nyccheaptravel.com

Category: Attractions

  • Central Park’s Literary Walk

    Literary Greats and a Tree-Lined Alley

     

    One of the most photographed sites in Central Park is The Mall and Literary Walk.

    The Mall is a forty-foot wide, tree-lined path that runs from 66th to 72nd Streets. It is a straight path, which is a rarity in Central Park’s network of otherwise winding walkways.

    The Mall is lined with American Elm Trees and, at it’s southern end, statues of renowned authors, giving it the name “Literary Walk.”

    The four large statues on in honor of Fitz-Greene Halleck, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and William Shakespeare.  An interesting note is that the statue of Fitz_Greene Halleck, installed in 1877, was the first statue in Central Park to depict an American. Halleck was a poet who lived much of his life in New York City.

    The Mall leads to Bethesda Fountain, another of Central Park’s most iconic locations.

     

    Location


    Interactive Park View. Drag mouse or use arrows and compass to scroll.

     

    The Mall and Literary Walk are located Mid-park, between 66th and 72nd Streets.

    The Olmstead Flower Bed, a small circular garden, is located at the southern-most end of The Mall and Bethesda Fountain at the northern end.

    There are several park entrances with paths that lead to The Mall.

    The entrance on 5th Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets has a path that leads to the southern end of the mall and takes you past the Balto statue on the way.

     

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  • 30% Off Central Park Bike Rentals


    bikerentalUse promo code 30OFF to receive a 30% discount on Central Park bike rental at Central Park Sightseeing.

    Regular rental rates are $15 for an hour, $20 for two hours, $25 for three hours, $30 for four hours, or $40 for a 9am to 7pm day pass.

    Bike rentals include a helmet, a color coded map, a basket, and a chain lock.

    See bike rental details at the Central Park Sightseeing website.

    Special note for New York Pass holders – The New York Pass includes a bike rental from Central Park Sightseeing, so there’s no need to book one separately.

     

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  • "The Ride" NYC Bus Tour – Discount Tickets

    “The Ride”

    Enjoy a different kind of sightseeing experience with The Ride, the bus tour that’s part tour and part show. See the sights and enjoy street performances along the way.  You’ll ride in special buses that are custom-designed for this experience with stadium-type setting (you sit facing out the large side windows), plasma monitors, advanced audio system, and LED lights.

    The Ride gets good reviews at TripAdvisor from travelers who have experienced it.  More reviews on Yelp, with photos.

     

    “The Ride” Discount Tickets:

    LivingSocial has discount tickets for the The Ride, priced at $49.

    Goldstar has discount tickets for The Ride priced at $51.25 (final price with fees).

    Regular full-price for The Ride is $74.  They often run promotional specials. Be sure to compare deal offers with prices at The Ride website to make sure you’re getting the best deal.  Look for “Flash Sales” and family pack offers. Flash sales are also sometime featured on their Facebook page.

     

    A few notes about The Ride: Not recommended for children under the age of 6. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. All Children must be supervised.   There is no food or drink permitted on The Ride.  There is no restroom available on The Ride.

    Due to sideways seating, frequent stops and starts, strobe lighting, loud music, and simulations that include floor shaking, sudden tilting, and jarring actions, The Ride has a safety advisory posted on their site advising that: The Ride is not recommended for guests with motion sickness or dizziness, sensitivity to strobe or other lighting effects, back, neck or similar physical conditions, heart conditions or high blood pressure, sensitivity to loud sounds. Visit the official The Ride website for details.
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    Subscribe to the NYC Cheap Travel Newsletter and stay up-to-date on the latest NYC deals and money-saving travel information.

    Broadway Shows Discount List – Multiple discount offers for current shows, all in one place.

     

  • Free Brooklyn Museum Admission First Saturday of the Month

    Target First Saturdays

    Target First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum – April 1st, 2017 – Photography Coverage Provided By: KOLIN MENDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY | © kmendezPHOTOS – 2017 – www.kolinmendez.com

    The Brooklyn Museum stays open for extended hours (11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.) with free admission after 5:00 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month (except September). .

    The free Saturdays are sponsored by Target.

    Target First Saturdays include special programming such as performances, gallery talks, and hands-on activities.

    There’s a cash bar with Happy Hour pricing from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The museum’s restaurant and cafe also stay open late for the First Saturdays events.

    Regular admission to the museum is on a suggested donation basis. Suggested general admission is $16 for adults and $10 for seniors age 62+ and students with a valid ID.

    Visit the museum website for details about upcoming First Saturdays events.

     

    The Museum’s Collections

    Cakes Da Killa performing at January 2017 Target First Saturday. Brooklyn Museum photograph Kolin Mendez.

    The Brooklyn Museum is large, with 560,000 square feet of space housing an extensive collection of artwork.

    Highlights of the museum’s holdings include a sizable collection of ancient Egyptian art and an American art collection that includes pieces by Winslow Homer, Georgia O’Keefe, Mary Cassatt, and John Singer Sargent. The museum’s European collection includes pieces by Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, and Claude Monet.

     

    Location

    The museum is located in Brooklyn, adjacent to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, and Prospect Park Zoo.

    The street address is 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY.

    The museum is easily accessible by subway. The Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum subway station is adjacent to the museum.

     

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  • Paley Park

    Paley Park

    Paley Park is a small “pocket park” located on 1/10th of an acre on East 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan.

    The park is often pointed out as an excellent example of park design and has been described as an urban oasis. Park visitors describe the space as serene, peaceful, and relaxing, which is quite an accomplishment for a tiny spot in the middle of Manhattan.

    The focal point of the park is a 20 foot waterfall that cascades over the back wall. The side walls are covered with ivy, wrapping the park in green and helping to create a cool, quiet atmosphere.

    The park, designed by the landscape architecture firm of Zion Breen Richardson Associates, opened in May of 1967.

    Paley Park was featured in William H. Whyte’s The Social Life of Small Urban Places, with a discussion of how well the park functions as a social space.

    Why Paley Park works so well as a public space:

    • Its location, directly on the street, is inviting and entices people to enter
    • The large waterfall provides a dramatic focal point and creates white noise that masks the sounds of the surrounding city
    • Movable chairs allow people to create their own seating arrangements
    • A food kiosk provides good, reasonably priced food
    • The honey locust trees selected for the park provide shade, yet have a thin enough canopy that they allow dappled light to enter the park.

    Read comments from Paley Park visitors.

     

    Location

    Paley Park is located at 3 East 53rd Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues.

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  • Stonewall National Monument

    Stonewall National Monument

    By Beyond My Ken (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons
    Stonewall National Monument marks the West Village location of the Stonewall riots of June 28, 1969, which were considered the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement in the U.S.

    The monument includes Christopher Park and the block along Christopher Street bordering the park, including the Stonewall Inn. The area received National Monument designation on June 24, 2016.

    In 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, an establishment frequented by members of the LGBT community. The patrons and surrounding neighbors fought back against the the raid, which was seen as part of a pattern of police harassment of LGBT establishments. Following the initial conflict with the police, demonstrations continued for days in Christopher Park. The events received inspired participation in the LGBT civil rights movement nationwide.

     

    Location

    Stonewall National Monument is located in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan on West 4th Street, between Grove Street and Christopher Street (this section of Christopher Street is also named Stonewall Place).

     

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  • Visit the Chrysler Building Lobby

    The Chrysler Building’s Art Deco Lobby

    New York City – August 26, 2011: Interior lobby of the Chrysler Building. Copyright: sepavo / 123RF Stock Photo

    Most people are familiar with the exterior of the Chrysler Building, with its Art Deco design and iconic terraced crown and spire, but did you know that the building’s lobby is also an Art Deco gem?

    The lobby is the only part of the building open to the public, and it is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. There is no fee to visit.

    Keep in mind that the Chrysler Building still an office building and many people go to and from  work there every day. You’ll have the best opportunity to quietly enjoy the lobby if you avoid the morning, lunchtime and evening rush hours.

     

    Interior Architecture

    Once inside the lobby, you’ll find red marble walls, marble floors, striking Art Deco light fixtures, and some very nice Art Deco elevator doors decorated in an abstract lotus pattern.

    Chrysler Building

    Don’t forget to look up while you’re visiting the lobby. There’s a spectacular mural by artist Edward Turnbull on the ceiling. The mural, entitled Transport and Human Endeavor, depicts various views of workers and machinery, buildings, airplanes, and other symbols of progress.

     

    Exterior Architecture

    The Chrysler Building is easily identifiable by the stepped tier crown and spire at the top of the tower. Eagle gargoyles decorate the building on the level below the crown.

    When the Chrysler Building was constructed, it was the tallest building in New York City, but lost that claim when the Empire State Building was completed less than a year later.

     

    Location

    The Chrysler Building is located in Midtown Manhattan, near Grand Central Terminal.

    The street address is 405 Lexington Avenue.

     

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  • NYC Department of Public Records Visitor Center at Surrogate’s Court

    Department of Public Records Visitor Center Exhibits

    Copyright: vikalipa / 123RF Stock Photo

    See exhibitions featuring items from the New York City Municipal Archives and Municipal Library at the NYC Department of Records Visitor Center. The public records exhibitions feature items from within the department’s vast collection of documents, focusing on specific aspects of New York City history. Past exhibitions have included an Ed Koch exhibit, The Unbuilt City, Women Make History, Lomex, and Little Syria.

    The visitor center is located in the Surrogate’s Court building in Lower Manhattan. The Surrogate’s Court was originally constructed as the Hall of Records, opening in 1907. The structure now houses the Department of Records, Municipal Archives, the Surrogate’s Court (handles probate and estate proceedings), and the Department of Cultural Affairs.

    The Visitor Center is free and open to the public Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m..

    If you have family history in New York City, the Municipal Archives are located in the same building and a great source of genealogical reference materials.

    The Department of Public Records & Information Services publishes a blog featuring items within the archives and maintains an online gallery of thousands of historic images from it’s collections.

    New York Today: Treasures of Chambers Street – a New York Times article, with video, about the Department of Records archives and exhibits.

     

    Surrogate’s Court Building

    The Surrogate’s Court building was designed at the height of the City Beautiful movement, which focused on monumental grandeur. Built in the Beaux Arts style, the structure has an ornate granite exterior and an elaborate marble lobby with a grand staircase and a series of arched balconies under a vaulted ceiling with mosaic inlays and domed skylights. The lobby is a popular site for special events and has been used as a filming location for several movies and television shows.

    Take a look at Surrogate’s Court/Hall of Records video below. It’s part of the New New Landmarks Conservancy’s Tourist in Your Own Town series.[spacer height=”20px”]

    Tourist In Your Own Town #29 – Surrogate’s Court / Hall of Records from New York Landmarks Conservancy on Vimeo.

     

    Location

    The address for the Surrogate’s Court Building and Department of Records Visitor Center is 31 Chambers Street. The building is located at the corner of Chambers and Centre Streets.

    There’s no exterior sign for the visitor’s center, but the building, with it’s columns, statuary, and mansard roof, is hard to miss. Tweed Courthouse and City Hall are nearby.

     

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  • China Institute Gallery Free Thursday Evenings

    Free Thursday Evening Admission to the China Institute Gallery

    Admission to the China Institute Gallery is free on Thursdays from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.. The regular admission fee for the gallery, located in Lower Manhattan, is $8 for adults, and $4 for Seniors and Students.

     

    The China Institute Gallery

    The gallery showcases traditional and contemporary Chinese art and culture.

    Two major exhibitions are presented at the gallery each year.

    Information about current and upcoming exhibitions is available at the China Institute website.

     

    Location

    The China Institute Gallery is locate in Lower Manhattan at 100 Washington Street.

     

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  • Night at the Museums. Free Lower Manhattan Museum Admissions

    Free Lower Manhattan Museum Admissions

    Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan

    Each June, the annual Night at the Museums event provides free admission to museums and cultural sites in Lower Manhattan.

    All the venues are located in Lower Manhattan and within walking distance of each other.

    The 2017 event is June 20th from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

    Participating venues for 2017 are the African Burial Grounds National Monument, China Institute, Federal Hall National Memorial, Fraunces Tavern Museum, Museum of American Finance, Museum of Jewish Heritage, National Archives of New York City, National Museum of the American Indian, National September 11 Memorial Museum, 9/11 Tribute Center, NYC Municipal Archives, Poets House, The Skyscraper Museum, and South Street Seaport Museum.

    Lower Manhattan Tours also offers free tours during the event. Advance reservations are required for the tours.

    Several of the participating venues have free admission all the time (African Burial Grounds National Monument, Federal Hall National Monument, NYC Municipal Archives, and National Museum of the American Indian), so if I want to make a day of visiting these Lower Manhattan sites, you could visit those first and leave the ones that normally charge admission for the 4:00 – 8:00 free admission time.

    Visit the official event website for details.

     

    Location

    The participating venues are all located in Lower Manhattan. See a map of venues.

     

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