People tend to identify cities by icons. Paris has its Eiffel Tower and San Francisco the Golden Gate Bridge. When you see the outline of the Hancock Building, you immediately know you're in Chicago. In New York, the Brooklyn Bridge or the Statue of Liberty are clear symbols.

But each of these cities has a personality that goes far beyond their landmarks. Some of New York's most popular visitor destinations include the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, and the fabulous theater district in Times Square. That covers the first visit. But what about another trip to the Big Apple? There's so much more to see. In New York, features like the South Street Seaport, or the Museum of Modern Art give additional reasons to visit and enjoy the city.

South Street Seaport has appeared in countless TV dramas and movies. Its location is at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan at the foot of Fulton Street. How did it get there and what was its original function?

The answers to those questions begins with a visit to the South Street Seaport Museum where you are able to go back in time to a different New York. No neon lights, no Broadway Shows, no boutiques to distract you. This was a New York that was all business before the icons existed.

In 1803, Peter Schermerhorn, a ship owner and merchant, and George Codwise, a naval captain during the Revolutionary War, bought "water grants" ‹ the title to land which was then under water. Ultimately, they sank bulkheads in the East River and filled them with landfill they brought in by horse drawn carts. When the land was solid enough, they began the construction of mercantile warehouses and piers. Soon, trade was conducted from the East River shore of Manhattan to the four corners of the world. Because the East River is not a river but an extension of Long Island Sound, the water around their piers was deep enough to accommodate heavily laden clipper ships. They would off load merchandise from Europe and the Orient and sail out again with the products grown or manufactured by the newly independent nation. Schermerhorn was on the cutting edge of American development. Schermerhorn was in the right place at the right time.

Across the East River, the government had bought the land that would become the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a place that would build some of Robert Fulton's first steam driven vessels, the Battleship Maine and the famous USS Missouri. Among the famous ships that sailed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, at one time America's largest ship building facility, was the Ironside USS Monitor. But after the Civil War, international terminals moved across Manhattan to the Hudson River, the East River terminals fell into disrepair and disuse. Progress did not pass South Street by, however. Edison opened the first central power plant nearby reducing the risk of fire in the area and sailors, accustomed to working high above the water, were hired to complete the Brooklyn Bridge which opened in 1883.

Schermerhorn Row on the south side of Fulton Street was one of the biggest structures in New York when it was completed in 1812. Now it houses restaurants, shops and The South Street Seaport Museum that was organized in 1967. Redevelopment of the area began 1983. Since then, several hundred shops have opened along stone paved streets in the 11 square block historic district providing an interesting tourist destination, lots of wonderful merchandise to buy, places to eat and an interesting glimpse into New York's history.

The waterfront of South Street is also graced by the ship "Peking" representing the sort of clipper ships that once filled the New York harbor and skyline. The ship was commissioned in 1911 and a home movie made in 1929, narrated by one of the crewmen aboard, describes the perils of a transit through Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. South Street also offers a chance, with the purchase of a single museum admission, to step on board the "Peking" and several other interesting old ships docked at Pier 16.

In addition to its interesting naval history museum and a view of an exciting era in U.S. growth, a new exhibit has opened in the district. Crowds stand in long lines for the opportunity to see "Bodies ‹ The Exhibition," one of the hottest tickets in New York. Children are encouraged to attend with parents. There are few places where they can receive a lesson in what the medical profession calls "gross anatomy" that give such an astounding overview of the remarkable functions of the human body.

The controversial show exhibits 22 whole-body specimens as well as 260 additional organ and partial body specimens. Bodies are displayed as a result of a process called "polymer preservation." All blood vessels, tissues and other elements of the human body are permanently preserved using liquid silicone rubber that is treated and hardened. The end result is a rubberized specimen preserved to the cellular level. The specimens can take over a year to prepare and after undergoing this process they become impervious to decomposition. Visitors get a detailed look at the skeletal, vascular, muscular, respiratory and digestive systems. The bodies are well lit and, the show is definitely not an attempt at the sensational. Of special interest are the side-by-side display of well and diseased organs showing the adverse effects of obesity, smoking on the lungs and of alcohol on the liver.

New York has long been a center of avant garde art. Interest in what's new in art is served by a visit to the Museum of Modern Art. Beginning in June and continuing through Sept. 11, a broad exhibition of paintings from the Dada school will be on exhibition. Among dozens of artists to be represented are such well-known names as Jean Arp, George Gros and Marcel Duchamp. On Nov. 8 the paintings of Edward Manet on the "Execution of Maximillian" will be shown. The unlucky Hapsburg monarch who was put on the very unsteady throne of Mexico was executed by the Mexican government. The showing of these four paintings marks the first time they have been assembled in the United States.

MoMA is located on 54th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. A $20 admission charge is assessed with lower charges for seniors and children. However, your admission fee covers the cost of an audio tour through the entire museum. Paintings are well marked, though the descriptive material on the walls is printed in small type that allows only one or two people to read it at a time.

Whether your visit is for business or a vacation in one of America's favorite tourist destinations, there are many options to occupy your spare time in a city filled with icons. It's hard to become bored in New York. It's a city that plays as hard as it works. You have only to identify the sort of entertainment or educational activity you want to experience and it's there. The South Street Seaport and MoMA are only a couple of examples of what's available in New York. There are dozens of others. You'll have fun moving around the Big Apple and adding new adventures to talk about back home.