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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of New York City
Few cities can rival the sheer number of experiences available in New York City. Regardless of your style, time frame, or budget, there's something in the Big Apple to satisfy your every whim, no matter how demure or outrageous. On any given day, you can view classical ballet or modern dance at an esteemed cultural venue, applaud impromptu performances on a street corner, stumble into a jam session at a jazz club, feast on a panoply of culinary indulgences at one of the city's 18,000 restaurants, buy almost anything imaginable, encounter dozens of languages in a single subway ride, and repose in some of the world's most luxurious accommodations. New York's pulsating, mercurial landscape is not for the faint of heart, but a taste of its unparalleled energy will leave you feeling breathless and alive.
Attractions & Activities No New York trip is complete without a visit to Times Square. Besides restaurants, stores, and enough over-the-top billboards to fill your camera's memory disk, the boisterous center of the city is also home to Broadway's Great White Way. Here, long-running staples such as The Phantom of the Opera and Chicago vie for attention alongside newer productions. Buying tickets at individual box offices can be pricey; instead, wait in line for discount seats at TKTS. Its permanent home in Duffy Square, the center island at 47th Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, is undergoing renovations through late 2006, so use the temporary location just outside the Marriott Marquis (W. 46th St. and Seventh Ave.). Steps away from Times Square and right off Fifth Avenue is Rockefeller Center, a mammoth office complex that's the holiday heart of New York. In winter, visitors flock to The Rink for a turn around the ice and a look at the city's largest Christmas tree. In summer, the ice melts, transforming the spot into the lively outdoor Rink Bar. The Top of the Rock, the refurbished observation deck at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, offers 360-degree views of the skyline, including a certain Art Deco landmark some 20 blocks south, the Empire State Building. The tallest building in town, this 102-story tower at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue may be New York's most romantic spot (thanks to famed cinematic rendezvous). Its two observation decks, on the 86th and 102nd floors, have breath-taking views. The recently expanded Museum of Modern Art, in Midtown, now has 630,000 square feet in which to showcase its extensive collection of modern classics such as Van Gogh's Starry Night and Dalí's Persistence of Memory, as well as frequently changing special exhibitions (recent shows included works by Edvard Munch and the animators at Pixar). After taking in the art, stop for some contemplation outside in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden or for a snack at the fifth-floor café. Fifth Avenue between 82nd and 105th streets is Museum Mile, home to a pair of blockbuster institutions. The Metropolitan Museum of Art—with more than two million works, from Caravaggio to Degas, as well as the Egyptian Temple of Dendur and Versace's couture—is one of the largest art museums in the world (212-535-7710; metmuseum.org). The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, meanwhile, is in a funky Frank Lloyd Wright–designed structure that's as much a work of art as the pieces it houses (212-423-3500; guggenheim.org). To the west of Museum Mile's cultural institutions is Central Park, 843 acres of green that some call the lungs—and the heart—of Manhattan. Masterminded by the eminent urban planners Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux some 150 years ago, the park remains a bucolic retreat, with miles of paths winding past undulating lawns, dense woods, and several ponds. Standing tall at the southwestern corner of the park, the Time Warner Center, a vertical mall in Columbus Circle, is an amalgam of shops, restaurants, residences, nightlife venues, and public atriums. Those in the know graze for picnic fixings at the Whole Foods Market and then head to the park. Near Manhattan's tip, Ground Zero, once the site of the World Trade Center, is the city's most solemn site. The scene of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil still attracts thousands, who come to pay their respects years after 9/11. Despite slow approval of the rebuilding plans, this is a construction site, and what visitors see and where they can see it is subject to change. For the time being, the best viewing platform is the open-air PATH station at the northeast corner, a temporary structure to be replaced by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava's permanent design. Farther downtown, Battery Park is where the ferries depart for visits to New York Harbor's most famous resident—the 120-year-old, 151-foot-tall Statue of Liberty, a majestic symbol of American freedom. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include the ferry trip to Ellis Island, the one-time point of entry for millions of immigrants, as well as a guided tour of the grounds, observation deck, and statue. Lodging An even dozen of New York City hotels rank on Condé Nast Traveler's 2006 Gold List. For easy Central Park access, check in at the Four Seasons Hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, The Pierre, the Ritz-Carlton Central Park, and the Trump International Hotel & Tower (whose location along the Thanksgiving Day Parade route makes it great for float and balloon viewing). The Hôtel Plaza Athénée, the New York Palace Hotel, The Peninsula, the St. Regis, The Lowell, and The Carlyle are within easy reach of Madison Avenue shopping. Sophisticated crowds gather at the rooftop lounge of SoHo's chic 60 Thompson. At 46 stories, the Helmsley Park Lane is one of the tallest hotels on Central Park, with hypnotic views extending more than a mile from the horse-drawn carriages below, along 59th Street, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 82nd Street. The Sherry-Netherland is a classic, with custom-made chandeliers in the lobby, friezes from the Vanderbilt Mansion in the elevators, and large, individually appointed rooms. The W New York Times Square allows guests immediate access to the Crossroads of the World's intense atmosphere, or an escape from it, with CD and DVD players and TVs with infrared keyboard Internet access in each room. High-floor rooms ending in -06 have dramatic Hudson River views. In the former Chemists' Club building, the Midtown Dylan Hotel has preserved some of its original laboratory-style accents. All rooms have soaring ceilings and plush decor. The best deal in Midtown is the Hotel Carlton, in a landmark Beaux Arts building on Madison Avenue and 29th Street. Downtown, the Tribeca Grand Hotel's happening bar draws a young, trendy crowd. The hotel 70 Park Avenue organizes a nightly wine hour for guests and their dogs—a New York experience worthy of Carrie Bradshaw and her Sex and the City cohorts. The 21-story Hotel on Rivington has floor-to-ceiling windows in every exterior wall, providing sweeping vistas from the lobby bar, the beds, and even the showers. The posh 298-room Ritz-Carlton Battery Park has views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. Dining On the fourth floor of the Time Warner complex, Thomas Keller's Per Se has a sleek wood-and-glass design and views of Columbus Circle. The food is superb (try the rack of baby lamb) and fun (miniature ice-cream cones filled with salmon tartare and 30-million-year-old "Jurassic" salt), and the service unparalleled—grand luxe without pretense. The delicate crème brûlée topped with a paper-thin sheet of glazed sugar is a freebie (212-823-9335; prix fixe, $210). One floor below, Café Gray has a bizarre dining room—an open kitchen runs the length of the restaurant—enormous windows with Central Park views, and a sumptuous menu (212-823-6338; entrées, $26–$39). Across Columbus Circle, the formal Jean Georges, eponymous restaurant of the celebrated chef Vongerichten, and its sleek, more casual dining room, Nougatine, serve supreme yet simple fare. Even lowly chicken is transformed into something exquisite here (1 Central Park W.; 212-299-3900; Jean Georges prix fixe, $95–$125; Nougatine entrées, $15–$36). Wine buffs—especially those with fat bank accounts—can have the time of their lives at Greenwich Village's Cru. An oenophile's playground, it has a cellar with nearly 65,000 bottles and a wine list that arrives in two leather-bound tomes. Try the pristine raw seafood dishes, such as the langoustine (24 Fifth Ave.; 212-529-1700; entrées, $23–$37). In SoHo's Kittichai, chef Ian Chalermkittichai cooks up sumptuous modern Thai cuisine such as giant prawns with pink grapefruit, crispy shallots, and roasted cashew nuts. The pièce de résistance is the sundae: a glorious heap of Thai tea ice cream topped with roasted pistachios, loganberries, palm seeds, and who knows what else (60 Thompson St.; 212-219-2000; entrées, $14–$28). Nearby, Fiamma Osteria has the Italian knack for letting ingredients speak for themselves. The pasta dishes are remarkable, particularly the house-made garganelli in creamy truffle butter. For dessert, try the beignets with fresh ricotta and crushed amaretti instead of flour (206 Spring St.; 212-653-0100; entrées, $22–$44). In TriBeCa, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's 66 is a cool, clean space where fish tanks full of giant eels, crabs, and lobsters separate the dining room from the kitchen and where Chinese classics such as shrimp toast with water chestnuts and fried shrimp wontons reach new culinary heights (241 Church St.; 212-925-0202; entrées, $18–$32). Decorated in magnificent red, gold, and white, Megu has as its centerpiece a 600-pound bonsho, or temple bell, suspended over an ice-carved Buddha. The Japanese menu ranges from sushi (five kinds of raw tuna are flown in daily) to Kobe beef (which you grill yourself at your table) and abalone kebabs. The food is not only superb, it's beautiful (62 Thomas St.; 212-964-7777; entrées, $24–$180). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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