New for 2018, personalised travel service LOCALIKE New York shares 10 upcoming trends in New York for the year ahead. LOCALIKE New York has recently launched as the city’s first personalised travel service to allow visitors to ‘live like a local’.
This innovative new service replaces biased reviews, recommendations and time-consuming web research with efficient, personal itineraries created with insider knowledge not found in any guidebook or online. The experts at LOCALIKE are well-travelled, with local insider information at their fingertips to provide unusual recommendations, exclusive access and opportunities to meet the people that make the city tick. With this in mind, here are the top 10 trends for 2018.
1) Shopping – increased product customisation and experiences
Across a wide range of products, NYC will see an increased trend towards customisation including personalised stationery, tailored jeans and bespoke lipstick colors created during a personal consultation With Bite Beauty Lip Lab New York create a unique, individualised lipstick shade or visit 3×1 for bespoke jeans, designed and fitted in a choice of more than 70 different denim fabrics from across the world.
2) Restaurant – new Japanese dining concepts are hitting the city
A wide range of innovative Japanese restaurants are opening in NYC, like Ikinari Steak, where customers eat steaks cut to order standing up. Another example is the Tokyo Record Bar; here an izakaya prix fixe menu is served to a self-selected vinyl playlist by customers.
3) Entertainment – immersive theatre
A steady trend has been the unique play, in which for a small audience group, the lines between fiction and reality are blurred. A recent and truly terrifying version is This Is Real, where in a mix of escape room and theatre, the audience has been kidnapped and needs to break free in creative ways.
4) Authenticity – exploring neighbourhoods untouched by tourism
New York City and Manhattan, in particular, has been optimised for tourists however experiences frequently remain interchangeable. Therefore, particular individualist travelers are seeking out neighbourhoods that are authentic melting pot communities such as Jackson Heights in Queens.
5) Real Estate – reinventing Manhattan’s West Side
Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States. At a cost of US$20 billion, a completely new area is being developed on Manhattan’s West Side that will combine state of the art shopping, dining, and culture. A new observation deck 75 floors up will top the Empire State Building’s deck by 50 feet (15 meters). A sculpture called “The Vessel” is predicted to become the “Eiffel Tower of New York City.” The accessible structure designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick has 154 interlocking stairways consisting of a total of 2,500 steps.
6) Broadway – Hollywood is coming to NYC
In the upcoming month, the celebrity density in Broadway productions will be even higher than usual with Denzel Washington, Uma Thurman, Bette Midler, Clive Owen and Jason Mraz.
7) Food trends – sweet treats continuously get more inventive and exclusive
Bakeries are popping up right and left, many with innovative creations such as a charcoal meringue squid-ink brioche. At the same time, increased attention is being paid to desserts. A desert-only-restaurant recently opened, and a two Michelin stars restaurant serving a 5-course dessert tasting menu.
8) Day trips – New York is rediscovering its beaches
New York City’s coastline— which stretches a total of 520 miles and is longer than the coastlines of Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco combined– has a wealth of beautiful beaches. These have lately received a hipster makeover with taco eateries and tiki bars.
9) Music – Grammy Awards 2018
The 2018 Grammy Awards are returning to New York, a move that will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the event. The awards will be accompanied by a range of parties, events and celebrity sightings.
10) NYC’s waters – repurposed barges attract New Yorkers
More and more converted and repurposes barges have drawn New Yorkers to the piers in Manhattan and Brooklyn. What started with a fancy Oyster bar has been picked up by alternative eateries and even inspired a barge with a little orchard.
Tap into these trends with a LOCALIKE New York Personal itinerary, starting at $79 (approximately £59) for one day.
For more information on LOCALIKE New York, visit www.localike-newyork.com.
