The Essentials
The practical layer under the sightseeing: how the city is laid out, how to move around it, which airport you're landing at, and the history that explains what you're looking at.
Neighborhoods
Midtown, the Village, Harlem, Williamsburg, Astoria and the rest — what each one is actually like to walk around, and who lives there.
Browse 15 neighborhoods →The EssentialsNew York, The City
Five boroughs, three hundred square miles of land, eight and a third million people and something like eight hundred languages. What the place actually is, before you plan anything.
Read more →The EssentialsThe History of New York
From a Lenape harbour to a Dutch fur post to the largest city in the western hemisphere, in four hundred years. The narrative version of the timeline.
Read more →The EssentialsGetting Around New York
The subway, the buses, the ferries, the cabs and your own feet. What each one is good for, what it costs, and the four things about the subway that catch visitors out.
Read more →The EssentialsNew York's Airports
Three major airports, none with a direct train to Manhattan, and one of them is in another state. Which to fly into and how to get out of each.
Read more →The EssentialsWhat You Should Know Before You Go
Tipping, tax, safety, tap water, public toilets, jaywalking and the other practical things that are different enough here to be worth reading in advance.
Read more →The EssentialsFerries and the Waterfront
New York has more than 500 miles of shoreline and the water is the cheapest and pleasantest way to see it. Which boats go where, and what they cost.
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