So I'm going to New York for the first time in a couple weeks. Besides the obvious tourist sites like Empire State Building, etc what are some places I should check out. Also, what cool bars are there that I don't have to wait in a line, pay $50, or be a celebrity to get in?

8/5/2007 6:45:13 PM

never heard of it

8/5/2007 6:59:37 PM

WTC

8/5/2007 7:08:00 PM

go drinking in alphabet city, near 9th and C...sun burnt cow is cool, this german place is cool, there are lots of other places there too

8/5/2007 7:16:36 PM

42nd street

all the sex shops are there

8/5/2007 7:43:35 PM

http://tinyurl.com/2hykm8

8/5/2007 7:43:42 PM

carnegie deli at seventh and 55th street

best fucking food you will ever have, you must eat there at least once

8/5/2007 7:48:59 PM

NYC welcomes you, G. A718 welcomes you G. Go to midtown. Go up to Harlem tell 'em that I sent you. Go Brooklyn tell 'em that I sent you.


eats - 116th and Lennox - Amy Ruth's get the "Al Sharpton". party in the meat-packing district (no homo). the best bars are in the Village.


keep it gully, B.

8/5/2007 7:58:44 PM

central park

[Edited on August 5, 2007 at 8:18 PM. Reason : dgs]

8/5/2007 8:17:18 PM

get to Fried Dumpling on Allen right below Delancey. 5 dumplings for a dollar and they are amazing.

then just wander around the lower east side and check to see if the Slipper Room is having a burlesque show and go to that. Its 5 bucks and border line hilarious. If you're gonna drink in manhattan stay in the lower east side because the beer on average is cheaper and the bars are less crowded.

go to Park Slope and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn and look at all the brownstones and mansions which are now split up into tons of little apartments. Go to Red Hook and look at all the abandoned wear houses and factories.

go to the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights and sit and look at the Manhattan skyline and then go to the seaport in manhattan and look at the brooklyn skyline. One of the bars has 3.50 pints during happy hour and tons of areas to sit and enjoy the breeze and view.

Go check which comedians are having shows.

go to east new york and get crack.

[Edited on August 5, 2007 at 8:20 PM. Reason : also phishnlou hates new york so much he gets a hard on talking shit about it. dont mind him]

8/5/2007 8:18:38 PM

go to chinatown, get them to take you underground and buy knockoff thousand dollar purses for 40 bucks.

8/5/2007 8:28:33 PM

my gf did that shit. They took us to this "souvenir" store which was tiny and filled with worthless pictures of the baby jesus and hello kitty shit with a back room filled with stolen and knock of stuff.

it was almost sad.

8/5/2007 8:38:55 PM

start at the bottom of manhatten near battery park(you can get some real nice pictures here with the statue of liberty in the background), check out wall street and ground zero, then just cab it or take the subway to midtown to check out the theatre district, 42nd st. rock center, and finally central park. The apple store is right near the south end of central park, it is a pretty neat building

are you going to be in manhatten the entire time or are you planning on exploring the other borroughs?

oh yeah, as far as bars...there is one in soho called the back room bar, it used to be an old speak easy



[Edited on August 5, 2007 at 9:04 PM. Reason : .]

8/5/2007 9:02:31 PM

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is free and if you like art it has enough to look at for days.

8/5/2007 9:51:26 PM

the modern art section is amazing

8/5/2007 10:07:22 PM

You can entertain yourself for weeks just walking around. Go out in little italy one night and make sure to eat lunch in china town one day.

8/5/2007 10:35:55 PM

^^You're so ugly you could be a modern art masterpiece!

8/5/2007 10:40:32 PM

Yeah I was thinking if you have enough time just walk around the City. Hop a train to the SoHo district and go from there. there's so much around down there that you'll practically be lost for days and never see the same thing twice.

take your time too.


oh and if you are near Grand Central look for a Mac n' Cheese only restaurant in a postage stamp parcel. and please tell me where the fuck it is exactly.

8/5/2007 11:04:18 PM

Quote :

"42nd street all the sex shops are there "

wtf? This isn't 1987 anymore... the only concentrated sex shops in any of the Midtown area is on 8th Ave a few blocks N of the Garden..

8/6/2007 12:01:31 AM

http://www.ucbtheatre.com/ny/ - hilarious improv
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7084884/ - cool bar set up like a family home, complete with plastic covered couches and photos on the wall
http://www.bricklanecurryhouse.com/ - great indian food
http://www.urban75.org/photos/newyork/ny428.html - joe strummer mural in east village (the east village is just cool as hell anyway.)


personally, I'd say walk through times square quickly once at night to see how crazy it is, then avoid that area for the most part, unless that's really the kind of thing you're into.

[Edited on August 6, 2007 at 12:19 AM. Reason : .]

8/6/2007 12:18:22 AM

I was just there last week. It was hot and smelled like garbage. Maybe get tickets to a show or something like that.

8/6/2007 6:39:57 AM

where are you staying? do you know which neighborhood?

8/6/2007 7:09:52 AM

Add to My Topics

I've never been before and am trying to go for my 25th birthday...this will come in handy.

8/6/2007 10:42:08 AM

go to amature night at the Apollo theater in Harlem on Wednesday nights.
i always like to check on this bakery by Columbia, i forget the name, but they have the best apple strudel ever.
McSorleys is one of my favorite bars, No cover, and the beer is pretty cheap. they only sell two varieties of their home brew. But its the oldest bar in NY and its just cool to see everything inside, especially the wishbones hanging off the light fixtures.

8/6/2007 12:28:53 PM

roguewolf - I don't know if it's the one you're talking about, but it's the sole Mac 'n Cheese only restaurant I know of:

S'Mac - 345 E 12th Street b/w 1st and 2nd (obviously not near Grand Central though)

8/6/2007 12:57:29 PM

Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker St. (corner of W. 11th St. and Bleecker)
Best cupcakes in the world. Don't go on a weekend unless you want to
wait in line for an hour. Seriously.

Caracas Restaurant
93 1/2 E. 7th St. (corner of E. 7th St. and 1st Ave.)
Amazing Venezuelan food at remarkably inexpensive prices. Great spot
for lunch. Super-casual.

Guggenheim Museum
575 Broadway (Broadway and Prince St.)
The Met and MOMA get more publicity, but the Guggenheim usually has
the most engaging exhibits.

Chelsea Market
75 9th Ave. (between W. 15th St. and W. 16th St. -- it's a large
9-story building)
Lots of great little shops and eateries. also the home of the Food
network (which usually has free workshops and show-tapings and stuff
going on at random times).

Pastis
9 9th Ave (at the corner of Little West 12th St.)
Very delicious and lively French restaurant. Their brunch is awesome,
but their normal menu is really good too (very casual atmosphere,
large open room that is usually packed, so a reservation might be
advisable -- 212-929-4844).

Chelsea Gallery District
22nd, 24th and 25th Streets between 10th and 11th Avenue
Probably the world's center of the contemporary art market. Tons of
crazy galleries that essentially boil down to a giant museum
collective (with the option to purchase the art that is on display).

Soho Grand Hotel -- Lobby Bar
310 W. Broadway (between Canal St. and Grand St.)
A great spot for a mid-afternoon snack. If you like grilled cheese
and/or mac and cheese, you definitely need to go.

The Coffee Shop
29 Union Square West (at the corner of E. 16th St.)
Union Square staple that is strangely popular with actors and models
-- in spite of the fact that it's a pseudo-diner with one of the most
inexpensive menus in the area. They make great milkshakes, but also
have some pretty tasty mojitos. Always an interesting scene, and the
menu is pretty substantial.

8/6/2007 2:20:37 PM

Magnolias has gotten shitty imo. Waste of time to visit now a days. even the Cupcake shoppe on Glenwood outranks them in my book now.

8/6/2007 2:32:01 PM

I got drunk on Bleeker st. It was so nice to drink until waaaaaaaaaaay past 2, leave the bar shitfaced out in to the snow (fun due to drunkness) walk a couple of blocks and catch a ride on the subway right back to where the hotel was.

Next time I finish out a neighborhood and have a break in between (no job but $$) I want to sublet an apt off craigslist for a month and live in Manhattan long enough to really do everything.

I <3 NYC

8/6/2007 2:45:28 PM

Quote :

"personally, I'd say walk through times square quickly once at night to see how crazy it is, then avoid that area for the most part, unless that's really the kind of thing you're into. "

8/6/2007 2:56:49 PM

Corner Bistro also has McSorley's beer for 2.50 a mug but its not nearly as old (I think McSorleys opened in 1853) but still has quite abit of charm.

they also have decent burgers.

8/6/2007 7:50:45 PM

^yea get the bacon cheeseburger and some mcsorley, it's tasty.

8/6/2007 10:16:32 PM

Thanks for all the info. We are going to see Wicked one night and are staying at the Double Tree Suites in Times Square. Those are really the only definate things I know right now. I know there is no way to see everything in the short amount of time I'll be there but wanted to try and get a well rounded experience.

8/6/2007 11:56:11 PM

the moma has a pretty sweet dali exibit

8/7/2007 4:56:01 AM

Check out Don't Tell Mama,343 West 46th Street, if you like cabaret/comedy.

Double Tree has a nice Things to Do search engine, http://www.doubletree.com/en/dt/hotels/thingstodo/search.jhtml?ctyhocn=LGASFDT

good to check out different festivals going on while you're there and restaurants/bars near your hotel.

8/7/2007 7:14:20 AM

^^^times square. really?

8/7/2007 7:53:21 AM

coney island
as said battery park and take some ferry rides to ellis island or statue of liberty
rent a bicycle and ride on bike paths on the riverside
lots of musuems ... the whitney musuem http://www.whitney.org for http://whitney.org/www/exhibition/SOL_exhib.jsp
chinatown for delicious and cheap food
brooklyn brewery tour

enjoy

8/7/2007 8:14:18 AM

O NOES. AVOID TIMES SQUARE AT ALL COSTS IT IS JUST TRAILER TRASH NOBODY WANTS TO STAY THERE. GO DOWNTOWN AND SPEND ALL YOUR TIME THERE. THERES LOTS OF FUN BANKS AND STUFF ON WAL STREET YOU REALLY DONT NEED TO GO ANYWHERE ELSE

^^

coney island is cool and all but it really isn't worth going to on a first trip to nyc. It actually is kind of trashy.

8/7/2007 8:52:22 PM

http://www.applecorehotels.com/apple-core-hotels/

This was the best deal I found on a Hotel. It was >$100 a night and definitely nice/clean. No frills but when you are in NYC the only thing the hotel room is for is sex/sleeping.

8/7/2007 10:03:29 PM

This is a huge piggy back off your thread, but anyone know if there is a thread for NC State people living in NYC? Or maybe a facebook group?

I just moved here a couple weeks back! Living over east of Union Square and loving it. It'd be nice to get a few NC State alum's together one night

To get food:
Check out Grimaldi's for to-die-for pizza. You'll thank me later! Its right near the base of the Brooklyn bridge (on the BK side), then go get ice cream at the Brooklyn ice cream factory. The ice cream is RIGHT at the base of the bridge with an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. The pizza is the best I have ever had. The lines can get up to 2 hours wait though, so either go early, or go late.

To get drinks:
-anywhere on Bleeker Street is fun. I like Peculiar bar, Red Lion, etc. If you can find one of those, you can find EVERYTHING on that street.
-Joshua Tree. Its a permanent 80's bar but with the music videos playing too. No cover, around $5-6 for beers, ALWAYS crowded on weekends.

To party:
-always a long line, but its called 230 Fifth. You guessed it, its located at 230 5th ave. Get there before 10:30pm for a shorter line. Its a rooftop bar thats pretty posh.

Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

8/7/2007 10:04:17 PM

if you can change it, I'd recommend not staying in times square. I mean, it's fine, it's just loud and bright and annoying.

8/7/2007 10:20:47 PM

I think Poetrickster somehow missed the lower east side, east village, west village and greenwich village on his trip from wall st to midtown.

8/8/2007 1:57:47 AM

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/travel/05weekend.html?8dpc

8/8/2007 1:56:10 PM

Quote :

"Check out Grimaldi's for to-die-for pizza"

Lombardi's is better but Grimaldi's is equally as famous...

8/8/2007 5:16:27 PM

is Grimaldi's the one under the Brooklyn Bridge?

if so, tell them to put pizza sauce on your pizza, i think they forgot to put it on mine

but the crust and cheese were good though

[Edited on August 8, 2007 at 8:07 PM. Reason : /]

8/8/2007 8:06:26 PM

^^

haha i saw all that on food tv last night

they were all pitching fits about who was #1

8/8/2007 8:08:50 PM

Here's a question, say I want to go to New York in a few months, would it be better to fly or to drive? I don't mind the 8-9 hour trek in the least, and it'd be way less hassle than flying, but would there be anywhere to stick my car? Would that be more trouble than it's worth?

8/8/2007 9:14:54 PM

^ Not the trouble you should be worried about, it's the $$$$

$6 just to get through the tunnel, then NYC$ to park each day.

If you're staying > 4 days, I'd fly.

8/8/2007 9:22:40 PM

Yes, Grimaldi's is under the Brooklyn bridge. Its odd that they forgot sauce...I've never had that happen to me. However, they do usually do less sauce than the chain pizza stores.

8/8/2007 9:38:08 PM

^^^ there's several tolls on the way from nc to nyc. you cant park ANYWHERE in manhattan during the day unless its a commercial vehicle. my friend came up not too long ago and we had to park his car in harlem around 103rd. st then take the subway back to midtown. that was only for certain hours as well. not something most people want to do.

parking garages in the city are about $50-$60 a day to park.


ive been seein tickets for $140 round trip to JFK. flights only about an hour and some change.

Carmines is a great restaurant too

[Edited on August 8, 2007 at 10:15 PM. Reason : .]

8/8/2007 10:07:11 PM

grimaldi's is meh.

8/8/2007 10:12:57 PM