Top sites to visit in NYC?

Question

I am going to visit NYC for the first time this fall. I would really appreciate some suggestions of sites to see and places to visit.

Answer 1

For tourist stuff...first, get a good tour map. Then I recommend you take the BIG APPLE double decker tour bus for an overview of the city. There are several different neighborhoods so I'll highlight these and what to see:
Upper East Side: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim, Whitney Museum. Walk up and down Madison Avenue for awesome shops and boutiques 96th - 57th st. Walk Park Avenue for architecture all the way to Grand Central Terminal and see the treasures located within. Walk along 5th Avenue to see/go in and out of Central Park - go for a run, go to the Central Park Zoo, go to the Carousel, go for a gondola ride at the boat house.
UPPER WEST SIDE:
Museum of Natural History -a must! on Central Park West,
Walk along Columbus Avenue. Visit the West side of Central Park and pay respects to John Lennon's Strawberry Fields.
MIDTOWN:
Shopping - 57th St (Chanel and the gang), Fifth Avenue - must see Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks and FAO Schwartz - many other fun stores.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Museum of Modern Art
Sony Bldg
Rockefeller Center
Go west to awesome new Time Warner center and visit the new Mandarin Hotel bar/restaurant for awesome view and treats!
Oh, Bloomingdale's is on 59th St and Lexington.
Empire State Bldg.
The Intrepid Aircraft Museum is fascinating and on the West side...worth the visit.

CHELSEA:
Walk around the blooming area sprouting awesome restaurants and shops. Chelsea Pier is fun, especially with the kids

WALL ST:
Pay respects to the 9/11 victims and heroes at the WTC site., Walk Wall St., visit the Chase Hdqtrs, Federal Reserve. Seaport area is great to see.

THE VILLAGE:
Funky shops in the West Village. Walk through the NYU Washington Square Park. The East Village has some shops from new artists and designers

SOHO:
Great galleries and shops on n off West Broadway. Walk thru to Little Italy for awesome meals and desserts...walk through Chinatown.

These should put an awesome smile on your face. Bring your camera and takes lots of photos to remember your trip. If you dont want to be touristy go downtown and get lost there. For shopping, I prefer the Upper West Side boutiques to 5th Ave and Midtown because I try to avoid tourists. Amsterdam and Broadway have a lot of cute ones from about 84th to 60th (which is near Columbus Circle, and I think you should check that out too)

Answer 2

Circle line boat tour (or just take Staten Island Ferry for free)
Eat pastrami at Katz's deli
Eat Peking duck at Peking Duck House in Chinatown
Have a beer at McSorley's Ale House
Walk across Brooklyn Bridge
Metropolitan Museum of Art (pay what you want--the admission price is only a suggestion. During the summer you can have a drink at the roof-top sculpture garden overlooking Central Park)
Museum of Modern Art (expensive, but the collection will knock your socks off)
Central Park on a nice weekend day
Washington Square Park on a nice weekend day
Strand used book store

Screw Times Square: it has nothing to do with the rest of New York: it's just a bunch of big corporations like Disney trying to sell stuff to tourists.

Visit ground zero if you must--don't expect to see much but a big construction site.

The Cloisters is the Metropolitan Museum's medieval wing, featuring several sections of old European churches shipped over stone by stone by the Rockefellers, located on Northern tip of Manhattan. Definitely worth a look, especially beautiful in Autumn.

On upper west side Columbia University campus, Cathedral of St John the divine (absolutely enormous, and still under construction since the late 19th C), Riverside Park.

Take a walk in nearly any neighborhood especially: Greenwich Village, East Village, West Village, midtown Park Avenue area (skyscraper country), Upper West side, Chelsea, Soho, Chinatown, financial district

Answer 3

There are a lot, first theres the museums, the parks, the New york Botanical Garden, The Empire State Building, Coney Island, and The Statue of Liberty! Just take the subway, its fast and easy!

Answer 4

Statue of Liberty, if you have grandpartents that immigrated here I suggest Ellis Island, maybe see a broadway show, walk through Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, Trump Tower, Empire State building, If you are younger you could check out the tv studios like MTV. Rockafellar center is great also. maybe the Metropolitan musem of art

Answer 5

I agree with Anthony C. Stop by the WTC site. You really can't understand the scope of what happened until you see the vast spread of empty land.

Then of course hit the regular spots - Ellis Island, Times Square...

Answer 6

do what azny said above. except for maybe the cloisters. the park is beautiful with views of the hudson and bx but unless youre a medieval freak its not too exciting to see. also...unlike what was said above the statue of liberty is not in new jersey. my list for people when they come is the met, moma, central park, coney isl/brighton beach (if its warm), brklyn bridge, greenwich village, the roosevelt isl tram (which is not working right now), etc. mmmmmm...katzs deli.

Answer 7

Radio City Music Hall, walk in Time sq. visit Statue of liberty, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), so many places...
walking in the streets of NYC is fun enough, so appealing!
(Dont forget to use your mp3 player! ;-) )

Answer 8

ground zero [just to get a sense of what really happened]. times square. rockefeller center. broadway. statue of liberty [even though it's in new jersey]. empire state building. madison square garden. penn station. central park. time warner building.

Answer 9

manhattan, time square and the village.