October 17, 2010 started with bright sunshine and punctually at 10 am I met my local New York City expert, Ed Botwin, in the lobby of my hotel. Ed is a volunteer with the Big Apple Greeter Organization, an organization that welcomes out-of-town visitors and puts them together with local volunteers who show them around all the neat spots in their city. The Big Apple Greeter program is one of the best ways of getting to know the city. Ed and I were going to explore the Bronx today, and to do so we went on a long subway ride straight north until we had to switch to a bus to finally arrive at the upscale Fieldston neighbourhood. From here we went on a long walk on leafy winding streets past Manhattan College to Van Cortlandt Park with its 18th century mansion, the Bronx's oldest building. Our next stop was in the Belmont neighbourhood, home to New York City's largest Italian-American community. We popped into the historic Arthur Avenue Retail Market for an authentic Italian shopping experience and a delicious deli lunch. Then we strolled further south past Italian, Albanian and Mexican stores as well as the imposing Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Back on the bus we passed by poet Edgar Allen Poe's cottage and finally landed in the South Bronx, an area that was ravaged by urban decay in the 1960 and 1970s. Today, after about 20 years of revitalization, the area seems rather safe and respectable. "The Hub", a popular retail area where four major roads converge, was teeming with people going about their business. Thanks to my expert local greeter Ed Botwin, I came away with a much better understanding of this fascinating part of New York City. By 4 pm I was back at my hotel and connected with my friend Linda. Together we continued our explorations and headed to the southwestern part of Manhattan to see one of the city's most recent attractions: the High Line, a former elevated railroad that has been rescued from demolition and converted into an urban park. Built to replace a former street-level railway, the High Line opened in 1934 and carried freight until 1980. When there was talk of a demolition of the railway, a group of local activists got together and managed to save the railroad. Finally in June of 2009, the southernmost part of the railway opened as a public park. Judging by the large crowds that were enjoying a walk on this elevated historic railway / urban park, the project is a huge success and the public loves the High Line. As the sun started to set we walked south on Greenwich Street to the tip of Manhattan from where we took the Staten Island Ferry to get an excellent view of Manhattan's skyline. Back on land we walked up the east side of Manhattan and checked out the South Street Seaport, a historic port area that has been converted into a major restaurant and entertainment district. After a quick subway ride, we ended up near Times Square again where we enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant called Brazil and fell into our beds exhausted after many hours of walking and sightseeing.

• published: 03 Nov 2010
• views: 7235