New York City Herald Square And The Garment District

Garment District, West 30s, between Broadway and 8th Ave. This neighborhood may be home to big-name designers like Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, the likes of whom are honored by the circular plaques on the Fashion Walk of Fame along Broadway. But the real charm lies on the neighborhood's side streets, lined with stores selling wholesale fabrics and tacky dresses. The Fashion Center Business Improvement District's Information Kiosk, with the notorious Needle Threading a Button on top, is a good place to go for quick information about locations and events. Next to the kiosk is Judith Weller's 1984 bronze sculpture The Garment Worker. Depicting a man at a sewing machine, it's difficult to photograph because pedestrians somehow frequently mistake it for a bench. Wheelchair access.
Madison Square Garden, Between 31st and 34 St., 7th and 8th Ave. (www.thegarden.com), The Garden, as it is casually called, hosts about 320 events every year in its 20,976 sq. ft. arena. “Gardeners” (those who run the Garden) apparently do not discriminate when it comes to picking those events either. Home to the NBA's New York Knicks, WNBA's New York Liberty, and NHL's New York Rangers, the arena also regularly hosts concerts, boxing, the WWE, the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (among a slew of other regular events). In a recent Garden-sponsored poll Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour was voted greatest concert ever held at Madison Square Garden (the runner-up was his own 2001 30th Anniversary Tour). Tour prices: $18.50, ages 12 and under $12, 62 and over $18.50. Tours daily 11am-3pm, every 30min. Box office open daily 9am-6pm. Takes credit cards. Wheelchair access.
Penn Station, Between 31st and 34th St., 7th and 8th Ave. (www.mta.info), Pennsylvania Station, New York's mothership of underground transportation, is filled with people on the go: going to Jones Beach for the day, going to Boston on a work trip, going to work (far, far away) from New Jersey..it's packed with news stores and restaurants designed for people with an average of 13min. to kill before they have to catch their elected form of transport. Penn Station is home to the Long Island Railroad, Amtrak, and New Jersey Transit, so if you do any East-Coast traveling through New York, chances are that you will join this mob of go-ers. Serves LIRR, Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, MTA, and a wide range of buses including Boltbus, Megabus, Vamoos, Greyhound, and Eastern Shuttle. Admission free; train prices vary. Open 24hr. Takes credit cards. Wheelchair access.
Macy's, 151 W. 34th Street (www.macys.com), You know a department store is big when it has four Starbucks within it. This particular department store, covering more than one million sq. ft. in 14 floors, happens to be the largest department store in the world. To name everything here would be useless; just assume Macy's has everything. In addition to being a shopping heaven, Macy's provides New York with some of its most beloved seasonal traditions: the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Fourth of July Fireworks, and amazing holiday window displays. Admission free. Prices of items vary. Open M-Sa 10am-9:30pm, Su 11am-8:30pm. Takes credit cards. Wheelchair access.
Empire State Building, 350 5th Ave., at 34th St. (www.esbnyc.com), Ever since King Kong climbed to its spire for the first time in 1933, the Empire State Building has attracted scores of tourists—Queen Elizabeth, Fidel Castro, and Lassie among the most famous and unexpected. The skyscraper's observatories welcome nearly four million visitors every year. Built on the site of the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and completed in 1931, the structure stretches 1454 ft. into the sky and contains two mi. of elevator shafts containing 73 cars. When first completed, it included a docking platform for what was then thought to be the next frontier of modern transportation: the dirigible. Just one moored to the building before it was deemed too dangerous. Of course, you could always walk or run up the 1576 stairs to the 86th-floor observatory, as over 100 arguably sadistic individuals do every February during the Empire State Building Run-Up. The lobby is a gleaming shrine to Art Deco, all the way down to its stylized mail drops and eleva All visitors must pass through security before entering the observatory. $20, ages under 6, 6-12 $14, over 62 $18, military members $18. Skyride: $36, ages 6-12 $25, seniors $29. Open daily 8am-2am; last elevator 45min. before close. Takes credit cards. Wheelchair access.