Just a New York minute!

Here's a new feature we're really excited about - a booklet/guide for families detailing 21 "Hidden Secrets of NYC for Kids and Families." There's more to do in New York City than the obvious (Empire State Building, Toys R Us, Madame Tussauds) so we've compiled a listing of some great out-of-the-ordinary spots where families can play, talk, laugh and generally do stuff they'd never find on their own.

Hidden Secrets of NYC for Kids and Families can be a part of any vacation package. Just ask your NYCVP Personal Vacation Planner about it, or add it yourself to any package you find on www.nyctrip.com.

Sitting in the bar at one of my favorite Midtown Manhattan restaurants, Victor's Cafe on 52nd Street, I overheard two well-traveled women from Australia agree with each other that New York City was "colorless." They were referring not to the metaphysical elements of the City, but to the actual color in her structures.

It's hard to differ with their opinion. New York City, for all its wonderful architecture and its splendid skyline, is drab, especially when viewed from above.

That's probably what makes Times Square, in all its neon garishness, even more vivid.

And yet, even though it lacks the blues of Mykonos, the muted reds of Venice, the painted ladies of San Francisco, the whites of Santorini or the pastels of Bermuda, it is the only place on earth that can rightfully claim to be The Greatest City in the World.

Reprinted from RANDOM PHOTOGRAPHS FROM RANDOM JOURNEYS by Joel Cohen

For every passenger booked on a hotel-inclusive vacation through our group department we will donate $5 to the ASPCA! It's so easy to book your New York City-bound group with NYCVP, and now it helps a very worthy cause too.

For details click here. Minimum 10 rooms and 20 passengers. You must make deposit and/or full payment by 4/30/10.

April is Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was the first humane society to be established in North America.  Headquartered in New York City, the ASPCA maintains a strong local presence and has programs that extend their anti-cruelty mission across the country.

I'm really excited about a new tour we'll be offering this spring and summer. It's called the Hidden Treasures in the Rockefeller Center Area and it's escorted by one of our favorite tour guides, Sibyl McCormac Groff.

The tour will be perfect for tourists and locals alike. Sibyl, an acclaimed licensed New York City tour guide whose expertise includes the architecture, artwork and history of Rockefeller Center, midtown Manhattan and New York City, will amaze tour participants with objects, locations and history that they never would know had existed.

The tour operates every Friday from 3-5pm beginning June 11 through September 3. For more information click here.

Other NYCVP walking and sightseeing tours include the Ground Zero/Lower Manhattan Walking Tour, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Escorted Sightseeing Tour and the Ground Zero & Statue of Liberty Tour.