It’s another chance for fresh starts, love and forgiveness in the holiday rom-com New Year’s Eve. Halle Berry, Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) and Ludacris are part of an all star cast that follows the lives of several couples and singles in New York, intertwining on the last day of 2011. New Year’s Eve is notable for its use of some of New York City’s most interesting and historic locales.
The Urban Daily lists five New York City landmarks featured in New Year’s Eve worth checking out during the holiday season.
Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY 11238
The Brooklyn Museum, housed in a 560,000-square-foot, Beaux-Arts building, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the country. Only a 30-minute subway ride from midtown Manhattan, with its own newly renovated subway station, the Museum is part of a complex of nineteenth-century parks and gardens that also includes Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Prospect Park Zoo.
Exhibits to check out:
African Innovations–a complete reinstallation of roughly 200 works from the Brooklyn Museum’s world-renowned collection of African art, African Innovations is a dynamic and diverse range of objects that includes wood sculpture, metal casting, terracotta, textiles, and beadwork, African art has a long history of adaptation to and exchange with cultures near and far.
Sweet Funk—An Introspective: New York based artist Sanford Biggers challenges and reinterprets symbols and legacies that inform contemporary America. Pieces include Kalimba II (2002), named after an African percussion instrument, incorporates a piano bisected by a wall and Blossom, Lotus (2007) combines references to Buddhism and to slavery: a lotus etched in glass contains in each petal diagrams of human bodies placed in the cargo hold of an eighteenth-century slave ship.
Queens Museum of Art New York City Building, Flushing, NY 11368
Queensmuseum.org
The New York City Building was built to house the New York City Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair. This past April, the museum hosted a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the commencement of the expansion project that will double the size of the institution, adding 50,000 square feet of new galleries, classrooms, public events spaces, a café and museum shop.
Exhibit to check out:
The Panorama of The City of New York–The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. . Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
Grand Central Station Terminal 42nd Street and Park Ave. New York, NY
http://www.grandcentralterminal.com
One of New York City’s most iconic landmarks, Grand Central is the largest train station in the world. The terminal includes a dining concourse, The Campbell Apartment, an elegantly restored cocktail lounge, and plenty of retail therapy with their shopping mall, which includes the newly opened Apple store.
The annual Grand Central Holiday Fair, Located in the Terminal’s historic Vanderbilt Hall, has the city’s best holiday shopping experience featuring 76 vendors with a wide array of goods at all price levels. The fair features artisans selling unique crafts, jewelry, clothing, home furnishings, children’s gifts, and more.
Rockefeller Center, West 49th Street & 5th Avenue
http://www.rockefellercenter.com
Rockefeller Center, originally known as Radio City is a complex of buildings developed in the midst of the Great Depression. During the holiday season Rock center offers a larger than life Christmas tree, ice skating rink and Radio City Hall, home to the world famous Rockettes.
Check out:
The Radio City Christmas Special features a 3-D live video game adventure, dazzling new Rockette numbers and classic favorites like The Parade of The Wooden Soldiers and The Living Nativity.
Johnny Rockets 1134 First Avenue New York, NY
Johnny Rockets is a trip to yesteryear when the local burger joint reigned supreme. The first Johnny Rockets opened on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in 1968, offering guests friendly service and great food in a fun and nostalgic atmosphere. The menu boasts great tasting food from a menu of favorites including juicy hamburgers, classic sandwiches, and hand-dipped shakes and malts. Guests also enjoy an all-American look and feel, tabletop jukeboxes and authentic decor.
Check out: The Oreo Cookies & Cream Milkshake, The Route 66 Burger (Swiss cheese, grilled mushrooms, grilled onions & mayonnaise) and The Perfect Brownie Sundae.
