First time in New York? Here's why you need to treat the city like a pizza

There is no city in the world quite like New York. Cian Byrne gets his first taste of the avenues and alleyways of the city that never sleeps and the flavour is a lot like pizza

New York is best enjoyed like a pizza – bite by bite and story by story.

New York City feels as if it’s almost made of papier-mâché with layers laid upon layers throughout its history creating a city that fascinates. As a writer who often prefers mucky trails over city streets, the vastness of the concrete jungle threatens to overwhelm me. A steaming cheese pizza is placed down in front of me and sliced into eight pieces, I realise that a pulsating megalopolis like New York is best enjoyed like a pizza – bite by bite and story by story.

Staying in the Walker Hotel Tribeca, a former button factory in Lower Manhattan, I’m in the centre of it all. The rooms on the top floor have views of the Empire State Building and out across the city, while in the basement is Saint Tuesday, a tiny speakeasy-style bar with live jazz that’s booked out almost every night.