The NYC Top Ten

Two weeks ago, the Columbia cohort received its first assignment - to detail the top ten places we want to visit during our stay in NYC. Visiting the Big Apple means big opportunity, so I'm excited to share my own list.

Woman I Willem de Kooning

1. The top of my list is easily the MoMA. Art is a great interest of mine, and when the opportunity presents itself, I always spring for the chance to visit an art museum. I have yet to visit the MoMA, and to me is a New York - MUST! The MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) contains a vast collection of famed contemporary works, creations by artists from Picasso to Warhol to Kahlo. I personally look forward to seeing Woman I by Willem de Kooning, and (hopefully) other works of his. The works of Roy Lichtenstein, whom I have been artistically inspired and influenced by, are also present at the MoMA.

2. Similar in nature yet different in content, my number two on this list is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met contains a more classical collection of art, featuring more traditional sculptures and paintings from all ages. Some of the better-known artists whose works are displayed include Monet, Rembrandt and Cézanne. The Metropolitan Museum of Art contains works collected from all over the world, countless cultures and the highlights of artistic eras - such as Ancient Greek and Roman statues, biblical murals from the Renaissance and immense oil portraits of European leaders from the 1400s onward.

3. Laughter! Tears! Romance! The dramatic world of theatre lies to be discovered in the heart of New York's entertainment - Broadway. Hundreds of plays and musicals have been performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway for decades - where the classics were renewed and reenacted, the hits born, and the infamous flops bombed. Though I really don't have any real preference as to what I see on Broadway (it's all good stuff!) I would love to see the following shows : The Book of Mormon (Award winning comedy hit), Mamma Mia (the Broadway musical must-see), and the Lion King (the theatrical adaptation of Disney's classic animated film.

4. Never before have I taken a stroll through Central Park, the wooded park around which the urban expanse of New York City is situated. Big and beautiful, Central Park is the peaceful escape one might seek in a city as busy and bustling as New York. Both the tranquility and fame of this park make my number 4 choice a given.

5. Now I'm an Atlanta Braves girl straight to the bone, but I love me a good ol' game of baseball all the same! The Yankees have themselves an impressive record right now (I'll give 'em that), and a (very!) nice stadium to boot. A day of baseball-watching and peanut-munching at Yankee Stadium sounds to me like a day well-spent. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see them face off the Rangers or the Orioles in one of their upcoming series this June/July.

Yankee Stadium

6.  Surprise! Not to mix things up or anything, but number 6 on my list is the MoCCA, or Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art. I'm definitely going to check out the traditional art museums of New York - the MoMA and the Met are further up on my list, but as far as my personal deviations into art go, I'm pretty much infatuated with comic art - I love how different artists have their own stylized ways of drawing people, and a combination of that and how the human body looks in action is beyond interesting to me.
Something that my research led me to discover is that the MoCCA offers walk-in life-drawing sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evening. I would be thrilled to be able to add the activity to my schedule and pursue my hobby while I study in the city.

7. SoHo is a neighborhood located in Lower Manhattan chock full of things to do. One can shop, eat, listen in on some music and visit art galleries, all in SoHo. I'd love to stop by just to get in some city shopping, but the fact that I can go from a boutique to an art show right across the street is too sweet.

8. The Statue of Liberty may be NYC's most famous landmark, let alone the United States. Lady Liberty means a great deal to us Americans and our history, but she is most famous for being the first glimpse of freedom that immigrants to America would see on their journey across the Atlantic. The first bit of American soil that these immigrants would stand on was Ellis Island, where thousands of people became US citizens. My own great-grandmother was processed through immigration on Ellis Island, her name on record inside. If the island had not been indefinitely closed (following the damaging events of hurricane Sandy), it would be the next must-visit location on my list, but the Statue of Liberty itself should be impacting enough to see.

9. The Bowery Ballroom is the go-to spot for inexpensive music listening. An always-booked music venue, the Bowery's schedule is full of events, gigs and concerts. One night, I'd like to go listen to some live music in at the Bowery and perhaps soak up some NYC culture.

10. The Empire State Building is another classic NYC landmark. 103 floors and an extra-tall antenna topper made it the tallest skyscraper ever built back in the day. With observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors, that probably makes it the best panoramic lookout spot in the city. Who would risk missing out on a breathtaking view from the highest spot in the city?

Now that I have a good idea of what I want to cross off of my tourist list while I'm in New York City, I can start worrying about how I'll manage to do so, what with my busy schedule. Now it's off to my next assignment, until next time!