* New York City reached record levels of tourists and tourism in 2008 hosting 47 million visitors, including 9.8 million visitors traveling from abroad, also a record. (nbcnewyork.com) * Forbes Traveler includes New York City with high honors on so many of its travel ranking and categories including: America's 30 Most Visited Cities; World's Most Stunning Skylines; Best Guided City Walking Tours; World's Best Party Cities; America's Best Street Food; Most Bike Friendly Cities; Top 10 Shopping Districts; and Sexiest Rooftop Bars. * The Unofficial Guide to New York gives honest opinionated streetwise advice to help experience the vast variety of New York City experiences available for every taste and budget.

Table of Contents

List of Maps. Acknowledgments. About the Author and Contributors. Introduction. "New York, New York, It's a Helluva Town ..." About This Guide. PART ONE Understanding the City. A Very Short History of an Extremely Complex City. PART TWO Planning Your Visit. When to Go. What to Pack. Gathering Information. Special Considerations. Calendar of Special Events. PART THREE Accommodations. Tough Times, Lower Rates, More Rooms. All Things Considered. Hotel Neighborhoods. Can You Even Get In? Slice the Price of Rooms in the Apple. Is Your Travel Agent NYC Savvy? Hotels Rated and Ranked. HOW THE HOTELS COMPARE.. NEW YORK HOTELS BY NEIGHBORHOOD. THE TOP 30 BEST DEALS IN NEW YORK CITY. HOTEL INFORMATION CHART. PART FOUR Getting In and Getting Around. Arrival Strategies. Getting around Town. The Subway. Buses. Walking. Things the Locals Already Know. How to Avoid Crime and Keep Safe in Public Places. PART FIVE New York's Neighborhoods. The Sidewalks of New York. Central Park. PART SIX Sightseeing, Tours, and Attractions in Depth. Let Your Fingers Do the Walking ... First. Touring Options. An Abundance of Riches. Attraction Profiles. NEW YORK CITY ATTRACTIONS BY TYPE. NEW YORK CITY ATTRACTIONS BY NEIGHBORHOOD. PART SEVEN Dining and Restaurants. NYC Eats: Everything, Anything, All the Time. Pickles or Panache. The Restaurants. THE BEST NEW YORK RESTAURANTS. NEW YORK RESTAURANTS BY NEIGHBORHOOD. Restaurant Profiles. PART EIGHT Shopping. Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize (and the Price). All Together Now: Department Stores, "Malls," and Flea Markets. One-stop Shopping: Museum Shops and Theme Stores. Great Neighborhoods for Shopping. Specialty Shopping. PART NINE Exercise and Recreation. Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun. Chelsea Piers and Central Park. Working Out. Other Recreational Sports. Spectator Sports. PART TEN Entertainment and Nightlife. Lights, Tickets, Action ... Performing Arts. New York Nightlife. Nightclub Profiles. NEW YORK NIGHTCLUBS BY NEIGHBORHOOD. AT-A-GLANCE CLUB GUIDE. Index and Reader Survey. Index. Unofficial Guide Reader Survey.

Author Biography

EVE ZIBART has written more about dining, entertainment, travel, and lifestyles than most people experience in a lifetime. In her early years as the pop-music-and-culture reporter for the (Nashville) Tennessean and then the Washington Post, Eve quickly exhibited a flair for scene and sensory detail. She rapidly moved through the ranks of the Post as a feature writer and spent her last ten years there as restaurant critic. She now freelances for BookPage and Washingtonian and has written for Cosmopolitan, Four Seasons, Town & Country, and Playboy. Given an amazing ability to turn 24 hours into 30, Eve has found time to author several books, including The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion; The Eclectic Gourmet Guide to Washington, D.C.; The Unofficial Guide to New Orleans; The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World for Grown-Ups; and Inside Disney: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney World and the Man Behind the Mouse. LEA LANE is a hotel maven, having visited and researched thousands of rooms around the world-including in the Big Apple-for many guidebooks and trade publications, such as Birnbaum's United States and STAR Service, the premier travel-agent reference. Lea has also been a columnist for Gannett Suburban Newspapers, a television travel and lifestyle reporter, and managing editor of the newsletter Travel Smart. She is a major contributor to guidebooks about Greece, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, and Belgium. Her book Solo Traveler: Tales and Tips for Great Trips, and her Web site, www.sololady.com, make her an expert on solo travel. AARON STARMER is a writer and editor who has worked, dined, and played in New York City for more than ten years. Along with his wife, Catharine Wells, and his brother, Tim Starmer, he is coauthor of the guidebook The Best in Tent Camping: New York State (Menasha Ridge Press). His first novel, DWEEB, was published in 2009. A humorous adventure for the young and nerdy, it is set across the Hudson River from Manhattan, in the land of New Jersey.