The other apple, in New York there is not only Manhattan, here's what to see in Harlem for gospel choirs, in Dumbo and Brooklyn and Coney Island, a mini guide for your low cost trip.
New York it is not only Financial District, Upper East side or Tribecca it is also suburban areas.
The program for a day in the Big Apple can be Harlem in the morning and Brooklyn e Coney Island in the afternoon.
The claim can be to not only know the glitter of the streets of the center, the beauties of the museums, the squares and the famous monuments, but to go deeper. Also discover the vital and somewhat decadent part of certain periods of the past or remote corners that are still part of film legacies with noir touches.
For the visit to Harlem you can ask the group for help "Harlem spirituals gospel”, The idea of ​​discovering this part of the city with a guide will prove to be excellent. Antony will show you hidden corners such as Green street (on one side of the street there is the New York of our century, turning your gaze on the other sidewalk you are catapulted into 1800) or the oldest house in all of Manhattan, above all it will lead you to a small Baptist church to attend a gospel mass.
For me it was touching to see this different way of living religiosity. From every moment of the function transpired a joy that infects and the welcome for tourists has something special. The faithful do not feel in the window, but they try to convey their religious sense to those who watch their pray, so much so that at a certain point you too, spectator, clap your hands and hum the tunes. The rest of Harlem tells the African American story of integration made of Jazz and murals and the very famous Apollo theater.
In the area you cannot miss lunch in a typical diner with black cuisine based on fried chicken and waffles.
If you want advice, theAmy Ruth's is the right address to experiment with certain particular tastes. The basic recipes usually have very rich ingredients: fried fish and chicken, peas, macaroni and okra, spicy ribs, warm wheat bread, cheese and many sauces.
Antony, with an unscheduled, after lunch, will also lead you to the edge of the Bronx, in a well-known street in which all the films of shootings and clashes between gangs are shot and it is here that the “dark” charm of overpasses and dust mixes with stories of blood and clandestine trafficking.
Instead just get off at Coney Island what is most striking is the confusion of people, many African Americans or Asians, who have allowed themselves a day on the beach or in the large amusement park, the oldest in the United States. L'Atlantic Ocean then it adds to the air that salty scent that cannot be breathed in other areas.
It is pleasant to walk along the ocean promenade filled with the noises of attractions and the incomprehensible chatter of people while inevitably eating a hot dog from Nathan's.
At Coney Island you will find a real one beach where bathers play and sunbathe, with a playground that exudes memories. The attractions themselves remain open for a few hours during the day, but if you are luckily able to get on the Ferris wheel (with more than 90 years of history) and admire the whole panorama.
On the way back, a must is the brooklyn bridge which rises majestically from the narrow streets of Dumbo. The bridge, from the park below, appears imposing, in the middle of the waters of the bay, and in the background the city illuminated in a sunset that envelops it in shades of pink and orange. This is what you can expect on a warm summer evening, but I think that even with the autumn fog the show is no less.
Not far out of the park you will feel like you are in a 30s movie with factories and buildings with red bricks, some abandoned. Now this neighborhood is turning into a residential neighborhood, with art galleries, bookstores, restaurants.
In Dumbo there is nothing to see, but only to walk and breathe in this space where history and modernity are merging. For a tasty break in the evening, it will seem strange advice, stop by Grimaldi's to eat a good pizza.
The pizza is tasty, the dough is crunchy and not heavy. It has nothing to do with Neapolitan or Roman pizza (and it is not a criticism just a statement, also because it is better than many pizzas eaten in Italy) and it is certainly worth trying.
After that a good solution is to whistle for call the taxi and cross the bridge in the night.
Before New York only some deeply historic cities or large natural environments had given me such intense sensations. And instead a set of large skyscrapers, races and colors, crazy habits made this corner of the world wonderful (and not always in a positive way, you can't make a city so full of contradictions enchanted).
