Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
York's contemporary art scene. It's also the location for some of
the city's hottest dance clubs. With galleries and bars in converted
warehouses and former meat lockers, browsing can be frustrating,
and the sometimes-desolate streets intimidating. Your best bet is
to have a specific destination (and an exact address) in mind
before you come.
The Flatiron District, Union Square & Gramercy Park
These
adjoining and, at places, overlapping neighborhoods are some of
the city's most appealing. Their streets have been rediscovered by
New Yorkers and visitors alike, thanks to the boom-to-bust dot-
com revolution of the late 1990s; the Flatiron District served as its
geographical heart and earned the nickname “Silicon Alley.”
These neighborhoods boast great shopping and dining and a cen-
tral-to-everything location. A number of new hotels have been
added to the mix over the last few years. The commercial spaces
are often large, loftlike expanses with witty designs and graceful
columns.
The
Flatiron District
lies south of 23rd Street to 14th Street,
between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and centers on the historic
Flatiron Building on 23rd (so named for its triangular shape) and
Park Avenue South, which has become a sophisticated, new
Restaurant Row. Below 23rd Street along Sixth Avenue (once
known as the Ladies' Mile shopping district), mass-market dis-
counters such as Filene's Basement, Bed Bath & Beyond, and oth-
ers have moved in. The shopping gets classier on Fifth Avenue,
where you'll find a mix of national names and hip boutiques.
Union Square
is the hub of the entire area; the N, Q, R, W, 4,
5, 6, or L trains stop here, making it easy to reach from most other
neighborhoods. Long in the shadows of the more bustling (Times
and Herald) and high-toned (Washington) city squares, Union
Square has experienced a major renaissance. Local businesses
joined forces with the city to rid the park of drug dealers, and now
it's a delightful place to spend an afternoon. Union Square is best
known as the setting for New York's premier greenmarket every
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
From about 16th to 23rd streets, east from Park Avenue South
to about Second Avenue, is the leafy, largely residential district
known as
Gramercy Park.
Times Square & Midtown West Midtown West,
the area from
34th to 59th streets west of Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River,
encompasses several famous names: Madison Square Garden, the
Garment District, Rockefeller Center, the Theater District, and
Times Square. This is New York's tourism central, where you'll
