NYC vacation advice please.?

Question

We are going to NYC for a vacation in a few weeks. My wife has been there before, but I haven't. (Well, the airport I have.) She keeps asking what I want to do while we are there. Short of what I have read in guidebooks/seen on TV, I realize that I really don't know that much about the place, besides the over-hyped "touristy" things. Anyone have any suggestions on what to do while there? Anything that's fun and/or not totally going to be packed with people would be appreciated!

If you know any really good, can't miss locally owned resteraunts (non-chain), I'd like to hear about them!

Answer 1

Get on your walking shoes and forget the hiking back pack (no need for it). You'll never rest and will feel the need to go back again and again to catch what you missed.

Please don't eat anywhere that has a theme (i.e. Mars 2012 JekyllHyde, Forrest Gump) and don't eat anywhere that has a franchise in other towns (like Olive Garden, Pizzeria Uno Chicago Grill, TGIF). Absolutely no offense to those restaurants, which even I go to as to experience what the rest of the country is subjected to -- but YOU WILL BE IN NY!!! There is a different international cuisine on every corner! Don't be afraid. Read restaurant reviews and calm down. Watch the cooking shows on PBS and cable. Clean ethnic food will not make you sick, nor will you be served anything dangerous or weird, like cat, or garden snails. If New Yorkers eat there every day and you read nothing going wrong, then it's safe. I'd be more worried about mice droppings in the french fries at the ChuckECheese than eating delicious fresh cold (cooked) shrimp rolls at some Thai restaurant.

You must go to a Broadway Show or two, either buying in advance or going to the TKTS booth and flipping a coin. You will not go wrong; it takes millions to launch a play so none of them, no matter how obscure, could be too bad. Read up on what's going on Off-Broadway, too.

Check out small dance companies and concerts in small venues according to your musical tastes: jazz, classical, up-and-coming rock bands. Chances are you'll be surrounded by "natives", which is what you want.

What about if you get bored with Times Square, the Empire State building, Rockefeller Center and Statue of Liberty (all must-sees)?

Or overwhelmed by the magnificent art in all the museums (Met, MoMA, Frick, Guggenheim, etc)?

Or done with some of the other great museums (Police, Tenement, Natural History, NY Historical Society, Ellis Island, Photography, Moving Image, Television and Radio, Cloisters, Native American-- I could go on-and-on).

Or walked through the Village starting at Union Square (rest-up in the park before starting), down Broadway to Bleecker Street then west till you can't go any further?

Or done SOHO from Prince and Spring Streets east of Broadway, west to West Broadway?

Or walked the Upper East Side -- Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues from, say, 60th street to 90th-- and seen how the really rich live? Or enjoyed the laid-back but equally but lower-key rich Upper West Side and understand why neither neighborhood resident would live in the other's?

And you've shopped along 57th Street, Bloomingdales, Macy's 34th Street, SOHO, and gone downtown to get bargains at Century 21 and visited J&R Music-Computer-Electronics World near Ground Zero?

Then you're ready for the other boroughs!

I don't just mean going the awesome Bronx Zoo and Bronx Botanical Garden, or simply walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and sitting on the Brooklyn Promenade looking at the NYC skyline; there're other places...

Brownstone Brooklyn: from DUMBO under the bridges to Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene/Clinton Hill to Prospect Heights, Prospect Park, Botanic Garden (there is an indoor exhibit, depending on when you go), Brooklyn Museum, Park Slope (especially 7th Avenue from 14th Street to Flatbush Ave). You could walk this in a day but you'll be exhausted by the time you hit Park Slope. I recommend taking buses from Brooklyn Heights over to Ft Greene and walk the rest, up Vanderbilt to the Park. Walking shoes time!

Then there's Coney Island, albeit only Nathans will be open.

Caribbean neighborhood along Flatbush Avenue (take the 41 bus or train to Parkside), where you can get genuine roti, oxtails, tropical fruit and shop for bargains.

Brooklyn's Chinatown on 8th Avenue, where souvenirs are cheaper (but probably just as fragile as Manhattan C-town) and the restaurants treat you less anonymously.

Bay Ridge still has some Italian/Greek flavor, but catch it before it goes the way of the heavy Scandanavian influence that used to be there decades ago (5th avenue and 86th street; 3rd avenue between 65th and 101st streets). This is a residential neighborhood and can feel territorial, so know where you're going. The best Christmas lights are there and in Bensonhurst (recommend driving around as opposed to walking).

Brighton Beach's Russian strip?

On to Queens: Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights has the best freshest Indian food. It's truly a melting pot around there.

Back to Manhattan: Columbia University campus, up Broadway, east to Harlem across 125 Street. Don't be afraid! Do as you'd do in the rest of the city: act like you know where you going by memorizing your map and do not meet eyes of crazy people looking for confrontations. More good food, bargains and souvenirs.

Koreatown karaoke bars (Manhattan 32nd street)

Continue your research on other websites (try timeout.com, zagat.com, the Village Voice paper) and you'll have a great ol' time!

Answer 2

Seriously spend a whole day in Central Park. Walk around and see all of the weirdos... make sure you see the dance skaters (on the weekend). Also see the Museum of Natural History or the Metropolitan Museum of art (or both if you can and are interested). Pretty much everything is going to be packed with people as it is still the height of tourist season. But, the lesser-touristed places are the Lower East Side, sites in Brooklyn like the Brooklyn Museum, Botanical Gardens, Prospect Park, Cony Island. Definitely also go out at night in the village or on the Lower East Side. See some shows too, Broadway or Off-Broadway.

You can take the Staten Island ferry for free and you get a view of the Statue of Liberty without having to pay or fight any crowds to actually go there... if that is good enough for you. Personally, I've lived here my whole life and haven't seen it any other way.

Have fun!

Answer 3

You should consider taking a walk across brooklyn bridge as it is beautifully scenic. Brooklyn Heights has a lovely promenade with beautiful views of the westside of lower manhattan area. There are also many beautiful townhouses and great restaurants for you to dine at around there. You can read about it on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Heights. If you want a different vantage point you should consider Long Island City as the views are of the eastern portion of the NYC skyline i.e. Midtown - empire state building, United Nations, Chrysler building etc. One of the things that keeps New Yorkers entertained in a hectic, bustling city is just finding a haven. Head up to Columbia University in Morningside Heights and visit the georgeous campus and see The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (the largest cathedral in the world). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Saint_John_the_Divine.

Answer 4

Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant in Greenwich Village
It is really fun and not crowded with tourists when i have been there.
The touristy things are fun. A less crowded option to see the whole city is the Top of the Rock. It is an observation Deck on the 70th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center, in the heart of midtown Manhattan. Less crowded than the Empire State Building and really beautiful.
Go to a show there-Conan O'Brien and Dave Letterman tape there. You have to get in line to get tickets but I think most people get Conan tickets. Dave might be harder to get.
Tour the NBC Studios.

Answer 5

If you want to avoid lots of people, then avoid the Empire State Bldg.

I think the Village is great. It reminds me a lot of where I lived in London.

Union Square is cool - it has a farmers market a couple times a week.