Other places in New York

Brooklyn

First bite of the apple

For once, the cliches are true. This is a city ruled by money: Babylon on the make.
You will be abused by taxi drivers, ignored by offhand shop assistants and pushed and shoved on the subway. But you will still want to come back.
New York in 15 minutes: buy a pretzel from a vendor in Central Park and walk to the Bethesda Fountain where Woody Allen met Diane Keaton in that classic scene in Annie Hall.
Stand on a street corner and watch the steam coming out of the ventilation shafts.
Walk into a sandwich bar, order a corned beef on rye and yell: 'Hold the mayo.' There is a 50-50 chance the sandwich maker will understand you - and if he doesn't, so what ?
There is no road map to the heart of Manhattan, but you should plan your days carefully. For most people, the price of hotel rooms, driven skywards by recession-proof property prices and expense accounts, rules out a long stay.
Five nights is about right; fewer than that is manageable but tiring. Your choice of hotel will depend on your budget and whether you need internet access from your bidet, wheatgrass juice for breakfast or a meeting room for 48.
Plus service and taxes. Rather more important is location. Manhattan, a rectangular island 13 miles long and three miles across, is the most important of the five boroughs that make up New York City.
For shopping, Midtown - above 34th Street and below 60th Street - is the place to be, but you want nightlife, you'd be better off staying downtown.
Greenwich Village and the East Village have their own enthusiasts but in recent years, the action has moved further south.
SoHo, NoHo and TriBeCa, with their reclaimed warehouses and industrial space, may be too gritty and grungey for some. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer bars with paint on the walls.
This is the New York of hugely expensive modern galleries, puffed-up designer shops and a gourmet restaurant owned by Robert de Niro.
It's fun to visit, but it lacks the glamour of old New York - gleaming skyscrapers, Art Deco detailing, Audrey Hepburn, and dry Martinis for lunch - that seems familiar even if you have never set foot in the city.
For proper New York glamour, you cannot beat the Rockefeller Center.
In winter, when the ice rink is open, it is the most romantic spot of all.
It sums up the essence of old New York: smart, stylish and as well-finished as one of Frank Sinatra's suits.

Read more in our destination guide to New York.