New York City can be costly, but these hotels mean you can still afford to visit With an array of dormitories and private rooms, this unpretentious and popular, budget-friendly hostel makes a visit to one of the most expensive cities on the planet feel affordable. On the edge of East Williamsburg and trendy, industrial Bushwick, it has high ceilings, hardwood floors and eclectic furnishings rather than piled-high bunk beds. There’s a fully equipped guest kitchen, complimentary tea and coffee, and parking, too. Brooklyn institution Roberta’s dishes up pizza and drinks just around the corner. Or ..read more

Austrian-influenced Koloman is in demand for a reason – but the city is also full of other great dining out options Koloman, The Ace Hotel, 16 West 29th Street, New York (+1 212 790 8970). Starters $15-$26, mains $28-$65, desserts $16, wines from $45 Bear with me. I need to spark up my iPhone torch to read the menu. That’s better. And perhaps I should lean in closer to catch your witty gossip over the management’s booming playlist. Yes, I may be in New York, but there’s an awful lot here that is achingly familiar. On my first night in town, for example, I am dispatched by a knowledgable friend ..read more

Speculation over where Britons could fly after 17 May is rife, but hopes are on lucrative transatlantic routes to fill empty coffers In another torrid year for the aviation industry, the coming month of May offers a little hope. The red-letter day in every UK airline executive’s diary is 17 May, from which international leisure travel from Britain may be permitted. This week, ministers may finally divulge where and when holidaymakers can go, with a “green list” of countries that can be visited without quarantine on return. The Department for Transport insists it is on track to confirm, by “ear ..read more

The writer’s journeys, including a slow drive across the US, were accompanied by a selection of jazz, rock and folk greats This slow, romantic ballad was recorded during a famous live concert at the Village Vanguard in New York’s Greenwich Village in June 1961. Hearing it reminds me of the East Village and of New York City itself. The club is still a small, dimly lit basement, almost triangular in shape, filled with wooden tables between which silent waiters drift, carrying beers and burgers. In 2015 I watched Christian Sands, the pianist in the Christian McBride Trio, sitting bent over the pi ..read more

The pandemic has devastated Manhattan’s Chinatown, but the community is uniting to support restaurant owners and make the upcoming Lunar New Year as festive as is safely possible Last spring, Patrick Mock, the manager of 46 Mott Bakery, stepped out of his shop and into darkness. Mott Street, in the middle of Manhattan’s Chinatown, would normally have been bustling: from the bars on Doyers Street to restaurants such as Wo Hop, a Cantonese stalwart opened in 1938. However, racism towards Asian Americans – driven by unfounded coronavirus fears – had devastated local businesses. Even the normally ..read more

The novelist wanted her latest book, The Good Thieves, to be full of all the places she loves in Manhattan ‘How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” goes the old joke. “Practise.” Unless you are an elephant, in which case the process is different. In 1934, an elephant stepped on to the stage of Carnegie Hall. Exactly what it did once there is not recorded, but its arrival was celebrated in print, before and afterwards. An article from 6 August 1934 in the New York Times read: “Circus in Carnegie Hall … Elephants, ponies, dogs and other familiar attractions of the tanbark will be seen in Carnegie Hall ..read more

Two-test model could cut quarantine period in half, and allow popular London-New York route to reopen next month Covid testing for passengers arriving in the UK could begin within weeks, according to Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye. The airport has been told by Boris Johnson that the government is aiming to begin trials by mid-October, with the potential for a New York-London route opening by the end of November. The model is expected to use the two-test approach for those arriving from high-risk countries. In a system that would effectively cut the current 14-day quarantine at leas ..read more

As New York gets ready to celebrate WorldPride on 26 June and 50 years since the Stonewall uprising, locals pick cultural spaces, tours and nightlife that embody the city’s queer spiritThe Metropolitan Museum is marking Stonewall 50 with a gay-related theme for its annual gala and the exhibit Camp: Notes on Fashion (free with museum ticket; adult $25, under-12 free, until 8 September). LGBT critics such as RuPaul have suggested the show fails to capture the concept of “camp” and I generally agree. Nonetheless, it’s a great opportunity to see the fun, extravagant side of the Costume Institute’s ..read more

TWA’s classic Flight Center has been turned into a new hotel inspired by 1960s decor and Jet Age nostalgia“Nobody likes to hang around airports” ran TWA’s 1960s slogan – but the new TWA Hotel at New York’s JFK airport aims to encourage travellers to do just that. The former airline’s stylish terminal building, designed by Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, is being redeveloped into a 512-bedroom property. The midcentury modern-inspired hotel will open on 15 May, with bookings starting on 14 February (at noon EST, 5pm GMT).The original 1962 building, known as the TWA Flight Center, will be the h ..read more