The first trip involves (getting to places in NYC generally involves many options, so I offer but one here) taking the 1 train to Columbia University. This can be done via the 2 with a switch at 72nd. 72nd is a renovated station with a truly impressive entrance way. The area itself is near Lincoln Center, which is near the southern entrance of Central Park. A nice walk is the trip from the east side (59th IRT stop) in which you get a good view of the park, including carriages, park goers, and vendors.
[Central Park has many attractions to the degree that just passing by it on the bus along Fifth Avenue is worthwhile. I recently caught a free concert at the Central Park Summer Stage involving Middle Eastern music with Pharaoh’s Daughter (Israeli), The Arab-Israeli Orchestra of Nazareth, and Omar Faruk Tekbelik & Ensemble (Turkish). The time and a chance of rain led me to miss the last act, but the other two was an enjoyable ways to spend a few hours. Such events also attracts families with kids, including a set with their parents in front of me that was at times as enjoyable to watch as the show.]
It also is a nice stretch of the legs and is helped by a purchase of a pretzel. There is also the Lincoln Plaza, the art movie theater, and the expensive mall across the way. The trip to the 72nd St stop includes passing a Tower Records, Barnes and Nobles superstore (always fun), one of those big Manhattan supermarkets, and other places to spend your money. Purchase of roasted peanuts from a vendor is also a given at least once in a while. There is also the local multiplex, which is nice enough, but a bit too much.
Anyway, if you cut through Columbia University after departing from the subway, you are going east. A few blocks down, you hit Morningside Park, which has a nice flavor to it, one that I might explain as "not quite Manhattan." Once you cut through it, however, you soon are in the heart of Harlem. This is not quite the same flavor, if you get my meaning, but it's useful to go there since the city has many such areas of urban reality.
It is not as if one is not safe or anything walking through it during the day (at night, one wonders what goes on in Morningside Park, especially once you go down the stairs and are out of the view), but it has a more dirty urban feel to it. After a few blocks, you get the idea that there is nothing much more to see, and it might be time to hop on to a north-south bound bus. Said bus might take you all the way down, and I took it to 14th. Though I could have got a free transfer (within two hours from entrance to subway), the bus was free that day. As if one won a random free lotto ticket (the $2 kind) of sorts, sometimes the fare box is broken, and you have a free ride.
14th Street, Union Square, is also a pretty nice place to hang out. The Village is not far away, and overall you have various stores (including a health food store I favor), theaters (multiplex, art houses, and plays), restaurants, and local flavor. Union Square (near the IRT) also often has an open air farmer's market. The public space also was renovated over the last couple years and is a nice location. A local sausage shop (17th near Union Sq W) also has a veggie sausage that is tasty.
Let's backtrack. Let's say you go west at Columbia University. If you don't immediately do so, you are at Barnard College. Around 120th and Broadway, you can cut through by going through a shortcut through a glass passageway between two buildings. A couple blocks away and you are at Riverside Dr., the western edge of a chunk of Upper Manhattan, and where a lot of rich people live.
You are also right across the way of Grant's Tomb. The general area around 122nd and Riverside (or thereabouts) is an interesting vista, even if you have been a resident of New York City all your life. This is so because I bet a majority, if not a vast majority, has never truly seen it. It is a shame because we are talking about U.S. Grant, after all, and it's worth the trip. On the other hand, Alexander Hamilton's home (currently under renovation) is languishing in the South Bronx or so, and no one really knows it. Another Revolutionary War figure, Robert Morris, also gave his name to the Bronx neighborhood of Morrisiana (somewhat appropriately, he died in debt).
Grant's Tomb itself is a grand looking building from the outside, and pretty small inside, with a few things to read, a little souvenir stand, and the tombs (Grant and his wife) themselves in a pit like area. There are a couple impressive churches nearby, a park across the way with some statutes and stuff (and a woman in a bikini sunbathing ... though she might not be a daily fixture), and no place nearby (that I saw) to even get a soda. So, if you want to rest, you might want to get something on Broadway or something.
I was not there for the hourly talk at Grant's Tomb, but overall, the general environs can be properly handled pretty quickly. Looking at some tourist literature, I later found out that the view of the river from Riverside Park is also a nice site in itself. My bad. I did catch a boy aka "the man" master riding a bike, which is almost worth the trip itself. I can ride a bike; will I get a treat too? I didn't ask his mom, but maybe I should have? On the other hand, as noted, there are other places to see not too far away, and you can jump on the bus (again, various ones will take you all the way downtown, which is nice on a hot day, especially for a reader) or train (ditto, of course) to various places.
A complete trip might include a trip to The Cloisters, which can be reached via the M4 at Broadway. I instead took the M4 the other way to 59th. This includes a trip along 5th with a view of Central Park. The downtown Express Bus (from the Bronx) supplies a similar pleasant view. I can get used to long bus trips on hot days -- damn I hate the heat.
The east side IRT stop at 59th is a large, crowded, and often pretty hot station. On the way there, I saw a bunch of police cars (and an unmarked car) rush by with sirens, but didn't hear any news on why this was so. Book lovers might want to stop at 57th and Park to check out Borders. If you keep on walking, you will hit the Tramway to Roosevelt Island at 59th and 2nd, a cable car taken for the price of a subway/bus trip. Overall, though, the east side around there is pretty dull.
More to come.