So many of you guys like to share your au pair story with us and the rest of our Au Pair in America family – which we absolutely love! There’re those who have crossed oceans to come to America, those who have dropped anything & everything to join their new families in the States, and many others who had to leave their best friends behind in order to be able to make new friends on the other side of the world. No matter where you’re from and what US state you’re headed to, you guys all have at least one thing at common: Your first few days in the States belong to New York City, and New York City belongs to you!
In this series, we’re shedding some light on our au pairs’ favourite spots in the USA. Whether it is a city, a state or just a general area that our au pairs are currently obsessed with – we’ll introduce some of North America’s “places to be” in an entirely new way. Our secret? We get our recommendations right from the source – our lovely au pairs – to ensure that our travel tips cover everything an Au Pair in America needs to know about and more!
It’s not really hard to guess where we’re headed to this time… Ladies, we proudly present the city that never sleeps: NYC!
Subway | available 24/7, $2.75 per ride
Buses | available 24/7, accessible at the front of the bus, accept MetroCard or exact change
🚢 Ferries | Staten Island Ferry (free, Staten Island – Manhatten’s Whitehall Ferry Terminal), NYC Ferry (several different routes, cost of a subway ride), NY Waterway (New Jersey – Manhatten)
Citi Bikes | New York City’s bike sharing system
🚕 Taxis | available 24/7, on duty when numbers on top of the vehicle are illuminated
🏛 MoMA
🏛 Met
🏛 Museum of Natural History
🏛 NY Transit Museum
🏛 Edgar Allan Poe Cottage
🏛 9/11 Memorial & Museum
🏛 Whitney Museum of American Art
🏛 Guggenheim Museum
Keep an eye out for ‘Pay What You Wish’ deals & designated ‘Free Entry’ days
📍 Times Square
📍 Brooklyn Bridge
📍 The Docks
📍 Rockefeller Center & Top of the Rock Observation Deck
📍 Empire State Building
📍 Flat Iron
📍 Dumbo
📍 Statue of Liberty / Staten Island Ferry / Ellis Island
📍 Coney Island
📍 Broadway & the Theater District
📍 Fifth Avenue
📍 Little Italy
📍 Chinatown
📍 Greenwich Village
📍 Grand Central Terminal
📍 One World Observatory
📍 New York Public Library
📍 Wall Street
📍 Radio City Music Hall
📍 Madison Square garden
📍 St Patrick’s Cathedral
📍 Yankee Stadium
📍 Bronx Zoo
📍 Carnegie Hall
📍 Theater District
📍 Metropolitan Opera
📍 Movie spots | such as the ‘Friends’ building, ‘Gossip Girl”s Met steps etc.
🍔 Shake Shack
✨ Stardust Diner
🍕 Two Boots
🍕 Polpettina Pizza
🍕 Wheated
🍕 Roberta’s
🍕 Lombardi’s
🧀 Raclette | melted cheese on anything and everything
🍤 Bubba Gump
🍞 Absolute Bagels
🍰 Magnolia’s Bakery
🍰 Junior’s | try a perfect example for a classic New York cheesecake!
🍪 DŌ, Cookie Dough Confections | raw cookie dough to go, anyone?
🍩 Dominique Ansel bakery | aka the inventor of the ‘Cronut’
🍩 Vegan Divas | for deliciously vegan treat
👟 TCS New York City Marathon | 
1st Sunday in November, Staten Island – Central Park
👟 New York Road Runners Midnight Run | December 31st, Central Park
👕 New York Fashion Week | Spring / Summer, various locations
🏒 Rangers and Islanders Openers | October, Madison Square Garden
🏀 Big East Tournament | March, Madison Square Garden
🏀 Knicks and Nets Openers | October, Madison Square Garden
🏀 New York Liberty Basketball | May – September
⚾️ Mets and Yankees Season Opener | April, Citi Field & Yankee Stadium
🎾 US Open Tennis | August through September, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
🚲 TD Five Boro Bike Tour | May
🎤 New York Comedy Festival | every November, Madison Square Garden / Town Hall etc.
🎭 New York City Ballet Winter Repertory Season | 4 weeks starting in January, Lincoln Center
🎭 NYC Off-Broadway Week℠ | February & October, various venues
🎭 NYC Broadway Week℠ | January & September, various venues
🎭 BAM Next Wave Festival | creative dance, theater, film & literature from September through December, different venues in and around New York City
🎭 New York City Ballet Fall Repertory Season | kick-off in September, Lincoln Center
🎭 Summer at Lincoln Center | July, Lincoln Center
🎭 Shakespeare in the Park | May-August, Central Park’s Delacorte Theater
🎭 Amateur Night | February – November, Apollo
🎨 Archtober | Architecture & Design month in October, Museum of Modern Art / the Guggenheim / Central Park Conservatory / 9/11 Memorial & Museum etc.
🎨 New York Comic Con | October,Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
🎨 The Armory Show | March, Piers 92 & 94
🎨 The Art Show | March, Park Avenue Armory
🎨 Open House New York (OHNY) | every October, various buildings and sites
🎨 NYCxDESIGN | May, various locations
📖 New Yorker Festival | October, different venues in and around New York City
🎥 New York Jewish Film Festival | January
🎥 New York Film Festival | September through October, different venues in and around New York City
🎥 Tribeca Film Festival | April, Lower Manhatten
🎥 New York International Children’s Film Festival | February & March, SVA Theater, Cinépolis Chelsea, Scandinavia House, IFC Center, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown, Museum of the Moving Image
🎵 Winter Jazzfest | January, Le Poisson Rouge, Judson Memorial Church, Bitter End, etc.
🎵 The Metropolitan Opera Fall/Spring Season | September – May, Metropolitan Opera
🎵 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival | August, Tompkins Square Park & Marcus Garvey Park
🎵 SummerStage | May, Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield
🎵 Broadway in Bryant Park | July, Bryant Park
🎵 NY Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks | one week in June, Van Cortlandt Park, Great Lawn, Cunningham Park, Prospect Park, etc.
🚗 New York International Auto Show | March, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
🚂 Holiday Train Show | November – January, New York Botanical Garden
🚂 Holiday Train Show Grand Central | November – February, Grand Central Terminal
🚢 New York Boat Show | January, Jacob Javits Center
🎄 Origami Holiday Tree | November – January, American Museum of Natural History
🌸 Macy’s Flower Show | March, Macy’s
🌸 Orchid Show | March, New York Botanical Garden
🌸 Cherry Blossom Festival | April, Brooklyn Botanical Garden
🌎 Earth Day / Week | April, parks around the city
🦋 Butterfly Conservatory | October, American Museum of Natural History’s seasonal vivarium
🐶 Westminster Dog Show | February, Madison Square Garden
🍔 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival | October, various locations and happenings
🍔 Feast of San Gennaro | 11 days in September, Little Italy
🍔 NYC Restaurant Week® | January & July, various restaurants across the city
🍔 Big Apple Barbecue Block Party | June, Madison Square Park
🍔 9th Avenue International Food Festival | May, 9th Avenue
🎡 NYC Must-See Week | March, various venues and sights across all 5 boroughs
🎡 Village Halloween Parade | October, West Village
🎡 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade | November, near the American Museum of Natural History
🎡 Richmond County Fair | September, Staten Island
🎡 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival | August, Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park
🎡 Summer Streets | between 7am – 1pm on three August Saturdays, Park Avenue
🎡 MoMA PS1 Warm Up | July through September, MoMA area
🎡 Harlem Week | July through August, Harlem
🎡 Museum Mile Festival | June, Upper East Side
🎡 National Puerto Rican Day Parade | June, Fifth Avenue
🎡 River to River Festival | June, various locations downtown
🎡 Celebrate Brooklyn! | June, various locations in Brooklyn
🎡 Summer on the Hudson | May, Riverside Park
🎡 Bronx Week | May, various locations in the Bronx
🎡 Asia Week New York | March, Rubin Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, China Institute, etc.
🎡 St. Patrick’s Day Parade | March, 5th Avenue between 44th & 79th Streets
🎡 Easter Parade & Easter Bonnet Festival | March, Fifth Avenue
🎡 Lunar New Year Parade & Festival | March, Chinatown, Flushing (Queens) & Sunset Park (Brooklyn)
🌈 Pride Week | last Sunday in June, various locations across all five boroughs
❄️ Winter Antiques Show | January, Park Avenue Armory
❄️ Three Kings Day Parade | 6th January, El Museo del Barrio
❄️ Radio City Christmas Spectacular | November & December, Radio City Music Hall
❄️ Lighting of the World’s Largest Hanukkah Menorahs | every December, Plaza Hotel
❄️ Holiday Shops | every December, Union Square / Grand Central Terminal / Byrant Park / Columbus Circle etc.
❄️ Ice-Skating Rinks Open | late October – December, Rockefeller Center / Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park etc.
❄️ Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting | every December, Rockefeller Center
❄️ Kwanzaa Celebrations | African-American heritage celebration every December 26th – January 1st, American Museum of Natural History
🎉 Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks | 4th of July, viewing locations across the city
🎉 Times Square New Year’s Eve | December 31st, Times Square
🗽 Commemorating 9/11 | September 11th, various locations
More event over on www.nycgo.com
📍 Soho
📍 Herald Square | Macy’s, VS, GAP, Zara, H&M, etc.
📍 North Williamsburg | vintage & independent stores
👕 Delkab Ave | e.g. Century 21
👕 Atlantic Ave | e.g. Uniqlo & many more chain stores
👕 6th Avenue | souvenir shops
👕 Bay Plaza Mall
👕 Woodbury Common Mall | New Jersey
👟 Explore the City on Foot
☯️ Free Yoga classes | various NYC parks
⛸ Ice Skating | various ice rinks across the city in winter
🌳 Central Park | running, cycling, skating, boating
🌳 Prospect Park | Brooklyn
🌳 Bear Mountain Park
🌳 Brooklyn Bridge Park
🌳 Bryant Park
🌳 High Line Park
🌳 Washington Square Park
🌊 East River | kayaking, stand-up-paddling
👀 Empire State Building
👀 Bay Park
👀 Top of the Rock Observation Deck
👀 Brooklyn Bridge Park / Bridge
👀 World Trade center
👀 Greenpoint | Brooklyn
👀 Williamsburg | Brooklyn (e.g. N 5th Street Pier & Park)
📍 9/11 Memorial
📍 General Grant National Memorial
📍 Federal Hall National Memorial
📍 Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthplace
📍 Chrysler Building
📍 Greenwood Cemetery | Brooklyn
📍 Edgar Allan Poe Cottage House | Bronx
🎭 Apollo Theater
🌊 Ellis Island
🏮 Chinatown
📍 Broadway Shows
📍 Times Square
📍 Bushwick | various independent musicians & artists with galleries & art studios (also: street art!)
“New York is not America and America is not New York. There are so many cultures and people in this city. You can explore and learn something new wherever you go.”
