WHAT’S NEW IN NEW YORK CITY
- The City That Never Sleeps is Swinging with Hot New Hotels, Cool Attractions and More -
Always tempting, the Big Apple cranks up the volume in 2006 with a dizzying array of new rooms, global cuisine, breathtaking attractions, blockbuster Broadway shows, exceptional exhibitions and, of course, incomparable shopping. André Balaz, Mario Batali, Santiago Calatrava, Phil Collins, Harry Connick, Jr., Elton John, Queen Mary 2, Masaharu Morimoto, Edvard Munch, Gordon Ramsay, Julia Roberts, Lord Richard Rogers, Ian Schrager and William Wegman are just a few names making noise in New York City this coming year.
A record 41 million visitors took a bite out of the Big Apple in 2005, with 6.7 million international guests making the World’s Second Home the top destination in the United States for overseas visitors. The demand for New York continues to climb with a sharp increase in international travel anticipated. With nearly 5,000 new and renovated rooms on track, the planet’s most exhilarating destination is set to welcome the world.
New Hotels Inspire Extended Play
Fueled by record visitor volume, a thriving economy, and significant additions to the tourism product, New York City is adding nearly 5,000 new hotel rooms to its current inventory of 70,639 by the end of 2007.
Properties under development represent exciting new trends in New York City’s accommodations product such as chic budget, sophisticated boutique, and comfortable value-priced hotels. Expansion patterns show the strength of downtown Manhattan, Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens as visitor destinations with 18 properties slated for construction or renovation. New hotels will welcome guests with unique services and amenities including: luxurious spa services, rooftop lounges and pool areas offering spectacular skyline views and stylish restaurants.
In addition to new properties from the Marriott, Hilton and Starwood brands, celebrity hoteliers including Andre Balaz (The Standard), Ian Schrager (Gramercy Park Hotel), Jason Pomeranc (6 Columbus Circle and to be named Allen Street), Vikram Chatwal (The Night Hotel) and Robert De Niro (The Downtown Hotel) are investing in New York City’s thriving tourism product. New York City is expected to close 2005 with an 86% occupancy rate and 22 million room nights booked, an increase of one million over 2004.
Smooth Sailing for NYC Cruises
The Big Apple continues its distinguished maritime tradition of bringing the most magnificent passenger ships into New York harbor from European origins and distant ports in the Americas. Today, New York City serves as a homeport to ships from the Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Seabourn, Crystal, Norwegian, Radison SS and the Silver Seas cruise lines including Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2. With itineraries to Bermuda, Canada, New England, Europe, the Caribbean and around the world, New York City is now a year-round cruise port that will welcome more than 1 million passengers in 2006 and is gearing up to welcome 1.3 million annually by 2010.
In April 2004, New York City announced its Cruise Industry Master Plan which includes long term agreements with Norwegian Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines, a city investment of $150 million to modernize and renovate the New York Cruise Terminal in Manhattan and create an additional berth on the Brooklyn waterfront along Red Hook’s historic piers to meet the growing demand of the booming cruise industry in New York City. The new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal will be home to the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2, scheduled for ten transatlantic crossings from Southampton in 2006.
New York City Builds for Tomorrow’s Visitor
New York City meetings already break attendance records and with the planned expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (655 West 34th Street, 212-216-2186, www.javitscenter.com) in progress New York City is gearing up to book new business. In September, the Richard Rogers Partnership along with FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS, PC and A. Epstein and Sons International were selected to design plans for the expansion and renovation convention center. The expansion is expected to increase convention space to more than one million square feet, grow exhibit space, add meeting rooms and boost ballroom square footage. A 1,500 room headquarters hotel is also planned.
In Lower Manhattan, redevelopment is underway with the 52-story 7 World Trade Center set for completion this year, a memorial plan, the cornerstone for the Freedom Tower in place and a new state-of-the-art transit center under construction. Currently in the planning stages, the three-level memorial, Reflecting Absence, was designed by Architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker in conjunction with Associate Architect Max Bond. The 1,776-foot Freedom Tower is expected to open in 2010 and feature 2.6 million square-feet of office space, a rooftop restaurant and observation deck.
The World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, will be home to the New Jersey PATH trains, connect to 11 subway lines via the Fulton Street Transit Center and link pedestrians to the World Financial Center and Hudson River ferry terminals through an underground concourse and, possibly, a direct rail link to JFK International Airport. The first phase, a permanent WTC PATH station, is expected to open in 2006. Construction on the Fulton Street Transit Center began in 2005 with initial plans for the space including retail shops, restaurants and public balconies. The grand opening is scheduled for 2007.
This summer architect Frank Gehry revealed plans for the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards development which includes 16 new commercial, residential and office buildings and a basketball arena for the Nets. The planned arena would rise from a platform constructed over the Long Island Rail Road yards on Atlantic Avenue, and create a vibrant 24-hour district in downtown Brooklyn.
Both of New York’s major league baseball teams will soon be hitting homeruns out of new stadiums. After 83 years of baseball in the House that Ruth Built, plans are in the works to build a new Yankee Stadium (718-293-4300, www.yankees.com) adjacent to the current site. The new facility is slated to open in time for the 2009 baseball season and will be the catalyst for extensive redevelopment in the south Bronx including a new waterfront park an esplanade along the Harlem River and renovation of the Bronx Terminal Market. In Queens, plans are underway to build a new stadium for the Mets (718-565-4305, www.mets.com). The stadium will seat 45,000 and is scheduled to open in 2010.
Blending landscape architecture and urban design, plans for the High Line (www.thehighline.org) on Manhattan’s west side will bring an elevated pastoral oasis to one of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods. Once a bustling elevated railway, the High Line sits 30 feet above the street just west of 10th Avenue extending from Gansevoort Street in Manhattan's Meatpacking District through West Chelsea to the Hudson Yards. Construction on the High Line open space is set to begin this year and will welcome the public in 2008. Once completed, the High Line will have public seating areas and walking trails offering spectacular views of the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline.
Transportation Improvements on the Fast Track
Visitors are finding AirTrain’s traffic-free service to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airports increasingly valuable, with ridership increasing by 59% from JFK to midtown since opening in 2004. The JFK AirTrain is a light-rail system that links the airport to New York’s subways and the Long Island Railroad. Newark AirTrain connects with NJ Transit commuter and Amtrak regional trains and takes travelers to airline terminals, rental car facilities, hotel shuttles and central parking lots for a $5 fare.
Train riders will soon benefit from a new 400,000-square-foot Penn Station transit hub, with the majestic James A. Farley General Post Office as the centerpiece. Plans for the Beaux Arts building across the street from the station on Eighth Avenue, include restoration of the steel and glass atrium rising 75 feet above the roof, restaurants, shops and a hub Amtrak, Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit. The new station will accommodate the increase in commuters and restore yet another of New York City’s many architectural treasures.
Phase one of a new American Airlines terminal opened in July 2005, with a completed terminal set to open in 2007 that will feature a new baggage and security system, a new Customs and Border Patrol facility, as well as two new Admiral Clubs. Construction on a new 26-gate JetBlue Airways terminal also began last summer. The new facility will be housed in the landmark TWA terminal and will feature an area designed by David Rockwell, whose past works include W Hotels and Nobu, the notable downtown sushi restaurant.
Appetite for the Big Apple
New York City will welcome more than 60 new restaurants in the next year, adding more than 5,000 restaurant seats to a city that already has at least a million. The outstanding arrivals showcase the quality, variety and hospitality of New York City dining.
Two classic New York City restaurants reopen their doors after extensive renovations and relocations. Le Cirque, formerly Le Cirque 2000, is slated to open at a new location in 2006 at 58th St. and Lexington. The new restaurant will include a main dining room, a wine bar, a lounge and private dining rooms on two levels. The Waldorf=Astoria’s Peacock Alley (301 Park Avenue, 212-355-3000, www.waldorfastoria.com) restaurant reopened November 1 after a $5.5 million dollar renovation. This classic restaurant, first opened in the 1960s, is lead by Cedric Tovar as executive chef.
Downtown, Famed Iron Chefs Mario Batali and Masaharu Morimoto will battle it out in the red-hot Meatpacking District as they each open a new restaurant on 10th Avenue. Batali’s Del Posto (85 10th Ave.) has a high-end classic Italian menu and a luxurious dining room. Across the street, Morimoto’s namesake restaurant Morimoto (88 10th Ave.) is in a 12,000 square-foot space designed by Tadao Ando. Also downtown, Ninja New York (25 Hudson St., 212-274-8500, www.ninjanewyork.com) is a new $3.5 million labyrinth of a restaurant designed to replicate a mountain village. Waiters in traditional ninja dress will serve food that fuses Japanese and international cuisine.
Cultural Collection Climbing
New museum openings and renovations of New York City icon are adding to New York City’s already impressive cultural collection. In Brooklyn, plans are under way for the development of the Theatre for a New Audience. The 299-seat performing arts facility, designed by Frank Gehry and Hugh Hardy, will be located in the emerging Brooklyn Academy of Musical Cultural District and is expected to house 15-20 cultural organizations. Little ones can experience the new Jewish Children’s Museum (332 Kingston Ave., 718-468-0600, www.jcmonline.org), featuring interactive exhibitions and educational programming.
In a landmark move, Robert Redford will bring an outpost of his legendary Sundance Film Festival to Brooklyn in May 2006. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (30 Lafayette Avenue, 718-636-4100 www.bam.org), the Sundance Institute will host a series of film screenings, performances, panel discussions, and special events that bring the activities of Sundance Film Festival to New York audiences. Screenings will include the best new dramatic and documentary feature films from the January 2006 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The Brooklyn festival will be called Creative Latitude because Brooklyn and Park City sit at the same spot horizontally on the globe – 40.6 degrees north.
In Queens, the Museum of the Moving Image (35th Avenue at 36th St., 718-784-4520, www.movingimage.us) will double in size as well as add a new outdoor theater by spring 2007. On Staten Island, progress is being made on the National Lighthouse Museum (One Lighthouse Plaza, 718-556- 1681, www.lighthousemuseum.org), which will include a lightship, waterfront restaurant, park, esplanade and the restoration of surrounding landmark buildings when it opens later this year.
Opening in late 2006, National Sports Museum (212-837-7950, www.thesportsmuseum.com) will be the first-ever major comprehensive museum dedicated to sports. The museum, located in Lower Manhattan, will be the permanent home of college football’s highest honor, the Heisman Trophy.
The only scholarly museum celebrating art and the Bible in the United States, Museum of Biblical Arts (1865 Broadway, 212-408-1500, www.mobia.org), opened in spring 2005. This unique museum offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the original context, meaning, and function of religious art in both the Christian and Jewish faiths.
Manhattan’s Lower East Side will welcome the first new art museum building to be constructed in downtown Manhattan in over a century when the New Museum of Contemporary Art (235 Bowery, 212-219-1222, www.newmuseum.org) opens in late 2007. This new seven-story, 60,000 square foot building will replace the existing museum facility, and will house a 188-seat theater, classrooms, a library and rooftop terraces overlooking the cityscape.
Last month architects unveiled design plans for a $60 million renovation of the building at 2 Columbus Circle that will be the new home for the Museum of Arts and Design (212-956-3535, www.madmuseum.org). Set for completion in 2008, the 54,000 square-foot building will have floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground floor and the upper floors will feature thin, zigzagged windows cut out of the structure’s iridescent terracotta and glass exterior.
The National Cartoon Museum, formerly the International Museum of Cartoon Art, will get a new home in one of New York’s most famous visitor attractions—the Empire State Building. Slated for completion in 2006, the new 15,000 square-foot museum will house the world’s largest collection of cartoon art with more than 200,000 original cartoons, 10,000 books and 1,000 hours of animation.
After undergoing a three-year renovation and expansion, the Morgan Library (29 East 36th Street, 212-685-0610, www.morganlibrary.org) is set to reopen in April 2006. The $102 million project will double the exhibition space for the Library’s world-renowned collections and create a number of meeting spaces including a 280-seat performance hall, a reading room and a central court in the style of an Italian piazza. New visitor amenities will include a gift shop and two new cafes.
This summer construction will begin on a major renovation of Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall (1941 Broadway, 212-875-5050, www.lincolncenter.org) that will feature a three-story all-glass lobby, an information kiosk and an outdoor grandstand that will serve as a pre-show gathering area. The renovation will add 20,000 square feet to the performance hall with completion expected in the fall of 2008. This will be the first major piece of the center's $500 million transformation which includes plans for a restaurant with a grass roof, a new entrance for Juilliard and a redesign of Damrosch Park.
This spring more than 25 cultural institutions from Manhattan’s Upper West Side will host the inaugural Upper West Fest (www.upperwestfest.com), a two-week festival celebrating the unique visual and performing arts institutions located from west 59th-116th Streets. The festival will feature more than 50 diverse performances highlighting the cultural gems of this neighborhood.
World’s Best Entertainment
The stage is set for a spectacular 2006 with electrifying new Broadway productions. This spring, the songs of “The Man in Black,” country music legend Johnny Cash, come to life in Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical Show and Harry Connick, Jr. makes his Broadway theatrical debut in the eagerly awaited revival of The Pajama Game; Tarzan, Disney’s newest family sensation swings onto Broadway in March with the music of Phil Collins; In April, legendary songwriters Elton John and Bernie Taupin launch the production of Anne Rice’s Lestat; A Tale of Two Cities and a star-studded cast will bow in the revival of Threepenny Opera. Later in 2006, Mary Poppins will fly onto Broadway in a stage adaptation of the classic Disney film.
Currently packing the house are The Odd Couple (Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 West 47th Street, 212-307-4100) starring Broadway’s dynamic duo Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and Monty Python’s Spamalot, (Shubert Theatre, 225 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200), with the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail.
Music fans are flocking to the new Nokia Theater, a 2,100-seat state-of-the-art venue in the heart of Times Square. Opened in October 2005, this $21 million theater features seven distinct sections, none more than 100 feet from the front of the stage, and stadium style seating in the upper mezzanine. Cirque du Soleil will debut its latest show, Corteo, in New York City beginning in April 2006 at Randall’s Island Park combining the craft of the actor with the prowess of the acrobat and plunging audiences into a world of playfulness and spontaneity.
Rock fans rejoiced this summer as Times Square welcomed the new Hard Rock Café (1501 Broadway, 212-343-3355, www.hardrock.com) a 708-seat restaurant featuring an 1,800 square-foot Rock Shop with authentic merchandise and a live concert venue for performances and special events. The café also features rock 'n' roll memorabilia from Hard Rock's unmatched collection, including artists with New York ties, such as John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, The Ramones and Bruce Springsteen. In fall 2006, the Hard Rock Café empire will expand with the opening of the 610-room Hard Rock Hotel.
The first completed phase of a multi-million dollar renovation of the Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street, 212-531-5300, www.apollotheater.com) was unveiled in December 2005. The restorations include a fully refurbished terracotta façade, a stainless steel and glass storefront, a new box office and a high-tech marquee with programmable LED visuals. Subsequent phases of the renovation will include refurbishing the auditorium, administrative offices and theater lobby with the entire project slated for completion by 2009.
Superlative Shopping Experience
Bloomingdale’s (1000 Third Ave., 212-705-2000, www.bloomingdales.com) has introduced the ultimate in luxury shopping experiences with a brand new in-store Visitors Center. The state-of-the-art space will offer a refuge from the energetic shopping floors and unmatched concierge services designed for visitors.
Brides-to-be travel from near and far to buy wedding dresses at Kleinfeld (110 West 20th Street, 212-352-2180, www.kleinfeldbridal.com). This venerable institution moved into a new location in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in July 2005 and features the world’s largest selection of wedding dresses from American and European designers. Also new to the Kleinfeld company is Kleinfeld Bridesmaids’ Loft (270 W. 38th St., 212-398-5255) where bridesmaids can find almost 400 samples in every style, size, shape and fabric from some of the world’s leading designers.
The world’s largest Build-A-Bear Workshop (565 Fifth Ave., 212-871-7080, www.buildabear.com) recently opened and offers visitors a unique interactive shopping destination where kids can make their own stuffed animal friends and personalize them with hundreds of fashion items and accessories. Build-A-Bear joins other retail family experience destinations American Girl Place (609 Fifth Ave., 877-AGPLACE, www.americangirl.com) which offers live musical theater, a café, doll hair salon and special events, the interactive World of Disney (5th Ave. at 55th St., 212-702-0702, www.worldofdisney.com) with Cinderella’s Princess Court, Goofy’s Candy Company and a multi-media zone and the newly reopened FAO Schwarz (767 Fifth Ave., 212-644-9400, www.fao.com).
Attractions Scaling New Heights
Visitors to New York City can set their sights on a number of unique destination tours and an array of both new and improved attractions. In the Bronx, the Bronx Zoo (2300 Southern Blvd., 718-367-1010, www.bronxzoo.com) opened a new year-round Butterfly Garden and the New York Botanical Garden (200th St. at Kazimiroff Blvd., 718-817-8700, www.nybg.org) launched the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, two $24.6 million advanced growing facilities that are considered the most sophisticated behind-the-scenes greenhouses at any botanical garden in the nation.
Top of the Rock (30 Rockefeller Plaza, www.rockefellercenter.com) observation deck at legendary Rockefeller Center opened November 1, 2005 and offers visitors spectacular 360-degree views of the city from a unique vantage point—atop of the 70-story GE Building. The observation deck, first opened to the public in 1933, has been redeveloped into a 55,000 square-foot, multi-level complex with state-of-the-art features such as reserved-time tickets, multi-media exhibits, a completely indoor viewing area, and brand-new transparent, safety glass panels that will allow completely unobstructed open-air views of prominent landmarks.
Plans are the in the works to open a water park on Randall’s Island offering 26 acres of wave pools, water slides and an indoor beach club. Once approved, groundbreaking will be this summer with an opening date scheduled for 2007.
New York City at Your Service
A number of new enhancements and services are making it easier than ever before to explore New York City. In May 2005, Gray Line New York Sightseeing (212-445-0848, www.graylinenewyork.com) introduced The History Channel’s Official New York Heritage tour, a new daily, hop on and off trolley tour that takes visitors on a journey through time as it visits many famous New York City sites. Guides in period costume relive illustrious New York moments such as George Washington bidding farewell to his officers during the Revolutionary War.
In October, the unveiling of a new Staten Island cell phone walking tour, information center at Whitehall Terminal, three state-of-the-art new ferry boats and a major renovation to the ferry terminal marked the 100th Anniversary of the Staten Island Ferry.
Another new service aimed cell phone aficionados is My NYC Nite, a dial-a-directory of New York City nightlife. By dialing 212-201-2007 callers can find bars, lounges and clubs by name or by specific neighborhood. The directory gives the name, address, cross street and phone number making it simple for night owls to bar hop with ease.
In partnership with the History Channel and the City of New York, NYC & Company opened the NYC Heritage Tourism Center in historic City Hall Park (Broadway at Park Row, 212-484-1222, www.nycvisit.com) in July 2005. The center will serve as the central location for detailed information on history-themed tours, and activities and events for historical sites throughout the City. Located at the crossroads of New York City History the new center replaces the previous tourism information kiosk in lower Manhattan.
