… when you’re not too fond of crowds of tourists, even if you are one.
New York is one of the world’s most expensive cities. Right. So, you wouldn’t dream of visiting with a puny currency like the ZA rand. Wrong.
There are countless things to do with a minuscule budget and limited time in this city. Here are five, which I discovered on an exploratory mission with my sister to the biggest apple of all.
First, though, do your homework and make a plan. This will save you time and help you avoid costly missteps. But don’t get hung up on sticking to your plan to the letter. If you veer off somewhere along the way, take a deep breath and look around – there is a lot to see, wherever you are.
1 Grand Central
You may start your exploration at Grand Central Terminal. Take a moment or two to soak it in before rushing off. This station, stretching over 48 acres, has more platforms (44) than any other in the world. Busy is an understatement: about 750,000 people pass through this concourse every day – this juicy fact makes Grand Central the sixth-most-visited tourist attraction in the world.
Get used to busyness right now. That is what you will be immersed in most of the time during your visit to the city.
The architecture of the terminal is astounding. Did you know that the ceiling of the main concourse is a celestial mural with constellations painted in reverse? This is because in the early 20th century, the founder of Grand Central, Cornelius Vanderbilt, wanted you to see the sky from the divine perspective. It is certainly otherworldly.
2 Bryant Park
The heart of Manhattan beats strongly in Bryant Park, an eight-minute walk from Grand Central, and it will quickly mitigate any sense you may have that New York City is all about spending money. This place – a true midtown oasis – offers more than 1,000 activities, and all are free. There is always something happening, from yoga to juggling classes to movie nights, and the atmosphere is chilled and celebratory. We watched a Broadway tribute, with people scattered across the acre-sized lawn.
3 Staten Island Ferry
You can catch the subway to the Staten Island Ferry from midtown. A bus trip down Madison Avenue takes longer, but it’s worth it for the journey alone if you are here for a limited time. You pass wall-to-wall luxury brands, perhaps with a queue outside Tiffany’s – so New York!
Taking this ferry is a great way to see the Statue of Liberty, which is truly magnificent. A bonus is the incredible perspective of Manhattan from the water. Also enjoy the view of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the 13-lane double-deck suspension bridge that links Staten Island and Brooklyn.
The Staten Island Ferry is free! But be warned: you will be hassled by a slick bunch of scammers. They wear official-looking waistcoats that claim they are authorized ticket agents. One person approaches you and tells you that the ferry is closed, is for shoppers and residents only, will take more than three hours, and won’t provide a view of the statue. This person hands you to another, who shows you on a large map of where his boat will take you – right up to the statue, he claims. If you hang around, he will hand you to another person, who will take your money, apparently quite a lot of it. And then you are likely to be left high and dry anyway.
The Staten Island Ferry operates 24/7 and takes 25 minutes each way. Expect crowds – 70,000 people take this ferry every day. With my aversion to masses of people, I felt a slight panic. But it was not an issue – the ferry is huge, and there is space for everyone.
4 Central Park
The island of Manhattan is home to about 1.6 million people – more than Munich, Montreal or Ggeberha (Port Elizabeth). The number swells to almost 4 million if you add in daily commuters. The lung of Manhattan is an 843-acre park (bigger than Monaco!), completely surrounded by the city. Central Park, entirely human-made, features a range of gardens and 36 bridges and arches. There is also a 1.58-mile jogging path that loops clockwise – in other words, it’s one-way, which we discovered like giggly schoolgirls as we began to trundle anti-clockwise with our wheelie bags.
There is a space, as quiet or busy as you like, for everyone here – and not just human creatures. I am fascinated by the story of Romeo and Juliet, coyotes who live in the depths of the park, tracked by a pair of dedicated photographers.
5 The Guggenheim
If you choose just one spot to immerse yourself in the art that makes New York City go round, I recommend the Guggenheim. Since 2019, the building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Right now, you can enter for USD 16, instead of USD 32, although that excludes most of the spiral rotunda as renovations take place. It is still worth it. You will stand centimetres from the work of masters – the brushstrokes of Van Gogh, the dreamscapes of Chagall, the fluidity of Kandinsky. A current exhibition focuses on pop, from 1960, with work by Andy Warhol and a host of modern artists. Spend an unforgettable minute in the “infinity room”, seemingly floating in a boundless, cosmic space.
Even more
Thrift shopping is supreme in New York City. We popped into a place on Broadway called Reclectic, and swooned among treasures from the likes of Free People and Anthropologie, priced at around USD 20-25. A tip: wear something that lets you try on items as there are no official fitting rooms.
We did not get to all the spots on our list – Hudson River Greenway, Brookfield Place Winter Garden, Roosevelt Island Promenade, Little Island, the side streets of Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park – and that’s okay. I am grateful we did not try to squash everything in and, instead, savoured what we did experience.
I’m told the city’s beaches get super busy on hot summer weekends. Here is a suggestion: take a train for an hour or so (under USD 15 each way, off-peak) to the beaches of Connecticut. I spent time at Calf Pasture Beach in South Norwalk – Sono, to those in the know – and at Silver Sands State Park in Milford, where you can walk a narrow sandbar at low tide to Charles Island.
The pull and busyness of New York never quite let up on us, and I didn’t mind. We skipped plenty, including expensive tickets, guided tours and queues that people pay to join. But we did not miss out on New York. If anything, we saw and felt more of it.
Happy exploring!
