I'm in a New York State of Mind

[wrigley]

Hey GC I'll be in NYC for 5 days. Are some museums more overrated than others? Which places are a must see? Where is the best place for a NY slice of pizza? Favorite places to shop. Any suggestions would be great.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by wrigley

Hey GC I'll be in NYC for 5 days. Are some museums more overrated than others? Which places are a must see? Where is the best place for a NY slice of pizza? Favorite places to shop. Any suggestions would be great.

Pick up a copy of
Gerry Frank's Where to Find It, Buy It, Eat It in New York

One of the top NYC guide books.
Pizza? NYC? Just about any place. John's is one of the best.
Original location on Bleeker Street may be the best of those.
Grand Central is rather interesting. Took a tour of it once.
Find the whispering corner.
One can spend a day all around Rockefeller Center. Several tours for it, NBC, and Radio City.
One of the two best roof top views of NYC. The other being The Empire State.
St. Pats very close by.
Be very hungry if you go to any of the remaining true NYC deli's.
And one can try for tickets if either baseball team is in town.
Get a NYC subway map; best free map of NYC.
Many web sites; this is the official one: http://nycvisit.com/
Bring your comfortable walking shoes. For walking and subway are the best way around town.

[alum]

One thing that is off the beaten path is the Cloisters in Manhatten. http://www.metmuseum.org/cloisters/events/

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by alum

One thing that is off the beaten path is the Cloisters in Manhattan. http://www.metmuseum.org/cloisters/events/

Very true-it was rather interesting and nice to see.
IIRC there is a guide book for NYC called Off the Beaten Path
The following is an article based off of it:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g6...aten.Path.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio..._New_York.html

[Rudey]

You two have offered quite possibly the worst advice to any tourist. Cloisters? yes, if I was a 10 year old boy. Johns pizza? the empire state? rockefeller center?

I'd rather walk into oncoming traffic than deal with that garbage.

[DeltAlum]

The Cloisters is actually pretty interesting, and you can use the same "badge" for the Metropolitan Museum during the same day -- The Cloisters being a unit of The Met.

And, The Met is great. The museum and the opera, but I'm talking museum in this case.

Something many people don't realize is that at some museums, the admission fee is just a suggestion -- you can pay more or less.

MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) is also good. Wearing comfortable shoes is good advice for all of these. Check out the MoMA store across the street, too.

I (we) try to see at least one show every time I go to the city. Last time (about two weeks ago) we saw Spring Awakening. Dark, but really good. You can find half price tickets for some of the less popular shows at the TKTS booth at the Marriot Marques. Some shows also have lotteries for unused tickets or sell standing room only tickets. You have to research those, because they are at different times of the day -- not just prior to showtime. I've also been known to stand in line for unused or returned tickets to the big shows. I saw Spamalot that way when I just decided on a whim to stand in the line. That is full price, though.

I worked for NBC for a number of years, so the NBC Tour is nothing to me, but the Radio City Musical Hall tour was fun when we took it several years ago.

If you're going to be at Rockefeller Plaza (Radio City), a lot of the famous stores (Saks, etc.) are in the same block of Fifth Avenue on the East side of the Plaza. Just go out the arcade by the skating rink.

I can't even remember the name of the place, but the best Pizza I've had in NY was at a place at about 34th and Third. There are a lot of spots, though. Just be sure you like thin crust and grease.

I always think it's fun to walk around in Central Park which goes from 59th Street to 110th between Fifth and Central Park West. There's a lot to see there and it's only a few blocks North of Rockefeller Plaza.

Finally, although it sounds really "touristy," if it's your first time in the city, don't discount one of the double decker bus tours. You can cover a lot of ground, and the ticket is good for 24 hours and you can get off and on as often and as long as you want.

Also, get a MetroCard (daily, weekly, monthly) to use on the subways and bus systems. I agree, the subway is great! Plus, New York is one of the worlds great walking cities! The only reason I take public transportation is if I'm going to divergent parts of the area -- like Midtown to the Village or something like that.

Have a good time.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

The Cloisters is actually pretty interesting, and you can use the same "badge" for the Metropolitan Museum -- The Cloisters being a unit of The Met.

And, The Met is great.

Teacher's girlfriend: "my firm has season tickets to The Met."

Barrymore/Josie: "oh well..haha...i love baseball..haha!!!"

Teacher's girlfriend: "*blank stare* Nice to meet you."

~ Never Been Kissed

[Rudey]

The met (museum) is considered a k-mart of art. The MoMa offers more of an original and cohesive collection. You probably don't need comfortable shoes for the MoMa given how small it is unless you're planning on walking over the bridge to PS1 after. For more traditional art, the Frick is much better.

People who talk about the greatest pizza in NY, don't generally talk about it by the slice. And John's is considered a tourist joint but the rest like lombardis and ferraras and the 5-10 other old, pizza by the pie joints are pretty much the same. And those aren't greasy.

And spring awakening? How risque deltalum.

I second central park...only because my apartment is right next to it and that makes all the ladies up in NYC dig me.

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

The Cloisters is actually pretty interesting, and you can use the same "badge" for the Metropolitan Museum -- The Cloisters being a unit of The Met.

And, The Met is great. The museum and the opera, but I'm talking museum in this case.

MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) is also good. Wearing comfortable shoes is good advice for all of these.

I (we) try to see at least one show every time I go to the city. Last time (about two weeks ago) we saw Spring Awakening. Dark, but really good.

I worked for NBC for a number of years, so the NBC Tour is nothing to me, but the Radio City Musical Hall tour was fun when we saw it several years ago.

If you're going to be at Rockefeller Plaza (Radio City), a lot of the famous stores are in the same block of Fifth Avenue on the East side of the Plaza. Just go out the arcade by the skating rink.

I can't even remember the name of the place, but the best Pizza I've had in NY was at a place at about 34th and Third. There are a lot of spots, though. Just be sure you like thin crust and grease.

I always think it's fun to walk around in Central Park which goes from 59th Street to 110th between Fifth and Central Park West. There's a lot to see there and it's only a few blocks North of Rockefeller Plaza.

Finally, although it sounds really "touristy," if it's your first time in the city, don't discount one of the double decker bus tours. You can cover a lot of ground, and the ticket is good for 24 hours and you can get off and on as often as you want.

Also, get a MetroCard to use on the subways and bus systems. I agree, the subway is great!

Have a good time.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Rudey

You two have offered quite possibly the worst advice to any tourist. Cloisters? yes, if I was a 10 year old boy. Johns pizza? the empire state? Rockefeller center?

I'd rather walk into oncoming traffic than deal with that garbage.

So, do you have any positive POV's to offer up?
And as it seems that you live in NYC, perhaps you should think about what your
out of town friends/family would enjoy rather than yourself.
I posted just some of what my Big Sister and her family loved on their last trip.
And she loved the information provided by Gerry Frank's book.

[Rudey]

Originally Posted by jon1856

So, do you have any positive POV's to offer up?
And as it seems that you live in NYC, perhaps you should think about what your
out of town friends/family would enjoy rather than yourself.
I posted just some of what my Big Sister and her family loved on their last trip.
And she loved the information provided by Gerry Frank's book.

Quite the reflection on your sister!

[Elephant Walk]

I've always heard lots about the big apple,
So I thought I'd come up here and see,
But all I've seen so far is one big hassle,
Wish I was camped out on the Okachovee.

If this is the promised land,
I've had all I can stand,
And I'm headed back below that Dixie line

[christiangirl]

See a Broadway play. Any play, it doesn't matter. I saw The Little Mermaid and almost died from the fantasticness (but that was for the benefit of my inner 5 yo...you might wanna try Wicked or something ). The Empire State Building costs 19 bucks, but for the view you get at night when the whole city's lit up, it's worth it. Times Sqare is a must, but I warn you, it's full-on sensory overload after dark. It's so bright and loud and people, smells, and sounds press in on you from every direction. Even just to walk around and shop or go to D&B (which you could do anywhere) is a major something. If you go to Lady Liberty BUNDLE UP, it's so windy on that water, we froze half to death before we even got on the ferry. And yes, I've never had a desire to go see Ground Zero, but I'm glad I went. It's one of the most moving things you'll see...much more than a 16 acre-ish hole in the ground.

[christiangirl]

There's definitely carriages all around Central Park, but they're ridiculously priced. It's like $36 for a quarter of a mile (maybe less) and $10 for each fraction thereafter. Save it for a romantic evening, if you're just having fun, your feet will do just fine.

[jon1856]

So, Wrigley how was your trip?

Originally Posted by wrigley

Hey GC I'll be in NYC for 5 days. Are some museums more overrated than others? Which places are a must see? Where is the best place for a NY slice of pizza? Favorite places to shop. Any suggestions would be great.