WHY GO: Beacon NY grew up a mill town. Hunched at the foot of mountains and wedged between waterfalls and the navigable Hudson River, factories that harnessed those raging waters decimated the landscape. Industrial waste turned the Hudson into “a sewer,” according to Beacon’s most famous resident, the late Pete …
WHY GO: DUMBO Brooklyn is making a comeback as a city park and food haven. With a new museum, several Instagrammable stops, and emerging trendy restaurants, there’s lots to see and do, even if you only have time for a quick trip. Ever hear the phrase, “I have a bridge …
James NoMad, the flagship of the James Hotel brand, opened in the Flatiron District of NYC (29th and Madison) in August 2017. Originally built in 1904 as the Seville Hotel and then, in 1987, rebranded as the Carlton, the space was gut renovated in 2017. Developers kept its elegant Beaux …
WHY GO: Any authentic New Yorker knows that Times Square is “for tourists” and doesn’t represent the “real” New York. With Ruby Tuesday’s, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bubba Gump’s, Hard Rock, the Gap, Old Navy, Walgreens, Sephora (two of them!); Times Square in the center of Manhattan could be a …
WHY GO: The Chelsea section of Manhattan was hipster Brooklyn before Brooklyn became Brooklyn. Home to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT: which is to clothing design what the Culinary Institute of America is to cooking), the country’s first successful elevated linear urban park, cool shops, a museum dedicated to …
The Saratoga Springs NY Adelphi Hotel, meticulously reborn after a 5 year renovation, is a brighter, lighter, more splendiferous version of it’s former Victorian self; from lobby to classy, luxurious guest rooms. First built in 1877 as a 100-room hotel, the Adelphi was a town landmark in the early days …
WHY GO: There’s something divine about sunrise in the Mid-Hudson River Valley, over the Hudson River. Even more so from my private balcony at the Buttermilk Falls Inn and Spa. It takes just 1 1/2 hours to get here from New York City by train or car. And then, to …
If you are hell bent on finding some of the best bars in New York City, you won’t have to move around too much. Three are all in one place – a place you won’t even have to leave after you’ve imbibed a bit: the renovated Dream Midtown NYC. Choose …
WHY GO: If you’re a Mark Twain fan, you don’t even have to ask. To many, Elmira NY and Mark Twain are forever linked in history. How? Read on. Things to Do in Elmira NY VISIT: Mark Twain’s Study on the campus of Elmira College, Elmira NY All Mark Twain …
WHY GO: Six years ago, I wrote of the then sleepy Keuka Lake, the one with “Shape Pride:” Of all the 11 Finger Lakes, Keuka Lake is not the largest, smallest or deepest. But it does have one feature that instills pride in all who live along its shores. It …