The Big Apple has everything you need and more for a few days holiday. Here are some suggestions for getting the most out of it and feeling like you have had the NY experience.
First on the list of anyone going to New York is always shopping. The Big A is a shopper's paradise - the range and selection is enormous and the prices so good I have yet to meet anyone who has not had to buy more luggage to bring it all home. Macy's, Bloomingdales, Bendels and Saks are some of the major department stores, but I always head for Century 21 off Broadway behind the World Trade Centre, where designer clothes and shoes are at prices that stun.
Be prepared to root among the racks, and try to avoid lunchtime. Walking further up Broadway will bring you to China Town Canal Street, where you can pick up some souvenirs, watches, handbags, T-shirts and some very gold jewellery.
Along the side streets there are lots of Chinese restaurants and cafes. The cafes, in particular are great value, and a bowl of noodle soup will keep the stamina up. China Town merges into Little Italy and if you pass Tony's Bar, go in a see where they made Donnie Brasco.
Fastest way to sightsee New York is the Screamer Boat Chelsea Pier. In one hour this big yellow powerboat hurtles around Manhattan, passes the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, goes under the Brooklyn Bridge and back.
Walking is the only way to see the streets of New York, and Times Square, once synonymous with sleaze, has been transformed into the best neon display in the world. A new visitor centre has opened, opposite the TKTS booth, to provide tourist information, currency exchange, newstand, toilets and free web browsing.
Now you have seen everything its time to party. Bars in New York stay open until 4 a.m., so pace yourself if you want to get the best out of it. Greenwich Village and the East Village are full of night-time places, lots of ethnic restaurants, cool bars and clothes stores. Start at St Marks Place and have a crawl. Jekyll and Hyde is worth a look for the strange atmosphere and staff. The White Horse Tavern on Houston is famous for being Dylan Thomas's last watering hole.
`In' bars lately include Thady Cons at 2nd Avenue between 48th and 49th Street; The Parlour, Upper West Side at 85th and Broadway; Taboo at 218 52nd Street between 3rd and 2nd Avenues, for quiet comfort. The Royalton Hotel, at 44th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue: for serious people watching, use the restrooms. Finish up at the wildest bar in town, Hogs and Heifers at 859 Washington Street. As the hour gets later and later the place gets wilder. Women, don't wear your best bra - you might be tempted to throw it over the Moose's head.
Saturday night is Swing night at the Windows of the World, at the top of the World Trade Centre. Work off the Cosmopolitan cocktails with the dance band to the best view in town.
Finish off with breakfast at one of NY's famous diners, toast bagel, two eggs sunnyside up, washed down with a gallon of coffee. And remember, you can sleep when you get home.