New York is the world’s most exciting city for me but it’s definitely not cheap. In addition to the flight ticket, one can easily spend a fortune on lodging. The good news is that once there, we don’t need deep wallets to enjoy the brilliant opportunities the city offers. Food doesn’t cost a bomb and there is no shortage of free sights and events. Here are ten examples on how to enjoy New York without digging deep into our wallets.
Visit the cellar where the gold bars are stored
I always wanted to see a big pile of gold bars. Unfortunately you cannot do that in New York but at least we can descend into the cellars of the Federal Reserve Bank where you are as close to the gold reserves as you can get. The bank’s Italian palace-like building takes up a whole city block and was decorated with 200 tonnes of iron. It wasn’t by chance that they built such a strong bunker since approximately 7000 tonnes of gold is stored here, 20 percent of the world’s gold reserve, worth 360 billion dollars. It must be the largest gold reserve in the world. The only reason we cannot be certain is because the Swiss banks don’t publish their own data on gold.
98 percent of this gold reserve belongs to other countries since the US stores its own not here but in Fort Knox. The 99.8 percent clean gold bars are kept in 122 cages, which are rented each by one country although some rich nations have several storerooms.
The cellar full of gold can be visited by anyone via free guided tours but you need to plan ahead. The tours can be booked online a month in advance and they fill up fast. If you get in, it’s worth checking out the shoes of the employees working with the gold: they wear special magnesium-slippers worth $500 each because it wouldn’t be pleasant if a gold block fell on their toes.
Find out if there were immigrants among our ancestors
In south Manhattan, across the small Bowling Green park stands the large building of the U.S. Customs House. Originally a custom house, now it is home to the National Museum of the American Indian. The National Archive is also housed in this museum and anyone can check for free whether they have relatives among the immigrants to the country or if they are mentioned in some other document. You only have to register at the information counter to start your online research and can freely browse the archived documents in the online database.
Take a picture of the Statue of Liberty on a free boat ride
If you have no time or money to take a boat to the Statue of Liberty with the State Cruises Company specializing in these tourist trips, you can get on the ferry to Staten Island. It leaves from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal’s large, green glass building at the southern corner of Battery Park. You can take great photos of the statue from the ferry totally free, the amusingly cheap 50 cent ferry price was abolished in 1997. This way you do not just save the entry price but also avoid the strict and lengthy security screenings which started a few years ago and made visiting the statue a tiring process.
Visit the art galleries in SoHo
SoHo (South of Houston – i.e. streets below Houston Street) is the art district of the city with numerous galleries and shops within a few city blocks. Whereas you have to buy tickets to enter most big museums in the city, these galleries are all free. It’s especially worth visiting them Friday nights when the exhibition openings are scheduled.
If you decide on a gallery tour it’s also worthwhile to examine the exterior of the buildings. The local architecture, the American industrial style, is mainly known for metal on the facades. Iron was used for practical reasons since it was faster and cheaper to erect iron frames than heavy walls. At the same time it inspired the architects to create beautiful iron decorations. Ironically, once metal construction went out of date the iron decorations were copied in stone with such success that nowadays you can only tell the difference by using magnets.
The strong metal frames made dense walls unnecessary so architects could design huge windows and large, open rooms. Originally the buildings were used by factories, but about four decades ago artists took over since the very bright rooms proved to be excellent studios and galleries. Strolling around the area one can admire both the excellent architecture and modern art.
It’s worth noting that the big museums also have certain times when entry is free. You can look that up on their homepages. A few examples of free entry: MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) – Friday evenings between 4 and 8 pm, International Center of Photography – Fridays between 5 and 8 pm, Guggenheim – Saturdays between 5.45 and 7.45 pm, Frick Collection – Sundays between 11 am and 1 pm, Morgan Library – Fridays between 7 and 9 pm. You have to expect larger than usual crowds though.
Admire one of the world’s most beautiful libraries
The New York Public Library is among the most beautiful book collections in the world. The building, a few streets away from the Empire State Building, was built in 1911. It’s a pleasure walking around its halls even if you don’t feel like reading because of its lofty atmosphere. The loveliest is the huge, two city block-wide reading room where on my first visit twenty years ago people were busy leafing through books by the lights of little green reading lamps.
When I went back in 2015, I could hardly recognize the large hall. Instead of reading lamps now computer screens flicker. Below the wonderful reading room there is a 140 km long shelving system with more than 7 million books. Thanks to the computerized system any book can be found within minutes in the eight-story storeroom. Membership for locals is free and foreigners can reserve temporary visitor cards on the library’s homepage. This is necessary only for those who would like to read, if you just want to look around you can do that freely without membership or card.
Find out what the legendary club of the punks has turned into
At 315 Bowery, near Bond Street, there is a fashion store. The uninformed tourist walks by without knowing what riotous concerts took place here for years. Right here was the legendary punk club, CBGB, where among others the Ramones, Patti Smith and Blondie were on stage. I was lucky enough to listen to some concerts here in the mid-nineties when studying in New York.
Unfortunately, the club couldn’t keep up with the skyrocketing rental prices and closed in 2006. Currently the former club is a men’s fashion store, but luckily the owners preserved some of the club’s vibe. The decoration is totally music focused, even some graffiti was left on the walls from the notorious club’s time. There is a drum set in the store and the bored assistant was playing it just as I stopped by while the music was on. Just as the club was unusual this shop is peculiar as well.
Discover one of the world’s most beautiful train stations
The Grand Central Terminal, built in 1913, is a masterpiece of beaux arts. Dozens of art photos, numerous movie scenes were made in the special atmosphere of the main concourse. Let’s walk up to the gallery where you can best admire the fantastic chandeliers, paintings and the crowds below that seem scurrying like ants. Like several other buildings in town, it was set to be demolished in favour of a new office building but like in hundreds of other cases, the people of New York saved it.
Amongst others, Jackie Onassis tried to protect the building which became listed as a protected monument in 1987. Its stairway was modelled after the stairs of the Paris Opera House which speaks of the heyday of the railway. The station is full of interesting little details, like the clock above the information counter that was manufactured in 1913 and is late by one second only in every 1.4 million years, so you can certainly synchronise your watch to it.
Find East Germany on the world’s biggest interior globe
A few buildings further on there is an art deco classic, the Daily News Building. The namesake company has long moved on but, as is customary in New York, the building kept the name of the original tenant. The Daily News was founded in 1919 and was the city’s first tabloid paper. First it wasn’t a success but later the metro commuters grew fond of it. The paper put emphasis on large photos from the start, hence the camera in its logo. Due to attention grabbing titles, strong pictures, tabloid news, scandals, sport, comics – key features of today’s tabloids – it was derisively called the maids’ bible. The paper still has the country’s fourth largest circulation.
The Daily News operated in the building from 1929 to 1995 and today it is the headquarters of a television company. In the foyer – which may be familiar from the Superman movies – you can find the world’s largest interior globe. This was last updated in 1967 so you can spot the GDR on it.
Listen to jazz or gospel during a church service
You can find the Citicorp Center, which is especially gorgeous during sunset, on the corner of 53rd and Lexington. Below the building is the small Saint Peter’s Church. Both its architecture and atmosphere are really modern and you can take part in its unique services. For example, every Saturday afternoon at 5 pm the liturgy is accompanied by jazz musicians.
On these occasions, beside the local congregation, people come from other areas of the city and tourists are also welcome. The regular players are often joined by visiting musicians from abroad.
The more adventurous can take the metro to Harlem, which is not as dangerous as lots of people assume. It is especially peaceful on a Sunday morning when everyone is hurrying to church in their Sunday best. The area has lots of Baptist congregations where the service includes singing and dancing. Travel agencies organize expensive tours to these churches which is a waste of money since you can go by yourself.
The most well-known is the Abyssinian Baptist Church but the Canaan (132 West 116 St) is also popular. It’s better to arrive before the start time to make sure you get a place but also to be able to watch the arrival of the elegantly attired locals. You should also dress respectfully and not come in shorts, flip-flops or carrying backpacks. Outsiders are welcome as long as they behave respectfully.
Dance in rollerblades in Central Park
You can hardly get more local than joining the crowds in Central Park to sunbathe on the grass, to stroll along the romantic pathways or to put on your trainers and run along with the other joggers. But what I enjoy the most is to rent rollerblades and roll around the park.
It’s especially worth visiting the park near 72nd Street on Saturdays or Sundays between 2.30 and 6.30 pm when DJs provide music and virtuoso rollerbladers dance around. The mood is always fantastic and you can join in with or without rollerblades.
