The secret gardens of Rockefeller Center
All the guides say it, you have to visit Rockefeller Center to see the skyline of the city from the Top of the Rock, shopping and ice skating in the winter (if you can make it after waiting several hours). However, there is another curiosity about this mythical building/complex that few of those guides and recommendations echo: the majestic gardens. An unexpected tranquility in the middle of the bustling Fifth Avenue where you can breathe fresh air and get a postcard-worthy photo. Sorry, from Instagram. With an unexpected tranquility, the secret gardens are the perfect place to take time out from the bustling streets and breathe a fresh new perspective. Here the years of the Great Depression (time in which the building was built) are not perceived.
UN Meditation
“The UN meditation room, you have to go.” The yoga teacher I had during the time I lived there told me about it. At the UN? I thought, well yes, at the UN. In the bowels of this building, which, considering that it is located at the corner of 42nd Street and First Avenue, is considered international territory, there is a Meditation Room whose admission is totally free and open to the public. And although today it is only possible to visit it, and to do so under strict security controls, it is an interesting curiosity within the mass that the emblematic complex represents.
The Grand Central Whispering Gallery
If there is an adjective that would never accompany Grand Central Station, it is whisper. And it is that one of the busiest places in the city, where you can also eat and very well inside its gallery dedicated to food, is also one of the noisiest in New York. But with one exception: the Whispering Gallery. This small room that not many people know about the station allows, thanks to its unusual wall design, sound to travel through the vaulted ceiling so that two people standing in diagonal arcs can hear each other’s whispers. Magic? Sure, it’s New York.
The Morgan Library
Financier John Pierpont Morgan built this oasis of peace in the middle of busy Madison Avenue to house his particular collection of books, curiosities, and art. Although it was initially a private initiative, it was opened to the public in 1924. Today it is possible to visit the treasures it contains, which include works by Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters, as well as manuscripts and original letters from such heterogeneous senders. like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Bob Dylan and many others. It is true that the shadow of internationally famous museums such as the MET or the MoMA is tremendously long, but looking at the positive side of things, perhaps this is the reason why this jewel is not one of the best-known museums in the city , and that he does not need to do it. A detail, can anyone resist entering a Victorian building that contains the Lindau Gospels, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages, or intact scores of Mozart or Chopin in the middle of Manhattan? I already know the answer.
The Jane Hotel
Stepping foot in this hotel is like stepping into a Wes Anderson movie where there is no shortage of uniformed bellboys and their themed rooms. Built in 1908 to house sailors, in 1912 the survivors of the Titanic also passed through here. After years of boredom, during the 80s and 90s the hotel was part of the bohemian culture of NY and hosted numerous rock and roll events with all that that entails. Here there is no luxury that is measured in stars, also taking into account that the standard rooms do not even have their own bathroom, but there is a lot of fun in a hotel with its own name (The Jane, of course). And there are still more benefits, there is still more to highlight. The first of all, the price, with rooms starting at $89. The second, its location, which, in the heart of the West Village, is unmatched; The Whitney Museum, the High Line and the Meatpacking District (former slaughterhouse area now a very expensive neighborhood) are so close that you won’t even need to take any of the hotel’s free bikes. Oh, their restaurant, Old Rose, offers an exciting weekend brunch menu, and their avocado toast is, of course, the queen of the place…and Instagram too.
The East Village Ukrainian
No one in their right mind would consider traveling to New York to eat in a Ukrainian restaurant on Second Avenue, unless someone strongly advises them to visit it. That someone is, in this case, myself, since during a stage of my life I lived practically opposite the Ukrainian community center (National Home), in the middle of the East Village. This popular neighborhood, which has been the epicenter of Ukrainian immigration to Manhattan, has given way, basically because it has had no other choice, to young students, hipsters, artists and residents with greater purchasing power in general, although, fortunately, there is still part of the Ukrainian legacy, albeit hidden in a hallway. And excellent versions of Eastern European comfort dishes are served here, from pierogis to stuffed cabbage to goulash, surrounded by expats eager to tell stories. This is without a doubt the best on the menu. While the Ukrainian East Village isn’t an insider’s spot in town (sorry, no burger), it has been a neighborhood staple for decades, and remains a must-visit for those wanting a taste of old-fashioned East Village; I assure you it tastes delicious.
Housing Works
This beautiful bookstore in lower Manhattan (in the heart of Soho, to be exact) is a frequent meeting place for poets, artists, and other social activists who have found in Housing Works a place to create, communicate, drink good coffee, and do good work. worth the redundancy, since here all the income goes to the fight against AIDS and homelessness. Housing Works makes available to its users on its own website a calendar of events that includes podcast launches, poetry readings and live storytelling contests and other cultural activities that are worth mixing with even if we are visiting. And there goes another excuse: your coffee is excellent.
City Hall: The Ghost Station
Not a city without its disused metro station. In the case of New York, City Hall was one of the stations on the city’s first subway line, but it became inactive in 1945 due to lack of infrastructure and other interests. The station is buried under the oldest government building in the city, the historical load of this place is a constant addition, and although it is not the only abandoned station in New York, it is the most beautiful. Built without skimping on details under a more than interesting New York Art Deco full of vaulted brick curves and windows that serve as skylights, everything was designed by the Valencian Rafael Guastavino. The current subway line 6 passes through this station so fleetingly that there is hardly time to see the precious brass chandeliers that illuminate the vestiges of an end that came too soon, so to give it the attention it deserves, the New York Transit Museum offers guided tours.
Garfunkel’s
A burger joint located on Clinton Street that serves as the gateway to a speakeasy serving some of the best cocktails in the city on the Lower East Side. There can’t be more New York than that. Well, this is Garfunkel’s, so come on in and make yourself comfortable in one of New York’s most intimate bars, with velvet sofas and shelves lined with books and antiques. Creative and classic cocktails coexist on the cocktail list, just like in the city, all of them selected by the famous mixologist Lucinda Sterling and among which the Monte Claro is my favourite. But while Garfunkel’s is primarily a dark, late-night place, Wednesday through Sunday from 12-5pm it also offers Afternoon Tea, swapping the mix-ins for cream cheese sandwiches or scones served with butter and jam. Highly recommended to book.
