#1 Manhattan

The staging of density
Manhattan is the distilled idea of New York: pace, symbolism, instant recognition. But behind the skyline lies a network of micro-worlds that only reveals itself on foot.

Greenwich Village & Tribeca
The Walker Hotel Greenwich Village sits in the neighborhood of the same name, where New York still feels like a collection of local streets and familiar corners. Brick façades, narrow streets, cafés with small sidewalk tables. The interiors echo the elegance of the 1920s.

A few blocks south, in Tribeca, the Walker Hotel Tribeca strikes a different tone—more pared-back, more urban, with clean lines and generous windows. The neighborhood itself feels more open, more spacious than the Village. Galleries, design studios, and converted industrial buildings define the area.

From both hotels, many of Manhattan’s iconic spots are within walking distance. Subway lines quickly connect you to Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx—and the Staten Island Ferry is just as close.

SoHo and the art of wandering
From the Walker Hotel Greenwich Village, it’s only a few minutes to SoHo. The neighborhood still tells the story of its industrial past, even as international labels and concept stores now dominate.

But it becomes more interesting when you turn off the main streets. On Bleecker Street, for example, you’ll find Ranger Station Perfume—a narrow, understated shop that feels more like a studio than a perfume store. A few blocks further, Elizabeth Street Garden opens up an unexpected pocket of calm. A hint of Europe in the middle of downtown.

Fifth Avenue
On Fifth Avenue, luxury isn’t hidden—it’s celebrated. Bergdorf Goodman has been an institution since 1901, and it’s more than just a department store. Its window displays resemble carefully staged theater sets; inside, marble details, carpets, and clearly structured retail spaces alternate seamlessly. International designers, exclusive collections, personal service. Even without the intention to buy, it’s worth a visit, if only to observe how New York defines style.

West Village
Just a few blocks away from the main tourist flow, in the West Village, you’ll find Travelers, Poets & Friends. By day, it’s a café, gourmet market, and pasta workshop all in one. By night, it transforms into a wine bar with a Mediterranean touch.

 

#2 Brooklyn

Where the city is being reimagined
Brooklyn was once the promise of something different. Today, it’s a laboratory.

At the Brooklyn Navy Yard, warships were once built. Now, vast halls house start-ups, makers, design studios, and restaurants. Amid brick, steel, and industrial history, a new form of urban production is taking shape.

If you want to experience street art in its raw, immediate context, there’s no way around the Bushwick Collective. In former industrial districts, large-scale murals emerge—political, poetic, sometimes ironic in tone.

DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights
Further west, between warehouses and cobblestone streets, DUMBO—Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass—opens up as one of New York’s most photogenic urban spaces. Galleries, design shops, and cafés have moved into former industrial buildings, giving the area a distinct character.

Just a short walk away begins Brooklyn Heights. Tree-lined streets, historic brownstones, and an almost European rhythm. From the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, the view turns back toward Manhattan.

Williamsburg
The Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg is both an architectural and culinary statement. Inside the restaurant, high brick walls meet expansive windows, with soft evening light filling the space. The kitchen focuses on seasonal ingredients and clean flavors—vegetables are as central as high-quality meat or fish.

What stands out most is the view from the rooftop terrace: across the East River toward the Manhattan skyline. It’s here that you feel just how close Brooklyn and Manhattan are—and how different they can be at the same time.

 

#3 Queens

The world within a few blocks
Queens is no sideshow—it’s density in its purest form. Step off the subway at Roosevelt Avenue and you’ll hear multiple languages at once. Jackson Heights is considered one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States. Tibetan restaurants share the street with Mexican taquerías, Indian sweet shops, and Colombian bakeries.

A food safari is the perfect way to experience Queens through taste: steamed momos, richly spiced birria, crispy chaats. The dishes tell stories of migration, entrepreneurship, and identity.

Long Island City
In Long Island City, MoMA PS1 stands as an institution that deliberately moves beyond the traditional museum model. Housed in a former school building, it creates space for experimental installations, social discourse, and emerging voices in contemporary art.

Rockaway Beach
About an hour from Manhattan, the city suddenly opens up. Rockaway Beach feels like an urban getaway. Surfers carry their boards along the boardwalk, cafés spill onto outdoor terraces, and seagulls circle above the Atlantic. The horizon stretches wide, the pace slows. Queens has access to the ocean—a quality you hardly expect in a city of this density.

After Dark
On summer evenings, the diversity of Queens gathers in close quarters. The Queens Night Market is less an event than a social fabric. It reveals what defines Queens: cultural diversity without hierarchy.

Jackson Heights
At the corner of 37th Avenue and 75th Street in Jackson Heights, Ricky’s Café seems, at first glance, slightly out of place in its vividly international surroundings. A 1950s-style diner that feels like it belongs somewhere in the American Midwest. From the jukebox come tunes by The Everly Brothers, Danny and the Juniors, or Gerry and the Pacemakers.

American, Mexican, and Cuban dishes sit side by side on the menu. A standout: the Cuban sandwich with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, and pickles. The cooking isn’t refined—but that’s exactly where its charm lies.

 

#4 The Bronx

Green, historic, communal
When people hear “Bronx,” a lot may come to mind—but certainly not Wave Hill. And yet, perched above the Hudson River, this is one of the quietest places in New York. Terraced gardens open toward the water, old trees frame the view, and the skyline appears only as a distant silhouette. Wave Hill began in 1843 as the private estate of lawyer William Lewis Morris, a retreat from what was then the city center. Later, figures such as Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt stayed here, before the property passed into public ownership in 1960.

Today, Wave Hill brings together historic architecture, curated gardens, and contemporary interventions. Among perennials and sculptures stands the Wish Tree by Yoko Ono. Visitors write their wishes on small pieces of paper and tie them to its branches. Here, the Bronx reveals a side that has little to do with common stereotypes: composed, reflective, and deliberately designed.

A few miles away stands a small wooden house, almost hidden among trees. At the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, Edgar Allan Poe spent the final years of his life. It was here that works such as Annabel Lee were written. The rooms are low, simple, intimate. No grand staging, no pathos—just a place where literature was created. The Bronx carries not only hip-hop and baseball in its DNA, but also a chapter of American literary history.

Yankee Stadium — Ritual & identity
Baseball in the Bronx is not an event; it’s a ritual. In front of Yankee Stadium, fans gather in pinstriped jerseys. Even outside of game days, the stadium radiates a sense of collective identity. It shows how deeply sport can shape the self-image of a neighborhood.

Arthur Avenue — Little Italy of the Bronx
Arthur Avenue feels more grounded than its tourist-shaped counterpart in Manhattan. Specialty food shops, pasta makers, espresso bars—many are family-run and have been established for decades. Between fresh pasta and fragments of Italian conversation, a different image of the Bronx emerges: not rough, but communal.

The Woodlawn Cemetery feels more like a park than a burial ground. Monumental mausoleums, old trees, wide paths. Industrialists, artists, musicians are buried here—a quiet chronicle of New York. The atmosphere slows you down and reminds you that every metropolis is also an archive.

 

#5 Staten Island

The transition starts on the water. The Staten Island Ferry is free—and still priceless. As Manhattan slowly recedes, the skyline rearranges itself. Glass and steel lose their dominance, becoming a distant silhouette. Commuters stand alongside tourists, bicycles lean against railings, and the wind carries salt and diesel across the deck.

Alice Austen House — A queer legacy
Right by the water, with sweeping views of the bay, stands the former home of photographer Alice Austen. In the late 19th century, she documented the lives of women, workers, and everyday moments in New York. Austen lived for decades with her partner Gertrude Tate—at a time when same-sex relationships were socially taboo. Today, the house is not only a museum but also a recognized LGBTQ+ landmark.

Staten Island expresses its identity through food as well. At Shaw-naé’s House, Caribbean-inspired cuisine meets a warm, familial atmosphere. It’s not a scene-driven hotspot, but a neighborhood gathering place. Dining here reveals Staten Island not as a fringe, but as a distinct cultural space with its own roots and history.

St. George Theatre — Curtain up
Opened in 1929, the St. George Theatre welcomes visitors with Art Deco elements, chandeliers, and a grand stage. Originally conceived as a movie palace, it now hosts concerts and comedy. Culture here feels both large-scale and accessible.

Summer ritual — Staten Island FerryHawks
Baseball on Staten Island feels different from the experience at Yankee Stadium—smaller, closer, more personal. In the waterfront ballpark, families sit in the stands with hot dogs, children move between the rows, and the Manhattan skyline remains visible in the distance. A Sunday afternoon with the FerryHawks becomes a local ritual—unpretentious, and precisely for that reason, authentic.

 

High Five
Five boroughs. Five perspectives on the same city. Manhattan stages. Brooklyn experiments. Queens connects. The Bronx roots. Staten Island creates distance. New York is far more than a skyline—even if that’s the last thing I catch a glimpse of from afar aboard SWISS Flight LX15 from JFK to ZRH.

Flight information
SWISS operates multiple daily flights from Zurich and Geneva to the metropolis on the U.S. East Coast.