New York Holidays

• The New York City skyline is easily the most recognizable in all of the world, with so many iconic buildings jutting up and creating a vision of American prosperity that is hard to beat. While the Empire State Building is the most well-known of the city’s upward of 6,000 high rise buildings, it is actually only the third tallest in the city. The honour of New York’s tallest building goes to the One World Trade Centre (also known as the Freedom Tower) which stands over 1,790 feet tall in the district of Manhattan. It is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the sixth tallest skyscraper in the whole world. You can see them all if you take the Big Apple Helicopter Tour.Visitors to New York should make time to visit the site of the original World Trade Centre, Ground Zero, and commemorate the lives lost on September 11th, 2001, the day of America’s greatest tragedy. Now, in place of the original Twin Towers, which used to be New York’s tallest buildings, stands the World Trade Centre Memorial and Tribute Centre, a grand civic plaza where visitors can pay their respects to those lost on that fateful day.No trip to New York would be complete without checking out the Brooklyn Bridge. Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the world’s first ever steel-wire suspension bridge. This marvel of human engineering stretches nearly 6,000 feet across the Eat River, connecting Manhattan with Brooklyn and was officially declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.Whatever you do when you visit New York, don’t forget to pay a visit to the city’s most famous (and tallest) resident, Lady Liberty herself, the Statue of Liberty (or ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’ as is the statue’s original name). Completed in 1886 and standing a staggering 46 metres tall, this green cooper colossus is a symbol of American freedom and liberty, having ben gifted to America from France to commemorate the Union’s victory in the American Civil War.

Located in middle-upper Manhattan, Central Park is the single most visited urban park in all of the United States, drawing in approximately 40 million visitors each and every year. With 843 acres of greenery and activities to explore, it’s easy to see why so many people are so eager to pay it a visit.

Central Park contains numerous iconic monuments which are well worth checking out. Arguably the most interesting, and controversial, of these is Cleopatra’s Needle, a granite obelisk which stands close to 70 feet tall and weighs approximately 180 tons. Originally constructed in 1450 BC by the Ancient Egyptians, the Needle has a chequered history. Having once been used by Pharaoh Rameses II as a means of commemorating his many military victories, it was later moved to Alexandria by Julius Caesar when the Romans took control of Egypt. How exactly it ended up in America in 1880 remains something of a mystery to this very day. Depending on whom you ask, it was either gifted to the American people by the Khedive of Egypt or stolen by notorious business man / philanthropist William H. Vanderbilt.

Central Park even has its very own zoo, which features some very rare animals including adorable red pandas, mighty polar bears and elusive snow leopards. Kids can get a hands on experience with all sorts of animals (although not the dangerous kinds!) at the petting zoo which is set up to be as child-friendly as possible, while the sea lion and penguin deeding time shows will enthral the young and old alike!

New York City is renowned for its diverse menagerie of interesting museums which cover a wide variety of topics and interests. Art lovers will be absolutely spoiled for choice, as the Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art are all world class collections which feature awe-inspiring artworks from around the world, encompassing all genres of artistic merit, from the ultra-modern to the ancient.

Speaking of ancient, the American Museum of Natural History is a must see for dinosaur lovers, featuring an entire museum wing which is dedicated to these mighty beasts which once ruled the world. Among them are classic creatures such as the fabulously ornamented Stegosaurus and Triceratops as well as the biggest dinosaur of them all, the utterly enormous titanosaur, which is so big that it doesn’t fully fit into its display hall. At 122 feet long, this behemoth, which must be seen to be believed, has to stick its long neck out of the hall’s entrance, as if playing peek-a-boo with the museum’s visitors.

The American Museum of Natural History is not the only place in New York where you can see dinosaurs. The massive Toys ‘R Us on Times Square is like a toy store, museum and theme park rolled into one. Among its attractions are  a life-sized animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex which roars at passersby, a 600 foot tall Ferris wheel and a super-sized recreation of a Barbie doll house. What a wonderful place to be a kid!

First time visitors to New York City often find themselves feeling strangely at home as they’ve seen most of the locales in their favorite TV shows and movies. From The Warriors to the Wolf of Wall Street, King Kong to Midnight Cowboy, so many iconic films are set here. Indeed, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first American movie appearance, Hercules In New York, took place here – he fights a bear in Central Park at one point and it is amazing!

Not do be outdone, many of TV’s top shows are also set in NYC; including Friends, Sex and the City, The Newsroom (which hilariously lampooned the SATC Hotspots Tour) and the Marvel Universe’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.