Crazy About Basketball in NYC: Witness Jeremy Lin’s Legendary Performance

Written/Compiled by Liu Jiawen, Reported by HowToTrip Editorial Team

 

NBA star Jeremy Lin’s exceptional skills sparked a “Linsanity” craze across the U.S. and Taiwan, drawing huge fan attention to every game. But is watching on TV just not enough? Why not plan a trip to New York, head to Madison Square Garden—the home court of the Knicks—and cheer for Jeremy Lin in person. Also, soaking in the endless charm of New York is a key part of the journey. The city offers countless museums, boundless history, rich art and music, and an unending array of fashion. Start your exploration with the following attractions!

Recommended Must-Visit Attraction: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

This greatest museum in the Western Hemisphere spans 2 million square feet and holds over 3 million pieces, covering everything from the Paleolithic era to modern art, with an especially rich collection of American art. When you step into this majestic art sanctuary, you’ll surely sense its awe-inspiring grandeur and extraordinary value. A group of artists and philanthropists founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) with the vision of creating an art center that could rival those in Europe, amassing a collection of 3 million items. It would take you 2–3 hours just to walk through it quickly.

 

The museum was first planned in 1870 and officially opened 10 years later. However, the current grand Greek-style building on Fifth Avenue was completed in 1902, constructed from gray Indiana limestone. Collections are displayed according to region, divided among 17 curatorial departments, with highlights including American Art, Modern and Contemporary Asian Art, Egyptian Art, European Paintings, as well as European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Masterpieces in the American Art section include Georgia O’Keeffe’s "Red Canna," Edward Hopper’s "Nighthawks" (often mistranslated or confused here, but the text states "灯塔" which may refer to his lighthouse paintings), Bingham’s "Fur Traders Descending the Missouri," Cole’s "The Oxbow," and Sargent’s "Madame X." The Asian Art section boasts a vast collection of Chinese Buddhist sculptures, ceramics, jade artifacts, and Ming dynasty furniture. In 1979, 27 Chinese artisans who specialized in restoring Suzhou’s classical gardens were even hired to build a miniature Suzhou garden. The Egyptian Art collection includes cultural and artistic artifacts from around 3100 BCE to the 8th century CE.

 

Most striking is the Roman-era Temple of Dendur, a gift from the Egyptian government. The Met specially designed a reflecting pool in the area where the Nile once flowed. The European Paintings collection holds over 3,000 works, making it one of the world’s greatest. Many are universally acknowledged masterpieces. Italian highlights include Mantegna’s "Parnassus," Carracci’s "The Last Communion of Saint Jerome," and Bronzino’s "Portrait of a Young Man." The Dutch painting collection is particularly rich and globally renowned.

Recommended Must-Visit Attraction: Central Park

 

Known as New York’s “backyard,” Central Park covers 843 acres of entirely man-made natural landscape. Thousands of locals and tourists engage in various activities here daily. The park is beautiful in all seasons—vibrant reds and greens in spring, bright sunshine in summer, fiery red foliage in autumn, and serene white landscapes in winter. It also features a zoo and a children’s zoo. The annual “Shakespeare in the Park” festival at Delacorte Theater from June to September is a major NYC event, and admission is completely free.

 

The heart of Central Park is Bethesda Fountain, named after a biblical story about a healing pool in Jerusalem empowered by an angel. Nearby, Belvedere Castle serves as the park’s center for learning, with a “Discovery Room” offering wildlife information. The Conservatory Water on the east side near 73rd Street is famed for its “model boat pond,” hosting races on Saturday mornings from spring to autumn. The northern part of the water area displays a statue of Alice in Wonderland, featuring Alice and the Mad Hatter on a giant mushroom, along with a cat and rabbit—a playful area for kids. On the west side of the lake stands a statue of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, with an ugly duckling at his feet.

 

On the west side of Central Park is The Dakota, the former residence of Beatles member John Lennon. The building’s 65 apartments have housed many legendary stars. Its design mimics the rugged colors of the American West, giving it a unique charm. The entrance on 72nd Street features carvings of Native American heads. In front of The Dakota, the site of Lennon’s death, is known as “Strawberry Fields,” named after his 1967 song “Strawberry Fields Forever.” A black-and-white mosaic in the pathway there features a star—a nod to the lyrics of Lennon’s song “Imagine.”

Recommended Must-Visit Attraction: Rockefeller Center

 

Rockefeller Center is undoubtedly one of the greatest urban projects of the 20th century. In the 1920s, financial tycoon John D. Rockefeller proposed this massive construction plan despite the economic depression. He aimed to create enough office space within a limited area to sustain such a large complex. Thus, the final plan centered on a 70-story main tower, surrounded by 13 shorter buildings to ensure sufficient daylight for both the central tower and surrounding structures.

 

Although the plan faced widespread skepticism, it was ultimately completed. Beyond its impressive height, the expanded Rockefeller complex now includes 19 buildings, with public spaces and circulation designs that set new standards for urban planning. The integrated mall and office towers helped establish Midtown as New York’s second central business district after Wall Street. While Wall Street is dominated by financial firms, Rockefeller Center is a hub for media and culture, housing the NBC headquarters, major U.S. publishers like Time Warner, McGraw Hill, and Simon & Schuster, as well as the world’s largest news agency—the Associated Press.

 

Strictly speaking, Rockefeller Center spans between 5th and 6th Avenues, from 48th to 51st Streets, covering 22 acres. It includes restaurants, office buildings, fashion stores, banks, post offices, and bookstores. An underground network connects to the subway, and architects cleverly used plazas, open spaces, and staircases to direct the flow of over 250,000 daily visitors.

Recommended Must-Visit Attraction: Grand Central Terminal

 

Grand Central Terminal is not only the world’s largest and busiest transportation hub (covering 49 acres with 700,000 daily passengers), but also the largest public space globally (even larger than Notre-Dame’s nave in Paris). Critic Tony Hiss praised it as “an exquisite architectural masterpiece, the most vital part of midtown Manhattan… an engineering marvel.” Completed in 1913, the terminal not only highlighted the importance of public space for the general public in the New World, but also marked the golden age of train travel. The Main Concourse spans 80,000 square feet, with a 60-foot-high arched window flooding the space with light. Marble covers the floors and walls, while the 125-foot-high ceiling features a starry night sky painted by French artist Paul Helleu, based on the Mediterranean star chart from the 10th to 3rd months (roughly December to February) of the Middle Ages. The 2,500 gold-leaf stars include 60 constellation stars highlighted with light bulbs.

 

The marble staircases are also a marvel, reminiscent of the Paris Opera House. Two massive chandeliers adorned with gold leaf add to the grandeur. In 1970, as train use declined, the terminal nearly faced demolition, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it a national historic landmark, saving it. After major renovations in 1998, Grand Central is now not only a transit hub connected to the subway, but also a large shopping and dining destination, featuring several popular restaurants and bakeries. Upon arrival, check the information booth in the center of the main concourse beneath the iconic gold clock for maps and store guides.