Statues, Skylines & Slices: Touring New York City with My Daughters…. Part 1
- Grant
- Jul 28
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 30
Intro: Why New York City and Why Now?
Early Summer of 2024, my younger daughter, Taylor, decided she was going to move to New York City. After all her planning and getting agreement from her boss to do her work remote, Taylor moved to the Chelsea neighborhood (Chelsea, Manhattan - Wikipedia) of New York City in September 2024.
Although Erin, my oldest daughter, helped Taylor with her move, I had yet to visit Taylor and see her apartment. The timing was good for a Memorial Day 2025 trip for Erin, so she and I flew to see Taylor and do a few days touring New York City. Before that, Erin and Taylor set up a 3-day itinerary, purchased some tickets, and made the necessary reservations. Although I have been to NYC on several occasions, this would be the first time as a complete tourist and the first time with my daughters.
Based on how well Erin, Taylor, and I traveled last year in Italy, I was excited to see how well we would do touring New York City. Although our visit to my father’s hometown in Italy was emotional, I knew that our planned visit to Ellis Island, where my father and his family first set foot in the USA, might be equally sentimental and emotional. (see this earlier blog about my family background)
This is the first of a two-part blog…. Enjoy reading about our wanderlust encounters…
Friday Early Evening Arrival
After an uneventful flight (the best kind) from Denver, we touched down at LaGuardia around 5:30PM local time and took an Uber to the Maritime Hotel (themaritimehotel.com), in the Chelsea neighborhood (Chelsea, Manhattan - Wikipedia). This is an excellent boutique hotel across from the Chelsea Market (Chelsea Market). It’s in a great location and easy to get to all of the sights Manhattan has to offer.
After a few rainy days, NYC was supposed to have several days of nice weather. Although we arrived to a bit of rain, it was forecasted to clear up during our trip, and it did for the most part.
After we checked into our rooms and unpacked a bit, Erin and I left the hotel and walked a few blocks to meet Taylor and see her apartment. It is a nice two-bedroom apartment, where she sublets one of the bedrooms. Taylor has a very nice roommate who is from London and works in the financial industry.
The Cafe Chelsea Bar area; lobby of the Chelsea Hotel; hotel's ornate metal stairs
From her apartment we had about 15-minute walk to Café Chelsea (Café Chelsea | French Restaurant & Bistro near Midtown, NYC), in the Chelsea Hotel (Best Hotel In New York | Hotel Chelsea), for dinner. Just as we started our walk, it began to rain, not a hard rain, just a constant one. So, we ducked under an awning and waited until the rain slowed and then continued our walk. We arrived and had a very nice dinner. Although quite pricey, the food and the service were very good. Also, the bar area had a lot of style and was quite busy.
Day 1 – Greenwich Village Food Tour and Dessert in Little Italy
First things first, coffee and croissant at Kobrick Coffee (Kobrick Coffee About Us), a small coffee shop in the Meatpacking District; then we walked through West Village (West Village - Wikipedia) toward Greenwich Village (Greenwich Village - Wikipedia). During our walk we enjoyed strolling through an outdoor artist’s market setup on a West Village street.
Our major activity today is the Secret Food Tour of Greenwich Village (meet at 10:45AM, tour from 11:00AM – 3:00PM). On this food tour, we visited 6 excellent restaurants and food purveyors.
Several stops on the Secret Food Tour of Greenwich Village
We began the tour by walking a few blocks to Mamoun’s Falafel (Home | Mamoun's Falafel — Nationwide Shipping), a NYC mainstay for over 50 years. A few more blocks and we arrived at Bagels on the Square (Bagels On The Square NYC Restaurant | Order Online). Good bagels, but not the best. From there a short walk to Molly’s Cupcakes (Home - Molly's Cupcakes), then on to Chip City Cookies (West Village - Chip City Cookies). Not many things better than a warm chocolate chip cookie. To work off the sugar high, we headed to Two Boots Pizza’s West Village location (Two Boots Pizza | Best Pizza in New York, NY – Delivery, Takeout & Catering). The final “secret” stop turned out to be Taco Mahal (Taco Mahal), a fusion between Indian and Spanish cuisines, highly recommended.
Washington Square Park scenes
Most of the food tour consisted of walking around the West Village and Greenwich Village neighborhoods, within several blocks of Washington Square Park (Washington Square Park Monuments - Washington Square Arch : NYC Parks).
During our walking tour, we passed by the apartment building from the incredibly popular Friends sitcom. You true blue Friends fans, try the Friends Experience (The One In New York - The FRIENDS™ Experience). We also saw the smallest house in NYC, at 75½ Bedford Street in the West Village (75½ Bedford Street - Wikipedia).
Since we ended the food tour across the street from Washington Square Park, we took a quick stroll through the park (Washington Square Park Monuments - Washington Square Arch : NYC Parks). A few blocks away we connected with the High Line (Visitor Info | The High Line) and walked it back to Chelsea. We stopped at the hotel and changed clothes for dinner.
My daughters and I then walked to Bar Bonobo (Experience the Finest Craft Cocktails at our Cocktail Lounge) for Happy Hour – excellent specialty drinks, service, and atmosphere; reservations are recommended. From Bar Bonobo, we had a short walk to Peasant for dinner at 8:00PM (Peasant - Italian Restaurant by Chef Marc Forgione in New York City).
Dinner at Peasant was wonderful. Peasant (Peasant - Italian Restaurant by Chef Marc Forgione in New York City) is located in a small Lower Manhattan neighborhood, near Little Italy. It was very busy when we arrived. Reservations are highly recommended, or you may not get a table. After a delicious dinner we walked a couple of blocks to Little Italy. I highly recommend you enjoy a memorable dinner at Peasant.
Excellent dinner at Peasant from the Burrata to the Carbonara, food and service were excellent
The Italian side of my family first arrived in NYC from Italy, so I had to visit Little Italy. And the one block is heavily touristed and an interesting place to visit. Be careful of all of the tourist traps. The girls and I walked the block twice and then decided on dessert at Ferrara’s Bakery and Café (Ferrara Bakery | NYC's Famous Italian Bakery Since 1892), established in 1892, it is a Little Italy mainstay.
Walk through Little Italy and dessert at Ferrara
Day 2 – Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, and A Downtown Walk-Around
This morning it’s coffee and croissant at 787 Coffee Company (Buy Fresh Farm-to-Cup Puerto Rican Coffee Online | 787 Coffee), in the Meat Packing District. From there we took the subway to Battery Park.
Since we had about 45 minutes before boarding the ferry, we decided to walk around Battery Park (New York City Parks - Visiting Manhattan | The Battery). We discovered East Coast Memorial (About East Coast Memorial - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)) to our many soldiers who died during World War II in the various branches of the service, Army, Navy/Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
We also walked to Castle Clinton National Monument, actually it looks more like a fort than a castle (Castle Clinton National Monument (U.S. National Park Service). When it was a two-story building, as originally built, it did sort of look like a castle. After looking around Clinton Castle, we walked back the ferry and queued for about 15 minutes.
Soon the line moved, and we boarded the very crowded ferry to Liberty Island (Statue Of Liberty | Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island) and Ellis Island.
The ferry route took us first to Liberty Island, then to Ellis Island. At Liberty Island, lot of people disembarked from the ferry and a lot of people got on to go to Ellis Island.
In my opinion, the best views of the Statue of Liberty (Statue of Liberty - Wikipedia) are from the water as the countless LEGAL immigrants see and have seen her when coming to America. It is what my father and his mother would have seen first, and it makes me a bit emotional to think about that. Once we left the Liberty Island dock, we headed directly to Ellis Island.
From the dock of the man-made harbor of Ellis Island (Ellis Island - Wikipedia), you immediately see the main building on the north side of the harbor and the hospital buildings on the south. Trying to imagine the point of view of the LEGAL immigrants, the buildings may have looked a bit intimidating. A long walkway leads to the front doors. I imagine they saw several lines of people and were probably accosted by many crooks and shysters walking around offering to help with baggage, or transportation, or directions for a fee. Most who agreed lost money, baggage, and worse. (Click here to see my earlier blog about my family’s immigration and getting my Italian citizenship in honor of my father and his family.)
Entering through the front doors of the main building, you enter the Ellis Island Museum (Overview + History | Ellis Island). When my father and his mother entered through these doors in 1928, they entered a baggage storage area. All bags were left with porters for a storage fee. They were then told to proceed upstairs to the Great Hall, lined with benches and filled with people speaking countless different languages.
After more than a day of being observed, examined, questioned, and processed, my father and his mother were given their papers and allowed to go back downstairs, retrieve their bags, and meet relatives waiting for them. It was a scarry encounter with the government of their adopted country, but they survived and here we are, following in their footsteps and those of millions of other LEGAL immigrants.
Imagine the courage for a boy of 8 and his mother, after weeks on a ship (below the waterline), to leave the only home they knew, arrive in a foreign place, not understand the language, and have to deal with government processes they didn’t understand.
Incredible!
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