"I've been to New York six times and I'm still not done with it. This trip I used Rovago to plan differently — less Manhattan, more outer boroughs. Day one started in Astoria, Queens, for Greek coffee and spanakopita at a bakery that's been there since 1974. Then the N train to the High Line and the Whitney Museum, then down to the West Village for dinner. The plan was geographically perfect — I covered a lot of ground without crossing the city twice."
"The views debate is settled for me: the Top of the Rock beats the Empire State Building, and the Edge at Hudson Yards beats both for pure drama (you're standing on a glass platform 335 metres above the street). I booked the Edge through Klook and went at dusk — the city going from gold to neon below you is something I'll remember for a long time. Sunset tickets sell out days ahead so book early."
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"Eating in New York is the sport. Bagels from Absolute Bagels on the Upper West Side (the line moves fast, cash only, the everything bagel with lox is non-negotiable). Pizza by the slice from Di Fara in Midwood, Brooklyn — 45 minute wait, $7 a slice, worth every cent. Chopped cheese from a deli in Harlem. The city's best food is almost never in a restaurant with a reservation — it's at a counter, eaten standing up, wrapped in paper."
"Brooklyn deserves two full days. Williamsburg for the vintage shops and the waterfront view of Manhattan across the East River. DUMBO for the cobblestone streets and the Manhattan Bridge framed perfectly at Washington Street. Prospect Park (bigger than Central Park and half as crowded). The Brooklyn Museum on a Friday evening when it's free and half the neighbourhood comes out. A walking food tour of Brooklyn is the single best introduction to the borough."
"Hotels in Manhattan are expensive by any measure — budget on $200/night minimum for anything decent below 96th Street. I used Expedia to compare and ended up at a clean 3-star in Midtown West, about 8 minutes walk from Times Square (which you visit once and never return to). The alternative is a well-reviewed hostel in the Lower East Side or a short-term apartment in Brooklyn via the usual platforms."
"My last evening I sat on the Staten Island Ferry at dusk — free, runs every 30 minutes, the best view of the Manhattan skyline on earth, and nobody there except commuters going home. The Statue of Liberty slides past on your left. The whole lower Manhattan skyline is in front of you. I had a beer from a can in a paper bag like a local and felt, briefly, like I lived there. That ferry ride is the secret New York has been keeping for decades. Life is too short for average trips. Let Rovago craft your perfect itinerary and go explore."
