Ahead of Qantas’ inaugural AKL-JFK direct service taking off next month, New York State has a series of exciting tourism developments, hotel openings and key anniversaries to entice visitors from Down Under. Here is what’s new, what’s happening and what’s coming up, as options for Australians and New Zealanders accessing the Empire State expand.
NEW ATTRACTIONS & DEVELOPMENTS
Niagara Falls adds state-of-the-art Welcome Center
A brand new, $46 million Welcome Center will open its doors at the oldest state park in the United States this May 2023. The 28,000-square-foot, environmentally sustainable building will tell the story of Niagara Falls and the surrounding community, highlighting its industrial and Indigenous American history. Niagara Falls State Park remains open all year long throughout construction.
Grand reopening of Buffalo AKG Museum set for June 2023
Following a $200 million project that will add 50,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery will reopen in June as Buffalo AKG Art Museum, elevating the profile of the state’s second-largest city as a world-class cultural destination. From Frida Kahlo to Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock to Andy Warhol, the museum features an extraordinary collection of more than 6,000 works of modern and contemporary art. Opening exhibitions include Clyfford Still: A Legacy for Buffalo; Looking Back: Lucas Samaras’s Mirrored Room; and Lap-See Lam: Dreamer’s Quay.
Lake Placid welcomes new Olympic Museum
Nestled in the Adirondack Mountains, Lake Placid has hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1932 and 1980. The new Lake Placid Olympic Museum is a treasure trove of history featuring interactive exhibits, innovative displays and North America’s second largest Winter Olympic artifact collection. New visitor facilities in the area also include the boutique Bluebird Lake Placid hotel that launched earlier this year and the upcoming opening of Cloudsplitter, the town’s only rooftop bar.
New York State’s most scenic train journey to return this spring
After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Adirondack, dubbed one of the “Top 10 most scenic train rides in the world,” is officially coming back this spring (exact date TBC). The popular Amtrak route connects Manhattan’s Penn Station with Upstate New York travelling through the scenic Hudson Valley towards Albany, the state capital, and along the eastern border of the Adirondack Mountains, before reaching Montreal in Canada.
Wolf Conservation Center introduces new camping pods
‘Sleeping with Wolves’ is a popular adventure experience that takes place in the summer and offers guests a chance to safely camp out overnight with more than 30 wolves that call the Wolf Conservation Center in the Hudson Valley home. In response to its increased popularity, 12 new weather-proof camping pods will debut this year in 2023 that will allow the experience to extend from spring to autumn.
Northeast’s first ‘agrihood’ coming to Hudson Valley
Construction is well underway on the new Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park, the first ‘agrihood’ community in the Northeast. Less than 90 minutes from New York City, the development will feature a collection of culinary shops, farm-to-table restaurants, breweries, restaurants, distilleries, two hotels and a special events barn, which will complement the area’s world-famous Culinary Institute of America.
Delve into the history of Broadway
The new Museum of Broadway in Manhattan gives visitors the opportunity to travel through the timeline of Broadway from its birth to present day, highlighting some of the most beloved plays and musicals of all time. Featuring a series of interactive experiences, installations and video projections, you will find out more about the history of New York City’s theatres, revisit ground-breaking moments in Broadway’s history and go behind the curtain into the making of hit show.
New culinary destination for Lower Manhattan
Under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the recently opened Tin Building by Jean-Georges, the world renowned chef and restaurateur, offers an exciting array of culinary experiences. The two-floor building, at the former site of a fish market, includes multiple restaurants with open kitchens and innovative retail concepts, as well as an impeccably stocked central market with locally sourced and seasonal produce, chef-grade pantry staples and rare ingredients.
New World Video Game Hall of Fame comes to Rochester
The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester will welcome this year a new World Video Game Hall of Fame exhibit and a 90,000-square-foot museum wing dedicated to video game history. From strolling down Sesame Street to leaping into the world of American comic book superheroes, the museum is home to the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world, unravelling the history of play through toys, dolls, board games, books and electronic games.
Discover a new side of New York on the Little Island
Little Island opened in the midst of the global pandemic offering a mini urban oasis in New York’s Hudson River Park. With more than two acres of magnificent landscape, distinctive architecture, dazzling views and an abundance of free performances, it has hosted more than one million visitors in its inaugural year, with an extensive programme scheduled for 2023 that includes dance, circus, theatre, music, magic, poetry and comedy.
ACCOMMODATION UPDATE
Eastwind Oliverea, The Catskills
Set in a lush mountainside with both sunrise and sunset views, this newly built, 30-room property opened in January offering a selection of guest rooms, cabins and suites. It features an outdoor pool, wood barrel dry sauna, communal fire pit with complimentary s’mores kits and hammocks, while Dandelion, its on-site restaurant and bar, serves a seasonal menu and locally sourced produce.
Hotel Caravana, Hudson Valley
Stay onsite at a retro drive-in movie theatre and transform movie night into a sleepover experience. Newly available as Hotel Caravana at the Four Brothers Drive-In Theater, in the heart of Hudson Valley, the two vintage airstreams are named ‘1967’ (sleeps up to four) and ‘2041’ (sleeps two) and have been fully renovated with a funky décor.
Richardson Hotel, Buffalo
Formerly known as Hotel Henry, this National Historic Landmark is considered one of Buffalo’s most iconic architectural landmarks. The hotel is reopening this month with a refreshed entry, ballroom and the Forest Street Bistro, while its 88 rooms are getting a full makeover. Set on more than 40
park acres, the hotel’s grounds have been designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for designing New York City’s Central Park.
Canoe Place, Long Island
Founded in 1697, Canoe Place in Hampton Bays is America’s oldest established inn. Over its long history, it has been everything from a waterside retreat to a discrete celebrity rendezvous to a racy late-night scene. The property reopened last summer offering 20 guest rooms in five completely rebuilt guest cottages, with a luxurious and inviting feel.
Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, The Catskills
Since it first welcomed guests in 1966 as the Scribner Hollow Motor Lodge, the now-Scribner’s Catskill Lodge has gained legendary status thanks to its distinctive architecture and decadent indoor swimming ‘grotto.’ The property will expand this spring with the addition of a dozen private lodges, featuring unique, 12-sided designs and private, outdoor cedar soaking tubs, that will be offered in both single and suite configurations.
In addition, two new properties are further boosting Hudson Valley’s status as a luxury destination: Habitas-on-Hudson, envisaged as a summer camp for grown-ups, opened last December as the luxurious hospitality group’s first US property; and award-winning wellness retreat The Ranch will add a new property this autumn at the site of a historic Hudson Valley lakefront estate.
KEY ANNIVERSARIES & EVENTS
125 years of New York City as we know it
It was in 1898 when the five boroughs of New York City were consolidated, giving birth to the metropolis that is known today. Over these 125 years, the city has become a major global travel destination and serves at the gateway to a state that is rich in distinctive and memorable year-round experiences and attractions, such as the mighty Niagara Falls.
90 years since the end of Prohibition
The Prohibition era came to an end in December 1933, 13 years after it came into effect. The nationwide alcohol ban was hugely controversial and, by the mid-1920s, New York City alone was estimated to have up to 100,000 speakeasy clubs. From Long Island to Finger Lakes and the 1000 Islands-Seaway Region, today the state is one of the best places to follow in the bootleggers’ footsteps, visiting former speakeasies and exploring sites where rumrunning took place.
Coming soon: The Great Gatsby turns 100
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece was first published three years after the writer moved to Long Island in 1922; since then, it has often been referred to as the Great American Novel, with 2025 celebrating the centenary of the book’s original publication. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Great Gatsby’s latest reincarnation on film, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous mysterious millionaire.
Celebrating America’s first landscape painter 200 years on
With 2025 marking 200 years since America’s first landscape painter moved to the Catskills, where he lived for the rest of his life, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site recently broke ground on a new visitor’s center, to be named The Cole Center, that is set to open later in the year. Widely considered as the founder of the Hudson River School art movement, the site preserves the painter’s home and studios and is a National Historic Landmark.
New York State is one of the best places to experience the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
The total solar eclipse on 8 April 2024 is a rare opportunity for large segments of North America to experience a total solar eclipse until 2045. The state is uniquely suited for witnessing the 2024 eclipse, with the path of totality tracing a grand arc across western and northern New York, crossing both large cities and high peaks, with many areas enjoying more than three minutes of totality.
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