THOM KENNEDY uncovers the delights of Fifth Avenue shopping, enjoys pizza in Little Italy and marvels at the view from the Empire State Building

New York. It's a wonderful town, you know

When you’re making your first trip to New York, you see a pattern emerge in conversations in the weeks beforehand.

“Is it your first time?” people will ask.

“Yep.”

Then, with a cock of the head and the same tone and faraway stare people tend to employ when recalling a particularly magnificent piece of chocolate pudding, they sigh: “Oh, you’re going to love it.”

And you are. You’re going to step into the cinema screen, into a city which can’t be matched in scale or grandeur in your memory or imagination.

So much of New York is familiar – there are countless films set amidst its dizzying skyscrapers, and its character is so well reflected onscreen that you almost know what to expect of its people from the moment you step off the plane.

Even so, when you find yourself immersed in it, the first sight of some of those famous sights can be breathtaking. It is nothing short of a joyous place to visit, from the moment you arrive into the city at the quite astonishing Grand Central Station.

Our visit doesn’t get off to the perfect start, despite an immaculate flight in the spacious seats of British Airways’ World Traveller Plus cabin.

The flight goes very smoothly, and includes a trip to the relaxing business lounge, flying from the vast, gleaming Heathrow Terminal 5.

But on arriving late, and heading to the Upper East Side, we arrive to the shocking news that our booking has not been confirmed, and a long wait with nowhere to lay our heads ensues while the matter is sorted out.

An early hours change of staff at the Marriott’s Courtyard Hotel finally resolves the situation, and after a troubling beginning to our trip, we can finally get to grips with Manhattan.

Our first foray into the city takes us to the heart of New York’s famous financial district.

We head for the free Staten Island Ferry, which takes commuters from Staten Island into Manhattan, and has become a popular means of giving tourists an offshore perspective of the city.

Staten Island itself, home to a minor league baseball team dwarfed by the Mets and the Yankees, is far from the most inspiring part of New York, but the trip takes you right past the Statue of Liberty, and gives some great views of the city, not to mention a cool offshore breeze on a hot day.

The Empire State Building on July 4

Our path towards the ferry takes us past several well-known sites, including the former World Trade Centre site, where the rattle of construction on huge new buildings fills the air. There’s little to see at Ground Zero just now, and nobody stops and stares, but memories of 9/11 are enough to lend the place a sobering atmosphere.

We stop to take in the World Financial Centre’s communal lobby, to see the rows of 40 foot-tall indoor palm trees surrounding the benches. It’s almost standard fare in New York, but it seems bonkers nonetheless.

Air conditioning

We return to our hotel early, eager to get some rest. Despite our earlier problems, the room is clean and comfortable, and is in a fantastic position on the Upper East Side.

It comes with a pool and gym for anyone wanting to relax after spending the day pounding the streets of the city. We don’t bother, but still wake up after a long sleep feeling refreshed, thanks in no small part to the air conditioning keeping out the thumping midsummer heat.

To combat the heatwave – and temperatures pushing 40 degrees – we breakfast on coffee and muffins before joining the rest of New York in heading for the beach.

Coney Island, in southern Brooklyn, is the New Yorker’s destination of choice to take in the sun, and thousands have flooded out into the sunshine.

The beach is thronging with teenagers enjoying the newly-begun school holidays, and so much flesh is on show, it’s like watching a mating dance.

It’s not just the beach that brings people to the Island. The classic 1930s wonder wheel and the rattling, clanking, terrifying roller coaster come from the same era. Everything you imagine from an old funfair is here – the ghost train, the fortune teller machine, the water balloon game.

We also stick our heads in at Coney Island’s city aquarium, home to spectacular sand tiger sharks and giant sea turtles. The stars of the show, however, are two quite astonishing walruses, giants of the seas living what seems like a happy existence in New York.

After stopping in Brooklyn for dinner, we end the night by taking one of the most famous views in the world, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to head back to Manhattan.

The next day we slow our pace, enjoying the relative quiet of Central Park, ahead of my girlfriend running a 10 kilometre race in the park later on the trip (she passes with flying colours, crossing the line in an hour and 20 seconds to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society).

Central Park is a masterpiece of engineering, combining wide open spaces with the sensation of being hemmed in by a city. At the southern edge, you can sit beside a lake and enjoy the sunshine, while a wall of skyscrapers looms above you. But it varies across its whole length, from the medieval-style Belvedere Castle and the pond full of turtles, to the massive great lawn, and the architecture of the Metropolitan Museum and the modern white swirl of the Guggenheim on its eastern flank.

Shopping has never been my forte, but some places demand attention.

Fifth Avenue is a consumer’s dream, centred on the huge, ornate central library. The Apple Store is like a futuristic, subterranean Bond lair, open throughout the day for gadget aficionados to take in the latest lines, and next door is the FAO Schwarz store where Tom Hanks played the giant piano in Big.

Greenwich Village has quirkier fare, including Little Lebowski’s, only selling goods relating to the Coen Brothers’ film The Big Lebowski, and two chess shops where for a dollar you can relax over a game and a coffee.

A few blocks over is the High Line, which was extended just before our arrival. A converted railway line, it has now been made into a public garden above the city. It’s one of the most tranquil places to walk about in Manhattan, full of plants and flowers, and is new but popular point on the tourist trail.

American cuisine is met with a degree of good-humoured mockery on this side of the Atlantic, and some of the stereotypes stick.

The cliché of a hotdog stand on every corner stands firm and proud, and makes a great treat, while I kick off my first morning in a classic American diner on Second Avenue with a griddled bagel with maple syrup, banana, strawberry and yoghurt.

All our culinary expectations are met. we have a pizza at New York’s oldest pizzeria Lombardi’s, in Little Italy, which is topped by Nick’s Pizzas, round the corner from our hotel and with another branch in Queens, and provides the finest ‘pie’ I have ever enjoyed outside Italy. Okay, it’s not high cuisine, but it is awesome.

At the jaw dropping Vynl diner, near the packed, irritating Times Square, we have the all-American burger in an all-American den of kitsch.

The cafe has dozens of beach balls hanging from the ceilings, and its toilets are named after various pop singers and decorated with floor-to-ceiling mosaics of their stars’ faces (I pick Elvis. It feels a little bit wrong).

The Hummus Place on the West Side, not far from Zabars deli, made famous in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, brings a Jewish flavour with a wide selection of hummus and falafel. We see people walking the streets with iced coffees, so we give that a try. We see pretzels and rootbeer, and try them too. We go into Chelsea market, near the High Line, and pick up some chocolates and pasta, and ogle some fantastically ornate cupcakes. It’s not all to our taste, but it is all worth a punt.

On our last day, we hit one of the tourist highlights of the world. Having bought our tickets to the Empire State Building the previous day, when low visibility meant even lower queues, we pass the lines to get straight into the lift to the top.

Fifteen miles of visibility doesn’t give a clear sight of the horizon, but you can still see across the river, and to all the most famous sights of the city.

I had imagined the building to be smaller in relation to others of the city, but it still stands alone as a mighty feat of engineering. It’s an absolute must for any visitor to the city, as anyone knows, and wraps up our trip perfectly.

A week isn’t nearly enough to see everything New York has to offer, but it’s worth a try. Our feet ache at the end of every day after trooping miles across town. It’s worth it, though, to understand what that faraway look means.

Travel Facts

• Thom Kennedy stayed at the Marriott Courtyard New York Manhattan/ Upper East Side. Rooms start at £111.60 per night, based on two people sharing. To book visit www.octopustravel.com.

• British Airways operates seven flights from Heathrow to New York JFK Airport per day, and three from Heathrow to Newark Airport. It also operates two flights to JFK from London City Airport every day form Monday to Friday, and one on Sunday. There are also connecting domestic flights from Manchester Airport.

• Fares from Heathrow to JFK or Newark start at £495.33 return, including taxes/fees/charges. Flights are also available from £366.33 until July 12.

• To book visit www.ba.com New York or Newark or call 0844 4930787.

• HolidayExtras.com offers several types of airport parking, including Meet and Greet Parking. Prices for a week’s airport parking at Heathrow start at under £50 -  to book, visit www.holidayextras.com or call 0800 1313 777.