Having the most diverse attractions and most vertical structures on the smallest possible real estate, New York City can only have a hurried pace. Daytime is a feast for the senses. From the hustle of Harlem street merchants to the bustle of Wall Street stockbrokers. See ships from bygone eras at South Street Seaport contrasting with downtown skyscrapers. Street artists and chess players at Washington Square, student hang-outs at Greenwich Village and the aromas of Chinatown all attractive in their own way, pale compared to the aura of Rockefeller Center. Much more than concrete and steel, the serenity of Central Park sets against the heralded Guggenheim Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Upscale Park Avenue is counterbalanced by the everyday Garment District. You'll love these and many more contrasts between each district.

    Tourist population swells during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the New York Marathon! Pizza lover sojourns to Little Italy.  Art lovers visit the innumerable galleries uptown or the ultra-hip cafes of Greenwich Village, SoHo and TriBeCa. Each district and major event has its own calling and reward.

    Nighttime reveals an equally diverse and attractive side. Enjoy views of Broadway theatres and cinemas with child-like awe as Times Square takes on a new persona. Madison Square Garden, always a beehive of activity, goes into overdrive when the Knicks play basketball or a concert is here. Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall have well-earned reputations as cultural beacons, based on decades of joyous entertainment and award-winning architecture.

    Like a sentinel, the Empire State Building reminds you that New York City, or to be precise, the Manhattan borough of New York City, is the most vertical city on earth. When viewed from its peak, even 40-story buildings appear as little mushrooms. Proof that nearly every architectural fantasy is indulged in Manhattan is the lipstick-shaped building, a jovial counterpoint to the many phallic-like skyscrapers.

    A spider’s web of subways interconnects this amalgam of man-made creations. The subways are so affordable and extensive that nearly half of New Yorkers use it. When a sea of yellow taxis and delivery trucks choke the streets, the subways get you within blocks of a destination with time to spare. The longer you’re here, the more you’ll appreciate this mobile tourist attraction!

    With Harlem being the pacesetter for a much safer New York City, retail business and cultural organizations are responding with a 2nd Harlem Renaissance. Magic Johnson opened a cineplex and Starbucks triggering Disney and other major retailers to open stores on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Everyday Harlem Heritage Tour patrons marvel at the depth of history and culture that inspire musical artists, playwrights, dancers, activists and even a former president, who maintains an office here. The best Soul Food and Caribbean restaurants, Jazz, R&B and Hip-Hop lounges have celebrities lining up to get in. Experience top-flight Jazz with renewed zest at Lenox Lounge and Jimmy’s Uptown. How appropriate that 8th Avenue is now called Frederick Douglass Boulevard, 7th Avenue is called Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, and Lenox Avenue is slowly, but surely gaining acceptance as Malcolm X Boulevard. 125th Street, now called Martin Luther King Boulevard, buzzes with activity like the 1950s. To experience the community at its best, Harlem Day Parade in August is a must.

    No longer in Manhattan’s shadow, Brooklyn (map) has a diverse mix of cultures from all over the world and holds its own as a major city.  With numerous historic and cultural sites, first-class museums, excellent restaurants, beautiful parks, there is a great deal to see and experience.  Residents can claim their most famous play land, Coney Island, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn Children’s Museum and Brooklyn Botanical Garden containing 12,000 varieties of flora. Pro basketball fans in Brooklyn are rejoicing, since the Nets NBA team will move to a spanking new center in downtown Brooklyn.

   People of African descent keep it real in areas of art, culture, and historical sites. In fact, Brooklyn has its own Africana design and restaurant district, the Bogalon Merchants on Fulton Street.  The same street has many Black owned boutiques, nightclubs, and restaurants.

    In addition to being home to JFK and La Guardia airports, Queens encompasses several major sporting venues and museums.  USTA National Tennis Center; Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets baseball team; and Aqueduct Race Track have plenty of action for sports enthusiasts.  Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the latter of which hosted two world’s fairs. The Unisphere built for the 1964-65 World’s Fair was used in the climax scene of Men In Black.

    Cultural institutions abound, including the American Museum of the Moving Image, the New York Hall of Science, and the Queens Museum of Art which has also contains one of New York’s best-loved permanent exhibitions, the Panorama of New York City, a meticulously rendered model of all five boroughs of New York, with more than 835,000 tiny buildings. Jazz aficionados will want to explore the Queens Jazz Trail with tours past the former homes of the Jazz giants and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning for theater and Jazz.

    Newark (map) brings more flava’ to the mix. There’s enough Soul Food restaurants, clubs, shops, galleries, churches and historic sites on this side of the Hudson River to pleasantly surprise you. The revitalization of Newark is drawing national attention for its ability to attract PSEG, Verizon, Continental Airlines, and UPS to headquarter here along with Prudential -- an act envied by other cities nationwide. Downtown, featuring the sixth largest performing arts center in the United States, is more attractive than ever. And it doesn’t hurt to have Newark International, metro New York’s largest and only airport with an Amtrak connection.

    How appropriate that New York City should host the United Nations Building, given that more languages are spoken here than the Tower of Babel. Do New Yorkers brag when they say it’s the world’s most dynamic city? That ain’t bragging. It’s fact.