Good questions for us Yorkers, whats your limit on traveling? I realized I only gone past 86 street twice, once to go to the bronx,and 125 for the airport.
Well my geographic travel distance goes from where I am at (Washington Heights) up to 225th street in The Bronx, and practically all of Manhattan down to Broadway Nassau. I rarely if ever go out to Brooklyn or Queens because I have no reason to do so. As I previously said though, I love Union Square for how relaxed it is compared to crappy ass Times Square. Not to mention, the tons of attractive women that walk by there every day.
Okay, so I've lived in NYC for 20 years now, but yesterday was the first time I ever visited Fort Tryon Park, and more importantly, The Cloisters.
HOLY FUCK
How is this not one of the premiere tourist attractions in the city? HOW? I'm not saying that I'd like it to be since walking around the beautiful premises in solitude was quite the surreal experience, but I'm just amazed that this wonderful land and museum have gone virtually unnoticed compared to most other attractions. The park itself is absolutely gorgeous, with breathtaking views of the Palisades and the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge. You really don't feel like you're in NYC anymore when you're there. But The Cloisters... oh my! This is one of the most amazing "museums" I've been to. I use that term loosely because it's one of the least obnoxious museums I've been to. That is, you feel like you're visiting a real, occupied castle. It's not littered with signs and shit: if you see an area or room or staircase, you're probably allowed to walk it. It was a riveting experience. I got there 20 minutes before closing on a weekday and was virtually the only person there. I had the entire castle to myself basically, and roamed the basements, the top floors, the treasure room--all of it--at my own pace.
Just... fuck. What an amazing place.
C'mon man, I mentioned that early in the thread; I live one stop away from there (you guys can figure out what street I live in easily; hint: I see the Hudson River/GWB every day by looking out my window). The annual Medieval festival in early October is not to be missed; it's absolutely fun. The park sure is a beauty. Riverside Park (by where the Little Red Lighthouse is at) is great during the summer as well.
As I said before, Washington Heights/Inwood are extremely underrated compared to the rest of Manhattan. It's Dominican food heaven up here in The Heights; there's so many restaurants that have live bands in the weekends that you don't even know where to begin. If you know how to dance Bachata and Merengue, then it's a +1 for you. There's free concerts up here in the summer, street festivals, and historic places like the Morris Jumel Mansion down in 162nd.
The Heights becomes ridiculously loud in the summer so that might bother some people. There's a reason it's known as the loudest neighborhood in NY, and that's because of the summer.
In terms of a good bar, you can't go wrong with Coogan's on 168th and Broadway. While I've never been there myself, I've heard nothing but good things about it.
I would recommend you guys check out
The Uptown Collective for stuff on what's happening up here. The Manhattan Times is a fantastic community newspaper; I always make sure I pick up a weekly copy. There's so much history up here, I've never realized it and I've lived in Washington Heights forever. The Colosseum Theatre which is in 181st and Broadway used to be a vaudeville theatre from the 1920's up until about the 1960's when the spaces were leased out to retail stores. The (crappy) movie theatre recently closed in November. People are trying to convert it into a community theatre (which would be pretty sweet).