Exploring the Tourist Attractions of New York City

Author: Tim Tye

When people talk of visiting New York City, more likely than not, they are referring to visiting Manhattan. Manhattan, an elongated island, is actually one of the five boroughs of New York City, albeit the most famous. It is the home of the skyscraper skyline that is so synonymous with New York City. Most of the tourist attractions are located in Manhattan. This article takes you on an online tour of the tourist attractions of Manhattan, allowing you to explore the sights from the comfort of your desktop. We shall start our journey from the south and work our way northwards.

Manhattan is bound by the Hudson River to the west, and the East River to the eastThe southernmost section is Lower Manhattan, and at the southernmost part of Lower Manhattan is the Financial District. Facing the sea is Battery Park, a 21-acre park that got its name from the artillery battery placed there by the Dutch and later the British. The Dutch built a fort here called Fort Amsterdam. It is no longer standing. The Americans demolished it when they took over Manhattan from the British. In its place today is the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, a National Historic Landmark.

When the American realised they needed a fort to defend Manhattan, they built one which is today called Castle Clinton. It was named after, not Bill Clinton, but Dewitt Clinton, the Mayor of New York City in 1815.

Going north from Battery Park, you pass another smaller park, called Bowling Green. The most famous item here is the Charging Bull Statue, an icon representative of New York City's role as America's financial capital.

A short distance north of here is Wall Street, home to NYSE. The site of Ground Zero, where the famous World Trade Center towers used to be. Closed to Ground Zero is St Paul's Chapel, which amazingly escaped damage during the September 11 attack, thanks to a sycamore tree on its northwest corner.

The main artery that runs right through Manhattan from the south all the way to the north, is Broadway. Going north, we enter TriBeCa, home to trendy restaurants. The name is a contraction of Triangle Below Canal Street. The habit of naming places in this manner repeats itself a little north of here, at SoHo, which stands for South of Houston Street.

Going north of SoHo, we enter Greenwich Village, often simply called The Village. In the middle is the Washington Square Garden. The streets in the Village do not follow with the formal grid of the 1811 Plan, nor does Broadway, which often cuts diagonally across the grid.

Going north, we reach Madison Square Garden which is neither a square nor a garden, but rather a sports and concert arena. Macy's Department Store, near here, is one of the largest department stores in the world. Not far away is the Empire State Building, once again the tallest building in New York City.

Following Broadway northwards, we reach Times Square, one of the most famous intersections in the world. Eastwards on 42nd Street are other landmarks including the Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building, and towards the banks of the East River, the United Nations Headquarters.

Going north along Fifth Avenue, we arrive at Rockefeller Center, built by John D Rockefeller Jr, the richest man in the world during his time. It comprises 19 skyscrapers, the biggest of which is GE Building. Within Rockefeller Center is Radio City Music Hall, and across the street from it is St Patrick's Cathedral, the largest Neo-Gothic style Catholic Cathedral in North America. A short distance north is MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art, founded by Abby Alrich Rockefeller, wife of John D Rockefeller Jr, and her two friends. To the east side of town is the Citigroup Center, a 59-storey skyscraper that stands on four massive legs. Also within the vicinity are two of New York City's most luxurious hotels, the Waldorf=Astoria on Fifth Avenue and the Plaza on Grand Army Plaza, facing Central Park.

Central Park is the most important park in New York City, so much so that any apartments with view of it fetches a higher price than those without. Created in the mid 19th century, it is home to the biggest museum in New York City, the Met, or Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along the roads bordering Central Park are a few more museums, the most important includes the American Museum of Natural History, with the Hayden Planetarium within it, and the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum.

What we have covered so far is just a quick run through of the tourist attractions of Manhattan. To visit each of these sights, one would need a few days, if not weeks. There is much to see and discover. Much of what has been written is documented more thoroughly on the New York City section of my website, EarthDocumentary, where there's also a point-and-click map, to show you the location of each sight. Visit it and explore Manhattan from the comfort of your desktop.