"Is Avoiding Tourist Traps and Activities in New York City Possible

“Is Avoiding Tourist Traps and Activities in New York City Possible?”

By Oliver Josephson

New York City is my birth place and where I lived for eleven years of my life as a little boy. My it has changed throughout the years. When my father was a child, famous sights like Times-Square were not a tourist trap; in fact, it was a seedy part of the city with homeless people, drug dealers, and strip clubs. According to my father, who grew up in New York City, the city has changed tremendously throughout the years. I see it myself. Right around when I was born in the 1990s New York City was on the way to becoming more commercialized and touristy. To people who live and have lived in New York City like me, it feels as if the old New York is disappearing and turning into a giant commercialized mall. Do not worry, if you are someone who wants to avoid tourist traps and activities in New York City, it is possible if you know where to go.

The best way to travel in New York City is to stay away from the touristy areas such as midtown, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, and the big museums. Do not get me wrong, it is important to visit these sights if you have never been to the city before. However, there is so much more to explore and going to these sights is not a truly authentic urban New York City experience. Because New York City is so large, it can be overwhelming to find your way and figure out what to do, so I will give you some steps and advice to guide you from avoiding the tourist traps.

The first step, is finding the right transportation to travel around the city in order to avoid tourist traps and activities. Do not take any of those double-decker tour buses. While sitting on one of those buses all day and traveling quickly from place to place, you do not get to experience the feel of the city. Instead, simply walk around by foot. When traveling by foot, you may wander into a cool unknown neighborhood or street you may have never discovered while on one of those buses. Of course, if you become tired and is impossible to walk everywhere in such a sprawling city in one day, hopping on the subway is the way to go. It is one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to get around the city.

When people are new to New York City, they tend to stay in areas that are the most well-known that all of the tourists go to like Times-Square or Rockefeller Center. They eat in all of the chain restaurants like Hard Rock and go to all the big stores than can be anywhere. They are not experiencing the real New York City. There are way more interesting places to be in the city. The options are endless. Go grab some dimsum down in Chinatown, grab a quick falafel, go to any of the ethnic neighborhoods, or any of the classic New York Jewish eateries. Then, to keep yourself entertained you do not need to go to a Broadway show. Just hopping on a subway can be entertainment with the break dancers and Mexican mariachi bands performing in the cars and there are always performers on the street and in the train stations. It is free entertainment that you do not have to wait on a line down the block to see. It is how the locals keep themselves entertained every day while traveling from place to place.

New York City may be disappearing and is becoming a tourist trap, but if you know where to go, it is without doubt possible to enjoy your trip. If you have never been to the city and want to avoid the tourist traps simply research all of the different neighborhoods the city has to offer, get in touch with a local or someone you know in the city, or you can always contact me at oli93@tds.net if you any questions or need recommendations when you come to New York City or follow me on my progressing Yelp and read my reviews of places I have been to in New York City.