New York post

If you want to browse though a good range of books it is easy to do that in NYC. As a starter, a walk through the Barnes and Noble bookstore on 5th Avenue is a worthwhile experience for those who love books with its 3 big floors of almost nothing but books; most of them ones that you will never see in NZ shops. There are also independent shops worth visiting too but specialists will be further out in the boroughs. And no, we can´t be be bothered with e-book readers.

For those into art and architecture there is plenty here too. Manhattan has been high rise city for over a century, but the nondescript and often ugly steel and glass boxes from the second half of the century are more than compensated by many elegant buildings with ornate features from the first half of the century. Grand Central Terminal, or Grand Central Station as it is usually called, is a must see building. Unfortunately it only serves regional trains now, Amtrak operates out of the much less prestigious Penn(sylvania) Station.

Since this writer's last visit to NYC a new addition to rail transport has been the airtrain for the JFK airport, a driverless elevated electric train system which connects all the terminals and branches to Jamaica and Howard Beach for connections to the Long Island Railroad (good to see that historic name has been retained); at Jamaica you can also connect to the E train of the Subway system although the LIRR is significantly quicker, if dearer. Travel within the AirTrain is free but an exit ticket at Howard Beach or Jamaica costs $5.