New York Cityguide

You're asking me what the weather's like today? Well if you wait a minute, I'll tell you. So goes the New York joke, and it's only a slight exaggeration, because the weather changes from minute to minute. You might start off one a hot summer morning, find yourself lunching in chill rain, and battling against the wind in the afternoon. It is not accidental that the rucksack is in here: you can fit in a rain coat, a cardigan or jacket, which everyone pulls on in the ice-cold air-conditioned public transport and offices. You can't get way from either cold or ice in New York. You can ask for cola without ice, but they wont' know what you're talking about.

Every film-maker and photographer knows that Manhattan must be photographed from the other side of the East River, from the promenade in Brooklyn Heights (get off at the first Brooklyn subway station). The view can be well-known for everybody. But on 11th of September 2001 it has changed forever. Previously the twin towers of the World Trade Centre determined the view, but now despite of lot of skyscrapers everybody miss something. And New York is not the same city. On this day, when a terrorist attack were made against the WTC and the buildings were collapsed everything has changed. It took long time to city and the whole nation to recover from the shock. You can remember for this day, the biggest ever terrorist attack in the USA and the up to 3000 victims by the Ground Zero.

Anyone who wanders its streets crosses worlds. In the city's five districts nearly seven and a half million people live. In the ever-teeming Italian quarter the brass band celebrates San Gennaro, the thronging Chinese throw firecrackers at Tet, the new phase of the Moon, just as they do in Beijing, while the Latin-Americans in the East Village raise fighting cocks and grow lettuce in the empty lots between the tenements. Up north, Columbia is like an independent students' town, and film students organise an open-air cinema on campus at a school where the professors include Milos Forman. Down south, the financial district around Wall Street is a real architectural feast. The narrow streets - imitating those of Amsterdam - were planned by Dutch settlers. Then in the 20th century, 50-80 storey-high buildings were erected in the old district and Dutch design was Americanised, making for one of the most exciting cityscapes ever. Walking westwards, you'll reach Greenwich Village, home to artists, transvestites and young people. But not for long, as rents are rocketing and the bohemian crowd is giving way to rich businesspeople, inevitable eroding the Village charm. At the centre of the city is Times Square, which is filled to bursting every evening.

An hour's bus ride away and you're in Harlem, where more and more houses are being done up and architects predict a good future for the district. Here the bistros fill with the delicious aroma of southern cooking, while on ta fashionable roof terrace over on Park Avenue a hired pianist sings Bernstein musicals at a cocktail party: "New York, New York", but which one? Central Park is full of cyclists and joggers, gyms fill the basements of the buildings and yet there are still plenty of people who take up three seats on the bus. With so many great restaurants it must be hard to diet: there are as many flavours ads there are nationalities - from Mexican to Indonesian. Seventeen thousand restaurants, bars and cafés operate in the city (with only one Hungarian amongst them). Placido Domingo has a Spanish restaurant and Robert de Niro an Italian eatery, so even superstars see the commercial potential in New York's eating habits.

If the weather is good at noon, the city lunches outdoors, on benches, in the parks and skyscraper terraces. In Manhattan there are no shopping centres, but there are masses of small outlets, grocers and delicatessens where you can select a lunch from hundreds of salads, cold meats and pastas. But if you're in a hurry, try a hot dog. For a time, city mayor Giuliani banned hot dog stalls from main roads, saying that they destroyed the look of the city. New Yorkers didn't agree, so they moved back and well-dressed bank clerks and low-budget tourist alike can again queue up for their daily dog, hamburger or pretzel.

If the city leaders lost the battle of the hot dog, they won in other areas. Today's New York is not that of then years ago. Then the litany was "always knows who's behind you, if someone suspicious comes towards you, cross the street, if they rip your bag out of your hands, don't fight for it..." in the last five years, crime has dropped by more than forty per cent, Times Square and Broadway has been cleared of peep shows, drug takers and prostitutes, the subway is safe, there are fewer beggars and the city is trying to find shelter for its homeless. Thirty eight thousand uniformed police work in New York - more than any other American city. You can walk home from the theatre at night without fear, go to a spectacular Baptist service in Harlem on Sundays, and if you get tired, take a nap in Central Park. New York also got cleaner, richer and more expensive. The economic boom can be seen in the amount of building and restoration of old buildings, like Grand Central or the Public Library (both can be found on 42nd Street and are worth seeing). New York is not only safer because of the police, but also because unemployment has dropped and life has improved. Life is especially sweet in the summer when Manhattan moves out onto the pavement. In August after Harlem Week comes the Lincoln Centre Festival, jazz days in the Village, at the end of the month a party is organised on the Avenue of the Americas, while every weekend sees a craft market on 24-25the streets and dancing till you drop in Central Park.

If we are in New York, we can't miss the Metropolitan Museum, and it is worth to go to the top of the Empire State building (not only for the view). And it is truth, we know from the films the Statue of Liberty, but we can go closer to see the symbol of the city and the whole nation.

Vera Völgyi