New York

Is there a more exciting city? Founded as New Amsterdam in the 1620s, captured by the British in 1664 and briefly the capital of the United States in the 1780s, today New York is America’s largest metropolis and the most photographed city in the world. It’s not in Canada of course, but since it’s much closer to Toronto than many Canadian cities, for Family Day weekend we hopped in a small plane at the island airport and within an hour were touching down south of the border.

On a previous trip we’d visited the top tourist sites – from the United Nations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art – so this time we wanted to explore a gentler side of New York. We stayed in the West Village neighbourhood, with its elegant townhouses and children’s parks. The apartment block from Friends was just around the corner, and the Hudson River just a stone’s throw away.

Nearby we found the High Line – an extraordinary elevated walkway that weaves its way through the cityscape for nearly a mile and a half. There used to be a railway for transporting food to New York’s southern inhabitants, but after the trains stopped rolling in the 1980s and wild plants started reclaiming the structure, it was given back to the city and transformed into a public park. It was amazing to look down from the quiet, tree-lined pathway and see the hectic traffic below.

Continuing our exploration of New York’s more mellow neighbourhoods, we headed south to Brooklyn for a view of the city’s most famous bridges. Manhattan Bridge is one of New York’s iconic scenes and (according to those knowledgeable of these things) trend-setting in its construction; while Brooklyn Bridge (the city’s oldest) is a magnet for tourists and couples. Back on the other side in Lower Manhattan, we found Chinatown decked in banners and covered in confetti with a parade to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

For culture, we enjoyed an opulent performance of Rigoletto at the Met, Verdi’s despondent tale transported to a sleazy (but beautifully realised) casino in Las Vegas. The glamour of the opera house itself – complete with individual surtitles and moveable chandeliers – was almost as striking as the production. The next evening, our queuing in the cold was rewarded with a coveted seat inside the aptly named Smalls jazz club. It felt pretty touristy given its renown in the jazz world (according to Time Out at least), but we enjoyed the bold percussion of the Bill Goodwin Trio.

We had plans to explore at least one of New York’s many galleries, but we so enjoyed wandering along different streets that instead we stumbled across the Strand Bookstore. Founded in 1928, it’s widely considered New York’s finest independent bookshop – and with (at last count) over 23 miles of books, it’s certainly the largest. We could have spent hours exploring! If it weren’t for our baggage allowance, we would have taken home a pile of ‘books by the foot’.

To be honest, though, the focus of our trip was the food, the highlight being a tasting menu at Grammercy Tavern. A beautifully presented dish of smoked sturgeon and caviar was followed by roasted duck; hakurei turnips preceded winter citrus parsnips and ricotta cavatelli. We also enjoyed our vegetarian Korean meal on the floor at Hangawi, the varied eateries at the Greenwich Market, and a delicious brunch at several cafes and coffee bars.

Our first American long weekend did not disappoint. We think of Toronto as a vibrant and diverse city – and it is – but New York is on a different level: its energy is palpable, its size incomprehensible, its manifold cultures immediately apparent in its noises, fashion and food. The city’s opulence is diminished by its poverty, the golden decadence of its skyscrapers a painful contrast to the beggars on its creaking transit system. But for its sheer vivacity, there’s no question in our minds that New York deserves its reputation as an icon of the world.