New York: What to do when you reach the Big Apple

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is well worth your time. Photo / Supplied

Welcome to New York - now what? Bridget Jones has some suggestions, including a room filled with dirt.

The Big Apple. The Five Boroughs. The centre of the universe. In the words of Taylor Swift, Welcome to New York. If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere.

Now, it's easier to actually get "there" from here, as Air New Zealand gears up for a new direct route to New York from October 2020, with tickets now on sale.

Flying three days a week, between Auckland and Newark Liberty International Airport, the flight will be the fifth-longest in operation (for now), taking 15 hours and 40 minutes northbound and just shy of 18 hours back to New Zealand.

Here are 16 things you need to do in New York - one to mark each hour onboard the new non-stop flight to the city that never sleeps.

1. Central Park - Between the Upper West and Upper East Sides
There's almost no chance of going to Manhattan and missing the 340haof grass, lakes and even a zoo. Grab a bike, eat a hot dog and just keep moving. In winter, there's ice skating and in summer, outdoor movies and musical performances. But any time of year, it's a beautiful spot to just take a breather.

2. Katz's Delicatessen - Lower East Side
It's where Sally said "YES" to Harry and where you will say "yes, please" to the food. The pastrami sandwich is the stuff of legend, and the theatrics of ordering is worth the wait. Just don't lose the ticket you're handed when you arrive. It's a bill system like nowhere else, so you will have to pay a fine - and deal with the comically grumpy staff - if you try to pay without it.

3. The Rockefeller Center - Midtown
Everyone thinks the Empire State Building is where you should perch for the best view but if you're after an iconic skyline photo, don't you want the most iconic New York building in the shot? The lift in 30 Rock takes you to the Top of the Rock and from there, you'll get killer views and get the Empire State Building in that Instagram post.

4. 30 Rock - Midtown
While you're at 30 Rock, get in to a taping of Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers or The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon. You'll need to be organised - the free tickets are snapped up online when they are released a month before - but if you miss out, you might be lucky with a standby ticket on the day.

5. Brooklyn Bridge - Brooklyn
Even the most disillusioned traveller will get a kick out of the view as you wander away from the city and an even bigger one looking back at Manhattan from the other side. Once you get to Brooklyn, walk along the waterfront on the Brooklyn Promenade for more glorious views (give yourself about an hour for the walk) - especially at night, be way too cool in a Williamsburg dive bar or indulge your inner child on Coney Island's roller coaster.

6. Pizza - almost anywhere, to be honest
Pizza is to New Yorkers what the mince and cheese pie is to us Kiwis: delicious and available almost everywhere you look. And, like our M+C, there are varying levels of quality so be smart and choose the best. According to food magazine Bon Appetit - which made a writer eat 30 slices in a weekend day in the name of research - that title goes to… Scarr's Pizza on the Lower East Side.

7. The High Line - Lower West Side
It was a railway, now it's a public space; long, green and an oasis in the city. There's art and performances, quiet spots and raucousones. After a look, enjoy lunch below at one of Chelsea Market's specialty food shops before exploring Chelsea proper. Boutique and antique shopping is king in this former meatpacking district.

8. Walk Bleecker St - Greenwich Village
Once the epicentre for American bohemia, this famous street is now home to music venues and comedy clubs. The Village's picturesque tree-lined streets are perfect for people-watching, so grab a better-than-it-sounds Compost Cookie from Milk Bar bakery on Christopher St, pick a seat in a neighbourhood park and watch the world go by.

9. Museums - everywhere
Of course there are the biggies - the Met, MoMa, the Natural History Museum - but New York has so many more museums to while away the hours. Try the Tenement Museum, the Cloisters, Frick Collection and, for something completely weird, visit the New York Earth Room. Since the 1970s, the work of artist Walter De Maria has been doing what it says on the tin: simply being 127,000kg of dirt in a room right in the middle of the urban jungle.

10. Chinatown - Lower Manhattan
Near the bottom of Manhattan, you can be transported halfway around the world. Chinatown is full of sights, smells and maybe most importantly, tastes, you won't find anywhere else in New York. From the understated Nom Wah tea parlour - the city's favourite Dim Sum restaurant - to the celebrity-favoured Peachy's cocktail bar, there is a bit of everything in this part of town.

11. Times Square - but only for a minute
There's not a lot to see at NYC's tourist capital apart from some big billboards and lots of selfies. If you do go, make it at night when the bright lights will make it feel like midday. Then, keep walking west and you'll find yourself in Hell's Kitchen - the perfect place for a snack at a real New York deli. There are some great bars around here as well.

12. Statue of Liberty - New York Harbour
Don't pay for a tour, just get on the Staten Island ferry for an amazing view of Lady Liberty. It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week - and is free. Simple.

13. Explore other parts of the city
Get out of the tourist traps and see more of what New York has to offer. Try an amateur jazz night at The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, go to the Bronx Zoo or visit the Museum of the Moving Image (it's a film and telly museum) in Queens.

14. Shop - Midtown
Whether it's Barneys, Macy's, Bloomingdale's or Saks, the seven floors of avant-garde fashion at Dover Street Market or the weekend farmers' market in Union Square, New York has literally anything and everything you could fill your suitcase with for the trip home.

15. See something - Broadway, Madison Square Park
Whether you're after song and dance or shoot and score, spend an evening watching the professionals do something great. Broadway is obviously jam-packed with productions to suit any taste. Right now, you could pick from shows including To Kill a Mockingbird, West Side Story, a Tina Turner musical, or the stage versions of Beetlejuice. Meanwhile, New York's four big sports are basketball, baseball, NFL and ice hockey (depending on the time of year you visit) and the atmosphere alone is worth the price of admission.

16. Take the subway
Don't be afraid. Along with walking, the subway is an affordable, fast (mainly efficient) way to get around the city. So, get a subway map, learn how to use it (it's very easy, don't worry) and maybe pop some hand sanitiser in your back pocket. Hey, nobody said it was perfect.

GETTING THERE
Air New Zealand will fly direct from Auckand to New York's Newark airport from October next year. Tickets are on sale now.

DETAILS
nycgo.com