New York, Washington Square, October. It's afternoon, the sun is shining, the first leaves are turning yellow. As always, the square is full of life. Sitting at the edge of the fountain, I can see drops of water refracting sunlight, hear skateboards scraping over edges and clacking as they come down. I can hear laughter and talking, Spanish rap coming from the boom boxes of kids strolling by, the polyphony of the city.
At the edge of the Washington Arch, at the southern terminus of Fifth Avenue, a young man sits on the sidewalk. The handwritten cardboard in front of his typewriter recommends him as a street poet. When I order a poem, he rubs his chin, looks at me, grins, and hits the keys. Not much later, he pulls the sheet of paper out of the machine and reads it. In thanks, I put a few dollars in the tin.
I join a group called Greeter, a non-profit organization active in 150 cities around the world. Locals show small groups of visitors around their city, entirely free of charge. There are both general and themed tours on offer. So, what should you try to see if you come to New York City in 2023?
The Frick Collection
Owing to renovation, only a "best of" the stately Frick Collection is on view in the former Met Breuer space (Madison Avenue/East 75th Street) - probably until 2024. The German-Hungarian-American architect Marcel Breuer designed this minimalist building, which resembles an upside-down pyramid. The collection's catalog reads like a who's who of European painting, from the Renaissance through the 19th century.
The Chelsea Hotel
The renovation of the Chelsea Hotel has been completed. The iconic building reopened in 2022. It was built in 1884 in the neo-Gothic style, and fame came with its guests - starting with the dissolute writer bohemians of the 1960s. Thomas Wolfe wrote his novel You Can't Go Home Again in the Chelsea, and Arthur C. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey here. Leonard Cohen met Janis Joplin in room 424, Arthur Miller lived in room 614 after his marriage to Marilyn collapsed, and Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" is Chelsea-related. Parties were legendary, Patti Smith and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe lived here when they were penniless, and many other artists paid for a room with pictures. The flair of the El Quijote bar has been preserved, and the paella is still grand. The location on 23rd Street is ideal for visiting Broadway theaters.
Broadway
After 35 years and more than 12,000 performances, the curtain will fall for the last time on Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera on February 18, 2023. It remains to be seen whether new shows, including the Neil Diamond musical A Beautiful Noise, or Camelot, a show about the legend of King Arthur, or Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot, will deliver what Broadway dreams are made of. Lloyd Webber is also planning to take to the stage again with his musical Bad Cinderella, which played in London's West End from 2021 to 2022.
Blue Brushstroke
The advice of connoisseurs not to indulge in too much art at once can be followed in the lobbies of several commercial buildings. In the lobby of the Axa Center, 787 Seventh Avenue, is Blue Brushstroke, a mural by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in October 2023.
Cortlandt Alley and Mmuseumm
If you're in the Financial District, it's worth taking a detour to Cortlandt Alley. Film teams come here if they want to show danger and grunge - somewhere that epitomizes New York at its most messed up. The Mmuseumm, a modern natural history museum showing curious objects, is open on Fridays and Saturdays (check opening times at mmuseumm.com). According to its curators, this is a place to look and think, and look and not think.
Staten Island Ferry and Enoteca Maria
The year 2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the merger of the five boroughs that form New York. Back then, the city had 3.4 million inhabitants; in 2021, there were 8.48 million. The economic figures prove that the city is one of the largest powerhouses in the world. A fringe existence among the five boroughs is played by Staten Island. The free ferry is popular with tourists. It passes through the Port of New York, the largest port in the U.S. by area and the third busiest by cargo handling. Photos of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the imposing skyline of the Financial District are given to tourists on the ferry. At 27 Hyatt Street, not far from the ferry terminal, is the Enoteca Maria restaurant. Behind the name is the idea that dishes taste best when they're cooked by grandmas. More than 50 nonnas from all over the world are now employed here to wield a wooden spoon, happy to be helped by Pakistani sous-chef Fida, the only man on the cutting board. They also teach classes. Details can be found at enotecamaria.com
The subway and food
Without the subway, city traffic would be unthinkable. The shiny silver subway cars - which can be up to 180 meters long - can look quite elegant, from a distance. But anyone who has ever rattled toward their destination in one of these trains will be tempted to describe the mixture of noise and being shaken around as infernal.
A ride can transport you to other worlds in no time at all. A good example is a ride on the International, as Line 7 is called in Queens. As soon as the elevated train rattles over the streets of Queens, it crosses one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the world. You can get off at Flushing Main Street if you're in the mood for Chinese dim sum, Korean tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), glass noodles, or kimchi, a pickled Chinese cabbage. At 82nd Street/Jackson Heights, Mexican tacos or Argentine empanadas with a variety of fillings can be tasted in a sound cloud of Latin American music. If you prefer something sweet, try to find pastelitos criollos, puff pastry with a sweet potato paste. 74th Street and Broadway is the stop to pay a visit to the bustling enclave of Little India. It's tricky at 40th Street/Lowery Street, also called Sunnyside, where you'll have to make the difficult choice between Turkish grilled meat skewers, Paraguayan empanadas, Irish fish and chips, and Korean tofu dishes…
Isamu Noguchi
Flowing transitions were an inspiring theme in the life of the American-Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi. A museum with a Japanese garden in Queens is dedicated to his work. Over time, almost all Europeans have probably seen his lamps (or copies of them), created from shaped bamboo and covered with shoji paper made from the bark of the mulberry tree.
The Bronx
What Flushing Meadows in Queens is to the U.S. Open and the tennis world, the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx is to baseball fans.
Large parts of the Bronx have been able to keep their shady reputation until today, but there are luxurious large-scale projects underway to gentrify the borough, especially in the South Bronx. Edgar Allen Poe's last residence has hardly been affected, though. It's a cottage, standing in the north of the Bronx, almost in Fordham. In the mid-19th century, this was the middle of the countryside. You can visit the house by appointment with the Bronx Historical Society. Dr. Steven Payne shared his knowledge of Poe's cottage and the Bronx with me, and I'm glad I took his recommendation to make a detour to the Michelin Guide-recommended Vietnamese restaurant Com Tam Ninh Kieu at 2641 Jerome Avenue.
Brooklyn
Gentrification in Brooklyn is more advanced than in the Bronx. The brownstones that line Prospect Park have long been unaffordable to mere mortals. The Brooklyn Museum, the second-largest museum in New York, is located at 200 Eastern Parkway. Some of the experimental work of the East Village photographer Jimmy DeSana is on view here through April 16, 2023. His concern was to establish photography as an art form of its own. February through August, the museum is free on the first Saturday of the month, from 5 to 10 p.m.
Bedford Avenue is 16.4 kilometers long and Brooklyn's longest street. It has many faces, and walking along it is like making a journey through space and time. Close to Prospect Park, it looks classy and colorful in the African-American community of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Williamsburg, one of the oldest parts of Brooklyn, is home to many Hasidic Jews. As a complete contrast, Westlight, the rooftop bar of the William Vale Hotel, offers magnificent views of the city's skyline.
Manhattan
Back in Manhattan is a New York institution: the city's oldest Irish saloon. Opened in the mid-19th century, the pub survived Prohibition (1920-33) by serving beer that was so diluted, it was called "near beer." Hanging on the rail are a pair of Harry Houdini's handcuffs, the walls are covered with old art and newspaper articles, and the floor is strewn with sawdust. The pub has two mottos: "Be Good or Be Gone," and "We were here before you were born." They serve only two types of beer here: light and dark. And your pint is served in two glasses, so that you can try both a glass of light and a glass of dark.