The message behind Gotham’s new “This is New York City” marketing slogan is that unlike ever before, all five boroughs are open and ready for visitor business. Manhattan may still be the center of the universe, but its galaxy now absolutely includes Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
Amplifying the welcome signal is a new tourist appreciation campaign, launched this summer, called Just Ask the Locals. The program includes
welcoming banners at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport’s new $1.3 billion terminal, outdoor advertising throughout the city and an enhanced tourism website.
“Visitors want the complete New York experience, and we are making it happen,” says Tim McGuinness, executive director of NYC & Company, the city’s tourism, marketing and events organization.
The word is getting out. As overseas travel to the U.S. dropped 17 percent from 2000 to 2006, New York City went the other direction, leading the nation in tourism growth with a record 43.8 million visitors last year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants more; according to McGuinness, NYC & Company is building an impressive global marketing network, aimed at reaching Bloomberg’s target of 50 million visitors by 2015.
With recently opened satellite offices in South Korea, Japan and China, Gotham now has 11 international offices representing 19 countries.
“We have unprecedented access to the Asian and European business and leisure markets, and we are still expanding,” McGuinness says.
Excitement is building around the planned expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and from new hotels to entire districts reborn, growth and revival are everywhere, persuading leisure visitors and meeting attendees to come meet Gotham all over again and experience the unlimited possibilities available throughout its five boroughs.
Manhattan
After 9/11, New York needed time to heal. Today, as the foundation steel goes in for the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, the city’s heart is pumping with renewed vitality. Physically and emotionally, Manhattan is going through a major renaissance, described by McGuinness as “electric.”
At the end of this year, all but timed to its centennial, the legendary Plaza Hotel will reopen as a condo-hotel after a two-year, $400 million renovation. Nearby, the Lighthouse Executive Conference Center and Theater is an outstanding new facility for meetings and events. Partnered with the 300-room Tudor Hotel at the United Nations, Lighthouse donates all proceeds to its namesake nonprofit parent, supporting the blind since 1905. Starting in downtown’s now uber-hip Meatpacking District and running 22 blocks to 34th Street, the historic High Line railroad viaduct is being transformed into a wondrous public park, 30 feet above the streets.
A fitting description of it all might be “Great Performances,” the name of the catering and events company serving its unique “100 Mile Menu” (using only ingredients grown within 100 miles of the city) at the Plaza Hotel’s Grand Ballroom and other leading Gotham institutions.
Planned for a late 2007 debut in the lively Chelsea neighborhood, the Desmond Tutu Center will offer more than 8,000 square feet of multifunctional meeting space inside a 19th century Gothic complex.
Another important opening is the reborn 7 World Trade Center. Overlooking the site of the Freedom Tower, this shimmering, eco-friendly, 52-story building has multiple high-level floors available for events, each with 40,000 square feet of raw space, 360-degree views and floor-to-ceiling windows. The cranes are up all around the World Trade Center site; also coming is a $2.2 billion transportation hub from famed architect Santiago Calatrava.
Meanwhile, the punk rock temple CBGB is gone, along with its founder, but its neighborhood, the long notorious Bowery, is emblematic of the new Manhattan. Sprinkled with boutique hotels, clubs and shops, the Bowery’s story is being replicated all over town. Former no-go zones are now go-go zones, and the overall scale is up.
Brooklyn
Borough President Marty Markowitz jokes that “it’s okay if visitors want to take a day trip to Manhattan,” but surging numbers of domestic and international travelers are perfectly happy to make legendary Brooklyn their New York destination of choice.
Add hip to historic; Markowitz’s team and a consortium of cultural, hospitality and business stakeholders have successfully put Brooklyn on the world’s tourism map.
“With 1,000 hotel rooms available and another 2,000 on the way, we are the perfect destination for business, conference and leisure travelers from around the globe,” Markowitz says.
Helping planners will be an exclusive section of Brooklyn’s enhanced tourism website, launching in January.
From Bay Ridge to Williamsburg, Brooklyn is synonymous with neighborhoods. For culture, head to the landmark Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) or to the magnificent Brooklyn Museum of Art. For spellbinding views, stroll the Brooklyn Heights Promenade or relax in Brooklyn Bridge Park. No matter how you slice it, Brooklyn has it all, including the city’s top-rated pizza joint, Di Fara’s. Hailed by GQ as “America’s Coolest Restaurant Neighborhood,” Brooklyn is a culinary paradise—don’t miss the cheesecake at Junior’s.
Out near the beach, the Aviator Sports complex, housed in a renovated hangar at historic Floyd Bennett Field, which opened in 1931 as New York City’s first municipal airport, is a popular group destination.
Pioneer of Brooklyn’s burgeoning hotel scene, the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge now offers 637 rooms, 25 meeting rooms and 30,000 square feet of total meeting space, courtesy of a skybridge-connected second tower.
A wave of new properties is coming, with room rates for any budget. Although appearing in neighborhoods that have never seen a hotel, mid-range choices like Hotel LeBleu on 4th Avenue are seeing surprisingly good traffic.
While famous Coney Island awaits word on a prospective $1 billion redevelopment, transformations under way in other parts of Brooklyn are even more monumental. Long in the works, the $9 billion makeover of downtown Brooklyn includes multiple glass skyscrapers, a Hilton hotel, 14,000 residential units, and a 19,000-seat Frank Gehry-designed basketball arena for the upcoming NBA Brooklyn Nets.
Queens
Home to both JFK and LaGuardia international airports, Queens, the largest borough by landmass, is called the “Gateway to New York.” In distinctive neighborhoods like Jackson Heights, Astoria, Flushing, Forest Hills, and the slowly emergent Jamaica, the diversity of restaurants, accents and rhythms literally spans the globe.
“Groups have a diverse range of cultural, retail and leisure itinerary choices, complemented by a growing number of affordable hotel options,” says Michelle Stoddart, director of marketing and tourism for the Queens Economic Development Corporation.
Queens’ crown jewel is the giant steel “Unisphere” from the 1964-1965 World’s Fair—a true Gotham icon—in the center of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. A destination unto itself, the immense park features attractions such as the newly renovated Hall of Science, the Queens Zoo and the Queens Art Museum.
At the adjacent Billie Jean King Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open, there are now year-round clinics to go with conference space and guided tours of Center Court.
Nearby, the New York Mets are getting a new stadium; when completed in 2009, the original facility, site of the 1969 Beatles concert, will be knocked down.
Ever held an event on the roof of a shopping center? Now you can at the Queens Center Mall, a national retail revenue leader.
Additionally, Queens’ many universities, including St. John’s and Queens College, all offer conference space.
Meanwhile, with stunning views of Midtown Manhattan across the East River—including the famous 59th Street Bridge, immortalized by Simon and Garfunkel—once industrialized Long Island City is steadily becoming a hip residential, artistic and leisure destination.
The Bronx
With actor Chazz Palmienteri currently reviving the stage version of his A Bronx Tale here in New York, the borough itself, never short on drama, has its own story to tell.
The only part of New York City attached to the North American mainland, the Bronx has the most parkland of any borough. Included in this green expanse is the 250-acre New York Botanical Garden, with its timeless Victorian greenhouses and the largest surviving remnant of New York’s original woodlands. Events here and at the world-renowned Bronx Zoo are among the city’s best.
With its boatyards and seafood restaurants, City Island strongly evokes New England, while the Little Italy markets on Belmont and Arthur avenues are living reminders of the city’s Old World past. The Bronx is home to more than 60 landmarks and historic districts, including the beautifully restored 19th century Edgar Allan Poe Cottage on the Grand Concourse, the Bronx’s main thoroughfare.
Perched on cliffs overlooking the Hudson River, the elegant Wave Hill Mansion in the hilly Riverdale section is a planner favorite for receptions, meetings and photo shoots.
Other Bronx highlights include the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Bronx River Art Center—and love ’em or hate ’em—the New York Yankees, who are also getting a new ballpark, due to open in 2009.
Staten Island
Whether driving from Brooklyn over the mighty Verrazano-Narrows Bridge or taking the free Staten Island Ferry ride from Lower Manhattan, the journey is half the fun of Staten Island. Once there, cultural and recreational surprises abound. Hike the trails or camp overnight in the heavily forested Mount Moses area, and you will swear you are deep in the country.
A short bus ride from the ferry terminal is the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, an 83-acre National Historic District with 28 historic buildings set among gardens and a museum/performing arts complex. Within walking distance of the ferry is the home of the popular minor-league Staten Island Yankees. The lengthy boardwalk on South Beach offers beautiful views of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Discover Staten Island’s Colonial past at the Williamsburg, Va.-like Richmond Town, find inner peace at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, and for a connection to the area’s Civil War days, visit Fort Wadsworth and the battlements of Battery Weed. The borough’s zoo and botanical garden are also favorite destinations.
For meetings hotels, the 148-room Hilton Garden Inn New York/Staten Island and the Staten Island Hotel—with 200 newly renovated rooms—are well-situated and within easy reach of Newark Liberty International Airport..
For More Info
Bronx Tourism Council 718.590.3518
www.ilovethebronx.com
Brooklyn Tourism and Visitors Center 718.802.3846
www.visitbrooklyn.org
NYC & Company 212.484.1200
www.nycvisit.com
Office of the Staten Island Borough President 718.816.2000
www.statenislandusa.com
Queens Economic Development Corp. 718.263.0546
www.discoverqueens.info
