Monkey Business in the Big Apple

I looked around the lavish setting with big-eyed awe as the barman poured made our cocktails – clear, toffee-colored Manhattans. We had really struggled to find the place. The kind cab driver switched off the meter as he drove us up and down the road until we all simultaneously realized that the unmarked door guarded by heavies was in fact the very place we had been looking for – New York’s iconic Monkey Bar.

Frequented in the forties by the best in business, music and film, falling in and out of disrepair during the following decades and most recently highlighted as the glamorous venue for a date between Carrie and Big in Season Four of Sex and the City; the Monkey Bar has a history to be proud of. This I was well aware of on my maiden trip to New York – a city symbolized by the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park and other impressive landmarks. So trust me to feel like I’ve truly arrived in the city of my dreams only when I’ve had a cocktail in a bar so symbolic of the location. A tad unfortunately, it was too late for there to be many other people around and although we had a good peek, the adjoining restaurant was closed. This all much to my indignation – the city is not supposed to sleep. Ever!

The romance and elegance of a by-gone era is immortalized by jungle jazz murals on the walls, pre-World War II fittings, voluptuous red booths and courtly tuxedoed waiters standing attentively behind the impressive wooden bar. It is a place in which one feels cushioned from the outside world – as if nothing bad could happen and that life really was all about designer ball gowns and sparkly things – and really, why not bring white gloves back?

I have only been to the Monkey Bar once, but I know that I will revisit whenever I return to New York. I will most likely never be a regular in the true, neighborhood sense of the word, yet my visits will be as regular as I can make them. In such a modern, exciting city it is a place that links the present with a more glamorous (and suggestively sordid) time; proof that true style and elegance has never been out of fashion and a testament to the staying power of the art of beautiful cocktails.

New York - the Bucket List (part 2 of 4)

There are things that you have to do at least once in your life, whether you are a visitor or New York native. Here’s my list. If you’re confused as to why there are some obvious gaps (read Central Park) they’ll be included in my do-over-and-over-again as part of a New Yorker lifestyle column next week.

1. Empire State Building

I wasn’t that excited to go up this beautiful building, but went pretty willingly because my husband was so keen on it. Thank goodness. The whole visit was a pleasure – from the organized, swift moving queues to friendly guides, affordable gift shop and of course, the amazing views. Try to visit early in the morning or late at night on a week day for the best views and shortest queuing times.

Insider tip: although the building has 102 floors, the main viewing observatory is on the 86^th. Don’t bother to pay extra to go right to the top: it’s enclosed by scratched glass and the views are no better than outside on the main deck.

2. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

It feels terribly clichéd and touristy to visit them, but these attractions are a huge part of American history, offer great views of Manhattan from afar and provide fantastic photographic opportunities. Catch the inexpensive ferry from Battery Park on the southernmost tip of Manhattan. If you would like to go up to the statue’s crown, an appointment needs to be made in advance, but like us, most visitors are content with looking up at her (she’s weirdly small in real life). As one of the most important gateways to America, Ellis Island Immigration Museum is fascinating and nostalgic, filled with original artefacts and interesting information.

3. Ground Zero site and museum

Ground Zero is not hard to find. A massive construction site filled with cranes and workers, all looking like ants scurrying around in hard hats. However, locating the museum is a little more complicated. Only temporary while the official monument and memorial centre is built, the museum is housed in a narrow unassuming business centre to the south of the site. A must-see to learn about the attacks and the people involved and pay tribute to the lives lost. The information and artefacts that have been collected are incredible and visitors walk around seemingly in a trance, often fighting back tears.

4. Brooklyn Bridge

Linking the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world, built in 1883. Used by cars, pedestrians and cyclists, it makes for a gorgeous 3.6km walk (across and back) on a sunny day. Its history includes jumpers, a shooting, a terrorist plot designed to blow it up and even remnants of a Cold War bunker, discovered in 2006. When walking along the pedestrian path, obey the rules and beware of cyclists

5. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Over 2 000 000 works of art are housed in this grandiose building backing onto Central Park. Once inside visit the areas that interest you most, and be prepared to get lost – the interior is a maze of hallways and galleries. Highlight tours are offered for those who want a good summary of the collection and to cut out the wandering-aimlessly-while-lost feeling.

6. The Rockefeller Centre

You are sure to have seen this on TV, as it consists of Radio City Music Hall, Winter Ice Rink and Christmas Tree, shopping malls and is home to shows such as 30 Rock which we had the privilege to see being shot live – Tracey Jordan just an arm’s length away!

7. Times Square

Noisy, busy, full of Midwestern tourists and exploitative gimmicks, this is a place that’s largely left to visitors. Although some people love going there on New Year’s Eve, I would give it a very wide berth on the busiest night of the year. You still have to see it, though. Watch out for pickpockets (and more recent car-contained bombs) and ignore the exorbitant tourist prices – there are better places to shop. Great place for discount theatre tickets!

New York - Part One of Four

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www.thesoapbox.fm/2010/04/28/new-york-part-one-%E2%80%9Cthe-lights-will-inspire-you%E2%80%9D/


As I write I can see the two black and white photos of New York on my desk –one of the Empire State and surrounding buildings, the other my own picture of a sign at the intersection between Broadway and Wall Streets – the American Flag hanging proudly above the entrance to the Stock Exchange behind it. Should I minimize the numerous pages I have open on my laptop, I can daydream in front of my background –a colourful picture of Central Park and the Upper West Side on a sunny day, the Hudson River in the background. Clearly, I’m in an “Empire State of Mind".

The appeal of New York can be surprisingly hard to pin down when you really try to explain it, although many have attempted to. Carrie Bradshaw, of Sex and the City fame, mused “They say life’s what happens when you’re busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you’re waiting for a table.” Writer Thomas Wolfe reckoned that “One belongs to New York instantly; one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years” and both Frank Sinatra and JZ agree that “If [you] can make it there, [you’ll] make it anywhere”. They’re all right, you know. Life is at its most exciting in the Big Apple. I feel like it’s mine and that its millions of inhabitants and I all belong. To be successful in New York is to have truly made it.

In the industries of fashion, music, art and stage, New York is the centre of the cultural universe, where the best of anything in the world, some of the most interesting, exciting and talented people and 3.00am pizza delivery can all be found inside a small island – the total area of Manhattan amounting to just 58 square kilometres.

There are many companies offering tours of New York, and if you’ve never been, these could be useful. But the amazing thing about visiting the city is that sightseeing is at its best (and cheapest) when just wandering around. Unlike other cities with big, trademark attractions, the city of New York is the main attraction.

Gear up for a virtual tour over the next few weeks, as I take you through my “New York Bucket List” which includes all the attractions you have to see at least once, the food and party scene, the fashion arena and general New Yorker lifestyle. As I write, I’ll be dreaming about the city more than ever, saving for another trip and hatching a plan to live and work there.