A trip to the second greatest city in the world
A few weeks before writing this article, I created a small poll among my followers on Instagram to determine the greatest city in the world. I first asked the question openly and the four cities mentioned the most were put to a final poll.
Around 200 people told me their favorite city and the four most frequently named cities were New York, Tokyo, Istanbul and London. In that order, with New York and Tokyo being mentioned equally often. It was no surprise to me that New York, Tokyo and London were in the top 4. However, I would not necessarily have expected Istanbul.
Of course, I didn’t ask this question for no reason at all. It was a little warm-up for my trip to New York. Although I’ve been to the USA before, I’ve never made it to its biggest city. And since I have already been to 159 countries but not to New York, I also found that fact a bit embarrassing. After all, it seemed that practically everyone had already been to New York. It was time to close this educational gap.
But back to the poll. I actually expected New York to win the final round. But Tokyo did. Over 500 people voted and 158 of them chose Tokyo. That was 8 votes more than for New York, which came second. That meant it was time for me to travel to the – according to this poll – second greatest city in the world.
New York was also the starting point for a trip that would take me to Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Does it make sense to combine these places with New York? Not really. They are not even countries on the same continent.
However, I found dirt-cheap flights from New York to Guyana and took advantage of the opportunity to finally visit the Big Apple, while going to new countries. At the same time, I have to admit that my anticipation for the three Guianas was at best moderate. So, I wanted to add at least one cool destination to this trip.
Therefore, together with Kati I spent the first four days of this trip in America’s largest city. It was mid-November, so from a weather point of view, it was a bit of a gamble. But because of my gamble in November 2022, when I booked Mont Saint-Michel and had sunshine and 18°C the entire weekend, I was daring. Spoiler: it paid off this time too.
I don’t want to go through all the activities I did in New York day by day, as that would go beyond the scope of this article and there is plenty of “best things to do in New York” content on the internet. In the end, I visited plus minus the same places that most tourists do in New York. Instead, I’ll jump to the conclusion. Is New York the second best city in the world? Or even the best? After all, I’ve already been to Tokyo and can compare the two cities.
First of all, New York is a fantastic city, there should be no two opinions about that. The city has so much to offer that you could spend weeks there and still have something new to discover every day.
The sights alone require a certain number of days. I managed to see the city’s main attractions in four days. However, it was a bit of a rush. While we were lucky with the weather, I hadn’t taken into account that sunset in November is at 4.40 pm. The days were therefore short and we had to push ourselves.
This means, for example, that we only spent an hour in Central Park or an hour in DUMBO. You could easily spend half a day in both places. In the end, however, the fear of missing out was too strong. So I thought better to see the places in a rush than not at all.
To see everything at a more relaxed pace, I would probably have needed an extra day or two. And of course… we’ve now focused on the most important attractions. There would have been plenty of other things worth seeing.
My highlights? Seeing New York from above. Whether it’s the Top of the Rock, the Empire State Building, The Edge or a helicopter ride, seeing the city from above is a tremendous experience.
Which one was the best? Good question. All the viewing platforms were good, but the helicopter ride topped it all. Highly recommended if you’re in New York. At 200 USD, it doesn’t cost quite as much as you might expect by New York standards.
I also found the tour of the UN headquarters, the Brooklyn Bridge at night, DUMBO and the High Line interesting.
The Musem of the Modern Art was not my thing. In fact, we went to see the AI exhibition but missed it by a week. Apart from that, I asked myself why I see Picasso-paintings in a museum of the modern art. I also found seeing the Statue of Liberty with the commuter ferry kind of lame. Somehow I was also a little disappointed by the 9/11 Memorial, but don’t ask me why. I just didn’t find the exhibition that exciting.
But New York is also interesting without the sights. For example, if you just walk through the streets of Manhattan and experience the vibe of the metropolis. The grid-like design and the numbered streets make Manhattan super-easy to navigate. Manhattan is also pedestrian-friendly and, despite its size, is very easy to explore on foot.
At the same time, New York City also offers plenty of entertainment such as sport (NBA, NFL, NHL etc.), the Broadway, stand-up comedy, nightlife and much more. The city is not called the city that never sleeps for nothing.
All of this fell a little short on our trip. Most of the time, we were simply too tired in the evening to do anything. Besides, some of these things cost a fortune. A UFC show was happening in the Madison Square Garden during our stay. The cheapest tickets cost $850…
New York is also an extraordinary city when it comes to food, you will find simply everything here. Forget the many hot dog stands that are aimed solely at tourists. You have a huge choice of restaurants. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could find every cuisine in the world just in Manhattan.
There are New York originals such as Katz’s Delicatessen, where you have to queue for 45-90 minutes for a simple pastrami sandwich and pay almost 30 dollars for it – without tip! But you know what? It’s worth it! Besides, according to a man from Brooklyn we met while queuing, it’s the only place in New York that is equally frequented by tourists and locals.
Apart from that, New York is a real metropolis, a big city where there is something new to discover every day. Of course, it’s also a concrete jungle and if you don’t like cities (there are actually people like that), you probably won’t like New York either.
However, all that glitters is not gold. Because let’s be honest… as much as New York has to offer, the city is also a shithole.
I already knew from other people’s stories that New York has a third-world character to some extent. But I always assumed that this was limited to places like Queens and that Manhattan was fancy. But that wasn’t the case. Manhattan was just as much a shithole.
What I mean by that exactly: the city is dirty and run-down in places, there are a lot of homeless and crazy people. Of course, there are crazy individuals in every big city, but I found that the number in New York was significantly higher than elsewhere.
At the same time, New York’s infrastructure is crap. An unpleasant-smelling steam comes up from the sewers, which has to do with the city’s heating system. I know these “steaming” streets from movies. I always thought it was a special effect to make the city look a little more mystical. Just to find out that this is the reality.
What’s more, some of the streets in Manhattan are like those you would see in a big African city. And when I say that, I hope that the inhabitants of Luanda, where I was a month before, don’t take it as an insult. Not a big thing, but just not what I expected to see in a city like New York.
But many things in New York seem to be getting on in years. Compared to cities like Dubai, Singapore or Shanghai, the skyline also looks… well, like it’s from the last millennium. 🙂 And don’t even get me started on JFK Airport, this airport is embarrassing for a city like New York.
New York is also busy, but not in the sense of Ho Chi Minh City or Bangkok. By busy, I mean that people seem to be stressed. During our stay, we saw people yelling at each other on the street because they weren’t moving fast enough. Some people also bumped into us because we were standing in their way. We had a few of these situations during our stay, which is why I wondered whether the inhabitants of New York were happy with their lives.
And last but not least: New York is expensive as shit. Everything here costs so much that I wonder how the people who don’t have white collar jobs can afford it. All in all, New York was about as expensive as Switzerland, considered by many to be the most expensive country in the world.
However, you shouldn’t let that put you off, because New York is still amazing. Or you could simply say that quality has its price.
So, what’s the bottom line? Is New York the second best city in the world? Maybe even the best? I would answer at least the second question with no. However, New York is definitely a top 10 city for me. And since I haven’t seen too many cities in North America yet, I would definitely call New York the best city on the continent. Even on both Americas.
In my survey, Tokyo was voted the best city and in a direct comparison, I would also choose the Japanese capital over New York. For me, Tokyo remains the most interesting metropolis and the best city in the world. I also have the feeling that of those who voted in my poll, more people have been to New York than Tokyo and the result would probably have been even higher among those who know both cities.
But in the end, it’s also a matter of taste. New York was undoubtedly great and I will certainly go there again. I’m also glad to have finally been back to the United States after seven years. It probably won’t be the last time before I reach 197.
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