New York City.

Welcome to New York City--the only city on the planet brazen enough to call itself "The Capital of the World." New York has never been subtle, self-effacing, or coy. This is the Muhammad Ali of cities: We Are the Greatest! It's precisely this kind of urban machismo that makes people either love New York or hate it--or both. Either you'll be enthralled by the tempo, glamour, and sheer excitement of it all, or you'll be stunned by the noise, the juxtaposition of inhuman poverty and unimaginable wealth, the smog, and the callousness that's an everyday occurrence on these city streets.

Getting To Know New York City.

New York City, " the city that never sleeps. " Here you'll find a mosaic of ethnic neighborhoods, a forest of skyscrapers and one of the world's leading artistic centers.
Be sure to ask for the cross street (or avenue) if you're ever calling for an address. When you give a taxi driver an address, always specify the cross streets. New Yorkers, even most cab drivers, probably wouldn't know where to find 994 Second Ave., but they do know where to find 51st and Second. If you're heading to the restaurant Le Bernadin, for example, tell them that it's on 51st Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. The exact number (in this case, no. 155) is given only as a further precision.

Neighborhoods in Brief.

Since they grew up over the course of hundreds of years, Manhattan neighborhoods have multiple, splintered personalities and fluid boundaries. Still, it's relatively easy to agree upon what they stand for in general terms--so if you stop a New Yorker on the street and ask them to point you to, say, the Upper West Side or the Flatiron District, they'll know where you want to go. From south to north, here is how I've defined Manhattan's neighborhoods Manhattan, where most of the visitor action is; the Bronx, the only borough connected to the mainland United States; Queens, where Kennedy and La Guardia airports are located and which borders the Atlantic Ocean and occupies part of Long Island; Brooklyn, south of Queens, which is also on Long Island and is famed for its attitude, accent, and Atlantic-front Coney Island; and Staten Island, the least populous borough, bordering Upper New York Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. In most of Manhattan, finding your way around is a snap because of the logical, well-executed grid system by which the streets are numbered. If you can discern uptown and downtown, and East Side and West Side, you can find your way around pretty easily. In real terms, uptown means north of where you happen to be and downtown means south, although sometimes these labels have vague psycho graphical meanings (generally speaking, "uptown" chic vs. "downtown" Bohemianism).

I first went to New York City way back in 1978, and I stayed at The King George Hotel, then in 1980 I stayed at The Edison Hotel and the last time was in 1996 when I stayed at The Ramada Milford Plaza.

I can not remember much about The King George Hotel, except that it was very old and had a good pub and restaurant but on an evening trying to get some sleep was pretty bad as the air con unit must of been as old as the hotel and it rattled like a tank.

The Edison Hotel even though it was old it had character and the room we had was ok as it was like a suit two big rooms together, ( Which Is Very Unusual For NYC. ) it also had a good pub and restaurant. In 1996 I had a look into this hotel and it looks as though it had a full refurbishment. " Good Memories ".

The Ramada At Milford Plaza. walking into the foyer of this hotel stops you in your tracks as I believe it looked great chandelier large staircase, we thought we had made it. But that was short lived when we got out of the lift on our floor, dark dingy passageways, smelling of smoke and stale sweat, although our room was clean you could not swing a cat in it. There was three of us sharing the room and when one of us wanted to get a shower and a new change of clothes the other two either had to leave the room or huddle up in the corner. I now believe in 1998 this hotel has had a full refurbishment. We did expect more as Ramada has a very good name this was nothing like any other Ramada's we have stayed in.

But this has never or will never put me off New York City, as it still is one of the most exciting City's in the USA and I love it.