New York, one of the major cosmopolitan cities in the world, attracts 50 million foreign and American tourists every year. The city is best known for its lush green parks, skyscrapers, art museums and historical sites. During your visit to the city, you will never have enough time to see them all. New York tourist attractions are endless including Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park and Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name a few. These are the tourist attractions that both locals and tourists adore equally. Plan to visit the city any time of the year and you will be floored with endless choice of things to see and do here.
There are many programs followed in the city to attract tourists and help them to live like a local but in case of New York, it has been found that tourists still prefer to live like tourists. It has been quite predictable in New York that tourists love to stay near major attraction in the city whereas locals avoid areas around such attractions. Midtown and Lower Manhattan are the major destinations or neighborhoods where tourists prefer to stay.
Over the years, tourism industry of New York has increased. It has been found that the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rockefeller Center and Battery Park were some of the most visited attractions by tourists in the recent years. All these attractions are also frequented by locals but the number of locals are just a fraction of total visitors in the city. Take for example -The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which witnessed around 6.3 million tourists last year in 2015. According to the data around 26 percent of the visitors were locals and residents while the rest belonged to the tri-state area and other American and international visitors. City parks in New York were amongst the most visited attractions by locals as these areas serves as the chief public transportation crossroads like Madison Square Park and Union Square Park in Manhattan.
If we talk about restaurants, most restaurants and eating joints that are popular amongst locals are well-known New York City restaurants chains that are located in the area around midtown Manhattan. Most destinations that are on high rankings represent New Yorkers’ commuting destinations and lunch hotspots. Although New York City residents visit the major tour. But there are many similar restaurants and tourist attractions that are visited by both tourists and locals. Locals who are employed in Midtown find it difficult to avoid the Times Square zone and Central Park for their morning walks and jogs. Both locals and tourists cannot afford to miss the chance of trying a delicious burger or milk shake at the Shake Shack located in Madison Square Park.
Here is the list
Attractions and eating joints that are frequented by both tourists and locals equally are:
Central Park
Times Square
Bryant Park
Urban Space Vanderbilt
Shake Shack
Attractions mostly visited by tourists
Rockefeller Centre
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Battery Park
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Places Visited by NYC Locals
Manhattan Bridge
Prospect Park
Columbus Circle
Union Square Park
Madison Square Park
Numerous tourists prefer to stay in crowded city centers while seasoned travelers avoid the rush and prefer to choose the destination away from the touristy grid. Tourist attractions that have title for a particular reason, are amongst the top drivers why people travel and want to know more about a particular place.
Filed under: Area Guides, Attractions, New York Attractions, Restaurants, Travel