Right now, the current number of visitors allowed to visit the Incan citadel everyday is 3,800. 

Starting Jan. 1, Peru will allow up to 4,500 visitors on most days and will go as high as 5,600 on specific dates, according Peru’s ministry of tourism.

Peru tourism continues to recover from not only the pandemic but a tumultuous start to the year. The country had civil unrest in January and February amid political turmoil after protests had broken out in the country in December 2022. 

The protests resulted in the temporary closure of airports, railways and tourist sites, including the nearly month-long closure of Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail in late January. 

Those sites reopened by March but demand had been slow to recover, showing signs of improvement in the fall. 

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Travelers may even find that the lack of crowds make this an ideal time to visit its top attraction, Macchu Picchu, normally so in demand that tickets to enter must be secured months in advance.

The U.S. State Department’s Travel Advisory for Peru remains at Level 3, “Reconsider Travel,” but it has not been updated since Dec. 22, just 15 days after the first protest followed former President Pedro Castillo’s arrest in Lima. (Other countries popular with American travelers that also have Level 3 advisories include Jamaica, Colombia and Egypt.)

In the months that followed the onset of the protests, hotels, tour operators and travel agencies watched helplessly as their Q1 and Q2 reservations vanished after the Cusco airport as well as four others suspended operations after being stormed by protesters. Stranded travelers were twice evacuated by helicopter from Machu Picchu due to protestors blocking the train tracks. 

Cusco’s airport reopened Jan. 15, followed one month later by Machu Picchu on Feb. 15, after an agreement was reached by local governments and the protestors to guarantee the security of the Unesco World Heritage Site and services to reach it. 

Still, Peru is trapped in a loop of misinformation, causing even seasoned travelers to believe the country is still under lockdown. This was evident when, in response to my posts on social media, my inbox began to ping with questions from friends and strangers alike, such as “I thought Machu Picchu was closed?” “We have a trip planned in May and are considering delaying. What is your experience on the ground?” And “my son is supposed to go next month, and I’m worried. Is it safe?” 

I was delighted to field these questions because, yes, not only did my family and I feel entirely safe, including during the four days we explored Cusco on our own, but we experienced some of Peru’s top attractions in peace, without any crowds. 

The choice to visit in March was not a difficult one, in part because we were guests of Inkaterra Hotels, a nearly 50-year-old, Peru-based ecotourism company. I trusted its reputation as a tourism leader with such longstanding roots in the region. 

According to Inkaterra, it has not had to make any changes to its itineraries or programs because everything is back to normal. “The constitution has prevailed,” said Jose Koechlin, founder and CEO of Inkaterra. “Today Peru is a safe place to travel.”

Prior to leaving, I scoured news reports reinforcing that protests had lost steam and that much of the country, particularly the Cusco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu area where our trip was focused, had largely returned to normal. As an extra precaution, I registered our visit with the U.S. State Department and set ground rules with my family that if we sensed any tension, we’d immediately go in the opposite direction. We never had to. 

An unexpected layer of security and ease came with Inkaterra’s highly calibrated planning and execution by their travel agency, Inkaterra Experiences, which included planes, trains and automobiles as well as a bus and motorized canoe. Our point-to-point itinerary carried us from Peru’s high-altitude Andes to the dramatic cloud forest and the Amazon jungle and back to Lima for our international flight home. Every transition of this bucket-list-worthy trip was seamless, safe and on schedule.

The only place we observed heightened security was at the airports and train stations, where indoor access is limited to ticketed passengers and the parking lots are closed. In Cusco, and at the train stations in Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, passengers must walk off the airport property with their luggage to connect with prearranged transportation. Inkaterra’s contracted driver and guide services, or hotel staff, have this down to a well choreographed dance.

No crowds in the clouds

It was hard during my trip to visualize the crowds that make Machu Picchu the number-one tourist destination in South America, leading to recent measures to cap attendance at 2,500 per day. Tickets typically need to be purchased far in advance (Inkaterra’s guided excursions include pre-arranged admission and bus tickets). I’d be surprised if the capacity on the day in March we were there came within 50%, and wondered how long it would take to return to pre-protests levels. 

Our guide Joseph, from Inkaterra, set a lingering pace as my family and I made our way up the path, pausing for selfies with free-range llamas to catch our breath at 8,000 feet of altitude. No one rushed us from behind; at times, we seemed to be the only people on the trail — one of many joys of traveling in Peru so soon after its reopening following the unrest. 

When we reached the ridge for the iconic view of the 15th century citadel, it was entirely enshrouded in clouds. Joseph knew to wait, so we tightened our ponchos and huddled in to listen as he delivered our main history lesson about the ancient Inca city in the sky.

Just as he predicted, the clouds blew away, revealing hundreds of stone terraces and intact ruins that have captivated the world since black and white images were first shared after explorer Hiram Bingham was guided by locals to this very spot in 1911. We waited for one group ahead of us to take their photos before it was our turn to capture this year’s holiday card. We were delighted that our late-March travel overlapped with the end of the wet season, heightening the drama of each moment in this most sacred site of the Inca Empire. 

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“I need the inventory to meet the demand,” Fernandez said.

Although Costa Rica has long enjoyed plenty of popularity among U.S. travelers, travel advisors and suppliers say that interest in the destination has accelerated, driven in part by a pandemic-era preference for destinations that offer a wide array of outdoor activities on top of continued pent-up demand for more memorable experiences.

“Since the pandemic, someone’s bucket list has now become their to-do list,” Fernandez said. “And they are interested in really venturing off to unique destinations and expanding their experience footprint.”

Costa Rica has nearly picked up where it left off in 2019 in terms of tourism numbers. Carolina Trejos, director of marketing for the Costa Rica Tourism Board, said the country ended 2022 with the volume of international visitors arriving by air at around 10% below 2019 levels. This year, Costa Rica expects its international visitor count to bounce back to its 2019 benchmark of approximately 3.1 million visitors.

“With hotel occupancy, we’re also seeing very, very good numbers,” said Trejos. “For our high season, which started in mid-November and is expected [to run through] a week after Easter, we are expecting almost 100% occupancy.” 

Costa Rica has also seen a recent influx of more affluent travelers, who tend to spend more during their visit, “which is good news, as far as more money being invested in our communities, our small businesses, tours, services and hotels,” Trejos said.

And she added that these luxury-market travelers will soon have more options when it comes to high-end hotel and resort accommodations. The country is set to welcome new properties from several luxury brands, including Six Senses, Waldorf Astoria and One&Only, over the next few years.

Heightened demand for upscale accommodations has meant that competition for some luxury offerings can be fierce. Jude Vargas, founder of luxury travel agency Art of Voyage, reports that clients looking to book high-end villa properties in hot spots like Santa Teresa and Nosara often need to move quickly.

“If you want a really nice, beautifully designed villa, you really have to be booking out well in advance,” said Vargas, adding that she recommends clients looking for these highly desirable accommodations book a year or more out.

An opportunity for advisors

For travel advisors, Costa Rica’s growing popularity presents an opportunity.

“We get a lot of requests for Costa Rica, because it’s not an easy thing for people to book on their own,” said Carolyn Sandgren, president of Missouri-based Elite Travel Inc. & Cruise. “The perfect trip to Costa Rica [involves] flying into San Jose, spending some time up in the volcanoes and then coming down to the beach and flying home. And when you have an open jaw — where you fly into one airport, and you fly out of another — it’s a harder thing to book online.”

Sandgren said she recommends Costa Rica to clients looking for a new destination.

“When you have clients who have already been to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Jamaica and Punta Cana and they call you and ask you for something new, any seasoned agent is going to start to look to Costa Rica and moving them into Central America,” Sandgren said.

But despite robust demand, Costa Rica is still somewhat unchartered territory for a sizable share of U.S. advisors. Rental Escapes’ Fernandez, however, predicts that’s likely to change soon.

“We see more requests for Costa Rica coming in direct right now than we do from travel advisors, but advisors are reaching out and doing their homework,” Fernandez said. “As the consumer gravitates more and more toward Costa Rica, and the travel advisor becomes more educated on Costa Rica, I anticipate that we will see a tremendous amount of [business start] coming from the travel advisors.” 

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After a five-and-a-half-hour drive to the city of Shell marked by stunning mountain vistas, I hopped a 50-minute flight by bush plane into the Amazon. A motorized canoe took me another 30 minutes down the Kapahuari River before seeing the expansive wooden staircase, signaling my arrival. Ray Bradbury once said, “Half the fun of the travel is the aesthetic of lostness,” and with Kapawi, I found it to be true.

Owned and operated by members of the Indigenous Achuar Nation, Kapawi is a tranquil retreat located deep in the Pastaza Province, not far from the Peruvian border. It caters to adventurous, conscientious travelers (in particular families and small groups) who value cultural immersion and love outdoor activities and wildlife viewing in a pristine natural setting. Although when it opened in 1996, it was a different animal: Guayaquil-based Conodros Tours, in partnership with the Achuar, saw Kapawi as a luxury Amazon extension to their high-end Galapagos tours. But the company eventually bowed out, and due to mismanagement and difficulties maintaining a luxury establishment in such a remote location, the lodge’s future came into question.

In 2019, the Kapawi, Suwa and Kusutkau communities took full ownership. An alternative they resist was working with conglomerates who were likely to exploit the land, according to Juan Carlos Garcia, who oversees operations and marketing for Kapawi. The lodge was then reimagined as a more intimate, sustainable experience, and to bring the vision to life, the property underwent a total rebuild completed just before the pandemic.

The simple life

Instead of the original 20 cabins, there are 10 simple yet stylish bungalows built with Achuar architecture and technology (no nails to rust in the moist climate). They feature ensuite bathrooms, handmade furniture, rainforest views and balconies replete with comfortable hammocks, providing a cozy spot to watch the brief afternoon storm or two. A raised boardwalk connects each room with the main gathering hut, which has an ample footprint and includes a bar, lounge and adjacent yoga space. The hut’s soaring roof required more than 60,000 tagua nut palm leaves for construction.

“There’s a new dock, new cultural house by the river, new boats, new outboard engines,” said Garcia. “Cabins and other structures were built with recycled materials from the previous buildings and paired with more resilient materials” that are able to withstand decay in a rainforest ecosystem. They installed solar energy, and instead of fancy, imported food, the cuisine is simple yet flavorful, using Ecuadorian products with locally grown and raised ingredients.

My guide and a local leader, Ramiro Vargas, began our first day together with words of wisdom.

“There are a few things you need to know,” he said, sitting me down. Scribbling notes, I wrote down basic phrases in Achuar: hello, goodbye and thank you. We would visit four communities (Kapawi, Tsekunts, Kusutkau and Wachirpas) during my seven-night stay. Using even the simplest vocabulary would convey my respect and appreciation for welcoming me into their lives.

Immersed in the Achuar Nation

Each day became a lesson in Achuar life. I took part in a Wayusa ritual practiced daily at 4:30 a.m. and watched nine young men and women graduate high school. I toured the Tsekunts’ fish farms and gardens brimming with yucca and plantains; snorted green tobacco juice called umpak, a Red Bull equivalent that cleanses the nasal passages. In greater quantities, umpak is used to induce visions and speak to the forest’s spirits.

I tested my hunting skills (or, more accurately, my lack thereof) during target practice with foot-long darts and an eight-foot, handmade blowgun used to hunt wild boar. I dined on river shrimp and black pacu steamed with heart of palm served on a bed of palm leaves. Sumpa, a shaman elder, slightly hunched but with a powerful gait, led us to a hidden waterfall to perform a cleansing ritual. In the evening, back at the lodge, he presided over a traditional ayahuasca ceremony a — a ritual that involves a brewed natural psychotropic to induce visions.

Culture was not the only facet of my stay, however. Woven throughout my visits, we spent hours kayaking winding rivers, hiking through dense forests and going on night walks. I learned about the local flora and their medicinal uses and embarked on quests to find giant river otters and the Amazon’s famed pink dolphins. At night, I let the innumerable sounds of the rainforest lull me to sleep.

The average cost per person for the three nights at the lodge is $320, with discounts offered to groups of four or more. Ground transportation and Amazon flight are not included. For guests preferring slower transit from Quito to Shell, Kapawi can arrange a night in Puyo with stops that include the renowned Pailon del Diablo, one of seven spectacular waterfalls in the area.

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Roughly 75 minutes later, after taking what was an intentionally circuitous route, my touring party of roughly 20 people arrived at our destination. Only this highway, at an Antarctic Peninsula landing site called Errera on Andvord Bay, had no asphalt, no striped lanes and no exhaust-emitting automobiles. Instead, as we kayakers watched from just a few yards offshore, dozens of gentoo penguins traversed its snowy lanes, making their way between the relative safety of a shoreside hill and the sea.

A few days earlier, Danny Johnston, the expedition leader of the Scenic Eclipse cruise ship I was sailing on, had informed passengers of these avian highways and had cautioned us not to walk across them so as not to disrupt the penguins as they move between nesting sites and the hunting grounds in the water.

Now here I was, seeing in person what to that point had struck me as a quirky, almost amusing, concept. Antarctic penguins really do have highways, it dawned on me, even if I think the pathways should more aptly be called penguin sidewalks, given their rather modest width and lack of vehicular traffic.

This particular penguin viewing was the culmination of my kayak trip that morning, an excursion that was included as part of my sailing price. But it was far from the lone highlight. After experiencing predominantly cloudy weather during my first three days exploring Antarctica by land and sea as a hosted guest aboard the Eclipse, the morning fog on this day had lifted just before my group hit the water for an approximately two-hour paddle. The deep-blue skies that followed offered clean vistas of the surrounding glaciers and snowcapped peaks.

The flat water was another pleasure, especially after wind and waves had forced the Eclipse team to alter and delay the excursion itinerary the previous day as the ship sought sheltered conditions. 

Related Dispatches:

• Dispatch, Antarctica: A polar plunge and other sensory experiences
• Dispatch, Antarctica: Surrounded by humpback whales

For 15 years, while I lived in the Florida Keys, I paddled regularly through the bays and waterways that make up the southern portion of the Everglades ecosystem. On this day, despite the markedly different scenery and temperature, the calm water reminded me of the conditions that were so common in my former Florida home.

We paddled the bay leisurely, carefully navigating around ever-present chunks of floating ice and pausing frequently for photos or to simply experience the moment. Only the periodic noise from the Eclipse’s helicopter tours, especially during the early portion of the paddle, disrupted the tranquility.

About that ice: It doesn’t get the headlines that the continent’s penguins, seals and whales do. But, at least for me, it’s almost as fascinating. Positioned in a kayak, so close to the surface of the water, it is especially easy to see how distinct each ice block is. Texture, color, shape and size all vary, just like the full-size icebergs. On one occasion during my trip, guide Sean Bodden grabbed a football-size block of ice from the water that looked as clear and beautiful as a crystal. Its clarity, he explained, is evidence that the ice block is thousands of years old. Over time, the weight of the ice has squeezed out all the oxygen.

Conversely, the stunningly deep-blue icebergs that can occasionally be seen here have that color because they have only newly broken off a glacier and therefore snow and temperature changes haven’t yet had time to turn them white.

The wonders of Antarctica with Scenic Cruises

During this morning paddle, penguins were my prize animal sighting, although a few other people on the excursion caught a glimpse of an Antarctic minke whale. The penguins, though, weren’t only at the Errera landing site. They could also be seen swimming through the water in the style of porpoises, a technique that I’ve come to learn is in fact known as “porpoising.”

Other kayak or stand-up paddleboard excursions during the course of this 11-day sailing of the Eclipse have yielded multiple whale sightings as well as long looks at seals of various species resting on sea ice.

As my kayaking tour wound down, though, it was the penguins on those highways that earned my rapt attention. At times, the birds waddled in small groups to a point on the rocks, then dove together for a short bath, before reemerging, also in unison, to clumsily climb out of the water. Other penguins traversed the highway seemingly headed for a swim, before changing their minds and turning around. 

The Antarctic sun warming our faces (seriously), we sat roughly in place for maybe 20 minutes watching this wonderful scene before returning to the ship. But as the guides began loading paddlers into the waiting Zodiac boat that would ferry us there, I made sure my kayak was last. I just wanted to enjoy those few extra moments on the water. 

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Visitors must be vaccinated for Covid-19 and must complete a five-day isolation period at a hotel or residence. 

In addition to the mandatory five-day isolation, every person must comply with a follow-up process, which is done over a period of 14 days and consists of daily self-reporting of health status, current location and testing.

Proof of the Covid-19 vaccine will allow visitors to obtain a Mobility Pass issued by the Chilean Ministry of Health. 

Before entry, all travelers have to complete a “travelers’ affidavit” form 72 hours prior to travel. The electronic form includes contact information, medical history, and previous travel history.

Visitors must produce a negative Covid-19 PCR test performed within 72 hours prior to travel. Also, they must have travel insurance to cover any medical expenses related to Covid-19 with a minimum coverage of $30,000 for health benefits.

Travelers will be able to enter through airports in Santiago, Iquique or Antogagasta.

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Informamos que hoy 17 de mayo, se reportó el colapso del Arco de Darwin, el atractivo puente natural ubicado a menos de un kilómetro de la isla principal Darwin, la más norte del archipiélago de #Galápagos. Este suceso sería consecuencia de la erosión natural.

?Héctor Barrera pic.twitter.com/lBZJWNbgHg

The rock structure — 141 feet high, 230 feet long and 75feet wide — is about half a mile from Darwin Island and is a popular spot for scuba divers.

The unique flora and fauna on remote islands, some 600 miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador are famed in part for inspiring Charles Darwin’s thoughts on evolution. 

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The 49-year-old Korean-American from Brooklyn, New York, rose to fame in the 1990s when she was ranked as the world’s number one female player, allegedly earning her nickname because she would “eat people alive” on the table. 

She won a gold medal for the US at the 2001 World Games in Japan, as well as more than 30 other titles, and was inducted into the billiards Hall of Fame in 2013, helping to popularise the sport.

News of Lee’s diagnosis spread after friends launched a Go Fund Me this week to support her daughters aged 16, 11 and ten, that has so far raised $60,000 out of a goal of $250,000. 

The player said in a statement released by the American Poolplayers Association:“I intend to bring the same resolve I brought to the billiards table to this fight. Jim Valvano so eloquently told us to ‘Never give up’. I owe it to my three young daughters to do exactly that.”

Lee has battled the progressive condition of scoliosis since childhood, which causes deformities in the spine, which cut short her professional career around 2010 and may have masked the cancer, the Go Fund me suggested.

Her agent and friend Tom George, who launched the fundraiser, wrote that she had endured 19 surgeries for the scoliosis over the years.

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He said: “It has been suggested that the scoliosis masked the pain from the cancer in part allowing it to progress undetected for so long.   The increasing effects of scoliosis has not allowed her to play at the highest level for years now and has limited her ability to make a living.”  

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George added: “The prognosis is dire. At this stage, her doctors say she has a few months to a year left to live. In typical Black Widow fashion, she has vowed to fight the progress of her disease as fiercely as possible with both chemotherapy, which has already begun, and a succession of upcoming surgeries.”

Lee was the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) Player of the Year in 1994 and the WPBA Sportsperson of the Year in 1998.

She was initially sceptical about her ‘Black Widow’ nickname and told ESPN in 2002 in an interview for a special on ‘The World’s Sexiest Athletes’: “Everyone wants to be liked at some point, so, at first, it was difficult to be seen as a villain”, as reported in The Washington Post.

The player reflected on the name again ten-years later in 2012 and said she was glad it stuck.

“[Fans] loved me being competitive, and feminine, and strong,” she said, “and it was okay. I think that nickname represents that side of me. I’m also a mother, and a friend, and I have this other, very social, softer side.”

Allison Fisher, 52, the WPBA’s top-ranked playerand a longtime competitive rival of Lee, wrote on Facebook: “I cannot believe I’m reading this news. Jeanette has done so much for the sport at every level. We’ve had some terrific matches over the years and I’m not sure I’ve met someone as passionate about the game as her.”

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Lebowitz is, perhaps, the human embodiment of the familiar “New York was much better in the Seventies” refrain. After moving to Manhattan as a 20-year-old aspiring writer, she landed a job at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, and was instantly plunged into a world of punk squats, pop art and legendary nights at Studio 54.

Lebowitz recalls a New York at once paradise and purgatory: when slumlords regularly burnt apartment blocks to collect the insurance, Times Square was run by pimps and prostitutes, and you could make it in the world’s coolest city without needing a trust fund (Lebowitz’s advice to prospective residents? “Bring money”.)

Yet, despite New York’s (many) transformations, a treasured few places remain where you can, at least, find the spirit of its most revered decade.

Cultural touchstone: Punk

Lebowitz is of the OG CBGB’s era, back when the East Village was punk. Her hangout spot of choice, though, was arch-rival Max’s Kansas City: where The Velvet Underground were practically the house band, and punters rubbed shoulders with legends like New York Dolls and The Ramones. Both clubs are dead and buried now (CBGB’s is a menswear boutique). There are, however, a couple of places for catching those dirty DIY vibes.

Best for: Aesthetics

Clockwork Bar, Lower East Side

Every inch of this shoebox-sized dive bar is spattered with graffiti, while the bouquet is an authentic infusion of sweat, leather jackets, and PBR. Yes, it opened in 2013, but it’s nevertheless a deferential ode to the past: when the kids forsook “wellness” for cheap beer and exceedingly loud records.

Best for: Inebriation

Double Down Saloon, East Village

Though a Vegas import, the NYC outpost of Double Down has genuine credentials: a proper punk address (Avenue A); a mural proclaiming “You puke, You clean”; and a house drink called “Ass Juice”. Add to that a jukebox with the volume set to “Holy Sh*t!”, and a midnight to 2am happy hour, and all you’re missing is Sid Vicious OD’ing in the can.

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Cultural touchstone: Hip-hop

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While the East Village was busy birthing punk, something else musically seismic was going down in the South Bronx. In 1973, Jamaican immigrant Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, debuted the breakbeat and what would become known as MCing. His outdoor jams in nearby Cedar Park fast became legendary: where b-boys, graffiti artists and DJs invented hip-hop culture. Now, the burnt-out Bronx lots that hosted the scene’s block parties are home to luxury condos – but you can find lit live hip-hop if you know where to look.

Best for: Modern movements

Webster Hall, East Village

You wouldn’t peg a 19th-century music hall for having a finger on the pulse of contemporary hip-hop, but Webster Hall has pedigree. It’s hosted grungy gigs by the SoundCloud rap set (including Smokepurpp and Lil Peep), and celebrated a recent refurb with a headline spot by Jay-Z.

Best for: Local heroes

SOB’s, SoHo

You might spot the next rap megastar at this pint-sized, long-running club, which saw sets by Drake, Kanye West and Cardi B before they made it big. In pre-Covid times, SOB’s also hosted Trap Karaoke nights, where punters perform rap, R&B and hip-hop tracks. Fingers crossed it’ll be back.

Cultural touchstone: Experimental art

Manhattan’s Downtown art scene was about more than Andy Warhol: think Robert Mapplethorpe honing his craft on fellow SoHo scenesters (including Lebowitz); Jasper Johns living in his studio on East Houston Street (he’s since retreated to the Berkshires); and an avant-garde gallery seemingly opening in the East Village every minute. It dovetailed, too, with a boom time for experimental theatre, when boundary-pushing works were regularly performed in lofts and basements.

Extortionate rents have now pushed such places out of Manhattan, but a handful of original trailblazers survive.

Best for: OG vibes

ABC No Rio, Lower East Side

Founded in a Lower East Side squat by a 1970s artist-activist collective, this place is the real deal. As well as exhibiting grass-roots art shows, it’s known for its Zine Library (a jam-crammed collection of independent, underground publications) and Saturday punk matinees. Find it at various outposts around the city (the original building is being demolished to make way for a brand-new ABC No Rio HQ).

Best for: Performance art

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, East Village

The only original Off-Off Broadway venue still operating, La MaMa has come a long way since its pioneering founder, Ellen Stewart, began running a 25-seat theatre out of an East Village basement. Now of international repute, with outposts everywhere from Bogota to Melbourne, La MaMa’s raison d’être remains staging risk-taking pieces from under-represented artists. Think less jukebox musical, more flayed body parts performing interpretative dance (see this year’s Body Concert).

Cultural touchstone: Cheap diners

As a fresh-faced New Jersey transplant, Lebowitz worked as a sometime cabbie. Back then, she frequented a grumpy cabbie diner, The Belmore, where her male colleagues refused to talk to her (it’s now a residential high-rise). Plenty of Manhattan diners remain grumpy, but, alas, one can’t even rely on a greasy spoon to be affordable now. But you can dine in the spirit of Lebowitz’s cabbie days at one of these spots.

Best for: Back-in-the-day bites

Hector’s Diner, Meatpacking District

This old-school joint has legit cabbie and Scorsese connections, having apparently featured in Taxi Driver. A cash-only throwback sitting under the heavily-touristed High Line, it’s incongruous among the area’s upscale boutiques and five-star hotels. The secret to success: it’s the only place the district’s meatpacking workers can eat affordably before starting their dawn shifts, with handwritten signs proffering the likes of $3 egg creams and pancakes for $6.75.

44 Little W 12th Street (212 206 7592)

Best for: Contemporary cabbie cuisine

Haandi Restaurant, Rose Hill

Perhaps the modern-day Belmore is this Rose Hill cafeteria, beloved by the city’s South-Asian taxi drivers for its cheap and delicious Pakistani, North Indian and Bangladeshi fare. Spot it among the sea of ‘Curry Hill’ restaurants via the line of cabs parked out front. Head upstairs for plenty of seating, Bengali movies on the TV and a full plate of food with chai for around ten bucks.

113 Lexington Avenue (212 685 5200)

Cultural touchstone: Independent bookshops

Lebowitz is a legendarily voracious reader. Her apartment is said to house 10,000 tomes, while the New York Public Library has taken to emblazoning Lebowitz quotes on merchandise (“Think before you speak; Read before you think”). But in an age when even corporate bookshop chains are struggling, Lebowitz laments Manhattan’s long-gone cache of eccentric, indie bookshops, where the owners “would look annoyed with you if you walked in”.

Best for: Curios and curiosities

Argosy, Midtown

Lebowitz is a regular at this historic Midtown bookstore, a family-owned six stories of antiquarian and out-of-print volumes (Lebowitz proudly shows off the shorthand dictionary she found here on the show). If an eccentric and unusual bookstore is what you crave, you could hardly do better.

Best for: Local authors

Greenlight Bookstore, Fort Greene

This neighbourhood Brooklyn store was founded by two former bookshop employees, who realised their vision thanks to a grant from the New York Public Library. Greenlight gives special focus to novels by Brooklyn authors: if Lebowitz ever left Manhattan to see it, she’d surely be proud.

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Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the UK government would back the probe, announced by the territory’s governor, into “deeply troubling” claims including political interfence, intimidation, and serious organised crime.

Governor Gus Jaspert made the announcement on Monday after reportedly returning to the Carribean islands, which are a British overseas territory, following a period of leave in the UK.

Mr Raab said he had agreed to the inquiry after serious concerns were raised with MrJaspert.

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They included claims of “political interference and coercion” in relation to public appointments, the criminal justice system and individual criminal cases.

In a written Commons statement, Mr Raab said it had been alleged that public servants, community leaders and people in the media had been intimidated to such a degree they spoke of living in a “climate of fear”.

It was claimed funds set aside for struggling families during the pandemic had been “reallocated to political allies” while government contracts had been awarded without any proper procurement process.

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There were also concerns over the misuse of taxpayers’ money on infrastructure projects and about the “potential vulnerability” of the islands to serious organised crime.

Those worries were underlined last November with the seizure of more than two tones of cocaine worth almost £190 million.

“The UK is extremely concerned about the state of good governance in the British Virgin Islands,” Mr Raab said.

“A consistent and deeply troubling array of concerns have been put to the governor by local institutions and the community.

“The UK government is responsible for ensuring the security and good governance of BVI.

“We have a constitutional and moral duty to protect the interests of the people of BVI. We cannot ignore such serious allegations.

“The commission will inquire into whether there is information to substantiate claims that corruption, abuse of position and serious impropriety has taken place in public office in recent years, and it will make recommendations.”

Mr Raab said that the commission inquiry would be led by Sir Gary Hickinbottom, who will have powers of a high court judge when it comes to gathering evidence in the territory.

He said he expected Sir Gary to deliver his report to the governor within six months.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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