Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Theater District
West of Broadway and north of 42nd Street, the Theater District helps light up Times
Square. Of the great old palaces still in existence, the
New Amsterdam
, at 214 W 42nd
St, and family-oriented
New Victory
, at 209 W 42nd St, have been refurbished to their
original splendour.
The Lyceum
, at 149 W 45th St, has its original facade, while the
Shubert Theater
, at 225 W 44th St, has a magnificent landmark interior that belies its
simple outward appearance.
If you want to see a
show
, check out the TKTS booth at 47th Street in Times Square
(there are other booths at the South Street Seaport and 1 Metro Center), which sells half-
price, same-day tickets for Broadway shows (Mon & Wed-Sat 3-8pm, Tues 2-8pm for
evening shows, also Wed & Sat 10am-2pm, Sun 11am-3pm for matinees). The booth
has available at least one pair of tickets for each performance of every Broadway and
off-Broadway show, at 20 to 50 percent off (plus a $4.50 per ticket service charge). Also,
many theatre box offices sell greatly reduced “standing room only” tickets the day of the
show. See also
HELL'S KITCHEN
Between 34th and 59th streets west of Eighth Avenue,
Hell's Kitchen
mostly centres on the
engaging slash of restaurants, bars, ethnic delis and food shops of Ninth Avenue (which has
begun to extend farther west) - the staging set for the excellent
Ninth Avenue Internation-
al Food Festival
(
ninthavenuefoodfestival.com
)
each May. Once one of New York's most
violent and lurid neighbourhoods, it was first populated by Irish and Eastern European im-
migrants, who were soon joined by Greeks, Puerto Ricans and blacks. The rough-and-
tumble area was popularized in the 1957 musical
West Side Story
. But things have changed
quite a bit: the odd tatty block is now countered by trim residential streets, and construction
and renovation of luxury apartments and hotels occurs at sometimes breakneck speed.
Along with other gentrifiers, there's now a substantial gay community, with nearly as many
gay bars and nightspots as in Chelsea or the East Village.
THE INTREPID SEA, AIR & SPACE MUSEUM
Pier 86 at W 46th St and Twelfth Ave. Subway A, C, E to 42nd St; C, E to 50th St. 212 245 0072,
www.intrepidmuseum.org
.
April-Oct Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm; Nov-March daily
10am-5pm. $24, ages 7-17 $19, add $7/$5 for Space Shuttle Pavilion.
MAP
This impressive, 900ft-long old aircraft carrier has picked up capsules from the Mercury and
Gemini space missions and made several trips to Vietnam. It holds an array of modern and
vintage air- and seacraft, including the A-12 Blackbird, the world's fastest spy plane, and
the USS
Growler
, the only guided missile submarine open to the public. Interactive exhibits
