Away for the Weekend: NYC
By Susan Farewell

In a rough economy when travel may seem extravagant, it’s nice to be reminded that we live near one of the most popular travel destinations in the world: New York City. No matter how many times you’ve been to New York, this dynamic environment is always changing, forever offering different experiences. Suddenly old neighborhoods are new. New neighborhoods are old. Museums move and grow. Shows open and close. Dance troupes have seasons. And of course, restaurants come and go like the subway. So think about devoting some spring and early summer weekends to tooling around town.

Certainly, if you haven’t visited them lately, consider going to the big, everyone-in-the-world-knows-about attractions like the Met, MOMA, the Museum of Natural History and the Statue of Liberty. And, if you have young girls and haven’t been to the American Girl Doll Place or Serendipity, you might not have a say in the matter. Same goes for the ESPN Zone or the Sony Wonder Technology Lab which is the ultimate everyone-in-the-family pleaser. Of course, you might also want to get tickets to a Broadway show (try for West Side Story, which just recently opened), the New York City Ballet, a concert at Carnegie Hall…the list goes on. But that’s just scratching the surface of what New York has to offer.

Think about discovering neighborhoods you may not know that well, such as the East Village. You can easily design a whole day around seeing Stomp (www.stomponline.com) which will get the whole family tapping on everything in sight (although…not sure you’ll want that result!). It’s right near Max Brenner’s (www.maxbrenner.com), a chocolate bar where you can get everything from Urban S’mores (you get your own personal grill to roast marshmallows) and chocolate pizza to the “Chocolate Mess,” a warm chocolate cake that can be eaten with a spatula straight from the pan. It is topped with ice cream, toffee, bananas and an alp of whipped cream with candied hazelnut crunch bits on top.

Within walking distance, on the Lower East Side, is the new home for the New Museum of Contemporary Art (www.newmuseum.org), a seven-story architectural showpiece that looks like a stack of random blocks, covered in aluminum. Among its current shows is “The Generational: Younger Than Jesus”, which just opened and will run through July 5th. It showcases the works of 50 artists from 25 countries all under the age of 33.

This area is also home to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (www.tenement.org), which is dedicated to preserving the city’s early immigrant history. It has several living history tours where actors in period dress bring to life the immigrant world. You can meet a young woman who plays the role of a teen daughter in a Sephardic clan’s home (circa 1917) or be transported into the world of an Irish family that struggled with diseases and other challenges in the New World in the late 1880s or choose from one of the other tours.

Of course, the appeal of New York has to do with more than just museums. It’s also a fabulous city for food. There’s not a cuisine in the world you can’t find here. In fact, you don’t have to go far from Grand Central to actually feel as if you are in Japan. Head over to Soba Totto on East 43rd Street for authentically prepared Japanese noodles and a real Izakaya experience. And certainly you don’t need to be told about Little Italy and Chinatown.

And then there’s the open-air, free stuff all over the city. Spend an afternoon strolling through Central Park and you’ll see rap dancers performing gravity-defying stunts, roller-bladers of all ages and nationalities dancing at the Skate Circle. You’ll hear flutists from the Peruvian Alps, drummists from Africa, and guitar playing students from NYU.

If you’re not sure just where to go in any of New York’s neighborhoods, consider taking walking tours. That way you can zoom in on what you might like to see and learn more about. Big Onion Tours (www.bigonion.com) has some very knowledgeable storytelling guides that take you through the various neighborhoods including SoHo and NoLiTa, the Brooklyn Bridge and Heights and Greenwich Village. The company also offers themed tours including one focusing on multi-ethnic foods and another on immigrant life in the city.

Wherever you wonder in New York, keep in mind that if you take time to visit the city the same way you might sightsee in Paris or Florence, you’ll find it’s one of the most enriching travel experiences to be had. How lucky we are to live less than an hour away here in Fairfield County.

While you can squeeze a lot into one day in Manhattan, it’s better to stretch out your time with at least an overnight or two (or more). If you’re taking the train, plant yourselves in midtown. That way you can easily stow luggage on the day you arrive and day you leave.

Consider the French-owned Hotel Sofitel at 45 West 44th Street (www.sofitel.com). Their “Family Moments” package includes 50% off a second room when two rooms are reserved, complimentary breakfast for children, a late check-out (4pm—very nice) for $259 a night. Every inch comfortable and luxurious, it’s the perfect base, especially if you have tickets to a Broadway show.

The Kimberly (www.kimberlyhotel.com), on 50th between Lexington and Third, is a boutique suite hotel, perfect for having the whole family spread out in. They are offering savings up to 40% with new “Recession Buster Rates”. A standard one-bedroom guestroom starts at $199, a one-bedroom suite starts at $299. Each room features designer furnishings, marble baths, feather-down beds and fine Frette linens.

And on 51st Street. Between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, The Pod Hotel (www.thepodhotel.com) offers simple but stylish and inexpensive accommodations. Their new Townhouse Suites start at $199 per night and comfortably accommodate four with a queen-sized bed and a twin day bed with a trundle. Some fun accents include Lucite globe swing chairs, Fatboy® bean bags and rocking chairs plus Kool-Aid colored JM Rizzi original murals; also techy amenities such as iPhone/iPod docking stations, high-definition LCD televisions and free Wi-Fi.

If there’s just two of you (mom and dad, mom and daughter, what have you…), book the parking and breakfast package at the ultra-stylish Morgans (www.morganshotel.com) on 38th and Madison. A sibling property to the Royalton and Hudson, it recently reopened after a major renovation by French designer Andree Putnam. The package, which starts at $249 per night, includes valet parking and breakfast for two. They often post special offers on their website. Take a minute to scroll through and check them out.