What's New

The year 2008 was a year of transition for some of the city's major icons, some of which are leaving us for good, some of which are returning with face-lifts. It was the last year for both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, the former certainly an icon, the latter an icon mostly for Mets' fans but also the place where the Beatles played a historic concert. Both teams will have new stadiums in 2009, the Yankees in "new" Yankee Stadium adjacent to the old one, and the Mets at newly named Citifield, also adjacent to Shea. (So Mets fans, you'll still be able to watch your games to the sound of jet engines from planes at LaGuardia.)

The venerable bastion of high-class lodging, the Plaza Hotel (tel. 888/240-7775; www.fairmont.com/thePlaza), now 100 years old, reopened in early 2008 after a 2-year, $400 million lobby-to-roof renovation. Much of the hotel has been converted into condos, but there are 282 hotel rooms that, now, are some of the most spacious in the city (and possibly the most expensive).

After 2 years in dry dock and an $8 million renovation, the WWII aircraft carrier USS Intrepid will make its way back home to Pier 86 at West 46th Street, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (tel. 212/245-0072; www.intrepidmuseum.org), for a grand reopening on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2008.

The ongoing 100-plus year, work-in-progress known as the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (tel. 212/316-7490; www.stjohndivine.org), at 112th and Amsterdam Avenue, reached a milestone when scaffolding was removed from the southwest tower in late 2007, revealing more of the cathedral's majestic beauty.

What would Fifth Avenue be without Gucci? In 2008, Gucci opened its flagship store at 725 Fifth Ave. (tel. 212/826-2600; www.gucci.com/us), a few blocks north of the old one. The new store features 46,000 square feet over three floors with floor-to-ceiling windows.

The best way to get around in New York is and has always been the subways. We mourned the loss of the much-loved subway token when it was phased out, but cannot argue with the convenience of the MetroCard and especially the Unlimited MetroCard. But fares of the unlimited MetroCard increased in 2008, with a 1-day pass now $7.50, 7-day pass $25, 14-day pass $47, and a 30-day pass $81.

Accommodations

Besides the renovation at the Plaza, the Pierre, another "grand dame" hotel off Fifth Avenue is undergoing major work. Owned and managed by Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, all the rooms and public spaces will be renovated to the tune of $100 million and are expected to reopen in early 2009.

The Jumeirah Essex House (tel. 212/247-0300; www.jumeirahessexhouse.com), with its beacon of a sign overlooking Central Park from Central Park South, has also reopened after a 15-month renovation.

A number of hotels were set to open downtown in 2008-09, though at press time, more than one was pushing its expected occupancy date back, so we may be talking about their grand openings in next year's "What's New." Breaking ground in uncharted territory in 2007 was the Bowery Hotel (tel. 212/505-9100; www.theboweryhotel.com), which opened to tremendous hype, much of it well deserved.

The Bowery's owners are also upgrading the landmarked 1907 Jane Street Hotel, a popular, cheap fleabag, into a nicer (but still relatively cheap) "micro hotel for for young travelers with more style than money." As the Jane (113 Jane St., tel. 212/924-6700; www.thejanenyc.com), it will offer rooms for as low as $99 with shared bathrooms starting in late summer 2008.

Moving into the Meatpacking District hotel scene will be the New York branch of the Standard, at 848 Washington St. (tel. 212/645-4646; www.standardhotels.com). After making it big in Miami and Los Angeles, hotelier Andre Balazs of The Mercer and Hotel QT, are headed to the Big Apple with a debut scheduled for the summer of 2008.

The neighborhoods of downtown continue to rise up, and I mean that literally. Contributing to that ascension are a slew of even more hotels scheduled to open by the end of 2008 or early in 2009, including Robert DeNiro's TriBeCa-located Greenwich Hotel at 375 Greenwich St. (tel. 212/475-4756; www.thegreenwichhotel.com), which was set to open in the late spring of 2008; and hotelier Jason Pomeranc's (60 Thompson) Lower East Side venture Allen Street Hotel. For 2010, at 99 Church St., developer Larry Silverstein plans to build an 80-story Four Seasons hotel and condominium tower that will make it the tallest residential building in Manhattan.

Back in midtown, in hotel-deprived Hell's Kitchen, Kimpton Hotels (70 Park Ave.) will open the 222-room Vu Hotel at 653 Eleventh Avenue, at 48th Street (tel. 212/757-0088; www.vuhotel.com). At press time, the hotel was scheduled to open in the summer of 2008.

Restaurant

The restaurant trend of 2007 was market-fresh cuisine, with new restaurants such as Park Avenue (Winter), 100 E. 63rd St. (tel. 212/644-1900; www.parkavenuenyc.com), specializing in what is fresh at the moment and changing its name, menu, and look seasonally. In winter, it's called Park Avenue Winter, in spring, Park Avenue Spring . . . you get the picture.

Another trend was to showcase top chefs in hotel restaurants. In 2006-07, it was the emergence of Gordon Ramsay at the London and Joël Robuchon with L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in the Four Seasons Hotel. In 2007-08, chef Alain Ducasse took over the space that formerly housed Lespinasse, in the St. Regis Hotel, and opened Adour Alain Ducasse, 2 E. 55th St. (tel. 212/710-2277; www.adour-stregis.com); Kerry Heffernan, the much-lauded head chef at 11 Madison Park, was granted prime space in the renovated Jumeirah Essex House to open South Gate, 154 Central Park South (tel. 212/484-5120; www.154southgate.com); and Laurent Tourendel, the chef/restaurateur of the BLT empire, claimed the space formerly occupied by Atelier as home to his newest venture, BLT Market, 1430 Sixth Ave. (tel. 212/521-6125; www.bltmarket.com). And since the reopening of the Plaza Hotel, chef Didier Virot, formerly of Aix has taken over the menu at the hotel's legendary restaurant Palm Court.

Close to Lincoln Center, famed chef Daniel Boulud opened his fourth New York restaurant, Bar Boulud, 1900 Broadway (tel. 212/595-0303; www.barboulud.com), putting his own spin on another trend, the wine bar.

The red meat palaces continue to sprout in New York and the biggest in 2007-08 in both size and hype was Stephen Hanson's Primehouse, 381 Park Ave. S. (tel. 212/824-2600; www.brguestrestaurants.com).

Manhattan got its first mechanical bull when Johnny Utah's, 25 W. 51st St. (tel. 212/265-UTAH; www.johnnyutahs.com), opened in a space near Rockefeller Center.

There's no bull at Hill Country, 30 W. 26th St. (tel. 212/255-4544; www.hillcountryny.com), the big, two-level replication of a Texas meat market/roadhouse in the Flatiron district. But what's lacking in mechanical bull is made up for in barbecued beef brisket and enormous beef ribs. Across the East River, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a slightly more intimate smokehouse, with the year's best name -- Fette Sau (Fat Pig) -- and even better barbecued pork belly, opened at 354 Metropolitan Ave. (tel. 718/963-3404).

Attractions

The New Museum of Contemporary Art moved into its new home, which resembles an oddly stacked column of boxes, at 235 Bowery (tel. 212/219-1222; www.newmuseum.org). Whatever you think of the design, its exhibits rival the edginess of its look. And that's a good thing.

And, more than 15 years after the bones of Africans were discovered in lower Manhattan during a construction dig, the African Burial Ground Memorial was unveiled at 290 Broadway (tel. 212/637-2019; www.nps.gov/afbg) to commemorate this sacred site.

In September 2008, the Museum of Arts and Design (formerly the American Craft Museum; tel. 212/956-3535; www.madmuseum.org) will reopen in its new home at 2 Columbus Circle, more than doubling the gallery space.

The Sports Museum of America, 26 Broadway (tel. 212/747-0900; www.sportsmuseum.com), opened in spring 2008, featuring interactive exhibits and sports memorabilia on loan from various Halls of Fame. It's also the new home of the Heisman Trophy and the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center (which you can see for a whopping $27 admission fee).

After Dark

The massive performing arts complex known as Lincoln Center is turning 50 in 2009, and marking the anniversary with wholesale renovations that will add new performing spaces, a restaurant, and visitor center. One venue, Alice Tully Hall, will be closed for renovations through February 2009. For information on the renovations and temporary closures, visit www.lincolncenter.org.