BRIGHT LIGHTS

BIG CITY

B Y

A gay and lesbian guide to New York,

the city that never sleeps

G ER A R D

HE MOMENT you set eyes on. Manhattan's distinctive skyline, New York casts its spell on you. The "city of spires," as, the poet Walt Whitman described it, seems so familiar, and yet it holds the promise of an excitement that is hard to match anywhere else in the world. Magic and romance, sex and sophistication, culture and art, high finance and fashion, crowds and noise, you'll find it all in the 24-hour metropolis the jazz musicians of the 20s

Gerard Raymond is a regular contributor to OUT and the author of New York Scene, a gay guide to New York (GMP Publishers).

A Y M O N

dubbed the Big Apple. There are no half-measures about New York-you'll either love it or hate it.

Although it is the smallest of New York City's five boroughs, the 13-mile island of Manhattan is the city's focus. Most of the famous landmarks are here the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park. And of course, gay history was made here on Christopher Street, the spiritual homeland of gay América. Even though a gay rights bill is stalled in the state legislature, New York City is one of the most gay-friendly places in the world. Of the city's 7 million residents, an estimated. I million are lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Countless New Yorkers have come here from the rest of the country, and indeed

from all over the world, for the free-. dom to lead lives of their own choosing.

Walk through the city's varied neighborhoods and you'll experience the full flavor of its architectural, cultural, and ethnic diversity: Not quite the proverbial melting pot, New York nevertheless is made up of several different worlds, each following its own orbit with miraculously little collision.

"I go into cruise mode the minute I leave the house," a friend once told me, acknowledging the endless possibilities in the city's streets. Contrary to rumors, the natives are usually friendly; a little brusque perhaps, and direct to the point of seeming aggressive, but helpful. And rest assured, it is no more dangerous to walk around in the heart of this city than anywhere else. Just keep your wits about you and don't flash large wads of money..

It's easy to get intimidated by the size and scope of New York, so don't bite off more of the Big Apple than you can chew. You can never "do" it all on a

single trip, but the city's vibrant personality and energy is intoxicating and you'll be back before long.

THE BIG PICTURE

HE BEST WAY to orient yourself to Manhattan is to take a ferry ride. Try the three-hour Circle Line-tour around the island from the 42nd Street pier or the more gay-friendly Spirit of New York cruise, which may be booked through the Gay and Lesbian Visitors Center (800-395-2315 or 212-4639030). A special ferry takes you to the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park in lower Manhattan, and you can walk right up to the crown. But one of the best deals in New York is a trip on the Staten Island Ferry. It brings you close to the Statue and costs only 50 cents. for the round-trip.

You can't beat the view from the observation deck on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center, the tallest building in New York. The city's secondhighest skyscraper, the Empire State

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Building, also offers a breathtaking view. Inspired by An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle, couples love to rendezvous at the top, and gay New Yorkers take great pride in the fact that the city's world-famous art-deco symbol is lit up in lavender yearly, to mark Lesbian and Gay Pride Weekend.

Just as you will find every conceivable nationality represented in New York, you can sample virtually any type of cuisine in this city. Choices of where to eat range from Bouley, one of four four-star French restaurants in the city, to the trendy but inexpensive restaurants and coffeehouses in the East Village, the row of Indian restaurants on East 6th Street, the crowded dim-sum parlors of Chinatown, the trattorias of Little Italy, and any number of Thai, West Indian, or Ukrainian restaurantsscattered throughout the city.

If you are in New York to shop, you will find both the absurdly overpriced and the unbelievably cheap. A stroll along Fifth Avenue will introduce you

to some of the most elegant and most exclusive stores in the world. Some will swear that a trip to the original Chelsea branch of Barneys famous clothing store is almost a religious experience. The trendy galleries and boutiques of SoHo are also well worth a visit. Promenade down Christopher Street for the gay shopping experience; you'll discover stores selling everything-skimpy beachwear, jewelry, leather jockstraps, cheeky T-shirts, erotic cards, and novelty items.

For the literary-minded visitor, New York is paradise. You might make a new friend while browsing at the gay and lesbian bookstores downtown: A Different Light in Chelsea and, in the West Village, Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop. Also of interest are the women's shop, Judith's Room, and cozy Three Lives, in the same neighborhood. A visit to Rizzoli's in SoHo or Midtown is as rewarding an experience as the elegant art books they publish, and you can often discover unexpected secondhand treasures by rummaging around the stacks at the Strand in the East Village.

CULTURE VULTURES

IVEN MANHATTAN'S unique concentration of world-famous art muit's not without reason that New Yorkers regard their city as the cultural capital of the world. With its magnificent collections of antiquities, primitive art, and Old Masters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the crown jewel of museums in the United States. The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) has the world's best collection of 20th-century

OTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN ATKIN