local must sees for NY?

[bdurstta]

The visitor books talks about Empire STate Building, Statue of liberty, etc, etc...but what are some INTERESTING local things to see?

Is the dinner dining on THe Spirit just a tourst trap?

Are the catskills worth a day trip to go see from NY?

Any great restaurants or dining experiences (theme dinner) not listed on tourist books?

Any ideas...don't want to spend ALL my time shopping in NY!

Barbara

[wackymother]

The visitor books talks about Empire STate Building, Statue of liberty, etc, etc...but what are some INTERESTING local things to see?
---------------------------------
Is the dinner dining on THe Spirit just a tourst trap?

Yes!
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Are the catskills worth a day trip to go see from NY?

No!

________________________

Any great restaurants or dining experiences (theme dinner) not listed on tourist books?

Many, many great restaurants. I love going to little places and watching people walk by. The theme places will mostly be in the guidebooks and I don't like them myself, so can't help you there. One place I love is the Popover Cafe on the Upper West Side. You can sit and eat popovers--it's not too crowded on weekdays.

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Any ideas...don't want to spend ALL my time shopping in NY!

The Bronx Zoo is fun, be sure to visit Chinatown, the Circle Line and NY Waterway tours are nice. See a show, Broadway or off-Broadway. And the museums, of course--the Met, MOMA, Museum of the Moving Image, Natural History, Museum of the City of New York, New York Historical Society, Museum of the Moving Image. My favorite thing is just to walk around and see what there is to see! Have fun!

[wauhob3]

www.accomplicenewyork.com is well worth doing. We did the Village one and I'd love to do the New York one some day. I would recommend the UN tour with lunch at the Delegate's Dining room http://www.un.org/tours/pages/gi.htm http://www.aramark-un.com/space.html ; The Frick museum http://www.frick.org/ and of course The Met http://www.metmuseum.org/ .
Don't forget theatre too. www.playbill.com

[pjrose]

Get discount theatre tickets at the TKTS TKTS outlet, and see a Broadway show - search for their site online, you might qualify for a membership that lets you get tickets in advance.

Chinatown.

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Central Park and the Central Park Zoo - the zoo is not as big as the Bronx Zoo, but it's pleasant and if you're already in Manhattan, it's easy.

Window shopping on the Upper East Side.

Circle Line cruise.

[wackymother]

The Central Park Zoo is great, and central, as you know from the name. Also, it's the one that has the GOOD penguins (the Bronx Zoo only has the Galapagos kind) and the polar bears. I completely forgot about the park.

What kinds of things do you like to do? For example, one sight that visitors always miss is the original Winnie-the-Pooh, who lives in the New York Public Library Donnell Branch, near MOMA. That's one of those sights that never makes it onto anyone's list, but many people would love to see the original Pooh Bear. They also have the little Piglet, Eeyore, and a couple of others. Very moving if you loved the stories as a child.

[liborn2]

Tough questions, I work in the city, live on Long Island, and have a place in the Catskills...but to help you best...

I would recommend the Circle Line, since its cheaper and you have options for stopping at Statue of Liberty, some tours include admission ticket. Spirit is wonderful but expensive and since NY has tons of excellent places to eat, would prefer the Circle Line.

China Town is a must, get a walking tour of lower Manhattan for the history.
Little Italy is next section over as well. Check with Yankee Stadium for Monument Tour: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/b...dium_tours.jsp

If you wish to include the Catskills, which I also love, what season?
Do you plan to travel via train or car? Trains are available on Metro North with one day getaways...http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/outbound.htm, lots of choices.

Spring/Summer, I would recommend the Cloisters for the Garden tour.
http://www.metmuseum.org/events/ev_cloisters.asp
Brunch I would recommend the Marriott, Times Square, NYC's only revolving roof top restaurant.

For the Theater, never buy full price, so many options on websites or the TKTS Booth currently at the TS Marriott, day of show.

Some of the best memories are on your own, just walking, taking in the city, and finding the places no one else would have enjoyed as much. Friends from out of state, just enjoy going to a Jewish deli, ordering corned beef sandwich! it makes them happy, go figure.

[johnmfaeth]

A wonderful experience is grabbing some to go food from chinatown, then grabbing the irt subway a few stops to Bowling Green and going on a "cruise". The ferry goes to Staten Island and eating dinner on board, especially around sunset, is a fantastic experience, great chinese, great sights, and Lady Liberty to boot.

Cheapest cruise in the world.

[Diane]

Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. There is a pedestrian level used by many locals.

Take the Staten Island Ferry. It is free. Wonderful views.

See the intersting exhibit called Bodies.

Go to Top of the Rock (top of Rockefeller Center). We prefer it to the Empire State Building.

Take the ferry to Ellis Island. Plan on at least at hour, maybe two there and then take the ferry back. You can look for any ancestors who entered this country via Ellis Island on computers there.

Go to a performance at Carnegie Hall. Best acoustics I have ever heard.
Regular priced tickets at the Metropolitan Opera are as low as $15. That is for seats in the Family Cicle, which is high up but the sound is great and the production values and sound at the Met exeed most of what we have seen on Broadway.

Explore the food markets and shops of Chelsea, former fish market area that is going though a rapid change in character.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has all its old Dutch paintings, including about 30 by Rembrandt on display right now.

Buy a MetroPass so you can use the subways and buses. Go to www.hopstop.com for directions between any two points.

Diane

[DeniseM]

You have to go to Yankee Stadium - either the tour, a game, or both.

We really enjoyed the hop-on-off Gray Line Tours. We did the All Loops Tour which is a 48 hour pass that allows you to access the tours anytime during your 48 hours. The first day we just did all the bus routes and then the 2 day we went back and spent time at the most interesting places. They also have a 3 day pkg. It was nice, because we never had to worry about getting lost or finding our way around.

We also did the Circle Line tour (boat tour all the way around the island of Manhattan) and really enjoyed that. We were able to add this to our Gray Line tour for a discounted price - you might want to see if they still do that.

We also got tickets at the Times Square Half Price ticket booth for a Broadway Show.

[esk444]

A day trip to Queens is worthwhile, without a tourist in sight. The borough has some fantastic museums like PS 1, the Noguchi Museum, and the Queens Museum of Art (next to '65 World's Fair Sphere).

[wackymother]

Your kids would love the Hall of Science in Queens! They even have a science playground--very very fun.




Whoops, edited to say, not sure you're traveling with kids, I was getting you mixed up with the family in the Williamsburg post that has three kids. Sorry! (But the Hall of Science is very nice.)

[madex]

Last but not least. Do not pay the 'suggested' full entrance to the Metropolitan Museum, My company donates so much money to the MET and Moma. When I go, I don't feel bad, I just pay $1.00 (yes one dollar) per person. They want $20 dollars per person (but many people do not know, that is a 'suggested' entrance fee, and they end up paying $80 for a family of four!).

My two cents!

[wackymother]

Originally Posted by madex

Last but not least. Do not pay the 'suggested' full entrance to the Metropolitan Museum, My company donates so much money to the MET and Moma. When I go, I don't feel bad, I just pay $1.00 (yes one dollar) per person. They want $20 dollars per person (but many people do not know, that is a 'suggested' entrance fee, and they end up paying $80 for a family of four!).

My two cents!

Agree with Madex on this--I don't pay $1, but I don't pay $20, either. (The suggested donation is $20 now? It was $12 for a long, long time....)

Most museums have free or discount nights. Time Out New York or New York magazine should have the information on that.

[madex]

Originally Posted by wackymother

Agree with Madex on this--I don't pay $1, but I don't pay $20, either. (The suggested donation is $20 now? It was $12 for a long, long time....)

Most museums have free or discount nights. Time Out New York or New York magazine should have the information on that.

You are right WackyMother, and yes I pay more than $1.00 when I go, but iremember many years ago when I showed up with 4 kids, and grandparents, and we spent a fortune, they even threw a stern look as the toddler (in stroller) had to pay. I did not know it was 'suggested' then.

[wackymother]

You know I went to the Cloisters a couple of years back (which is a branch of the Met) and it was about two hours till closing, and the clerk actually whispered to me, "We close at five! Just give me ten dollars!" There were four of us visiting. So that was nice of him.

BTW, if you go to the Cloisters and get a Met button up there, you can go downtown and visit the Met with the same button on the same day, and vice versa. They encourage that, it's their little two-for-one plan.

[IreneLF]

Greenwich Village for the brownstones and little streets and general ambience.

Also if you like orchestra - NY Philharmonic has open rehearsals during the season - once a week you can catch the full blown rehearsal for that night's show - a $100 ticket at night - for $15 or so in the AM. A real treat to be in Lincoln Center and a fun dynamic watching them rehearse.

[Art4th]

I can't believe no one has mentioned The Naked Cowboy !

http://www.nakedcowboy.com/

[nodge]

When we were there this past summer, we tended to bundle our activities as follows:

LOWER EAST SIDE (half day to full day)

Lunch at Katz's Deli (Where the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in “When Harry Met Sally” was filmed.)

Tenement Museum (a.k.a "Who knew that Tuberculosis Spittoons could be so interesting?") Tourist Tip: Don’t wear your Nike hat on the tour like I did or the ever so earnest tour guide will make an example of you too.

Walk through Chinatown, Little Italy, SOHO, and Greenwich Village (Washington Square/NYU).

BROOKLYN BRIDGE WALK (Early Evening):

Start on the Brooklyn Side. Take the subway to Brooklyn Heights and walk along the "Promenade" to the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Eat Pizza at Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn. There is usually a LOOOOOONG line waiting outside, but it’s worth the wait. While someone in your party holds your place in line, the rest of your party can walk down to the waterfront and watch all the brides and their wedding parties having their picture taken with the NYC skyline in the background. There were at least 10 different wedding parties waiting their turn when we were there.


EAST SIDE: (Half Day to Full Day)

United Nations Tour (Great art collection- (make sure to see Nancy Reagan’s donated Norman Rockwell tile mosaic) all set in a surprisingly rundown/well worn, but still architecturally significant building. My boys still talk about the land-mine display they saw during the tour.)

New York Public Library – Make sure to walk through the reading room on the top floor.

Empire State Building – A crowded, expensive tourist trap that everyone visiting NYC has to visit ONCE. The Top-of-The-Rock is much better.

Grand Central Station:

NBC Studio Tour (Maybe even catch a TV Show Taping)

Radio City Music Hall (See a show or take a tour)


FINANCIAL DISTRICT / BATTERY PARK (Full Day)

Ground Zero
St. Paul's Chapel
Wall Street
Battery Park (make sure to see the World Trade Center Sculpture "Sphere" that was damaged on 9/11.)
Catch a Ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; or,
Pick up the FREE Staten Island Ferry just east of Battery Park and ride it to Staten Island and back right past the Statue of Liberty.
(Tourist Tip: For the best views of the Statute of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry, sit on the Starboard side (right side of the boat if you are facing forward) when traveling TO Staten Island, and sit on the Port side (left side of the boat if you are facing forward) on the return trip to Manhattan. People will fill-in and stand along the exterior railing on these sides as you approach the statute, thereby blocking the view for the folks who had the good sense to claim seats on these sides. Accordingly, make sure to also have someone in your party claim the railing turf adjacent to your selected seats when boarding. Folks also like to stay in the back of the boat to watch the NYC skyline on the trip out of Manhattan.)


TIMES SQUARE: (Evening)

Before you go to NYC, see if the show you want has discount tickets available for the dates and times you want at broadwaybox.com. You can also try to score a deal on the day of a show at the TKTS 50% off booth currently by the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square.

Toys-R-Us – Go ahead and ride the Indoor Ferris Wheel.

Recommended Dining Options in Times Square:

Juniors (for cheesecake and more);or
Ellen's Stardust Diner (for singing waitstaff and great hot fudge sundaes).
John's Pizzeria (Great pizza in a brew-pub type atmosphere set in an old theater)

NOT RECOMMENDED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN BOYS UNDER AGE 14: MARS 2112. (Chuck-E-Cheese goes to Mars and brings his bad, overpriced food with him).

MUSEUMS (Day)

Guggenheim (just up the street from the MET). Start at the top of the spiral and work your way down. The building almost overshadows the art on display there.

Museum of Modern Art – If you have kids, see if you can enroll in one of these family programs.


BROOKLYN (don’t FORGETTAGBOUTIT): (Half Day while driving out of town)

Brighton Beach (Russian Immigrant community) is right next to Coney Island and they are connected by the oceanfront boardwalk. Have lunch or dinner at Primorski Restaurant in Brighton Beach and then stroll the Boardwalk to Coney Island. Lots of cultural diversity here. Not your typical tourist destination, but still worth a look-see.

The NYC Aquarium is also here, with plenty of secure parking (for a fee).

Go ahead and ride the Cyclone.


Sure I listed a bunch of usual NYC tourist stuff, but if you pair a tourist site with non-traditional stuff too, you can get the best of both worlds. Oh yeah, there is also a big park right in the center of Manhattan and a few stores in the city that some folks like going to.

Hope this helps!

-nodge