The Highline, New York City

Photo’s are here or you can just click on the photograph above.

Back in Gotham City for 4 days to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary (for the second time this year – the “big” pre-anniversary 25 year celebration was back in June in Bora Bora and Moorea).

Well neither Manhattan nor Brooklyn got any cleaner or any less grungy since we were last there 18 months ago in May 2024! Having said that, if you can ignore the many and varied horrors underfoot on the streets and the hot, steamy purgatory of the subway system you can cover a lot of a ground in 3 full days and visit plenty of very cool iconic places.

We didn’t have time this trip for Central Park, the Freedom Tower, Oculus, the 9/11 Memorial or dangling 1100 feet above the street at Edge (the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere; you’ll have to see our blog from last May for those) but we did have time for some old favorites and to revisit the centre of cool when it comes to street art – the Bushwick Collective in Brooklyn.

We stayed in Hilton Club on West 57th Street as usual at the posh end of town 2 blocks from Central Park. The contrast of wealth and poverty never fails to shock me – the homeless (some of them very obviously strung out on fentanyl) sheltering under cardboard boxes and billionaires in their penthouse suites sharing the same zip codes – but living worlds apart.

We arrived mid-afternoon Friday in time to check-in and head south on the subway to catch the late afternoon light at Little Island between Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. The manmade island park (reclaimed from the ruins of Pier 54) on the Hudson River was positively buzzing with music, people picnicking on the grassy slopes, young parents pushing strollers and tourists taking selfies. It was much quieter mid-week in May than on a balmy Friday evening in September! We had time before dinner to wander over to one of Geoff’s favorite speakeasy bars – Bathtub Gin – hidden behind the facade of Stone Street Coffee Company on 9th Avenue a few blocks from Little Island. A dark and moody 1920’s themed bar with plush velvet sofas and a shiny copper bathtub taking pride of place in the centre of the bar. It’s well worth a trip if you like gin-based cocktails and a more avant-garde experience in the city. You will need reservations, especially on a Friday night. Dinner and cocktails at RH Rooftop Restaurant in the heart of the Meatpacking District was better from memory but still enjoyable. The ambience at sunset in the open-air rooftop seating area with rows of chandeliers twinkling over the tables together with views as far-reaching as the Freedom Tower made up for the food which wasn’t quite up to par especially given the price tag – but hey – this is NYC – you won’t get away with breakfast or lunch under $100 anywhere half decent and dinner with cocktails is 2 to 3 times that 😉

The forecast for our visit was warm and sunny – perfect weather to spend outside soaking up the atmosphere. On Saturday morning we took the subway to York Street, Brooklyn (the subway stop for DUMBO) and strolled down to Almondine Bakery for coffee and croissants (not quite as good as our recollection either!). We meandered down to the East River waterfront for an iconic view of Manhattan from under the Brooklyn Bridge, its traffic thundering overhead, then continued past the beautiful garden oasis of River Cafe. We passed the DUMBO ferry terminal and along the length of Brooklyn Bridge Park Greenway as far as Pier 3 Plaza which we circumnavigated for its views of the city and peaceful flower garden. Too hot to continue on in the midday sun we took the subway back uptown to Hudson Yards for some brief air-conditioned downtime in the huge mall before venturing back into the sunshine. The Vessel was still closed for renovations … is it ever open?!

The High Line runs in the south from Gansevoort Street (close to the Whitney Museum and Little Island) to Hudson Yards. We’ve always walked it south to north but this time we were walking north to south and found ourselves staring into the sun and fighting against the tide of humanity (we’ll never make that mistake again on a sunny Saturday afternoon!). Lesson learned … always go with the flow … and the flow on the High Line definitely moves from the south to the north. We were totally exhausted by the time we battled through the crowds and made it to the south so we stopped in at the small but renowned Fabrique bakery at the intersection of 9th Avenue and West 14th for emergency coffee (really bad), hot chocolate (good) and sandwiches and cakes (all good).

Dinner that night at Israeli restaurant, Acadia, opposite the hotel on West 57th was a lot better than dinner the previous evening at RH Rooftop – although obviously it doesn’t have the view over the city. It is also a 1 minute walk from the hotel which was a considerable bonus after all day trudging through the streets on our feet. The Za’atar potatoes were particularly memorable – as was the roasted onion and mushroom ravioli (so good, in fact, that we canceled pre-arranged reservations elsewhere for the following evening and returned to Acadia after another exhausting day walking the length and breadth of the city).

Sunday started (as it always should if you’re in NYC!) at Sunday in Brooklyn for Sunday Brunch … obviously! It’s a bit of a drag to get out there from the Central Park area. You have to change trains deep in the hot and fetid bowels of the 14th Street subway station to catch the L line out to Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. It is then a 15 minute walk through the hipster hub of Williamsburg avoiding as much as possible the repulsive remnants of the parties the night before splattered liberally across the sidewalks. But it’s definitely worth the effort! Sunday in Brooklyn is fab. It’s trendy as you would expect for the Williamsburg/Brooklyn area (I’m sure we were the oldest people there by 20 years 😉) and if you can get an online reservation (as we did) it will save you an hour waiting in line on the street. The oat milk hot chocolate with toasted marshmallow was to die for as was the avocado toast with chili, watercress and spicy yellow pipirras, and the ricotta and roasted berry brioche with lime and olive oil was sublime. Unsurprisingly, there were also no complaints from Geoff about the (very spicy) Bloody Mary either …

Fully fueled up we walked back to Bedford Avenue station via one of the best murals in the area – “Mona Lisa de Williamsburg” – and got back on the L line heading further east away from Manhattan to the Jefferson Street stop. Here, you emerge into the even more grungy enclave of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Between Troutman Street, Wycoff Avenue, Jefferson Street and the intersection of Troutman Street with Scott Avenue there is a significant collection of impressive street art. The art, some of it by world renowned street artists, has sprung up over the past 13 to 14 years as a result of one local man’s vision to revive his childhood neighborhood which had become an area of rampant crime and grime during his youth in the 1980’s. It’s still undeniably grungy but the art, known as The Bushwick Collective, is brilliant.

Back over on Manhattan we exited the subway in Chinatown – destination: Renew Day Spa – where we collapsed in heaps on the huge reclining armchairs and stuck our feet out for some heavy duty Chinese foot massage. Somewhat revived and peckish we made a final stop in West Village/Greenwich Village for a mid-afternoon snack at Buvette French restaurant. Buvette is exactly what you’d expect to get in the streets of Paris. Excellent food and tiny, supremely uncomfortable wooden seats on the sidewalk designed specifically to encourage patrons not to linger too long 😉. The heirloom tomato salad with cucumber and sweetcorn was divine as was the mushroom “Croque Forestier” – so good, in fact, that we revisited Buvette for breakfast the following day. You should expect a line out of the door whatever time you arrive – it is very well-known and very popular – and you can’t make reservations.

Bright and early on Monday morning we headed south to the subway station at West 4th Street/ Washington Square, wandered back to West Village and bagged the best table on the street at Buvette … the early bird catches the worm . The plan for the day was to avoid spending any more time underground in Gotham and to wander through the centre of Manhattan from neighborhood to neighborhood and park to park. From Buvette in West Village we crossed back towards Washington Square with its iconic Washington Square Arch built to commemorate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. On a Monday morning the park was surprisingly quiet save for a few tables of older gentlemen at the entrance to the park closest to the subway playing chess on plastic tables and fold-up chairs. The centerpiece of the park is a beautiful water fountain. We cut north out of the park on University Place towards Union Square and its famous Greenmarket (which operates every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). There are local farmers, honey producers, bakers and flower stalls – it’s very colorful and definitely worth a visit if scheduling allows. From the Greenmarket we took Broadway towards the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park which was equally peaceful mid-morning on a Monday. We picked up 5th Avenue north walking in the shadow of the Empire State Building towards Bryant Park which is our favorite NYC park. The pristine lawn is flanked by the impressive New York Public Library (the second largest public library in the USA) and Bryant Park Cafe. There are flower-filled gardens and tables and chairs for office workers to enjoy lunch in the sunshine. It is by far the cleanest and most attractive park in the city. The surrounding buildings are iconic – the sweeping white Grace Building skyscraper, the shard-shaped glass skyscraper One Bryant Park/Bank of America Tower and the fabulous historic black brick and gold painted American Radiator Building skyscraper constructed in the 1920’s in the Art Deco/Gothic style. Even if you don’t have time for any other NYC park, you should make time to visit this one to sit and smell the metaphoric roses for a few minutes of tranquility.

A few blocks north of Bryant Park on 5th Avenue is the location of the second Fabrique bakery – good for another emergency mid-afternoon re-fueling stop. In our continued determination not to get back on the subway we decided to continue on foot via Times Square (crazy busy even in the late afternoon). Far better, though, to see it in all of its full technicolor flashing glory at night when the fluorescent colors glow against the black night sky. The highlight of Times Square (😉) was an almost completely naked Country and Western singer strolling the Square. He was strutting his tanned and taut muscly stuff wearing nothing but a pair of cowboy boots and some skintight silver mini-shorts …

A fun long weekend eating, drinking and walking our way across Gotham City celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary!