New visitors to New York would be well served to see as many of the highlights as they can. And you can do this by taking a famous Circle Line sightseeing cruise (www.circleline42.com), by bus using City Sights (www.citysightsny.com) or by helicopter, also using City Sights.

There are the main highlights to be seen: Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Wall Street, United Nations, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island and Times Square/Theater District. There are cities within the city: Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown. The museums are amazing: Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History/Planetarium, The Guggenheim and, my new favorite, the Museum of Arts and Design. The list really does go on and on.

But, on a recent NY trip, I took some time and saw Manhattan the best way you can: on foot and by subway. I had come across a magnificent find: it's a book called Inside the Apple, A Streetwise History of New York City. It's divided into two parts. The first traces the history of New York in 182 easy-to-read mini-chapters. I read through the whole thing but it's easy for anyone to pick and choose that which is of interest. For me, who spent twenty six years in NY, I was amazed at how much wonderful information (useful and otherwise) I picked up. Some sample factoids: the phrase "23 skidoo" is due to the Flatiron Building at 23rd and Fifth; there really is no one buried in Grant's Tomb; the five boroughs that comprise New York did not come together as one city until the late 1800s; how Oreo cookies, which originally came from NY, got their name; where the sheep in Central Park's Sheep Meadow went, and more.

The second part has fourteen walking tours. I did six of them and discovered things I had never seen before: my new favorite building, the Alexander Hamilton United States Custom House, an architectural and design wonder (both inside and out); the oldest paved street in the city; the history of Clinton Castle, originally a fort protecting Manhattan during the Revolutionary War, now the ticket office of the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferry; Trinity Church and St. Paul's Church, both of which have huge historical significance but gained great fame after 9/11; the World Trade Center Site where the new tower is being erected; and delights such as the Woolworth Tower and the Municipal Building. I walked through the streets reliving the history of Chinatown (great food at 69 Bayard Street - yes, that's the name and address), Little Italy (great pizza at Lombardi's) and the Lower East Side (Katz's for deli and Yonah Schimmel's for knishes). The book brought these areas to life factually along with wonderful stories.

New York has an enormous range of places to stay ranging from the most luxurious of properties to mid-price ones. But, two mid-size hotels that are well worth considering are The Benjamin (www.thebenjamin.com) and The Shelburne (www.affinia.com). They're both in midtown on the east side, near the subway and, of course, taxis, and they each have all the services and amenities one could need without the impersonal feel of a giant chain hotel.

The Big Apple is ready and waiting!

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