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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls and tweets on what to do and where to go before international tourism returns to New York City on Monday. 212-433 WNYC, 212-433-9692, or tweet @BrianLehrer. Adrian in Astoria, you're on WNYC. Hi, Adrian.

Adrian: Hi, Brian. Thank you for having me on. Having the time to go around New York, besides listening to you, one of the lights has been being able to go to all of the gardens around the city and just enjoying the tranquility with nature. Especially the High Line. It's been years that I went to it, and over the course of the past year I visited so many times, and it's been splendid.

Brian Lehrer: High Line seems to be - and thank you, Adrian - seems to be the early winner here. Pretty interesting. Our engineer, Liora Noam-Kravitz, was just telling me during the break that that's where she went in advance of this. It was so nice to have the High Line not be packed with people for once, so here's another one. Let's keep going on High Line and then we'll do other things here. Sally on the Upper West Side. Hi, Sally.

Sally: Thanks for taking my call. In addition to the High Line, I also say Central Park. Not just the very popular areas at the bottom of the park, but walks through it, and you can feel that you're in a jungle somewhere, not in a city with millions of people. Also the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was lucky enough to be able to go when it was 25% capacity in the early days when the lockdown was just becoming unlocked. It was a totally different experience to be in the gallery all by myself. It's now back to full capacity, and it'll be even more crowded when the international folks come.

Brian Lehrer: Interesting. Good group of them, Sally. Thank you very much. Peter in Jackson Heights has one that several people are calling with. Hi, Peter.

Peter: Hey. Thanks for taking my call, Brian. I'm a long-time listener and I've got to say that this year was the first time that I gave to the full pledge. You got me, and I'll do so from now on.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] We appreciate it.

Peter: I find the High Line was actually pretty crowded even during pandemic. As far as your last listener, I did go to Central Park in June 2020, so relatively early during the pandemic, and it was completely abandoned. That was a wonderful but also eerie experience. My places are far more on the conventional tourist circuit. We took advantage of the fact that the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, and Liberty Island were basically under-visited during the pandemic for Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. It was just wonderful.

I've been to all three places before, but to be there with few people, especially the Empire State Building, you had the whole place to yourself. You walked right into the elevator. I know that people, including myself, kind of sniff at these conventional tourist attractions, but it was a wonderful experience. I just want to put [crosstalk].

Brian Lehrer: I've always loved the views myself. I love going up to the top of the Empire State Building. I love going up to the top of the World Trade Center. I had gone to the old one before 2001 multiple times. I've been to the new one to see the city from those vantage points, and they're very different; are really, really wonderful. Like at the World Trade Center one, you really get a sense of New York as a city of water because it's right down there in the harbor and the geography is so striking. Where the rivers meet the ocean basically you can see all that, and see where New York is situated on the globe in a certain sense.

The Empire State Building one, it's much more in the middle of the city, and the view is still vast but it's different. Their Central Park is not right below you because it's 34th Street, the Empire State Building, but you're really right up on Central Park, the way it looks from up there. It's such an obvious oasis in the middle of all these buildings. Also the buildings themselves and the expanse out to New Jersey and out to Queens. I'm just putting in a plug for this as a wonderful experience, even for people like me who grew up in New York City. Go to the top of the world and take a look at the city.

Peter: If I may, one quick last plug for the Empire State Building in particular. I'm a big fan of the 1933 original version of King Kong, and they have a somewhat facile, but nevertheless really cute, King Kong element that they've built into it. If you liked that movie go to the place where Kong met his fate.

Brian Lehrer: Nice, Peter. Thank you very much. Of course, Peter mentioned at the beginning of his call the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, Ellis Island. Those are such big tourist spots. Those would probably be good ones to go to this weekend if you've been meaning to do it. Maybe they'll be crowded anyway, I don't know. International tourists when they come to New York City, they go to the Statue of Liberty in such great numbers. Maybe Ellis Island last or maybe that's the same tour, so if you go to the Statue of Liberty you go to Ellis Island too; I'm not entirely sure.

Ellis Island is a great one for New Yorkers, with so many New York families, including my own, being able to trace their ancestry back to people who came through Ellis Island at some point. Even if yours didn't, it's amazing New York history down there for New Yorkers as well as for tourists. All right, where else are you going to go? 212-433 WNYC. Where else do you recommend that other people go this weekend before international tourism starts up again on Monday? Allie in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Allie.

Allie: Hey, Brian. I'm a long-time listener, ex-WNYC staffer. I really took advantage of Broadway during the lack of tourism in New York. I have a lot of friends who are performers and they couldn't afford to go to Broadway before tourists left the city. It's been just a joy to be able to go to a Broadway show in a half-empty theater and get moved to center orchestra seats for $35. That's something I'll really miss when tourism comes back.

Brian Lehrer: Do you get the sense, Allie-- and if you're the Allie I'm thinking you are, then-

Allie: I am. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: -you're a theater-aware person who used to work for our theater space, the green space. You're that Allie?

Allie: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: If you're into theater, do you have a sense - because I've been wondering about it and I haven't seen any new stories - if COVID is scaring away the audiences? Is that why the theaters are half-empty? Because there's still not that many people who feel comfortable going back to a full capacity theater?

Allie: Honestly, no. I think that Broadway has always been a tourist theater attraction. The price point has never been really affordable to most New Yorkers, and I think that it's really the brand of broad of what Broadway has become that has left theaters half empty. It's the fact that until COVID ticket price points to go to Broadway were $800, and so a, a lot of New Yorkers have not had the habit of going to Broadway; and b, I think it's taking Broadway some time to rebuild their brand as one that's for New Yorkers as well and not just for tourists coming in.

Brian Lehrer: That's so interesting. Maybe go to TKTS or check the box offices themselves right now for Saturday or Sunday, because if it's that much of a tourist-driven industry then it's going to pop right away, I would imagine.

Allie: Yes. The nature of the shows has also changed because of the lack of tourism. You're seeing a lot of shows that were in downtown experimental theaters get their first Broadway premieres because this is also a nice space for experimentation. Shows that would have never done well, I think, with tourists in New York.

Brian Lehrer: Allie, thanks for checking in with us. So nice to hear your voice.

Allie: [unintelligible 00:09:35]

Brian Lehrer: Sue in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Sue.

Sue: Hi. My phone might go dead, so I want to really quickly say the Panorama at the Queens Museum, which is so fantastic. The miniature layout of the whole city, it's just an incredible thing. I think it's in the Queens Museum. I don't even know exactly, but--

Brian Lehrer: Yes, it is.

Sue: I know so many Yorkers who've never seen it, and it's just a wonder. Anyway, [crosstalk].

Brian Lehrer: It almost reminds me of what I was saying before about the Empire State Building. You go up to the top of the Empire State Building, and one of the things you really see is the density of New York City, and you see it in the Panorama too. I've been there, I found my building, [chuckles] and-

Sue: [laughs] Yes, it's great.

Brian Lehrer: -you really get a sense even though there aren't really people in the Panorama, if I'm remembering it correctly, really get a sense of the density just by seeing all the structures that it's representing.

Sue: Right, and also just the relationship of all the neighborhoods. I look at it and I think, "Wait, where's Sheepshead Bay? Oh, there. That makes sense. Oh, it fits in like that." It's just a great way to know the whole city. Anyway, I've got to go so my phone doesn't die.

Brian Lehrer: Sue, thank you very much.

Sue: You're welcome. Bye-bye.

Brian Lehrer: Go recharge your phone. Neath in Astoria, you're on WNYC. Hi, Neath.

Neath: Hey, Brian. Longtime listener, first-time caller. Super excited.

Brian Lehrer: Glad you're on. Where should people go?

Neath: I wanted to say Greenwood Cemetery, if you can believe that.

Brian Lehrer: I do believe that. Talk about your Greenwood Cemetery visiting experience.

Neath: I'm a military veteran for 20-plus years, and the New York City Veterans Alliance for several years did what we call a ruck, where we'd pack up gear and walk through the city. We used that as the American Revolution that started in the Battle of Brooklyn. We end up going up into that top peak there at Greenwood Cemetery, and there's this amazing statue - I'm forgetting which goddess it is - where she's holding her hand out. If you stand behind her on that pinnacle, you can see her reaching towards the Statue of Liberty, and it creates this amazing view of the city.

You're talking about being able to see the city as a whole in the water. Seeing where the ships would have come in during that battle and - what was it? - 40,000 British ships or whatever that came into the gaps between Staten Island and Brooklyn, is just overwhelming right there. It's a really great vantage point, and the cemetery is gorgeous. From what I've read, people used to go there well before the other parks in the city were established. They'd travel from all over the country to visit Greenwood Cemetery, and it's amazing.

Brian Lehrer: Neath, thank you for throwing that one in. That's a really good one. Anna Maria in Lower Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Anna Maria.

Anna Maria: Oh. Hi, Brian. Good morning. Yes, I took advantage during the pandemic two years to tour all Downtown. One of the highlights for me was the bull, all the way Downtown [unintelligible 00:12:44]. When I saw that, that it was all for me, all by myself, I asked a guard that was on the front of the building, and I said, "Can you take pictures of me, please?" and he did. I had to just kissing the bull, hugging the bull, and I was about to take it home because it was so amazing experience.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] This is the Wall Street bull you're talking about, right?

Anna Maria: Yes, all the way Downtown [unintelligible 00:13:09], yes. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: The girl isn't still there too, is she? You know that statue of the girl that they put up near the bull?

Anna Maria: Yes, it's still there, and also on the Stock Exchange, the little girl standing in front. Oh, that was amazing. It was beautiful. The West Side Highway, not one single car. Everything was for me; everything. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Anna Maria. We really appreciate it. Yes, that's certainly another area where a lot of tourists go, is to see the Financial District, and by extension - and this is such an obvious one - the World Trade Center site and the museum that commemorates the people we lost on 9/11. I imagine that that has not been visited so much recently, and that's one, of course, where the tourists flock. If around the 20th anniversary of the attacks you've been meaning to get down to that memorial, probably this weekend is a good time to do it. Sam in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Sam.

Sam: Hi. Definitely the African Burial Ground. The Visitor Center is at 290 Broadway, and it's absolutely free. The outdoor exhibit is around the corner, and people can just go to nationalparkservice.gov, or they can just google African Burial Ground. It's down near Duane Street, just like a block or two from City Hall off Chambers Street. I also want to plug the Kenkeleba Gallery. K-E-N-K-E-L-E-B-A, Kenkeleba Gallery, which has exhibits of artists in the African diaspora. That's on East Second Street in the East Village. Both of these wonderful places are free. The African Burial Ground Visitor Center also shows a film. It has a wonderful archaeological exhibit and everyone should go there.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you for all those, Sam. Places that more people should go. Hopefully, the tours take people there when the tourists come, if they don't know about those New York City sites. On Twitter, I have food markets. Somebody writes, "For me, it's all the food markets. Smorgasburg, Chelsea Market, Essex." Someone else writes as a follow-up to the Greenwood Cemetery caller that the statue that the caller referenced is the Greek goddess Minerva. "Also my favorite place in New York City," writes listener Latree on Twitter. A few people are tweeting actually, to follow up and say yes, it's Minerva. Minerva the Greek goddess. Minerva statue there.

Let's see. How about Debbie who has a restaurant to shout out that doesn't take reservations. Hi, Debbie. You are on WNYC.

Debbie: Hi. I'm calling because it doesn't take reservations, it doesn't take credit cards, you got to stand in line. But if you live in the neighborhood you can get deliveries now because of COVID.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Did you want to mention the name of the restaurant you think tourists are going to come and make it harder to get in?

Debbie: Now if you live in the neighborhood you can get deliveries, which they didn't use to do. The name of the restaurant is Gennaro. It's the best restaurant on the Upper West Side.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. All right. Oh okay, we're going to throw in Carol. Carol has a classic. Carol, we've got 15 seconds for you. Hi, there.

Carol: Hi. How are you? You're talking to me, Carol?

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

Carol: I was thinking that one of the most visited attractions in New York for foreigners is the Brooklyn Bridge. I would suggest that all New Yorkers take advantage of a less crowded stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge. Not to mention--

Brian Lehrer: It's going to get crowded no doubt.

Carol: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: That has to be the last one; the stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge. Listeners, thanks for all those things to do this weekend as New Yorkers before foreign tourism for vaccinated people opens up again on Monday. Brian Lehrer Show interns this fall are Prerna Chaudhary and James O'Donnell. We are produced today by Lisa Allison, Zoe Azulay, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Max Bolton. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen works on our daily politics podcast, and we have Liora Noam-Kravitz at the audio controls. Have a great weekend, whatever you do. I'm Brian Lehrer.

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