Since its founding as New Amsterdam in 1624, New York has been reinventing itself. And nearly 400 years later, the City That Never Sleeps is still evolving. Pencil skyscrapers are shooting up, major cultural centers are muscling onto the scene, new shopping, entertainment and visitor-focused infrastructures are debuting and, of course, there’s always new gay nightlife options.
If you haven’t been to Gotham recently, or ever, now’s the time to experience the ever-new New York.
Here’s a handful of our new faves.
New neighborhood
New York doesn’t just build buildings. It creates a huge new neighborhood by putting a heavy-duty platform above the train tracks on the far West Side where huge skyscrapers are flying up in Hudson Yards. The city’s first Neiman Marcus is arriving along with two fantastical new attractions on the horizon. The Vessel is an Escher-like viewing structure rising 15 stories with 2500 climbable stairs, and the Shed is a futuristic multi-use arts center whose entire outer structure will wheel open.
Nifty infrastructure
A key development is LinkNYC, which offers free WiFi across all five boroughs. Register once and anytime you pass by a LinkNYC you’re automatically logged in. Another development, Second Avenue Subway, the largest addition to the NYC subway system since 1989, serves the Upper East Side. The 72nd Street station on the new line features a mural with a gay couple holding hands. And for the price of a subway ride, the popular NYC Ferry is an inexpensive way to cross the East River to Brooklyn.
Campy entertainment
Scottish-born actor Alan Cumming took over Eastern Bloc gay bar, gave it a Weimar-theme makeover — complete with a small stage for esoteric entertainment — and created a signature new gay cabaret, Club Cumming. Bette Middler may be departing soon, but true Broadway lovers will still want to catch Hello, Dolly!, which will star Bernadette Peters starting January 20. Gay actor Victor Garber will join Peters, playing Horace Vandergelder, the role currently played by David Hyde Pierce. And get ready for the Broadway debut of gay cult-classic Mean Girls scheduled for March 2018, with book by Tina Fey.
Winter visit, for less
New York has over 113,000 hotel rooms with another 25,000 rooms expected by the end of 2019, so don’t worry; you’ll find a great place to sleep. Many participating hotels sweeten the deal during NYC Broadway Week (Jan 16-Feb 4, 2018) by offering a $25 daily food or beverage credit. There are also a number of city-wide events with special deals, including NYC Restaurant Week (Jan 22 – Feb 9); NYC Off-Broadway Week (Feb 12 – 25); and NYC Must-See Week (Jan 29 – Feb 11). Note that reservations are open at least two weeks ahead of the first day of each week so you can plan around an upcoming visit to the City.
Visit NYCgo.com for even more ideas.
