New Yorkers really like celebrating the New Year, as many times in as many ways as possible. That’s only one of the reasons the two-weeks of merriment for the Lunar New Year are such an exciting time.

The gala welcome for the Year of the Rat, first of the zodiac animals believed to summon wealth, began on January 25, 2020, and will run through February 9, 2020.

Parades, concerts, presentations, and extraordinary firework displays are scheduled throughout New York City. The city’s several Chinatowns and numerous enclaves of Asian communities eagerly share the rich cultural experience with tourists and well-wishers. Among the fetes are longstanding favorites such as Lower Manhattan’s 21st annual Chinatown parade. New additions to the revelry include the first-ever Asian comedy festival and unique mixings of arts and science at the Lewis Latimer House Museum.

The 9th annual Savor the Bronx restaurant week is running through Jan. 17 2020. The Bronx is a fun place to visit even when it is not restaurant week. Now it is well worth a trip to taste some of the Italian, Asian, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisines on offer.

45 eateries in the Bronx, representing the borough’s cultural and culinary diversity, are offering discounts and specials.

Whether you are a die-hard New Yorker or “just” a New York enthusiast, you can now get your NY-fix when you are in the United Kingdom.

Manahatta, a New York-inspired cocktail bar is opening in York on November 8.

The venue, like its namesake, will have many unique Instagrammable features, from neon signs and peacock blue booths. Stacked burgers like the ‘Godfather,’ a stack of beef, fried chicken, pancetta, pulled pork and Monterey Jack Cheese, is sure to please. The Beyond Brooklyn is a veggie option, with pulled BBQ jack fruit, vegan cheese, and spicy chipotle. Prosecco, Aperol Spritz, Bloody Marys, beer, and unique NY cocktails are all available.

An in-house DJ will fill Manhatta with NY-style music, including tunes played by various ensembles in NYC subways.

A private dining room on the top mezzanine, and other areas available for private hire, provide more intimate spaces to enjoy a taste of New York when visiting York.

For most New York City families, visiting a landfill is not on the top of the to-do list. But the Freshkills Park is a public park and wildlife habitat the whole family can enjoy.

Once the world’s largest landfill, Freshkills has been gradually transitioning from a trash-dump into a nature-gem in Staten Island.  At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park is nearly triple the size of Central Park and the largest park to be developed in New York City in over 100 years. It is built on what was once the largest landfill in the world (Fresh Kills Landfill ceased operations in 2001). Now the landscape is being engineered with layers of soil and infrastructure, making it a most unexpected place for wildlife, recreation, science, education, and art.

For obvious safety reasons, the landfill is covered by different layers of geomaterials to stabilize landfilled waste, separate the waste from the environment and park visitors, and prevent the release of landfill gas to the atmosphere.

As the park is being built in phases, with the entire expanse set to open to the public in a few years, free tours and events provide early access for learning and exploration of more than 700 acres and eight miles of trails. Family activities include cycling (bring your own bike or borrow one there), guided walks with groups like New York City Audubon and the Urban Park Rangers, kite flying, kayaking, wind chime design, and upcycled art. This is a great activity even if you don’t live nearby: Free shuttle buses transport visitors to and from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

Have you ever wanted to go camping right in your own backyard? Here is an upscale take on that fantasy brought to you by Collective Retreats.

All you need to do is take the ferry over to Governor’s Island a place where no cars or other motorized vehicles are permitted, and pick one of two levels of posh glamping tents- a third, more luxurious “Outlook Shelter” repurposed shipping container with a 180-degree glass encased bedroom is coming soon- which include 1,000-1,500 thread-count linen, electricity and plenty of sockets, a designer curated blanket, plush Turkish towels, and of course a chandelier above your bed.

The campsite boasts amazing views of lower Manhattan surrounded by lush green space, an inspiring view of Lady Liberty, bike tours, sightseeing, and lovely parks nearby. A gourmet Continental Breakfast is served in the morning, so no need to fuss with the Coleman stove or cleaning the trout from the lake/river. Lunch and dinner are also available, from BBQ-in-a-box, to Ferry to Flame- a chef-prepared multi-course dinner extravaganza served either “in-tent” or at an outdoor table overlooking the mesmerizing New York Harbor. There are also traditional restaurant meals available at the Three Peaks lodge. And of course, there’s a full-service bar at Three Peaks.

When you are not eating, drinking, sleeping or bike riding, guests can enjoy the rich calendar of art and cultural events, including performances, educational exhibits, tours of National Monuments and more.
Glamorous camping arrived in New York last spring, and this year it is bound to out do itself. Check it out here: Collective Retreats.

Long lines at the Empire State Building

New to New York? Time limited and you want to see as much as you can while still getting a real flavor for the city? Then there are a few activities and sites worth avoiding.

• Neither take a yellow cab or a “pedi-cab.” Only tourists take the price gauging pedal-pushing, wallet-emptying gimmicky form of New York transportation; while taxis in New York may seem convenient, but in order to get through the insane New York traffic, they may give you a heart attack. Therefore, get underground and take the beloved subway. Get there fast, get there safe, and still have some money left to actually have some fun on the other end of the ride.

• Did someone suggest visiting the Empire State Building? Well, don’t. Not unless you find long lines-five to be exact-and hard sells of stupid products like a “3-D ride over the city or an “express ticket” as some kind of fun. Consider going to the Rainbow Room instead. Trek on over to Rockefeller Plaza, 65th floor, order a drink, sit back, and for the same $20 you would have spent waiting on line at the Empire State Building, admire the exact same view.

• Dreaming of a romantic ride on one of those lovely horse-drawn carriages through Central Park? Well, you better dream of something else. The rides are nothing like what you might imagine. The horse will have no get up and go, you will travel on the same well-worn paths with little interest, the driver will talk about things of little interest, and you will spend most of the time staring at the back of the carriage in front of you.

We recommend waking up with the sun and strolling through the beautiful Central Park with your bestest friend for a real, romantic moment. Forget the overpriced horse and get real.

Native Plant Garden

A relative newcomer in New York City, The Native Plant Garden of the New York Botanical Garden only just opened in the spring of 2013. In actuality, however, there has been a native plant display since the 1930s on the same 3.5 acre site where a newly landscaped and redesigned habitat has been created to better showcase the wide assortment of plants that grow in a variety of habitats throughout the northeastern part of North America.

The garden does more than just display native plant life, but also exhibits a sustainable and environmentally friendly landscape created with local, recycled materials. The centerpiece of the garden is a lovely pool which is fed from recycled storm-water collected on site and filtered naturally by aquatic plants. The buildings and benches in the garden are made from salvaged, recycled, and sustainably harvested materials. The wood for the boardwalks comes from the black locust tree, a native hardwood.

The Native Plant Garden holds within its small secluded paths, shaded woodland, dry open meadow and lush wetlands close to 100,000 plants, heritage oak trees, shrubs, wild flowers, ferns and meadow grasses.

The garden is truly an oasis in the middle of the bustling metropolis of New York. Visitors will no doubt find a few moments of peace and tranquility to reboot their nervous systems before they get back into the crazy pace of life in the Big Apple.

For more information call: 718.817.8700

Take a tour of one of the world’s greatest landmarks. You get a boat ride, too!

You probably already knew this, but it is nice to have one’s suspicions confirmed- according to NYCTourist, the five “must-do” activities for families in New York are:

•    The American Museum of Natural History: Dinosaurs; giant whales on the ceiling; an awesome sky show at the planetarium. You name it, its inside this amazing building filled with mysteries revealed, little-known creatures and anything else your imagination can, or sometimes cannot come up with.

•    Broadway: Singing, dancing, drama- the Great White Way will light up you and your family’s life like no other experience. Yes, its expensive, but there are ways of saving lots on your tickets, either on the internet or getting tickets at the last moment in Times Square. Don’t miss giving your family memories that will last a lifetime.

•    NY Skyride: Take the elevator up, up, up to the top of the Empire State building and enjoy a 30 minute virtual tour in a simulator which is a one-of-a-kind. Passengers move in synch with the 18-foot high-definition screen while flying above the streets and landmarks of NYC.

•    Statue of Liberty and Skyline Cruise: going to the SOL is like getting two great activities rolled into one. A fun boat ride with the best view of the NYC skyline imaginable; and an exciting and educational tour of one of the greatest landmarks found anywhere in the world. Take the kids, you won’t regret it.

•    NYC Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tours: really get down to the nitty-gritty of what NYC is all about. It’s about the culture, and where better to explore the culture than in the neighborhoods and the unique foods offered. It’s something different and sure to please.

Statue of Liberty

Winter might be the best time of year to visit the Statue of Liberty. Lines are shorter with less tourists and natives willing to bundle up against the cold winds blowing up river. But if you are a hardy soul and don’t mind the chill, then you can save yourself hours of time on line and have a great experience.

Most people choose to visit the great sculpture, which was a gift from the French people in the 1870s, via ferry boat from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. But if you really want to beat any possibility of crowds you can sail over to Liberty Island from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. Same tour, shorter lines.

After a visit to the statue take the ferry over to Ellis Island and tour the Immigration Museum. It is a wonderfully told story of the people who sought the American Dream as they fled poverty, persecution, and violence in their homelands. There is no doubt you will come away inspired and thankful that the United State of America has been a safe haven for so many, and an opportunity for more.

There is no charge to visit the island, but unless you swim or have your own boat, you will have to pay $13 for the roundtrip ferry ticket. An audio tour of the museum is $8. For more information you can go to the website of the National Park Service, who administers the park and museum.

Ravel Hotel’s Penthouse808

Only five minutes away from midtown Manhattan, visitors to New York may want to consider some of the new hotels that are popping up in Long Island City. For a fraction of what a guest would have to spend to stay at a centrally located hotel, visitors can enjoy a good night’s sleep and some well-appointed spaces only slightly off the beaten track.

Take the Ravel hotel as an example.  This boutique hotel has a waterfront view of New York’s iconic skyline and offers a complimentary ride in their Mercedes shuttle to the nearby subway entrance. On the roof of this classy hotel is their Penthouse808 where socializing and excitement pervade the atmosphere. Surrounded by retractable glass, the eight thousand square foot space is a delight to guests.

Other perks offered by the Ravel are:

•    Free Parking
•    Room Service
•    Dry cleaning and Laundry Service
•    Gourmet Mini Bar
•    Virtual Wine Bar

Treat yourself in style without breaking the bank.