Urbanite

New York City has a message to tourists: There's a lot more to see here than you realize.

The city raked in 52 million visitors last year, a record number that brought $55.3 billion into the city's coffers.

The mayor wants to raise the number of visitors to 55 million annually and is working hard to reach that goal.

While Times Square and Central Park are the top spots for visitors,...

The city's tourism wing wants visitors to head south when they come to the Big Apple.

NYC & Company added the Financial District, Battery Park City and other neighborhoods below Chambers Street as part of its Neighborhood x Neighborhood campaign Wednesday.

City representatives say that while the area is already a huge draw for tourists who visit the stock exchange and September 11th...

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a candidate for mayor, laid out her plans to improve safety in the Big Apple Wednesday.

Among the suggestions in her multifaceted proposal were increasing the NYPD's force by moving up the next police academy class from January to July, installing more mobile cameras and expanding counterterrorism training to sanitation and transit workers.

"By...

The ice is right in the Bronx.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday the Kingsbridge Armory, which has been vacant since 1996, will be transformed into the world's largest indoor ice facility.

When the $275 million building is up and running sometime in 2019, it will boast nine indoor regulation size ice rinks, one of which can seat 5,000 spectators.

Bloomberg said the...

Yellow cabs just got a whole lot greener.

Six all-electric Nissan LEAF taxi cabs hit the streets Monday, with each car saving drivers $17,500 a year in gas costs, according to TLC Commissioner David Yassky.

The new cars were introduced as part of a pilot program as a way to gauge the possibility of an all electric fleet. More will be on the way in October.

The cabs "will help...

UPDATED 8:06 p.m.: After banning the butts from the bars, beaches and parks, the city is targeting young New Yorkers in its battle against smoking.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced Monday that Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a majority of the council support a new bill that would make the Big Apple the first big city to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21.

Quinn...

The city will put Bronx hotspots in the spotlight as part of a plan to get tourists to the outer boroughs.

Starting Wednesday, NYC & Company, the city's tourism wing, will promote the Grand Concourse, Melrose and Mott Haven communities as part of its Neighborhood x Neighborhood campaign.

George Fertitta, the CEO of NYC & Co, said that save for Yankee Stadium, tourists rarely...

The New York City Civil Liberties Union said the city is set to mark a controversial milestone as the police conducted its 5 millionth "stop and frisk" under the Bloomberg administration.

Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU's executive director, said that according to the data her group compiled from the NYPD, 4.4 million of the stops yielded no arrests or summons. The majority of those stopped...

The city's tourism wing kicked off a new initiative Wednesday that points foreign visitors to the outer boroughs -- specifically Brooklyn.

NYC & Company will promote the best businesses, establishments and historical spots in Bushwick, Fort Greene and Williamsburg as parts of its "Neighborhood x Neighborhood" program.

Mayor Michael Bloom-berg introduced the program last month as a way...

New York won't have as much style this fall.

Fashion's Night Out, the annual staple where the city's biggest stores offer free shows, concerts and discounted prices, will be canceled in all its U.S. locations this year, much to the delight of some Manhattan community leaders and elected officials who bemoaned the "chaotic" event.

Organizers, which include Condé Nast and the...