If you’re planning on visiting New York for your next holiday, grab a pen and paper and take note, we’re going to save you a few hours of searching online for interesting and relatively unknown spots to visit in the city that never sleeps, so when you get back home you’ll have a lot more to talk about besides the typical visits to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.
THE YELLOW SUBMARINE AT CONEY ISLAND CREEK
The story goes that a hard working local shipyard worker called Jerry White built the submarine single-handedly on the banks of the creek in the 1970s. When he’d finished building it, he launched it into the water with the idea of travelling alone to the depths of the Atlantic and raise the Andrea Doria ocean liner that sank in 1956. However, things didn’t go according to plan and an uneven launch left his submersible trapped in the mud banks of the creek for eternity. Today, it’s a beautifully decadent and alluring place to visit and well worthy of a few photos, and it’s also an ideal sanctuary for blue crabs, seagulls and other local fauna. And just so you know…the colour of the submarine has nothing to do with the famous Beatles song from the Revolver album back in 1966, despite what some of the locals might lead you to believe.
NEW YORK FEDERAL GOLD VAULT
Were you dazzled by the gold chains the legendary B.A. Baracus wore in The A-Team? Did you ever dream of diving into Scrooge Mc Duck’s massive golden money bin in the Donald Duck cartoons? If the answer is yes to both questions then you absolutely have to visit the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which holds more gold than you’ve even seen in your life. The maximum security vaults of the Fed are 50 feet below sea level and believed to be the largest gold depository in the world, holding 5% of all the gold that has been extracted in the history of mankind. We’re talking about 7000 tonnes of gold bullion with a value somewhere in the region of 400 billion dollars. You can feast your eyes on this treasure trove at 44 Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan.
SIDEWALK SUBWAY MAP
When you’ve had enough of skyscrapers and your neck aches from constantly looking up, it’s time to head over to 110 Greene Street in Soho. And when you get there, remember to keep your eyes fixed on the ground as you’re going to discover a magnificent 28m long subway map embedded into the sidewalk. This work of art was created by the Belgian artist Francoise Schein in the 1980s and is an authentic and relatively unknown masterpiece that’s sure to look great on your Instagram profile.
WAVE HILL GARDEN
There’s no doubting that Central Park is a wonderful place to visit but… Wave Hill Garden is really something special, a veritable oasis tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city and much less crowded. This lush green paradise can be found at the Wave Hill estate overlooking the Hudson River in the popular Bronx district. The 11 hectare garden is the perfect spot to enjoy some of the cultural activities on offer or just to kick back and enjoy the surroundings. Make sure to drop by the café and enjoy the exceptional views of New York.
