Autumn in New York

Last week I got an email from one of my best friends asking for recommendations for her colleagues who were coming to NYC for the weekend.  The couple had been here before and had already visited many of the standard, first-time tourist destinations.  It was looking to be a perfect autumn weekend, weather wise, so I wrote back a list of mostly outdoor stops that are tried and true favorites among New Yorkers and tourists alike.  By the time I finished the email, I felt almost envious of their trip.  It was a good reminder to branch out from my usual destinations and revisit some of my favorite place in Manhattan.

1.  The Met Rooftop  Whether you have time to visit the full museum or not, a trip up to its roof is always worth it.  It’s open from May to late fall and has a new installation each year.  There’s also a little cafe, so you can get a bite to eat and have a drink while overlooking Central Park.

2.  The Highline Park is converted old rail lines turned into a blocks long walkway with awesome landscaping and interesting stopping points along the way.  It really never gets old.

3. Cafe Sabarsky is a lovely Viennese cafe inside the Neue Galerie.  I went there for the first time the afternoon of my 30th birthday, after a visit to the Guggenheim Museum.  It was pretty idyllic to start the celebration.

4.  The Union Square Farmers Market is simply nice to walk through, whether it be for people watching, shopping or both.

5.  I’d lived in NYC for years before I ate at the Central Park Boathouse.  Regardless of whether you actually go inside, it is a beautiful little spot.  I can go ages without going into Central Park, which always seems criminal once I finally get there.

6. I often feel an overwhelming need to get to water.  One of my favorite destinations for this is Battery Park.  On the other side of the World Financial Center there is a little marina, lots of places to sit and from certain points you can see the Statue of Liberty (which still seems smaller than I think it will each time I see it).