12 hours in New York | 12 x hotspots and highlights
Whether on a long weekend getaway or a round the clock layover - we get excited each time we touch down in New York. With another visit down we think we mastered how to see the Big Apple in just one day. We’ve rounded up some of the top draws in town for the perfect day in New York City.
08:00 - Financial District
The Financial District (or FiDi) might not be the most inspiring place to start your day - but location-wise it’s a practical one. Besides big chain hotels and high rise office buildings and their clerks you’ll find Bluestone Lane on Water Street. This Melbourne-inspired café is a good place to kickstart the day and get familiar with the madness of New York’s rush hour. Find a spot by the window and you’ll immediately understand where the term New York Minute comes from.
Bluestone Lane , 90 Water St.
09:00 - Ellis Island
From Bluestone Lane it’s a good ten minutes walk to Battery Park. This park is located on the southernmost tip of Manhattan and is where the ferries to Ellis Island, Liberty Island and the free Staten Island ferry depart. Get yourself a ticket on the ferry to Ellis Island (New Jersey). The only shipping company that sails between Manhattan and Ellis Island is Statue Cruises. Every day, every 20 to 30 minutes they sail via Liberty Island to Ellis Island. And that's where you learn all about the rich immigration past of the United States. Nowadays roughly 40% of today's Americans are somehow tied to the immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Your ferry ticket is also an admission ticket to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Get your free audio guide from reception and discover the role the island played as 'Gateway to the American Dream'. For the enthusiast: in 2014, Ellis Island's hospital buildings were completely renovated and opened to the public. Hard Hat Tours guides small groups through the former hospital buildings five times a day.
12:00 - Soho & Nolita
Next up: a shop stop in our ever favorite neighborhoods of Soho and Nolita. Take the uptown R train just outside Battery Park at Bowling Green station and get off at Prince Street, which is pretty much on the border of Soho and Nolita. For the more mainstream and designer clothes walk around the cobblestone streets of Soho, where you’ll find anything ranging from Zara to Gucci. Neighboring Nolita is the place where the cool kids shop. For the best upcoming New York designers head to The Market NYC and the for heavenly perfumes and beauty products drop by at Le Labo on Elizabeth Street. In between all of this find yourself a table at Little Ruby's, the little sister of the Australian breakfast and lunch hotspot Ruby's on Mulberry Street. We recommend the home made banana bread: tasty, warm and served with a scoop of passion fruit butter on the side.
The Market NYC, Houston & Mulberry St.
Little Ruby's, 219 Mulberry St.
While you’re in SoHo make sure to hop inside The Apartment by the Line. A super-tastefully decorated apartment where (almost) the entire interior is for sale. And yes, we get that you do not ship that sheepskin sofa back home, but still, think of it as a place to get some home inspiration and as an opportunity to peek inside a dreamy New York apartment.
The Apartment by the Line , 76 Greene St.
15:00 - Greenwich Village
Speaking of favorites: we’re heading up north to Greenwich Village. For those who can use a sugarfix after all this shopping: pass by DŌ Cookie Dough Confections. And yes, there they sell exactly what you think: rich scoops of raw cookie dough. Safe to ead and somehow more fun than ice cream or cupcakes. Try and stick to one scoop because today's lunch spot is one you want to arrive with an empty stomach. Continue your walk through Washington Park (kodak moment) and Washington Place to the intersection of 7th Avenue and Christopher Street. Here you will find a special piece of New York history in front of the entrance of Village Cigars: the Hess Triangle. A statement by the Hess (real estate) family against the city of New York, which forced them to sell their housing complex in 1912 as part of a neighborhood renovation and the arrival of the underground. After a conflict the Hess family fell short and were kindly but urgently requested to sell their complex. However, in the sale, the council missed a small piece of land on the corner of Christopher and 7th. And exactly on that piece of land you’ll find the Hess mosaic, eh statement.
DŌ Cookie Dough Confections, 550 LaGuardia Place
Hess Triangle, 110 7th Avenue
Oh in case you've missed the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop across the street: you're now in the heart of Greenwich Village, one of New York's most vibrant gayborhoods.
Today's lunch spot is a short five minute walk from the Hess Triangle, on West 4th Street. Extra Virgin is a cozy neighborhood restaurant on a quiet part of West 4th street. Find a table outside on the narrow terrace outside and let the New York local life ( nannies with strollers, dog walkers and with a bit of luck a celebrity or two - according to a neighbor who came to chat at our table, Sarah Jessica Parker lives right around the corner) pass you by. The goat cheese salad with pistachios is highly recommended.
Extra Virgin, 259 West 4th Street
17:00 - Williamsburg
Next in line is Williamsburg. This Brooklyn neighborhood was once one for the creatives: artists, musicians, writers. All of them unintentionally making this working-class neighborhood into a hotspot. Today it is mainly an 'it' neighborhood without the raw edges that gave it its character. But that's not to say we don't like to hang out there (see our 15 hotspots in Brooklyn post). For drinks with a view head to The William Vale. A large hotel towering above Williamsburg. And as inappropriate as the building may be, the views from Westlight at the 22nd floor are priceless. The same goes for the cocktails.
Westlight at the William Vale, 111 N 12th St
19:00 - Gramercy Park
Back to Manhattan, to the Gramercy Park neighborhood for dinner. On Bedford Avenue (Williamsburg), take the L train to Union Square. From there it is a good ten minute walk to the Freehand hotel . Their restaurant, Simon & the Whale is (like the hotel in itself ) a hit. We wouldn’t expect any different from the same team that brought New York the popular West Village restaurants Bar Sardine and Joseph Leonard. Make sure to book in advance.
Finished dinner but not ready to sleep yet? We get that. And so does The Freehand. Get rid of your after dinner dip with an Espresso Martini at The Studio on the first floor. And if the jet lag hasn’t kicked in yet: the famous tropical cocktail bar Broken Shaker is located on the eighteenth floor of the hotel.
The Freehand Hotel, 23 Lexington Ave