Each summer, I choose a long trip to take with my dad. We’ve done camping, Canada, and Chicago, but nothing compares to this summer’s trip: we went to the largest city in the United States, New York City. Many know it as NYC, but others know it as “the Big Apple” because of Ellis Island, which was a federal immigration station for over 12 million immigrants seeking new opportunities in the United States.
New York City is an island along the Hudson River called Manhattan, which is split into Upper, Lower, and Midtown. Upper and Lower Manhattan have an East and West side due to geological differences, as the East side quickly became associated with wealth and greater culture than the West side. The West side gets its name from the access it has to Central Park, as it is more of a residential hub.
New York has many piers where tourists can take a ferry to see the other islands that surround the city. I went on a ferry ride with my dad the first night that we arrived. It took us around the Statue of Liberty and passed Brooklyn before we stopped on Ellis Island, where we changed ferries to get back to Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island, which is not too far away from Ellis Island, but we unfortunately did not get as close to the Statue as I’d hoped. Both the Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island are important symbols of New York because they represent the freedom and hope that comes with new opportunities. I would recommend going on a ferry ride as a visitor since it helps you understand how Manhattan is structured and what makes it stand out.
New York is known for being a busy city at all times, so it was challenging for my dad and I to choose the activities that we did each day. Staying in a large city for the first time made me overwhelmed when it came to planning, and the timing of all events was very unpredictable. The place that we stayed in was not my favorite in terms of the location, which might have added to the feelings I was experiencing.
We stayed in a small 2-bedroom studio apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We were around a lot of corner stores, public parks, and Chinatown. Most of the activities that New York is known for are located in Midtown or Uptown New York, so the subway was our main mode of transportation.
We spent a very busy day in Midtown New York. We went to the Empire State Building, Penn Station, and Times Square. The Empire State Building reminded me a lot of the Sears Tower in Chicago, without the glass platforms you can stand on, so my dad liked this one better. I got a lot of really good photos from here: it was interesting to see how close and compact New York is compared to Detroit. The cityscape is much taller and more condensed compared to Detroit, which meant that the streets were smaller, allowing for less traffic flow.
Penn Station is more for residents of New York because it is one of the main railroad tracks that runs in Manhattan. It was strange being in a place where tourists usually don’t go. Everyone was dressed up in suits, ties, and nice dresses, and had somewhere they were rushing off to. There were unique designs along the ceiling along with an old clock to show the time.
We went to Times Square, but we both didn’t like it at all. It was hot, packed with people, and extremely frustrating/overstimulating. I don’t know if I went at a bad time, but the billboards were super boring and there wasn’t much to see. We didn’t spend much time there because we watched 2 Broadway plays instead: Hamilton and Stranger Things. My dad surprised me with tickets to go see Hamilton, and he won tickets to the Stranger Things play through a half-off ticket website. I am a huge fan of both, so they were phenomenal and once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I will always remember.
Hamilton did not have any of the original actors that were present in the film on Disney+, but the set, songs, and props were all the same. At first it bothered me that it wasn’t the same actors and that they sang differently, but I still enjoyed the performance. I personally like the film better in terms of comfort (I’ve seen it 3 times), but the experience of Broadway was impactful.
The Stranger Things production was interesting because it was about Vecna and how Henry became Vecna. I have seen the series, so it acted as another story that fit in the lines of the seasons. I liked this play, particularly because it was centered around a character in the show that is only seen as a monster. Being able to dive into them at a different angle was something I don’t see a lot of shows doing. I thought this play was going to be a spin off of the real show, but it was a lot better and added a more in depth storyline to the original.
We spent 2 days in Uptown Manhattan because a lot of things that we wanted to do took a lot longer than we expected. We chose to rent bikes for Central Park so we could see the entirety of the park in a short amount of time. Central Park was structured well, with lots of activities, but it didn’t stand out to me. In my opinion, it was just a larger park. We walked over to the Modern Art Museum after Central Park, but this wasn’t the type of art that my dad and I enjoyed. We were looking for older art and more statues, like the MET has. We decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art the next day. We enjoyed this museum a lot better. It was bigger, with multiple floors containing sculptures, paintings, and artifacts that were all older. There was this one statue of a head that my dad and I liked because we thought it looked like he stubbed his toe.
In terms of recommendations, I would suggest trying the New York-style pizza, which is a classic and is worth the hype. The best thing that my dad and I ate were these pastrami sandwiches from this place called Katz’s. This was by far the best pastrami I have ever had, and my dad’s personal highlight of this trip.
The last thing we did was a concert at Pier 17. The concert venue is a rooftop that overlooks the Brooklyn Bridge and has a great view of the city at night. We saw Fritz and the Tantrums, which was a good fit for our trip because they played more upbeat songs that are fun to dance to.
If you have never been to New York City, I totally recommend going. Make sure to plan out everything you want to do, as there is so much to see in a short amount of time. I had a really great trip, and I would love to go again sometime in my mid-twenties. My only regret is not buying more souvenirs.
