Blog Marco

I found this article interesting. It suggested alternative areas/places to visit other than the usual places to visit in New York City. Here are some of the recommendations:

Wave Hill
Wave Hill is a peaceful public garden and cultural centre overlooking the Hudson River. Built as a country home in 1843, Wave Hill had various owners and received distinguished guests (including Charles Darwin, Mark Twain and the Queen Mother) until being handed over to the City of New York in 1960.

Wave Hill, West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, Bronx; phone (718) 549 3200, http://www.wavehill.org

NOGUCHI MUSEUM
Noguchi's gallery compound wraps itself around the tranquil Japanese-style gravelled garden, sheltered from the outside world by high walls. Most of the artwork is inside displayed in a series of airy galleries. Noguchi's output was prolific and incredibly varied - his sculptural pieces dominate but the museum also features his furniture, models, videos of public installations and a documentary about the artist, who died in 1988.

Noguchi Museum, 32-37 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City; (718) 204 7088, http://www.noguchi.org.

GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY
Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th St, Brooklyn; (718) 768 7300, http://www.green-wood.com.

ROCKAWAY BEACH
If you're more interested in birds than breaks, also out this way is the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a popular birding spot with free guided walks. Phone (718) 318 4340 or see http://www.nps.gov/gate.

GOVERNORS ISLAND

It's about a three-minute ferry ride from the downtown tip of Manhattan, but once you land here the city feels miles away. For 200 years the island has been a military base, last used by the US Coast Guard from 1966 to 1997. In 2003 it was handed back to New York state and city and is now partly run by the National Parks Service, which is trying to figure out what to do with it (rather like we have in Sydney with Cockatoo Island).

Governors Island opens for tours this year on June 3. The ferry departs from the Battery Maritime Building, 10 South Street, Slip 7, Lower Manhattan. For details, phone (212) 440 2202 or see http://www.govisland.com.

DIA:BEACON

If you have an urge to really escape the city, catch a Poughkeepsie Line train from Grand Central Station for a day trip to Dia:Beacon, a spectacular modern art gallery next to the Hudson River.

Dia:Beacon, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon, New York, (845) 440 0100, http://www.diaart.org; Beacon Arts Community Association, www.beaconarts.org.

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