New York

Everybody had childhood dreams. I know one of mine was to be a princess, a ballerina and an artist. I knew I would find a way to be all three of these things.. and so far it’s going great. But one of my biggest dreams was to go to New York City.

How bizarre. I don’t even know why I had this dream. Maybe I was allowed to watch too many American sitcoms as a child, or perhaps I was simply born into the wrong nation (at the rate I drink tea I doubt this), but I was desperate to go and I knew I would love it. I told my parents I would be living out there one day.

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I saved up my student loans and as much as I could save from my part-time job, and I finally had enough after about a year of saving. I told my mum I was going. Make or break… did she want to come? Now as you all know; the relationship I have with my mum is somewhat unique – so it did not come to my surprise that the poor woman was jumping up and down for joy. Of course she did!

We wanted this trip to be pretty spontaneous so we tried not to book too many things before we went; but of course – there are some things which you have to book before you go otherwise they will sell out. For example, we booked tickets to the top of the rock, a burlesque club, and of course; our helicopter ride. These are things we knew we wanted to do before we went and booking it all ensured we wouldn’t miss out.

Other than that, we didn’t do a huge amount of prep. We all had to apply for our ESTA, which is a 3 month style visa to the US, which usually gets approved within 24 hours. We also had a few months to save up, but luckily I overestimated my spending habits (that surprised me).

We flew with virgin. I don’t think I had ever been able to afford to fly with virgin before, but we found crazy cheap flights. It’s about 7/8 hours to get to NYC, and only 5/6 or so to get back. No word of a lie, this flight experience built the most incredible reputation for virgin in our minds; the flights were seamless. I don’t think I’ve had such a pampered and warming experience! Maybe the free glass of birthday champagne helped. Who knows?

We stayed in the DoubleTree Times Square West by Hilton Hotel (again, another good crazy cheap last minute deal). I absolutely adored our hotel; I loved the room, the rooftop bar, but most of all the staff. We made some amazing friends, and again; felt truly pampered. The only thing I did not love about our hotel was the location. Staying by Times Square on 42nd St is a fucking nightmare. It was the biggest regret we had for the whole trip. Imagine staying on Piccadilly Circus as you came to visit London – I think I’d want to go home immediately. Of course; at the point of booking, we didn’t quite know where the Shoreditch equivalent is; but now we have a better idea.

If we went back to NYC, there are a few places we would rather stay; East Village, TriBeCa or Brooklyn. East Village and Brooklyn are the 2 places most similar to the Shoreditch/Hoxton vibe, especially in the evening. TriBeCa is a bit more like… Old Street or Clapham but cleaner. It’s one of the areas in Manhattan with the most expensive house prices, and it’s a super yummy mummy area. I mean seriously, there are schools and kids everywhere.

If you want to stay in those classic brownstone houses with the steps leading up to the houses (think Carrie’s house from Sex and the City), then we found most of those places in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District.

Either way, all three of these places are where you find everything; the food, the nightlife, the shops… stay tuned and I will share with you all guys.

The first place we went to was 1 dollar pizza. It was at the end of the street we were staying on, and it was damn good pizza. But it’s like having dirty domino’s rather than a classy franco manca. Also it was a dollar for a massive slice, I know for a fact we’d charge at least a fiver for that in London.

Bubby’s was our favourite place to eat. We went twice in the space of 5 days; although we went for breakfast/brunch both days. It is not an exaggeration when I say; these were the best goddam pancakes I have ever eaten in my life. Super thick, super fluffy… I’m salivating again. They also have what they call “Biscuits”; not the traditional English rich tea that we all know, but a weird mixture between a scone and doughnut you can choose to have either sweet (with jam and butter) or savoury. With gravy. That part is grim. But those were pretty bloody good too. A local recommended Bubby’s to us; as a better alternative to iHoP (international house of pancakes).

We went to Williamsburg in Brooklyn. This is the kind of Shoreditch place with all the food markets ya home gal is used to! We stopped off at a market called Smorsburg market for some lunch. There were loads of vegan options too, so naturally I came home about 1 stone heavier. They also served juices inside fruits and I think anything that unnecessarily creative deserves my attention.

Shopping in New York is incredible: if you have money. We didn’t see a whole lot of smaller, boutique style shops, or clothes markets for that matter. So unfortunately, this shopping category is going to be a little more up-market than how I would usually shop in the UK.

Fifth Avenue. That’s where everyone tells you to go when you say you’re going to New York. It’s the posh kind of shopping, and it has all of your designer shops; chanel, gucci, prada.

At the bottom of Fifth Avenue, there is as shopping centre called the Brookfield Place; which is absolutely gorgeous. I don’t think we have a shopping centre that is anything like it. Inside Brookfield Place, you have all of your typical designer shops, and you have a Saks.

Saks is a high end department store we don’t have here in the UK, I would compare it to Liberty’s in London. It’s super beautiful, and holds some famous designers and some more unknown designers.

There are designer shops and high street brands all the way up Fifth Avenue, and up by Central Park is where you have Bloomingdales. Again, Bloomingdales is so beautiful and aesthetic.

If you don’t buy designer, or you don’t buy it first hand for example; there is a shop called Century 21. I would compare it to TK Maxx but it’s probably a little nicer and less jumble sale-y. We found tonnes of bargain designer products, most of them never worn, or worn for catwalks etc. It’s where I ended up buying my new gorgeous Saint Laurent for some crazy discount as it was an unworn vintage model.

THINGS TO DO:

The slipper room is a burlesque club. I had been to the burlesque in London, and had always left very disappointed. This might be one of places I can talk about how New York do it so much better than us.

Sometimes I feel like there’s loads to do in London, but our excessive health & safety laws, ticketing systems and policing can makes things turn from super fun.. to just a bit of forced fun. The burlesque is one of those examples.

We went to a burlesque club called “The Slipper Room”, and this place made me think that there isn’t anything quite like it in London. You walk up to the door, with a suited gentleman sitting at the door who ticks off your name. I felt like I was walking into the Burlesque movie to see Xtina perform personally. You walk up some creaky old wooden stairs, and find yourself in a tiny little bar, with a stage. There was enough space for probably… 20 people to sit down.

I remember going to the Burlesque at Cafe De Paris in London, which was good to be fair, but where they somehow managed to cram 200 people in to watch each show. It felt like a totally different experience.

The performers at the Slipper Room were incredibly creative people, who all brought something different to the show and made it a holistically wonderful experience. It was the perfect combination between funny, sexy and weird!

There was also some wicked audience participation.

Photographed by Bronagh Gallagher and Edited by Jessica Miller

The helicopter ride was by far the best experience of the whole of my trip. There are no words I can use to describe how important this is to do if you ever visit – and it’s made me want to go on a helicopter tour over London!

We were all terrified throughout the whole process, until we literally took off and it blew our minds. There is something magical which makes you feel like you’re in a movie all of a sudden. The windswept hair also helps with that.

But there’s not much else I can say other than how fucking awesome it was. Trust me. Do it.

Photographed by Bronagh Gallagher and Edited by Jessica Miller

We went over Brooklyn Bridge on what seemed like the greyest, most miserable day. Obviously.

It was still absolutely beautiful though, and a walk I would do on a regular basis. Of course, it was a hub for tourism pictures, a hobby we naturally participated in; but I knew the gram would be popping. You get an amazing view of Manhattan, and you can go straight into Brooklyn and check out that part of town too.

Photographed by Mummy Suze and Edited by Jessica Miller

The high line is a park which is built on an old train line going over the city. It’s a proper hipster thing that we would probably see developing through the overground line in London. It had loads of hotels, restaurants and bars nearby to grab a quick bevvy, or in our case; an ice cream sandwich. That was pretty banging too.

The high line was one of those places everyone told me I needed to go and visit and trust me it did not disappoint. It goes right through all of the tall buildings along the Meatpacking District; which gives New York that total concrete jungle feel. It’s a gorgeous walk if you have a spare day and it’s super sunny, and you end up all the way in TriBeCa; one of my top spots for some naughty brunch.

We only went to Central Park Zoo on a whim on the last day as we had about an hour to kill. We ended up doing most of the zoo in the hour as it’s quite a small zoo; but they’ve got all the important animals. I saw a bear – sick. I also saw loads of seals and otters, which are my absolute favourites. Are you missing out if you don’t go? Probably not.. but it’s a great addition if you’re already strolling through Central Park. Besides, we don’t have bears in London.

Photographed and Edited by Jessica Miller

The Staten Island Ferry is another classic New York thing that you gotta do. It’s totally free and you catch it from the bottom of Manhattan. We didn’t actually end up exploring Staten Island at all, in fact I think we got straight back on to go back to Manhattan (we had another busy day!) and all in all it was an hour round trip.

You see more wicked views of Manhattan, and you get to gaze into the distant views and pretend you’re in more films. What more could you want?

Saying that though, it could have been a little more sunny. Or maybe, sunset-y?

Photographed and Edited by Jessica Miller

My mum wanted to visit Grand Central Station. It seemed like another pretty touristy thing to do, and I probably wouldn’t have been too gutted if we missed out – but I gotta give it to the woman, it’s super beautiful. It actually reminded me of the old architecture we have throughout London (especially our stations) so I felt homely.

Photographed and Edited by Jessica Miller

WHERE TO PARTY:

Okay don’t get me wrong here guys – I’m not a party animal. In fact, I think my mum has more zest for a party in her than I ever have. But we did end up having at least one drink every night, as we didn’t want to waste it!

The funniest night out we had was probably when we went to the Coyote Ugly bar. Yeah, like the film (go and google it).And this is another perfect example of somewhere that would not exist in London.

Can you imagine? Firstly, nobody would be allowed to actually get up on the bar to dance because one girl would get super drunk, fall off and then spoil it for the rest of us. It would be watching only!

Not here though, I think it was the bouncer that actually picked me up and stood me onto the bar to have my first drink and dance as a 21 year old – even my mum got on the bar! Usually it’s the bouncer who picks you up to throw you out (I mean, not me – I’m too boring).

They poured drinks with a 50% split of spirit to mixer, another thing that just doesn’t happen! Let me just say, these guys know how to party for sure. Do you see those bras hanging up? YES LADIES, TAKE OFF YOUR BRAS! (No dicks on the bar).

Photographed by Mummy Suze and Edited by Jessica Miller

But the typical Jessica Miller thing to do, is to find her way back to the nearest jazz and swing bar. I just can’t help it guys. Maybe I am an old woman inside who just craves tea, cosy slippers and jazz music.

There was a swing bar with live jazz music just 6 blocks down from our hotel, I was chuffed when I spotted it. I’ve been doing swing dance for about 6 months now, and I can’t help but check out these places everywhere I go. But it did become pretty obvious that the swing culture in New York is nothing like our amazing swing culture in London. Hopefully my one quiet swing night was not a true representation of New York, and I hope to go back and visit during a crazy busy swing time!

The bar itself was super cool though, the live jazz band was incredible and we got to sit and watch old couple smooth themselves on the dance floor – heart warming.

Photographed and Edited by Jessica Miller

Of course not every experience in New York was an amazing one, there were definitely places we went to which we wouldn’t have done looking back. We found that the more touristic a place was, the less we liked it. It’s like London, I would never go up to Piccadilly circus or Trafalgar square to just hang out, it’s super and dirty and people walk slowly. Instead, we find the cool places in London to hang out, but we’ve had much longer here to find them.

It’s the same as Times Square – which being in just kind of gave us all panic attacks. It didn’t help that it was our first day in New York, and our hotel was around the corner. We all agreed that we felt overwhelmed.

And people are weird in Times Square – it’s like you also see the weirdest shit on Oxford St don’t you? Well we saw it all. Naked Grandma’s singing and playing guitar, body building men with the scream masks on carrying a jukebox around town.

Living in London I thought there was nothing that could surprise me in this world but I was wrong. The weirdest thing is that nobody else walking around seemed to bat an eyelid. I guess they’re used to the weirdness.

P.S It’s also like nothing you see on TV.  In fact, none of New York was. Disregard your expectations.

Photographed by Bronagh Gallagher and Edited by Jessica Miller

The Top of the Rock was another one of these experiences – it just felt so disappointing. Of course you see a nice view, but surrounded by tonnes of people in this total tourist trap. There isn’t even a bar or a restaurant you can sit down and have a bevvy and a giggle. After 5 mins of awkwardly pottering around, there isn’t anything else to do there. Perhaps it could have been nicer during sunset, or at night time – but ultimately none of the locals would be hanging out there so I couldn’t see why we would want to.

Photographed and Edited by Jessica Miller

My Mum wanted to go to Strawberry Fields. She painted it to me as a beautiful John Lennon tribute in the middle of Central Park, so when we actually arrived there, I think we all said to each other; “was that it?”. It was just so small and overestimated. The best part of this experience was walking around the posher apartments along the upper east side. I wouldn’t waste the time!

Photographed and Edited by Jessica Miller

OVERALL

So let’s have a recap. Things that New York does better:

The food. The views. The nightlife. The shopping (in some ways and not in others). The drinks. The city is also much newer than London so it’s way more multicultural and there’s less ties to a particular race or culture; which is awesome.

But there are some things you just can’t beat unfortunately. The TFL system we have here in London is unreal, and I totally took it for granted. I was so happy to be home just for the tube! The NYC subway systems sucks; it’s worth getting yellow cabs everywhere (which somehow seemed cheaper than an uber most of the time).

The roads in NYC are also insane. There is no rhyme or rhythm, and people use their horns more often than you could ever believe. I got so used to the constant bibbing. How random?

But ultimately I didn’t feel homesick, which I usually do. I’m a bit of a homebody.

But the culture is the so similar, it doesn’t really feel like you’ve gone away anywhere. The people are similar, where they’re either really super kind, or they’re rude as fuck. Nobody really has time for you or anyone which is a similar vibe you get from Central London.

Photographed by Bronagh Gallagher and Edited by Jessica Miller

So ultimately; nothing was like what I expected. It’s truly nothing like Sex and the City, Friends or How I Met Your Mother. And for that, I must admit on the first day – I might have felt a little disappointed. It’s so easy to hold a place or a person on a pedestal – something I definitely did with New York, as the idea of it was way more flamboyant and glamorous than the reality. I saw it as a shining beacon of success, like only people who have made it end up in New York City.

But it’s kind of the opposite. It’s people that are trying to make it. The poverty is extreme, the gap between the rich and the poor is far too extreme; even more so than London (I didn’t think that was possible.)

But New York won me back over, in ways I did not even realise were possible. Everything I loved, were the things I didn’t know existed, and basically… I can’t wait to go back.

Jessy Miller

@jessymillerx

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If you guys are visual people, and you want to watch the vlog – here it is!