visa Waiver Program need travel authorization to get into the US. You can get esta singapore by filling out an online application. After you answer all the questions and pay a small fee, the American administration will need up to 72 hours to process it. ESTA will grant you two years to visit the US.
New York guide
If you’re looking for not tourist New York experience, you might want to avoid the most prominent attractions. Since that would be a shame, I will go back to top NYC highlights, but let us see some of the low-profile cool things to visit.
The High Line is incredible evidence of transformation. Once rugged industrial lifeless train track above the streets became a wonderful park in the Manhattan West Side. Some 30 feet above the street level, you have green spaces, public art, and food stands. You can enjoy the view of the river, relax, and find the unique quiet place in a bustling metropolis.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a hidden gem of New York. Many tourists never move from Manhattan, and this 52-acre park is lovely in spring when cherries blossom. You can visit Japanese Hill and Pond Garden or some of the other 13 gardens with lots of unique plants.
New York has an excellent public transportation system revolving around an extensive subway network. You can hop on the trains, go exploring random neighborhoods, drink coffee in many boutique coffees, or sit on the lawns in the NYC parks. The city has an incredible foodie scene, and you can find world-class restaurants, almost all ethnic cuisines, and excellent street food.
NYC is home of now buzzing Brooklyn Nets, the most popular NBA franchise New York Knicks, two football clubs Giants and Jets, and famed New York Yankees. If you like sports, you can try to get a ticket for one of the games.
Top Attractions
If this is your only visit to New York, you will regret not visiting top attractions. Central Park is probably the world’s most famous public park. A vast green area in central Manhattan is a place for hiking, running, picnics, or just relaxing.
Art Deco masterpiece of Empire State Building is among most visited buildings in the world. A kiss on the observation deck or just looking around the world’s most impressive skyline is a must. The skyscraper is an attraction to watch from a distance due to its tower lights that are now modernized and dynamic lighting systems that can show 16 million colors.
Statue of Liberty is crowded most of the time, but you can catch a ferry from Jersey City or get to the line early and go on the first ferry. Another more comfortable option is a guided tour or go back to the High Line and watch the monument from the bench sipping some hot or cold beverage.
Times Square is probably the most touristy place in the city. Take a quick photo for your collection, grab a hot dog, and move on. Another architectural landmark is the Brooklyn Bridge, and walking across the bridge is a good hike with some spectacular views.
New York has incredible museums like the Guggenheim. Fifth Avenue building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright hosts some of the best works of Picasso, Rockwell, and other renowned world artists. Museum of Modern Art is a shrine of modern 20th-century art with works from Dali, Picasso, Monet, Andy Warhol, and many others.
Things only in New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art will guide you through history with collections ranging from Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome to modern times. It is the largest art museum in the country, with almost 7 million visitors annually.
Walk in the bar that has an incredible history. Fraunces Tavern has almost 150 craft beer in selection and more than 200 whiskeys. It has been around since 1762, and famous guests include George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.
If you visit West New York or any other neighborhood, you can hear dozens of various languages. In West New York, on the small portion of New Jersey, some estimates say more than 80% of people don’t have English as their mother language.
Visit Coney Island in Brooklyn, an entertainment center that thrived in the early 20th century. You can visit Nathan’s, the hot dog place that opened in 1871, probably the first place in the world.
If you like theater, there is no place in the world with more high-end shows than Broadway. You can get blown away by the high-end production of these shows if you manage to get tickets.
Best places to study in New York
There are countless incredible places for those who need little peace to catch up with the learning or getting some work done. Brooklyn Art Library has a designated room with a unique vibe, enough peace, and a quiet and excellent atmosphere.
A vast open space with plenty of tables and quiet etiquette is with the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesman.
Other great places include Poets House, New York Public Library, and The Center for Fiction.
Before you make the NYC itinerary, do your esta check. Most applications go through, but if you get rejected, alternatives can take some time, and you wouldn’t want the reservations to go to waste.
Bottom line
New York is a densely populated, bustling City that never sleeps. Attractions are on every corner, and there are so many things to do. Not even a detailed book like Not for a tourist guide to New York City can cover nearly enough. A unique city has a specific vibe, and whether you go full touristy or behind the scenes, you’ll be delighted.