By Carla Marie Rupp and Jason Rupp

New York is a great walking city. It is full of so much to see and do that you hardly know where to start. We have made some of our best YouTube videos just by walking around the various boroughs. But sometimes you need to stop for a break to rest, especially if you are in Midtown Manhattan. You’ll find “bleachers” in many parts of the city. They are simple, bench-style seating areas, usually uncovered and ideal for taking a break. The bleachers in Times Square for example,are great for watching the excitement of the city. We always love to climb up to the top and sit on the bleachers in what’s called Duffy Square and just enjoy the sights. This is the place where people can line up on the sidewalk and buy TKTS theater tickets at the ticket window.

At the bleachers at Forty-eighth Street, it’s best to sit high up on the top in the evening; you join visitors from all over the globe, and you feel like you are at the Crossroads of the World. We’ve brought friends here just to sit and look at all the latest gigantic billboards, the big-name stores, and the marquees for the latest Broadway shows. A short walk away to the east is the famed Radio City Music Hall. You can get tours of the hall and even meet a Rockette. A great place to relax is across the street on benches by a fountain, and admire the neon of Radio City at night.

During the day, however, don’t forget to visit the parks in New York City. We have our favorites: Central Park is huge and beautiful any time of the year. Washington Square Park is where we’ve gone dozens of times over the years. You can see street musicians, jugglers, play chess, whatever. There’s even a wonderful annual folk festival we like. Beautiful Union Square Park has improved over the years and has lots of benches under trees. It features New York City’s large farmers’ market, held on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. One of our friends lives on the Upper East Side and recommends lovely Carl Schurz Park, it is next to the East River and where you can take a tour of Gracie Mansion, where New York City mayors have lived.

Elizabeth Street Garden, located further downtown in Manhattan in what is called the “Nolita” area, we love to visit any season. The city was threatening to demolish the beautiful grounds and put city housing there, but Mayor Adams is credited with saving the garden, along with a lot of volunteers. It’s full of people having their lunches, reading books, and just lounging in the beauty of the park. It’s a real oasis. We are so happy the garden is saved! Across the street, we like the “draft” iced coffee (with oat milk and espresso) at the popular Caffe Paradiso – delicious!

Many parks and plazas have free music. Jazzmobile is the sponsor of many of the events, including the summer Wednesday evening concerts at Grant’s Tomb and the Great Jazz on the Great Hill at West 106th Street in Central Park. Hudson River Park is also the setting for many free events. We enjoy the Battery Dance Festival in mid-August, with dancers coming from such countries as Taiwan, Spain, and Romania. Views at sunset are spectacular. Blues and BBQ is also another popular festival on a Manhattan pier. Lincoln Center also features many free music and dancing events, and you only have to look at their website for the offerings.

Piano in Bryant Park (Forty-Second Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue).is another free, fun activity that is in Bryant Park. We love to gather around the colorful green piano and listen to the musicians play American standard popular songs. It’s so relaxing to hear top jazz musicians perform here Monday through Friday from spring until early October. Chairs and cushions are provided. It’s such a great atmosphere! One of the talented pianists we heard, Daryl Sherman, also plays during the lunch hour for free in the Park Avenue Atrium.

There’s something special every day in Bryant Park, such as poetry, picnics, concerts, yoga, knitting, ping pong, free movie nights on Mondays, and also a reading area with author talks and a place to read the daily newspaper. A merry-go-round is on the south side for families with children, and you ride at a reasonable price. Bryant Park has turned into New York City’s social backyard, with its restaurants and coffee kiosk. It’s been called “magic” for all the activities offered. In the winter, it turns into a wonderland, with stalls for food, gift items, and an ice skating area.

Free or low-cost music is offered at many club and restaurant venues. We like the historic Ear Inn down on Spring Street near the Hudson River for its Sunday night Dixieland-style jazz. There is also late-night music at the 11th Street Bar. It offers professional jazz players on Monday nights for no charge, we were amazed at the high quality of playing. Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar, 519 Second Avenue at East 29th Street, is another of our favorite venues with live music seven days a week from Irish and Celtic to Rock, Folk, Alternative, and Bluegrass. It’s an historic bar, and even boasts the best Guinness in the city. Arturo’s is another venue that offers live jazz music with no cover charge every night of the week and Italian food in a classic venue on West Houston Street in Greenwich Village.

Sights and sounds excite us all over New York City. We can’t begin to tell you all the places we enjoy; there are so many. Be sure and take a boat ride also the Circle Line tour. You can do half just for downtown or as we did the three-hour circle around the island, which includes a bit of the Bronx and a sighting of Yankee Stadium. You can also take a fall foliage tour up the Hudson on Circle Line.

There are several places along the river where you can kayak for free.One of them is the Downtown Boathouse at Pier 26, a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers. There are sit-on-top kayaks for public use in a protected Hudson River “bay” area on the lower west side of Manhattan in Tribeca. Views are beautiful, and the staff are friendly. Lockers are also free and it’s a safe way to enjoy the water and get some sun. Pier 26 is a nature pier, and we recommend a walk to the end. We also suggest visiting Pier 25 next to it and playing 18-hole miniature golf, the only one of its kind in Manhattan.

When you’re walking around downtown, a lot of visitors love to snap pictures at the Ghostbusters fire station, so we’re including a photo of it. Firemen are so helpful explaining things to the tourists about what they do there at the working fire station. We always recommend walking around Chinatown and Little Italy in Manhattan. The San Gennaro Festival is another favorite of ours in Little Italy, and there is lots of free entertainment and food to buy and sit down and eat.

For a deal on New York City sightseeing, you can buy the CityPASS booklet and also use Citi Bike to explore the bike paths. Whatever you choose you will findNew York City to be the ultimate melting pot of people. We hope you take a trip there and try some of our tips.

Jason Rupp and Carla Marie Rupp are freelance travel journalists. They have large followings on Instagram and would enjoy hearing from readers there or at [email protected] and [email protected].