Visiting New York, looking for some interesting stuff to do!

[Venga]

As the title says im heading off to New York City in less than a month and was looking for some input from the BG forum.

I posted a similar thread over a year ago about LA and printed the thread off when i went. It pretty much was my tour book while i was there which was greatly appreciated, thanks!

Quick summary, im 22, going with my parents for 6 days. Were staying pretty close to Central Park on the west side. I've been before so the touristy stuff is pretty much covered although this was back in 2005.

Im up for trying anything thats been recommended, food, entertainment or otherwise. Im not against commercial stuff or anything like that, just like it to be good.

As said above, the replies i got back for LA were great, mainly because of the inside information from people who live there or know what they're doing. Cheers for the time guys!

[Fereydoon]

Generic tourist spots are obvious: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park etc.

Ground Zero is really boring, but the Freedom Tower is almost done.

For Museums: the Met is one of the best in the city, and the Museum of Natural History is awesome as well. I've heard good things about the Guggenheim too.

If you find yourself in Chinatown and like tea there are a ton of places to get really good Bubble Tea (Tea with tapioca bubbles at the bottom, sounds weird but is awesome).

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is also really neat, and the Staten Island Ferry provides a good view of the city (Don't actually stay on that island, there is nothing really there <_<)

Southstreet Seaport has a ton of shops too, and you can usually book boat tours of the city near 42nd, iirc. All I can think of atm.

[Mansin]

I'll be going to back NY later in August so I'm also curious to see what people suggest.

So far my plans are going to Self Edge New York and Blue in Green Soho. My uncle and brother opened a restaurant near Time's Square called E&E Grillhouse, if you're ballin out of control you can go there for some delicious food. www.eegrillhouse.com/index.html

[dejet]

FYI you can not smoke in times square(Friend of mine got a ticket when he went last time lol)

Id also leave a day for just walking around blindly and finding cool shit on your way. Ya you can do the normal things. Museum of Natural History alone you could spend a week at and still not see everything. Been to it on 4 different occasions still have yet to see everything.

NYC has some of the best fashion too, if your into that sorta thing you could always hit up the fashion district.

One of the bars holds(or claims) the record for oldest bar been meaning to go as I have a thing for history and not crap bars. its by the Brooklyn Bridge so there is other stuff to do if your willing to walk. foods said to be decent by overpriced, then again what is not overpriced in New York?

[Byrthnoth]

I don't know what your price range is, but:
http://www.ninjanewyork.com/
http://newyork.danslenoir.com/

I dunno. I swear I had more strange New York restaurants than that, but those are all I can come up with at the moment.

Not really for dinner, but:
http://www.grom.it/eng/dettagli_gela...%E0=New%20York
Very good.

[Intense]

If you're willing to cross the e. river, brooklyn has some fun stuff and good food:

DuMont burger is great as is Roberta's.
Brooklyn flea/Smorgasburg on east river waterfront is fun
Botanical gardens is cool but only if its not too hot...

[dejet]

holy crap how did I forget about the botanical gardens. Place is great and the city has the better one; been to the one on the island and the Bronx, and that one just kicks the Islands ass(and I really did like the Islands lol)

[Cephius]

The ninja new york place is really overrated. It's ridiculously expensive and the food isn't that great. There are a million better places in chinatown for a fraction of the cost if you want asian food.

First piece of advice, get a 7 day unlimited metrocard on day 1 for cheap unlimited subway rides the week you're there.

Along with the other obvious tourist spots, seconding the Met, it's adjacent to the park on the east side and worth visiting. I could spend days in that place, it's really cool. There's a shake shack right there on 86th street if you've never had it and like good burgers. It's always packed though so be prepared to wait awhile. Stay away from the top of the empire state building, it's a ripoff and crowded like all hell in the summer, try the top of the rock instead if you want that sort of thing. If you're into books/comic books, try Strand Book store on broadway near union square, it's a cool old-timey bookstore and there's a comic book store next door to check out too.

Bronx Zoo is worth a trip if you're into it, and I really like the NY Aquarium although it's all the way out on Coney which is a quite a long subway ride from midtown. Worth it if you want to check out Coney at the same time though.

If you can say what kind of stuff you're into we can probably offer some more options. Have fun, it's a great city to hang out in.

[Squah]

For food, I personally recommend Trattoria Alba. Little italian place a few blocks east of the empire state building. Can't remember the address off the top of my head. Fantastic food though.

[Delirium]

if you see street food that looks good, try it. There are a ton of good carts around. Off the top of my head Crisp on Wheels, Wafels and Dinges, Rickshaw Dumpling truck, Korilla BBQ, Red Hook Lobster, and anything with Lamb, Chicken and rice. They move around day to day, so you need to kind of stumble on one or look on their website/twitter to see where they are.
There are a bunch of different beer gardens in NYC too. I can't really say which are better, I tend to just go to the one in Chelsea called Lot on Tap becuase my friends want to.
Lombardi's Pizza claims to be the first pizza in the US or something. It's sometimes packed, but it's good.
I've always enjoyed the tempura at Japonica. It's near Union Square too, which has a lot of shops and stuff.
Other places I've eateen(I suggest going on yelp and reading all the reviews as some are quite pricey) include Per Se, DeStefano's Steakhouse, The Meatball Shop, Eleven Madison Park, Daniel, Momofuku Ssam, Momofuku Ko, Sushi Yasuda, Katz's, Gray's Papaya, Doughnut Plant, Brother Jimmys BBQ, Prima, and prolly more I' blanking on.

For touristy stuff, Central Park, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim, American Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Yankee Stadium, Broadway shows, live concerts, Grand Central Station

There's like tons of books stores like Unnameable Books, The Strand, St. Mark's, etc. Collectable stores like Toy Tokyo, Forbidden Planet(which is moving soonish, but not far), Midtown Comics, St. Mark's again.

Sports have the Yankees and Mets going right now. You can also check out if something is happening in Madison Square Garden.

There's a billion fucking clubs if thats your thing, couldn't really tell you which is best as I'm more of a bar person.

[ChooChooTrain]

Waffle Truck and Max Brennneerrr

[Ragnus]

If you're going to head to Brooklyn head to Mama Maria's in Cobble Hill and, if you're feeling spendy, Casa Rosa in Carroll Gardens.

[Kais]

catch a concert: http://www.ohmyrockness.com/ (there are a lot of free ones during this season actually)

[Palin]

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge over to Dumbo, go to Grimadli's Pizza (better than Lombardis IMO). Then get some ballin ice creme from the creamery in the park and enjoy your beautiful skyline view.

I'd also recommend going up to Fort Tyron Park (191st) at sunset for a beautiful elevated view of the Hudson at sunset. Can hit up the Cloisters up there too, a medieval monastery museum.

[Venga]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies! A lot of useful stuff to search through already much appreciated!

Sorry i missed out some initial information. Im into the fashion side of things, was meant to ask if there are any outlets close to NYC or any decent places to pick up a bargin. I know how vague that sounds and realise how many places there are to go shopping, just places you personally recommend. Im not a style guru or anything, pretty average joe when it comes to dressing to be honest.

As for the expense side of things, it is a holiday so willing to spend the extra cash. Im not desperate for anything to up market, i mean in LA in-n-out burger was one of the places i raved about, probably sounds stupid to people who pass it every day but was a change for me!

I do plan to fit as much as possible in, i wasn't expecting to go there for a relaxing time, more on a mission to see and do things so all the above will be great to check out. Notable though, the restaurants. I assume being such a major city there are tourist traps, hence the post here so thanks again!

[Xerlic]

People might disagree, but I would try to stop by the Famous Halal Cart on 53rd and 6th.

[Fereydoon]

I can agree with the cart on 53rd and 6th, iirc it also has lines that go on FOREVER.

I can also very much praise Max Brenner, something about a chocolate marshmallow pizza, or choco-fondue, is awesome.

[ChooChooTrain]

I can agree with the cart on 53rd and 6th, iirc it also has lines that go on FOREVER.

I can also very much praise Max Brenner, something about a chocolate marshmallow pizza, or choco-fondue, is awesome.

Went there last year or so -- the best thing ever was the oreo milkshake. It was gloriously delicious. ahaha