One billion viewers, from all over the world, will be watching the live telecast of New Year’s Eve in New York City’s Times Square. And as the Waterford Crystal ball descends to welcome a new decade, one million penned-in people will have braved frigid temperatures for the chance to see it live from the ground. Lucky for you IQ has you on his “NICE” list this year and thinks you deserve some better options…
Photo: Renaissance New York Times Square
To learn about private perches, fabulous viewing parties and even the option of a “private escort” to watch the ball drop, read IQ’s full article, published in Travel Squire.
Start spreadin’ the news. We all want to wake up in the city that never sleeps—just not for an early morning checkout. Please!
For guests who want to take advantage of the pulsing New York City nights, the New York Hilton Midtown is offering “The City That Never Sleeps” package through December 31, 2019. Whether you’re arriving late from a long flight or you’ve been going non-stop, you can check-in at midnight and check-out at 3pm, after some restful daytime recovery sleep…
The bright lights of Broadway have been seducing dancers, singers and actors since, well, the invention of the light bulb. Recently, however, musical theatre has found new mainstream appeal thanks to the hugely popular television show, Glee. Now, the latest generation of hopefuls can follow New Directions and relive the Glee season finale with the InterContinental Times Square’s“Gleekend Package.” Yes, kids, the hotel setting of Mr. Schuester & Co. during Nationals can be your NYC home, just a time-step away from all the action.
The Gleekend Package includes:
Overnight accommodations in a Standard Room* (minimum two-night stay)
Daily breakfast for two at the hotel’s Ça Va Brasserie by Todd English
Two Gleekend Slushies at Ça Va Brasserie (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
Two Gleekend T-shirts
NYC map inspired by all the sites visited by New Directions
Picture frame with photo of Glee cast filming at the InterContinental New York Times Square
Additionally, the InterContinental Concierge team can arrange for Broadway shows, classes at the nearby Broadway Dance Center, guided tours of Lincoln Center, or one-on-one singing lessons.
Rates for the Gleekend package begin at $399/night and can be booked on the hotel’s website or by calling 1.877.331.5888
This Valentine’s Day, look into that icy heart. Look at it. Look through it. Take pictures of it. Watch it melt, change, drip, harden.
Photo by Bjorn Wallander
Starting today, a team of sculptors and engineers will create a 10-foot tall Ice Heart in Times Square. Built of masonry-scaled blocks of ice, the sculpture will attract visitors and New Yorkers alike to Duffy Square on 46th Street and Broadway. According to designer Granger Moorhead, “The Ice Heart will constantly change as its crystalline form picks up the lights, colors and chaos of Times Square—we look forward to the kaleidoscopic effect…”
Weather permitting, the Times Square Alliance expects to display the Ice Heart until February 22nd, allowing visitors the opportunity to see its sharp edges transform and round. Can’t make it to Times Square? Send your loved ones an electronic Valentine at www.theiceheart.com.
Times Square: the center of the universe–the place to see the lights and feel the pulse of the city that never sleeps. New York’s crossroads of the world for people of all types. That is, except New Yorkers.
For most New Yorkers, Times Square is to be avoided at all costs. On any given day, snap-happy tourists block intersections, middle-aged women and gay boys fawn over a naked cowboy, and a Midwestern high-school theatre troupe twitters while singing Rent in five part harmony… directly in front of the subway entrance. None are contributors to a smooth morning commute!
New Yorkers are busy. They have places to go, people to see and tourists to trample. Yet most New Yorkers are transplants. They are natives of Bora Bora, Wisconsin and everywhere in between. And at one time, the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue was a magical place. It embodied the dreams, the drive and the promise that only this city can offer: “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”
So maybe there is value to revisiting an old friend. Grab an overpriced, Soy Chai Latte at any of the warring Starbucks within a 10 foot radius; sit in the newly unveiled pedestrian mall; and you might remember that you really are “nuts for nuts”, that a Christmas sweater can still keep you warm in February, and that, once upon a time, a younger version of yourself couldn’t stop singing along with little orphan Annie.
And perhaps your big city blues might just start melting away.
