Travel writer Nick Herle is someone who has inspired me a great deal over the years and what I love most about the way in which he travels is that desire that he has for the strange, the odd and the off the beaten track adventures which most people don’t do, or even realize that they exist. Inspired by the great man himself, I recently enjoyed a trip to New York, not for the first time, and instead of going to the landmarks which everyone knows about, I aimed to go for some strange and unusual activities, and here are some which I’d recommend.
Bank Vault Cocktails
Now you don’t have to look very far in NYC to find some quirk or cool bars, but there are hidden bars throughout the city which are amazing and the Trinity Place Vault bar is exactly that. This vault is buried deep below the New York streets and has been there for over 100 years. The vault has been renovated with elegance and it is a great place to eat or enjoy a cocktail.
Volunteer
I heard whispers of a soup kitchen called Joe’s and they said that you could volunteer there, which sounded like a fun thing to do and a way of helping people out. St. Joe’s soup kitchen serves up to 450 trays of food a week to some of the 61,000 homeless people in the city and you can get involved and help out for a night or two. Volunteers help the soup kitchen keep going and not only is it a fun activity, it is a rewarding one too.
Outdoor Cinema
Watching a movie under the New York city stars with the Hudson river and the Brooklyn bridge in your view is a wonderful way to spend an evening and tat is what you can so at Movies with a View, each Thursday at the Brooklyn Bridge park. There are over 7,000 people who come to this event each week and it is a truly wonderful NY experience.
Broadway Flops
We all love a good musical but what about the flops? These terrible musicals, or badly perceived musicals have their memory kept alive at Joe Allen’s, a restaurant which pays homage to those which didn’t make it. Not only does this quirk restaurant celebrate the bad musicals, they also serve up some delicious food.
Hidden Station
The NYC subway is a labyrinth of tunnels and secrets and at the Grand Central terminal there is even a hidden track, number 61. This platform is directly below the Waldorf Astoria and was once used by President Roosevelt who wanted to hide his paralysis from the general public. Even Andy Warhol had a famous underground party here and you can take a tour which will take you down to the depths to visit this forgotten station, fascinating and very creepy.
What will you be doing first in New York?
