NYC! The Best Of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island

Randall Lane, Forbes magazine's editor (who also happens to be my son), takes you from the skyscrapers of Manhattan to the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. Our footsteps echo across Manhattan's revitalized South Street Seaport, and ascend the innovative High Line. We wander through the cultural richness of Brooklyn and Queens, sharing stories and insights that capture each borough's uniqueness,  from Brooklyn's Coney Island and the Russian-influenced Brighton Beach, to Queens' international food and cultural pleasures.

We describe the lush Bronx Botanical Garden and the maritime charm of City Island,  enjoying the culinary Italian authenticity of Arthur Avenue. And there's a free ride on the Staten Island ferry!

The World Trade Center Memorial reminds us  of the city's ability to rise from adversity, through Rand's special final memory. Join us for a journey not just through New York's five boroughs, but through the city that never sleeps, always dreams, and forever stands tall.
_____
Randall Lane lives and works in Manhattan. He is Editor of Forbes magazine and Chief Content Officer of Forbes media.
_____
Podcast host Lea Lane  has traveled to over 100 countries, and  has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember  (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and  'one of the top 100 Indie books of  the year'). She has contributed to many guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
_____
Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has produced over 100 travel episodes! New podcast episodes drop on the first of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and  wherever you listen. Check them out.

Travel videos of each 2024 podcast -- with creative, added graphics -- now drop on YouTube the 15th of every month!

Please consider sharing, following, rating and reviewing us.  And leave your travel questions and comments on our YouTube videos— Lea will answer.

****************************************
Website: https://placesirememberlealane.com
Travel Blog: forbes.com
X (Twitter):@lealane
Instagram: PlacesIRememberLeaLane
Facebook: Places I Remember with Lea Lane
YouTube Channel: Places I Remember: Travel Talk with Lea Lane 

Transcript

Lea Lane: 0:26

New York, New York, a hell of a town. The Bronx is up but the Battery's down. The people ride in a hole in the ground. New York, New York, it's a hell of a town. Those lyrics are from the Broadway classic On the Town, which emphasizes that when we talk about New York City, we're talking from the southernmost tip, called the Battery, to the northernmost section, which is in another borough besides Manhattan. On this episode, we're featuring what's best and new and surprising, what to do, see and eat in all five of New York City's boroughs Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. Our guest is a quintessential New Yorker who's lived in various boroughs for many years. Randall Lane is the editor of Forbes magazine and the company's chief content officer. He also happens to be my son. Welcome, Rand to Places.

Randall Lane: 1:17

That's my favorite title.

Lea Lane: 1:18

Me too.

Randall Lane: 1:19

Can't get fired from that one.

Lea Lane: 1:20

Nope, w never Plus you come on here all the time. Okay, we're going to discuss the city. We both love the city. I was born in New York City. Perhaps the most iconic symbol i s Manhattan the most densely populated of New York City's five boroughs. It's mostly made up of Manhattan Island, bounded by the Hudson, East and Harlem rivers. It's among the world's major commercial, financial and cultural centers. It's the heart of the Big Apple. What are some of the not-to-miss sites for tourists, Rand?

Randall Lane: 1:52

It's the place where the Dutch first landed. Manhattan is the Indian and Native American word Manahatta, but that's the origin of t New York City or Manhattan. I've spent 30 years I don't know there. You could spend a month, two months as a tourist and not get bored. It's one of the true jewels of the world. Obviously. Everyone knows that, but I like, if I was looking to organize myself and try to get my arms around something that you could literally spend infinite time around. I think to think about it in the same way that those first Europeans when they first saw Manhattan, they came by water and if you really look at Manhattan, Manhattan is an island.

Randall Lane: 2:29

Every single thing that is in Manhattan gets trucked in over a bridge. There's nothing native to it anymore. It could go all the way from the battery which you mentioned, which, of course, is called the battery because that's where the port used to be and that's the tip and that's the beginning of New York. But if you down near the Battery, South Street Seaport, which is one of the great old seaports of America, in the last five years it's been renovated several times, but now there's something new called the Tin Building, with th a famous shift, John George. There's a new development there. It's been reborn yet again so you can see the old tall ships, but there's also amazing food and something called the Tin Building. So that's one way to get your start at the bottom of the city, looking out over the water towards the East River On the West side.

Randall Lane: 3:10

They've developed the entire West side of the Hudson River into a park, and so you can walk all the way from the tip to the top through a park with all sorts of unbelievable executions . here's a new one that just happened in the last couple of years that was funded by the mogul Barry Dillard, called Little Island. They built an artificial island that basically, you can spend two hours. It's got hills, it's got art, it's got views, it's got food. That's one of many things. You've got Chelsea Piers. You've got, you know, City Winery. You've got all sorts of Piers and Executions. That's an entire day where you get a whole scoop of the whole Hudson River and the whole West side of Manhattan.

Randall Lane: 3:46

There's also and this is something that's better known but still relatively new New York and modern Manhattan. You've got the High Line, which is an elevated train track that runs not far from the, and it parallels the Hudson River and it's only about a block from the Hudson and you can walk on an elevated track for about 40 blocks that's about two miles and again, views birds-eye views or pigeons-eye views, because you're not that up but you're kind of a two or three stories tall and you're kind of seeing Manhattan without having to cross any streets. From a different vantage point. Again, they're all sorts of t art installations, there's food there, but you really can see Manhattan.

Randall Lane: 4:25

So I like to think about Manhattan in terms of how you traverse it. You know which museums you choose, which restaurants you choose. That, of course, you could pick your own adventure and they try to cite any is folly because there are literally hundreds you could choose from. It depends on you know what neighborhood you're in and what cuisine you're interested in and what your price point is. But I really like to think about Manhattan in terms of how you get around it, how you see as much of it as possible. And if you think about kind of the east side with the East River and going on downtown now, and you think about the West Side with the park and the High Line and then of course Central Park gets you the center, you will have seen a huge chunk of Manhattan, and Central Park goes all the way again. 110th Street goes up to Harlem, the Morningside Heights, so you're really seeing a huge swath of Manhattan if you take those thoroughfares and focus your visit on that.

Lea Lane: 5:11

Yeah, I would add that you can get around by walking. It's an easy city to walk all over.

Randall Lane: 5:16

Okay, I couldn't agree more. The wonder in New York is that you never know what you're going to see on any block. It is the number one walking city in America it's not even close, and one of the great walking cities of the world. So Manhattan, because of that density, is uniquely about walking. Now, if you're trying to make time, the subway is great. It's a great adventure. Don't be afraid of it. It's not dangerous relative to pretty much any other method of transportation. But people don't appreciate the subway because it's almost always crowded, so you could go on any time and you're not going to be alone.

Randall Lane: 5:48

It's a city of 8 million people. I've never had any incidents on the New York subway. It's a very efficient way. It's a very local way to get around the city. But to your point, mom, it's about walking and everything we just talked about, whether it's the High Line, whether it's the park up and down the Hudson now, or whether you're walking downtown towards South Street Seaport from the Battery, I'm seeing a lot of historic Old New York sites there. You're seeing and you're experiencing.

Lea Lane: 6:14

Okay, I think I would say, if you only have a very short time, I might suggest a tour, a double-decker bus tour, because you would see the highlights passing by the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, also the museums I have to mention. There are so many more than the Metropolitan. There are hundreds of museums, small ones, big ones. To go to one or two is a wonderful classic thing to do, and a Broadway show or off-Broadway show, of course, walking around the Village, any interesting little neighborhood, is something. I want to say that you get wonderful deli food there. What's your favorite deli to get a corned beef sandwich or pastrami, Rand.

Randall Lane: 6:50

Probably Katz's, which is the classic, you know the famous Harry Met S A My favorite food probably Second Avenue deli, which is located on Third Avenue. Of course, If you had to do one deli, do Katz's. It's one of the great restaurant experiences in America.

Lea Lane: 7:03

And how about bagels? If you want to just have a bagel?

Randall Lane: 7:05

Oh, there's so many, there's so many.

Lea Lane: 7:07

Essa a bagel.

Randall Lane: 7:08

Essa a bagel's, great, there's so many. Okay. That's what's great about New York. It's not like, okay, I'm going to the city and here are the three I must. There are literally 300 in Manhattan you can choose from. That's what's fun, and you don't have to spend a lot of money. And I think, mom, you're bringing up like a deli. Katz's deli is a very expensive deli, but it's still just a sandwich. It's not going to break the bank. A bagel's, two bucks, the pizza, of course.

Lea Lane: 7:30

And there's street food. There's those hot dogs, those dirty water hot dogs.

Randall Lane: 7:33

Dirty water hot dogs. But h Chinatown or Koreatown or areas Little I India. There are two of them in Manhattan, so you can eat amazingly. You don't have to go to,. ou know, the big, expense account restaurants and you can still have a culinary experience you can't get pretty much anywhere else in America.

Lea Lane: 7:55

A lot to do and a lot to see, but whatever time you have, try to get the feel of it I think your idea of a double-decker bus is smart you've never been there?

Randall Lane: 8:04

because then you could check the boxes and then you could start acting more like a local as opposed to kind of going point to point. I mean, a lot of these things are iconic and so, yeah, you want to see them. But on the flip side, to truly experience it is to just kind of be one with it. It's not like some other cities which are great, but you know there are five things you got to see and otherwise you know it's not that different than a lot of other cities. This is a place that the difference is that in the nuances and yes, there's still those tourist sites and you should see them. But if you take the bus and you go down Fifth Avenue and you pass St Patrick's and Rockefeller Center and you go right past the Empire State Building, you know that's a 45-minute walk to see that whole stretch to go from.

Lea Lane: 8:46

Right, right.

Randall Lane: 8:47

To Park South and the Plaza Hotel.

Lea Lane: 8:49

So the Empire State Building is about 20, 25 blocks, if you were going to go up at the ge with the Empire State Building in it. Where would you go? Just one place.

Randall Lane: 8:58

There's a new place called One Vanderbilt and this has become a new thing in New York, where it's almost the same Empire State Building and they built the entire top floor. It's not cheap it's like 40, 50 bucks to go in ,but you get unbelievable views and they've designed the entire roof. It's only about five years old the top floors to be kind of an Instagram worthy. There's even one part where you go up on a glass ledge and you can look down down like 90 stories, nothing between you and 90 stories. The other thing that's become very popular also in the last five years, Hudson Yards, which is a brand new development. I'm not sure it would be my first stop.

Randall Lane: 9:30

It's kind of cool new development on the West Side in the 30s. It's on the High Line, so you will wind up there at the end if you take the High Line, but there's something called the Edge, the Edge at Hudson Yards. It's also kind of made for an Instagram era, but it's a outdoor platform that's about 100 stories high. There's a restaurant on top too. That's quite beautiful. Food's not that good, but it's beautiful. But you can actually walk out and, especially at sunset, you're like an airplane and you're sitting there. They also feature a glass cutout where you can stand in glass and look down and (scary, very) 1, it's quite. We've come a long way from just viewing platforms.

Lea Lane: 10:06

Yeah, not for me. Perhaps.

Randall Lane: 10:08

The Vanderbilt has one room that's full of mirrors, so you see a hall of mirrors at 1,000 feet above sea level Cool.

Lea Lane: 10:16

Let's move over to the borough of Brooklyn, where you've also lived. It's located on the westernmost edge of Long Island. The first settlement in the area was by Dutch farmers in 1636. The area is very trendy and definitely worth discovering for tourists. What are some of the attractions there that you would say not to miss?

Randall Lane: 10:33

Brooklyn's become as popular, especially for younger adults, as Manhattan. In terms of where people live now. The prices there about the same as Manhattan. In terms of the restaurant and the food scene it rivals a lot of the best restaurants in New York are now in Brooklyn. If you're going for the first time and it's neighborhood by neighborhood now, unlike Manhattan, you could walk each neighborhood, but the neighborhoods are further apart. It's got one of the great parks in America, Prospect Park.

Lea Lane: 11:00

Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park.

Randall Lane: 11:03

There you go.

Lea Lane: 11:04

Many people say it's more beautiful.

Randall Lane: 11:06

It's gorgeous In Prospect Park. There's also the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, also gorgeous. There's a Brooklyn Museum which is next to the Botanical Garden, which is free on one Friday a month, but also a terrific museum.

Lea Lane: 11:18

Known for Egyptology, one of the greatest ones in the world.

Randall Lane: 11:22

Brooklyn. Go figure. If you want to be cool, you want to be i the hipster capital of the world is Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which is by subway about five minutes from Manhattan. On the L train. One stop. Get the Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn. It's ridiculously cool. So cool actually, it's almost uncool, to be honest.

Lea Lane: 11:42

Right Wow.

Randall Lane: 11:44

It's become one of the most desirable neighborhoods in America.

Lea Lane: 11:46

Well, I think each of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn has a very specific feel to it. Brooklyn Heights, panoramic views, beautiful promenades, perfect views and the promenade see the whole (brownstones and Park Slope).

Randall Lane: 11:58

Outland and the park Slope and Cobble Hill, which are very close to each other. You could walk through that area of Brooklyn and see that stoop culture. T Slope's near the park. Obviously that's where it gets name t

Lea Lane: 12:12

Then you have Dumbo down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, which has emerged as one of the city's best known art districts and t Instagrammable, because you see all kinds of views there.

Randall Lane: 12:22

There's that one block, that's Cobblestone Streets, with the view of the Brooklyn Bridge, that's probably the most Instagrammed and photographed spot in New York. Now we have to mention the Brooklyn Bridge.

Lea Lane: 12:34

You can walk over it. It's a magnificent view of both Manhattan and Brooklyn. At the time when it was built, in the late 1800s, it was the highest point in Manhattan. It has this wonderful history to it.

Randall Lane: 12:46

In the years along the suspension bridge there's a book called the Great Bridge that you can get a history of that. It's a architectural marvel. Absolutely, you can walk across it. You can take a city bike and bike across it, but it's a great way if you are Manhattan based, as most people listening to this probably will be. You could also then walk from Dumbo towards Brooklyn Heights.

Lea Lane: 13:08

We have to mention one of my favorites from my childhood at Coney Island. Tell us about that. It's on the ocean. People don't think of beaches in Brooklyn and beaches in the city, but every borough has a beach. Actually, in New York, the Coney Island area is famous for its boardwalk and its amusement rides, including the famous Wonder Wheel from 1920 and the Cyclone Roller Coaster from the 20s. What do you think of Coney Island?

Randall Lane: 13:30

Today. Cyclone is the best. It's almost 100 years old. I love Coney Island and your granddaughters love Coney Island. It hasn't changed that much. If you want that 1930s, 1920s it still has that kind of carny, wooden feel. It's quite a great experience on a nice day.

Lea Lane: 13:48

Does it still have the place where you go in and it airs your skirt and it goes up.

Randall Lane: 13:52

Fun, that one I have not seen.

Lea Lane: 13:55

I don't know.

Randall Lane: 13:56

I got sued out of existence. The Cyclone Roller Coaster for roller coaster buffs is a 1927 wooden roller coaster and it's quite amazing because t t hell of a ride you can only imagine when it was like 100 years ago a you didn't have all these modern thrill rides. It's still thrilling, but what's great about it is it goes up and it just drops. You're not on a string, its gravity takes you all the way. It's an out of control car.

Lea Lane: 14:21

The New York kind of ride.

Randall Lane: 14:23

It's so fun.

Lea Lane: 14:24

I think that's a wonderful thing with family If it's a nice summer day.

Randall Lane: 14:29

You can walk on the beach, on the boardwalk. There's a minor league baseball stadium there. It has a view of the ocean. You're right near the original Nathan's Hot Dogs where they have the annual hot dog eating contest in July 4th and you get a hot dog. There's a great pizza restaurant there called Totonos. It's a little bit off the beaten path, like a 5-minute walk. It's walking on the boardwalk, riding the Cyclone, playing games of chance and losing your money trying to win stuff t animals. There's a whole little mini amusement park there If you have kids. It's not just amusement parks, it's a piece of history. It's got this raw feel. If you keep walking, if you're adventurous, you can go up to Brighton Beach, which is about a 10-minute walk up the boardwalk, and that's the big Russian neighborhood of New York. You can get Borscht and see all the signs in Russian and pro-Ukrainian. This is the crowd that got out of Russia because they're quite an interesting neighborhood.

Lea Lane: 15:17

Well, that's pretty fun. I just love hearing about it.

Randall Lane: 15:20

Every Friday night they have fireworks in the summer too. That's a nice day where you go. Maybe if there's a baseball game you take a couple endings. It's minor league ball, so you don't take it so seriously. My daughter, Sabrina, who's been on this show, your granddaughter she had some friends who'd never been in New York for last summer and I actually took them to Coney Island on a Friday night for that exact regimen. I took them to a baseball game which they'd never seen before. Again, you don't have to save five or ten bucks to get in. You see a couple endings, the ocean's in the background.

Lea Lane: 15:49

Got everything.

Randall Lane: 15:50

It's just great. Then you go have a hot dog in Nathan's. You walk on the boardwalk, you see the fireworks, you ride the cyclone. The New York Aquarium is there.

Lea Lane: 15:57

Okay, let's go on to Queens. It's a New York City borough on Long Island, across the East River from Manhattan.

Randall Lane: 16:03

It's basically t

Lea Lane: 16:06

Brooklyn.

Randall Lane: 16:08

There's no physical.

Lea Lane: 16:10

There's a little tidal arm of the East River which forms the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens.

Randall Lane: 16:15

You're going on from there. Do you know why it was named Queens?

Lea Lane: 16:18

Well, the borough of Brooklyn is called.

Randall Lane: 16:21

Kings. That's one way.

Lea Lane: 16:24

They're twins, I always assumed there was either from British royal time. Yes, it was named in honor of Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II Queens was the first city to be established in New York. N It's just a little bit less than all of Chicago, so it's a big, big area. It has 91 distinct neighborhoods.

Randall Lane: 16:48

Brooklyn's probably fifth, Brooklyn's probably fifth, yeah, yeah we're talking big -91 distinct neighborhoods.

Lea Lane: 16:53

there. The residents are said to speak 130 languages and represent over 120 countries. The number seven subway line, which runs between Queens and Manhattan, is referred to as the International Express. Now many travelers only see a bit of the borough because they're traveling into Manhattan, because both LaGuardia and Kennedy airports are located there. But there's much to enjoy. What do you like when you go to Queens?

Randall Lane: 17:17

I like to eat my way through Queens. It's the most diverse borough, it's the most diverse place in America and that's not debatable. The way to explore it is through your stomach, because it's less the sites there, it's a living place. There are, of course, more touristy things and you can go see the US Open if you're there in September. When I go to Queens for the Queens Museum, I only see the. Well, I go to see the panorama.

Randall Lane: 17:39

I agree there are lots of things to do but, realistically, if you go into Queens, you should be eating. You should be looking at it through a culinary lens. You should be looking neighbor by neighborhood. If you're in Flushing, you should be eating Chinese food. You might as well be in Hong Kong You're in Flushing. It feels like that. If you're in Jackson Heights, you get as good or better Indian food as you can find in India. You're in Astoria, some of the best Greek food in the world. If you're in Woodside, some of the best Thai food. And it's not just finding one restaurant. You can have your multiple options, ethnic clusters where immigrants gravitate neighborhood by neighborhood, and you can get really unbelievable food, as good as anything you get in the world, because, having been in most of those countries, you have the knowledge and the culture. But you also have great ingredients. Of course, with New York being one of the great food cities in the world, taking a global food tour without having to leave a single borough, Queens has that anywhere in America, I agree.

Lea Lane: 18:35

I agree. Two things I like very much. One is having a tour of the Kaufman Astoria Studios. There's Silver Cup Studios i Kaufman Astoria and the Kaufman Astoria has been going on since 1920. Over 100 films were produced there during the 1920s and many TV shows like Sesame Street are still produced there. That's lots of fun to go visit. I want to just mention, because of my son Cary there's the Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center, which is a learning laboratory. The current exhibit is Concentration Camps and, I think it's important to note again, beaches are there. You have lots of things to do if you want in terms of the outdoors, but I do agree with you that if I were going to Queens, it would be food centered. Let's talk about the northernmost borough of New York City.

Randall Lane: 19:20

It's the oldest borough in New York City. That's on the US mainland.

Lea Lane: 19:23

That's right, it was named after Jonas Bronk, a European settler in the 1600s. We may think of it as filled with high-rise apartment buildings, but there are some wonderful surprises there, Tell us.

Randall Lane: 19:36

There are some of the great natural wonders or natural tourist destinations in New York. The big three, I would say, would be the Bronx Botanical Garden, which is one of the biggest and best in America, the Bronx Zoo, also one of the biggest and best in America. Then, if you want to go off the beaten path, there's a place called Wave Hill, which is also a wonderful arboretum of sorts with beautiful views.

Lea Lane: 20:00

Right on the Hudson River with the New Jersey Palisades.

Randall Lane: 20:03

You've got Hudson views. The Bronx has great places to walk on lovely days and see. things that are going to Botanical Gardens are spectacular. There's always a show and an exhibit. The Bronx Zoo, if you have little kids, is super fun.

Lea Lane: 20:18

I think it's known as the best gorillas outside of nature. I went to Rwanda, as you know, but you can go to the Bronx Zoo and see mountain gorillas and lowland gorillas.

Randall Lane: 20:27

Great with kids when I go there. If I didn't have kids, I would no . With kids terrific. (I would, I would, I'm saying I would too, as someone who lives in New York. But if I only had a week, I'm not sure I would Okay, well, we're giving the full. Yeah, maybe there for a month, You know where I would go.

Lea Lane: 20:43

I'd go to City Island because that's a surprise. Most people don't realize that there's an island that looks like a town in New England. That's part of the Bronx, it's a extreme extreme extreme western end of Long Island Sound, south of Pelham Bay Park and east of Eastchester Bay. Once you drive over the City Island Bridge, which is the only way to get on and off the Island unless you have a boat, you hit a strip called City Island Avenue, which is lined with restaurants known for seafood.

Randall Lane: 21:07

You could take a taxi. But City Island is fun. It's a New England town for about 10 blocks. It's super cool. If you want that kind of transporting experience you also have. The best little Italy in New York is not in Manhattan. That's very touristy, only marginally worth If you're walking through there. The real Little Italy is on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. That is a truly transporting experience. It's not that big. You could do the whole thing in an hour or two and have dinner or lunch, but that's truly a like out of a movie.

Lea Lane: 21:40

Oh yeah, I remember Marios.

Randall Lane: 21:42

Marios is great, Dominick's is great. Roberto's. If you want to go a little higher in Dominick's they don't even have a menu, they just bring you food. Really, can't go wrong there.

Lea Lane: 21:53

Yep. We have to mention Yankee Stadium. Home of the New York Yankees is in the Bronx.

Randall Lane: 22:00

The Bronx , b.

Lea Lane: 22:02

Yep what their name is, so you can always go there too. There's lots to discover in the Bronx. The southernmost borough is the one most of us know the least about. It's Staten Island.

Randall Lane: 22:13

Is t that that that island of borough.

Lea Lane: 22:15

It is, it's considered a borough. Yes, one of the five boroughs.

Randall Lane: 22:19

Yeah, they always feel neglected. If you look at a map, it really shouldn't be part of New York. It's really part of New Jersey, with a few estuaries.

Lea Lane: 22:28

Well, that's what a New Yorker would say.

Randall Lane: 22:30

Oh, it's true, I mean a Manhattan .

Lea Lane: 22:32

New Yorker.

Randall Lane: 22:32

No, it's not true. It's what a geographer would say.

Lea Lane: 22:35

They would say well it's a really good thing. It's Bayonne<br> <br> t. It's in the middle of the city.

Randall Lane: 22:41

And it's totally different and there's lots to do, and I've been in Staten Island a lot. I probably go there at least once a year because it's fun, and the most fun you could have is from Manhattan you could take the Staten Island ferry, which is one of the most famous ferries in America. One of the great parts about Staten Island ferry is it's free, so free boat tour of New York Harbor 20 minutes.

Randall Lane: 23:04

Then you go right past the Statue of Liberty. So and I got to be honest, having been to Statue of Liberty a couple of times to see the Statue of Liberty from water it's not that much different than getting there and being at the base. You get the vibe and again, if you're stretched for time, you could go to Staten Island and see the Statue of Liberty for free in one shot. And some people just like it so much on a nice day, they'll take the ferry, hit Staten Island and come back. I think it's worth getting off. I don't think you have to explore deep into Staten Island. There are things to do. There are restaurants that are further in, but there's a lot of really good stuff.

Randall Lane: 23:37

Right off the ferry there's a l ly ly baseball stadium. That's another fun evening because the stadium is built with the Manhattan skyline in the background. So it's just a beautiful little stadium. There's an independent baseball team that plays there schedule, the Ferry Hawks ferry hawks. But just walking around that neighborhood of Staten Island called St George there's a brewery called the Flexi Brewery. There's a 9-11 memorial.

Lea Lane: 24:00

There's a yes, that's a beautiful memorial. It's called Post Cards and if you look through it you see the skyline where the towers fell. It commemorates those who died from Staten Island. Very beautiful sculpture.

Randall Lane: 24:10

If you go over there, you have a beer, a pizza. Go to the 9-11 memorial. Maybe if there's a ballgame and there's usually fireworks there, that could be fun too. It's the journey, and then when you get there, it feels different. It's less hustle and bustle, still part of the city, it's still somewhat dense, it feels more like a Midwest city, but there are a lot of things to do within walking distance.

Lea Lane: 24:31

There's a zoo, there's a cultural center and botanical garden and there's a historic Richmond town area which has more than 100,000 artifacts, photographs and archives. So very interesting.

Randall Lane: 24:42

I will say the ferry ride is spectacular.

Lea Lane: 24:44

I think now we know more about how each of the five boroughs makes New York one of the world's greatest cities. The name of the podcast is Places I Remember. So, Rand, could you please give us one of your many, many thousands and thousands of memories of New York City?

Randall Lane: 25:00

That's a tough one, because every day a new memory is made and just walking around is half the fun and half the adventure. There's never a dull day. You cannot ,it's impossible if you're just walking around observing to have a dull day in New York. But I'll actually think about maybe the first time I can remember being in New York, mom was with you and I think it was from my what my seventh or eighth birthday.

Lea Lane: 25:25

It was your 10th.

Randall Lane: 25:26

It's an early memory so I think it might be . e . we went to the top of the World Trade Center.

Lea Lane: 25:31

Yeah.

Randall Lane: 25:31

Memory else I always treasure it. And then we went to Chinatown and I love still my favorite birthday party ever. I didn't know the geography, I didn't know you could do both those things on the same day, much less the same afternoon. But that's what's great about New York is you could have that modern skyline skyscraper experience and then you could go and have a transporting culinary experience in a place that feels totally different. But that's what makes New York authentic is that it's the melting pot to do both those things in two hours, encapsulates<br>. When New York it's about what's new. It's not a super nostalgic city I mean the skyscraper's up there for a reason. It's about progress and it's about that skyline and the strength and the idea of the city and that<br> sleeps. I mean Ellis Island is in New York, it's where a huge percentage entered America and you can feel it. Lunch in Chinatown that's as New York experience as it gets.

Lea Lane: 26:24

And also when you say nostalgia. Of course, when we went to the World Trade Center we had no idea that years later there would be the Great Memorial there, which is another thing to try to see, if you can.

Randall Lane: 26:36

Yes, 9-11.

Lea Lane: 26:36

9-11. It's a wonderful, wonderful memorial.

Randall Lane: 26:39

You know, I was in New York that day. Something like that just became a way for New York to get stronger, rebuild in a different way, and that's the history of New York. It's a city that welcomes people, has ups and downs, but always comes back stronger, builds higher, taller, with endless ambition. And I think if you visit there, if you have that attitude that you're going to come in there and you're going to explore and not leave anything on the table, you'll have a great time.

Lea Lane: 27:04

New York. New York is the hell of a town, that's for sure. Thank you, Randall Lane.

Randall Lane: 27:09

Anytime the best podcast. It's only only podcast travel podcasts I listen to. Well, and congrats on the 100th.

Lea Lane: 27:17

Yes, we have over 100 episodes and I would remind people that you are on episodes 14 and 15, telling more of your travel tales around the world, because you've traveled all over and had some very exciting incidents happening to you, so check those out.

Randall Lane: 27:31

If you can't travel around the world. New York, you could travel around the world in one city.

Lea Lane: 27:36

Absolutely. We'll end on that. Thank you very much, love you.

Randall Lane: 27:39

Love you.