New York City is everything its supporters and critics claim:  an adrenaline-charged, history laden place that never sleeps, rarely apologizes, and works harder and longer hours than  anywhere else. It's also a town of icons, both past and present - you'll find it hard to move about the city without encountering a view of something world famous, from the lovely green sward of Central Park to the mammoth Brooklyn Bridge to the cathedral-like Grand Central Terminal. The city's boundless energy and spirit will suck you in and make you want to come back again and again.

   New York City  is very much a 24 hour , seven days a week city.  At time the NYC may seem to be a chaotic jumble of worn infrastructure , feuding politicians, gridlock traffic from Macy's to the Holland Tunnel, and garbage piled up high during strikes. But whatever its problems or defeats, its victories are of such magnitude, its achievements so grand, its sheer human spectacle so astonishing, that nothing ever makes it stop. Newcomers continue to make New York City their home, and many who visit are compelled to return. These kindred spirits have incorporated its vibe, and discovered that New York City might really be the world's most unique metropolis or even the first image that comes to mind if you say USA. It is a place where at any time of day or night it is possible to find food, entertainment , drugstores, transportation, and architectural spectacle all around  - and that's just for starters.

What to See

Though New York City officially comprises the central island of Manhattan and four outer boroughs -- Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island . Manhattan simply is New York. Certainly, whatever your interests, you'll likely spend most of your time here. Understanding the intricacies of Manhattan's layout, and above all getting some grasp on its subway and bus systems, should be your first priority. Most importantly, note that New York is very much a city of neighbourhoods, and is therefore best explored on foot.

   If you starts at the southern tip of the island and moves north, The Harbour Islands -- the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island --were the first glimpses of New York for many nineteenth -- century immigrants; the latter's history is recalled in its excellent Museum of Immigration. The Financial District encompasses the skyscrapers and historic building of Manhattan's southern reaches, including Ground Zero, the former World Trade Center site. Immediately east of here is City Hall , New York's well-appointed municipal center, and the massive Gothic span of the  Brooklyn Bridge , while to the west is swanky Tribeca, the hub of the city's art scene in the twentieth century but now more of an upscale, outdoor fashion mall; Soho, just to the north, also boasts a large number of shops, as well as some historic cast-iron buildings. East of here is Chinatown, Manhattan's most densely populated ethnic neighbourhood and a vibrant locale great for Chinese food and shopping. Now more a haven for pasta and red sauce than Italians, Little Italy next door is slowly being swallowed by Chinatown's hungry expansion, while the Lower East Side, traditionally the city's gateway neighbourhood for new immigrants - whether German, Jewish, or, more recently, Hispanic - is being gentrified by young urban professionals. The East and West villages are known for their bars, restaurants, and shops that cater to students, would-be bohemians, and, of course, tourists. Chelsea has displaced the West Village as the heart of Manhattan's gay scene, and scooped Soho for exciting spaces; the area around Union Square and Gramercy Park features some lovely skyscrapers, including the Flatiron Building, and some of the city's  best restaurants. This is where the  avenues begin their march north through the busy, regimented blocks of midtown, which is punctuated by some of the city's  most impressive sights, including Times Square, the Empire State Building, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Beyond midtown, the character of the city changes quite rapidly. For more than a dozen blocks, the skyline is relentlessly high-rise, and home to some awe inspiring architecture; this gives way to first class museums and appealing stores as you work your way up Fifth Avenue as far as 59th Street. That's where the classic Manhattan vistas are broken by the broad expanse of Central Park, a supreme piece of nineteenth century landscaping. Flanking the park, the  Upper East Side is wealthier and more grandiose, with many of its nineteenth  century millionaires' mansions now transformed into a string of magnificent museums known as " Museum Mile"; the most prominent of these is the vast Metropolitan Museum of Art. The residential neighbourhood here is staunchly patrician and boasts some of the swankiest addresses in Manhattan, as well as a nest of designer shops along Madison Avenue in the seventies. On the other side of the park, the largely residential young professionals enclave of the Upper West Side is worth a visit, mostly for performing arts mecca Lincoln Center, the American Museum of Natural History, and Riverside Park along the Hudson River. Immediately north of Central Park, Harlem, the historic black city-within-a-city, has today a healthy sense of an improving community. Still further north, past the student enclave of Hamilton Heights, home to Columbia University, and Washington Heights, a largely Hispanic neighbourhood that few visitors ever venture to visit, stands Inwood at the tip of the island. It's here you'll find the Cloisters, a nineteenth century mock up of a medieval monastery, packed with great European Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture - in short, one of Manhattan's must sees.

It's unfortunate fact that few visitors, especially those with limited time, bother to venture off Manhattan Island to the outer boroughs. This is a pity , because each of them has points of great interest, for both historical and contemporary reasons. More than anything, though, some of the city's most vibrant ethnic neighbourhoods can be found in the outer boroughs.

They say you can't get anything for free.Not so in New York City,where you can enjoy some of the very best music,dance,theater,and film the city has to offer and pay absolutely nothing.The best part is that the most of the free events are in summer,and usually outside.The Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Philharmonic give free concerts in parks scattered around all five boroughs.And look for exciting events like the Downtown NYC River to River Festival,the Hudson River Festival,and the South Street Seaport Music festival.

Below are my Top 25 free New York experiences.

1.Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge

2.Gaze up at the ceiling of the New York City Public Library's Reading Room

3.Marvel at the bustle of Grand Central Terminal

4.Ride the Staten Island Ferry for awesome views of the city and the Statue of Liberty.

5.Listen in on a choir rehersal at St.Thomas Church

6.Browse the art galleries in Chelsea and Soho

7.Check out the famous film sites

8.Visit the Bronx Zoo (free on Wednesday: donations suggested)

9.Be entertained by Washington Square Park's street performers

10.Walk Somewhere and Everywhere in Times Square.

11.Whitney Museumof American Art(Friday 6-9 pm; pay what you wish)

12.Play and see the natural wonder of Central Park

13.Museum of Modern Art (free Fridays 4-8 pm )

14.Smell the flowers ar the New York City Botanical Garden(Free Sat 10-noon;Wed)

15.Check out the sculptures in Madison Square Park

16.Catch Shakespear in the Park

17.Metropolitan Museum of Art ($15 Donation)

18.Kayak on the Hudson at the Downtown Boat House(free)

19.Attend a reading at one of the city's many bookstores

20.Watch a free flick during the summer in Bryant's Park

21.Catch a free show at the Apple store in SoHo

22.See what's moored at Pier 63

23.Watch the sunset from Riverside Park

24.Check out the music and dance performances at Lincoln Centre Out-of-Doors Festival

25.Enjoy Free Wi-Fi;Bryant Park,Battery Park,Union Square Park

Winter - New York City Festivals 

The Lunar New Year,celebrated over two weeks, includes extravagant banquets, a flower market, and a colorful paper-dragon dance that snakes through Chinatown. New York's first St. Patrick's Day Parade took place in 1766, making this boisterous tradition one of the city's oldest annual events. The parade heads up 5th Avenue, from 44th Street to 86th Street.

Guy at the St.Patricks's Day Parade|Empire State Bldg lighted on Lunar New Year

Spring - New York City Festivals

At the International Asian Art Fair, 50 dealers from around the world exhibit furniture, sculptures, bronzes, ceramics, jewelry, and more from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Far East. Prices begin at $ 1,000. The week before Easter, the Macy's Flower Show creates lush displays in its flagship emporium and sets its Broadway windows abloom. Exquisite flower arrangements are also on display in Rockefeller Center.

As in the classic Fred Astaire movie Easter Parade, you ( or even your pet ) can don an extravagant hat and strut up 5th Avenue in the Easter Promenade. The parade centers around St. Patrick's Cathedral, at 51st Street.

The Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn botanic Garden takes place during the trees' peak flowering and includes Taiko drumming groups, traditional Japanese dance and arts, and bent box lunches for picnicking.

The International Fine Art Fair brings dealers from all over the country to the Seventh Regiment Armory, where they show off exceptional paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the Renaissance to the 20th century. On the second or third Saturday in May, booths of the Ninth Avenue Food Festival line 20 blocks of 9th Avenue (from West 37th to West 57th Street ) and coo up every conceivable type of food. Most of 9th Avenue's many food stores and restaurants participate, selling samples of their wares as well as specially prepared delicacies.

Ships from the armed forces of the United States and from other countries join up with  Coast Guard ships during Fleet Week for a parade up the Hudson River. After the ships dock, they are open to the public. The center of this event, which is held the week before Memorial Day, is the Intrepid Sea-Air Space Museum. Since 1931, Memorial Day has marked the start of the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, an open-air arts-and-crafts fair with some 600 exhibitors who set up along the park and on surrounding streets. The action continues for two weekends, from noon to sundown.

Nine of the major museums lining 5th Avenue from 82nd up to 104th Street waive their admission and have special late hours for the Museum Mile Festival, held the second Tuesday in June. Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic, and entertainers perform in the streets.

Summer - New York City Festivals

JVC Jazz Festival New York brings giants of jazz and new faces alike to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Birdland, Bryant Park, and other venues around town. Lesbian & Gay Pride Week includes a film festival, concerts aplenty, and many others events. It culminates with the world's biggest annual gay pride parade, which heads down 5th Avenue and then to Greenwich Village on the last Sunday of June.

Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Art Festival brings pop, jazz, rock, classical, klezmer, African, Latin, and Caribbean multicultural music, as well as spoken-word and theatrical performances, to Prospect Park's Bandshell. The streets around Brooklyn's Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church are full of Italian festivals for two weeks, beginning the first Thursday in July .

The Washington Square Music Festival is a series of Tuesday evening free outdoor classical, jazz, and big-band concerts. Lower Manhattan celebrates Independence Day with the Great 4th of July Festival, which includes arts, crafts, ethnic food, and live entertainment. South Street Seaport also puts on a celebration.

Macy's 4th of July Fireworks fill the night sky over the East River. The best viewing points are FDR Drive from East 14th to East 41st streets and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The FDR Drive is closed to traffic, but arrive early, as police sometimes restrict even pedestrian traffic. Harlem Week, the world's largest black and Hispanic festival, runs throughout the month. Come for the food, concerts, gospel events, a film festival, children's festival, an auto show, and a bike tour.

The 10-day Howl! Festival, named in honor of the famous poem by beat poet Allen Ginsburg, includes more that 250 music, art, and theatrical performances. One highlight is Wigstock, a show of drag queen performances held in Tompkins Square Park.

A Caribbean revel modeled after the harvest carnival of Trinidad and Tobago, the West Indian American Day Carnival, in Brooklyn, is the centerpiece of a week's worth of festivities. Celebrations include salsa, reggae, and calypso music performances, as well as Monday's gigantic parade of floats, elaborately costumed dancers, stilt walkers, and West Indian food and music.

Garlands and lights bedeck Little Italy's Mulberry Street and environs for the Feast of San Gennaro, the city's oldest, grandest, largest, and most crowded festa, held in honor of the patron saint of Naples.

Fall - New York City Festivals

Some  200 publishers set up displays along 5th Avenue from 42nd  to 57th streets for New York Is Book Country, where you can buy new fall releases and unusual old books, meet authors, admire beautiful book jackets, and enjoy live entertainments and bookbinding demonstrations. Bring the kids.

Begun in 1963, the New York Film Festival is the city's most prestigious annual film event. Cinephiles pack various Lincoln Center venues - advance tickets to afternoon and evening screenings are essential to guarantee a seat.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival attracts artsy crowds with its program of local and international cutting edge dance, opera, theater, and music. You can see such "regulars" as Phillip Glass, John Cale, Lou Reed, and the German dance-theater troupe of Pina Bausch.

Thousands of revelers, many in bizarre but brilliant costumes or manipulating huge puppets, march up 6th Avenue in the rowdy Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.

The New York City Marathon, the world's largest, being on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and snakes through all five boroughs before finishing in front of Tavern on the Green in Central Park. New Yorkers turn out in doves to cheer on the runners.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a New York tradition. The huge balloons float down Central Park West from West 77th Street to Broadway and Herald Square. The parade begins at 9 AM; when it comes to getting a good spot, the earlier the better.

On New Year's Eve, the famous ball drop in Times Square is televised all over the world. Arrive early, and dress warmly!

Situated between New Jersey and Connecticut and straddling five boroughs, New York City rises at the mouth of the Hudson River. The Appalachian foothills lie north and west of the metro area and the low-lying Atlantic coastal plain extends to the south and east. Because the jet stream influences its geography year-round, the climate of New York is as diverse as the city itself.

Summers are generally sunny, warm and humid. Average highs peak in the mid-80s in July, but readings soar close to the century mark on the hottest days, when sea breezes may provide a hint of relief. Average lows drop into the mid-60s, but may remain well over 70° during warm spells. As the jet stream sinks southward, refreshing Canadian air takes hold, often following bouts of stormy weather. In fact, July averages almost 5 inches of rainfall. Although rare, tropical cyclones can affect the city late in the season with high winds and torrential rain. The area’s most significant hurricane crossed Long Island in September 1938, toppling trees and flooding city streets.

Autumn is often the most pleasant time of year. In mid-September, highs typically reach near 75° with lows near 60°. As daylight shortens and leaves change hues, average highs drop into the 60s throughout October, with some mornings dipping into the 30s, especially inland. By Thanksgiving, afternoons rarely reach 50° with average lows in the 30s. Fall features a mix of sun and clouds, wind and rain. In November, snow even becomes a possibility.

As holiday shoppers descend upon the Big Apple, so does winter weather. Highs in the 30s and 40s are typical throughout the period from December to February. Lows are predominantly in the 20s and often colder inland. Shifting winds off the warmer ocean to the east cut the frigid chill that spills over the higher terrain to the north and west. But when the milder ocean air battles the cold entrenched in those areas, ferocious storms may result. As these Nor'easters spin up the East Coast, they tap an endless supply of Atlantic moisture and pound the city with rain or snow. The winter of 1995-96 was the snowiest on record, when some 75 inches of snow fell on Central Park -- 50 inches higher than average. The single heaviest snowfall of just over 26 inches paralyzed New York in late December of 1947.

In spring, there is something for everyone. Average highs are near 50° in mid-March and rise to near 75° in late May. Typical lows are in the 30s early in the season and jump to the high 50s by Memorial Day. The warmest spring afternoons can see temperatures plummet when winds shift from the colder ocean. In addition to springtime sun, look for a good deal of showers and even some severe thunderstorms to accompany the ups and downs in temperature. Don't rule out a late season snowstorm. Snow flurries have even fallen on Manhattan's spring blossoms in early May.