New York City Sights: A Day Spent with Unlikely Neighbors in Lower Manhattan

Every part and every neighborhood of Manhattan offers a different NYC experience. In this series, I focus on a day spent in one of the many varied sections that make up Manhattan. See below for links to other day-by-day tips for enjoying Manhattan’s diverse neighborhoods. 

It’s a tale of two cities, or countries or neighborhoods, however you to prefer to phrase it, in the heart of New York City. Directly next to each other, even entwined thanks to some outlier stores, are two unlikely neighbors- Chinatown and Little Italy. The first time I went was spontaneous, and I had not yet become familiar with the layout of Lower Manhattan, and I was shocked when one moment I was eating dumplings and trying authentic soymilk on one street, and I was suddenly on a bustling Italian restaurant avenue on the next. While you could argue that world history (and modern globalization) makes these two countries more closely related than they appear, it is still an unexpected situation. Here are my suggestions for a day in Chinatown and Little Italy: Continue reading “New York City Sights: A Day Spent with Unlikely Neighbors in Lower Manhattan”

New York City Sights: Battery Park City

New York City is absolutely impossible to “do” in a weekend. However, with some research beforehand (like visiting my blog, you savvy internetter you) and knowing what kind of NYC experience you want, you can tailor your time for an amazing weekend in the city that never sleeps.

The Battery Park City waterfront offers views like this.

This is the first post of my New York City Sights weekend series. First stop: the summer meets skyline delight, Battery Park City. Battery is located on the west side of Lower Manhattan, right on the waterfront, with a direct view of the Statue of Liberty. Along the waterfront there are walkways, park benches, dining options including a beer garden, dockings for boat tours of NYC, and an events area with extensive grassy areas, perfect for picnics or a lazy day outdoors with a view. The Consulate of Sweden in New York, for example, hosted their 2014 Swedish Midsummer celebrations in Battery Park City, with the very traditional festivities and midsommarstång or maypole contrasting with the skyline behind it. Continue reading “New York City Sights: Battery Park City”