I’ve been there many times—it’s my favorite place on the planet to visit—but I’ve never done an organized tour. If I’m there just for a weekend, I always try to:
- Catch a Broadway show.
- Eat at Ellen’s Stardust Diner (Times Square).
- Spend some time just walking in Manhattan with no particular place to go.
NY has an energy in the air that I’ve never felt anywhere else.
MM (in TX)
Rent a video on NYC. Save yout money and time. It’s hot, stuffy and crawling with people that don’t speak English. Watch out for pick pocketers too.
PS. Make sure you tell her you know me, otherwise my cousin Cee Cee has a tendancy to break things. :)
Obama Fanatics Harlem Walking Tour
Community Organizing served as the platform for Barack Obama to rise to the Presidency of the United States. Walk through Harlem as we identify community organizers/organizations and their impact on Harlem. Sights include but not limited to: National Action Network, Harlem Children’s Zone, Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, Children’s Aid Society, Harlem Business Alliance + more. It’s all about community.
http://www.harlemheritage.com/tours/walking-tours/obama-fanatics-harlem-walk/
Ground Zero Mosque.
NYC is is more foreign than Baghdad.
Visit the US instead.
I’d spend some of your weekend downtown - See Clinton Battery, South Street Seaport, WTC. Fraunce’s Tavern (since 1762) may be reopened by then. All sorts of pubs in NYC.
I’d try to get a steak dinner at Peter Luger’s over in Brooklyn. One of the best steak houses in the country.
Try to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. If you walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn you will be near Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. There are 2 really nice parks on the Brooklyn side of the bridge—the Promenade is an elevated walkway along the Hudson/ East River entrance to NY Harbor—it is a restful place to sit and see the skyline—also Brooklyn Heights (Montague Street) is right there—good restaurants for breakfast’ lunch, or dinner. There is also a really nice park under the Bridge itself in DUMBO (acronym stands for Down Under Brooklyn Manhattan Overpass). Or you could take a train to Brooklyn Heights from Manhattan, visit Montague Street and then walk back over to Manhattan. The bridge is less than 1 mile across but it is a beautiful piece of engineering. The walkway is delightful. (I am a lifelong city resident. Lived in Queens and Manahattan but Brooklyn is by far the most interesting borough. I live there now and love it.) Also try to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the eighties on the East Side—their medieval collection as well as the Impressionists are spectacular. Enjoy. Go to their website to see if there are any special exhibits. Then a walk in Central Park. If you have kids there is a great playground near the Met and the Central Park Zoo is down in the sixties also on Park Avenue.
Forgot to mention—great pub in Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue not far from the Bridge called Pete’s Tavern—large selection of draft beers and they make a mean chili as well as terrific burgers and chicken fingers (mmmm...bar food)
Stay in Bayonne. It’s nicer.
Fraunces Tavern on the southern tip of Manhattan is the inn where Washington spoke his farewell address to his troops. Recent digs have unearthed a slave graveyard whose location escapes me. I think a Google will tell you where it is. The Natural History Museum is a must see, as is the Cloisters at the north end of Manhattan. Don’t miss McSorely’s Ale House. It’s old and historic and the beer and ambiance are incomparable. It historically barred women. It is where Karen DeCrow (notorious libber par *^&^&%$#) had a pint poured on her head. my2cnts. sd
Offhand, do you happen to know any kewl spots in NYC for freeper WOBBLYBOB to tour over the weekend?
Thanks!
He'll give you a list of sites. I can suggest Fraunce's Tavern down on Pearl and Broad Streets. That's where Washington gave his farewell speech to his officers. There is a museum on the 2nd floor. From there it's a 30 second walk to the Staten Island Ferry. You can ride that for free to Staten Island and back. Nice views.
As for tours, try Big Apple Tours. They are double-decker red buses and you can hop on and off wherever you'd like. They go all over the city.
A visit to McSorley’s Old Ale House is a must. Drink ales and eat aged cheddar with saltines, onion and pub mustard. mmm, mmm, mmm!
Get a real samich at the Carnegie Deli. You won't have to eat for a week.
Sit on a bench in Central Park and watch people.
Burp Castle is a pretty cool (but expensive) place to get a beer. It’s right by McSorley’s, too.
http://burpcastlenyc.wordpress.com/
Skip the organized tour. If you have a few days and you are in mid-town, take the number one subway down to Battery Park. Walk along the esplanade - you will see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and a little to the West, you can see ground Zero. That’s half a day.
In mid-town, visit Times Square, take in a show if you can, and maybe visit the Intrepid. (I’d take a cab to the Intrepid.)
If you still have time, take in some of the museums. Moma and Museum of Natural History are my favorites.
NYC is a great city, despite the fact that socialist creeps run the place, like Emperor Bloomberg.
Oh, also - take ALOT of money. You’ll need it.
Go to upstate new york. Like Lake George or anywhere int he adirondacks. Or Finger Lakes. It is a whole lot nicer.
In NYC, You MUST do the Intrepid, it’s awesome. And chinatown/little italy. Everything else pretty much sucks. :)
We like the street fairs. Every weekend an avenue is closed for blocks in mid-town and you can have a relaxerd stroll. It's great people watching too. The site at the link has various ethnic fairs in different neighborhoods this summer.
Start at the Battery (SI Ferry - # 1 or 9 on the IRT subway line). It's the best view of the Statue of Liberty w/o wasting half the day.
Head due north through the park, leaning toward the river. Five blocks out of the park you'll hit GZ.
After the right amount of time there (you'll know how long) head east to Broadway (one block), stroll a bit to get the down town feel of Trinity Church, the Bull and Wall Street.
Back to Broadway and north for a few blocks for a look at City Hall and the world's first skyscraper (Woolworth Bldg) and the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge (a walk across and back kills 40 minutes but you might like the views).
Directly NE of City Hall are the Courts and One Police Plaza - where they shoot Law and Order. Walk on the north side of the courts to behind them which is Chinatown.
Meander through there a bit working north to Canal Street. Stop in Little Italy (surrounded by Chinatown a bit north of Canal) and eat.
Head north again, keeping toward the east through a cool little nabe called NoLiTa (North of Little Italy). It's quiet, a bit classier than the surroundings and has the original St. Patrick's Cathedral.
About three block up from the Cathedral cut west toward SOHO (South of Houston Street - pronounced How-sten). Meander. Here's a good place to look for celebs.
After ten minutes or so cross north over Houston toward the west and you're in The Village. Cruise around there heading north toward NYU and Washington Square.
Head east again into the East Village, up to 14th street, then along 14th back west to Fifth Ave, passing Union Square.
From there it is a 2.25 mile straight shot up Fifth to Central Park passing the Empire State Building, the new St. Patrick's, Trump Tower and Tiffany's on the way.
You will now be at the SE corner of Central Park, across from the Plaza Hotel.
Enter the park, staying on the wide footpath. It will take you through the zoo. Keep heading north toward the bandshell and the Central Park lake where you will find the oft-photographed Bethesda Fountain (note all the Chinese wedding parties).
If you've got anything left over head over to the west-side and find a spot along Columbus Ave to eat.
There is no place on this route where you will be in the slightest danger (that's a different tour). You don't need a tour bus or guide, just water, good shoes and for God's sake no effin fanny pack.
Follow this route and you will see more of real Manhattan than most folks who live here have.
Try to avoid the typical touristy areas.
If you like history, though, take a trip down to lower Manhattan, in the Wall Street area. Federal Hall, Fraunces Tavern and on the other side of Broadway is a very old church, where George Washington went to pray when he was first inaugurated.
One of the highlights of my last trip to NYC in 2004 was seeing a band I like at a small rock and roll venue down in Alphabet City.