Have you been to NYC? I’m spending a week in Manhatten in ealy May. I’ve never been before and was hoping you could suggest “must see” sites, restaurants, shops, etc. What can’t I miss? What should I skip?
Have you been to NYC? I’m spending a week in Manhatten in ealy May. I’ve never been before and was hoping you could suggest “must see” sites, restaurants, shops, etc. What can’t I miss? What should I skip?
Contact Jason in my blogroll…
http://whenifeelheavymetal.blogspot.com/
He could give you the hookup! I went a few years ago and did the obligatory stuff and had a great time. My sister lived in Philly at the time so we just hung out for a few days.
hey – email me here jrd550@hotmail.com – what are the dates you’ll be here exactly? I’ll put a schedule together for you.
Never been but am curious to see what others suggest.
You HAVE to go eat at Go Sushi, Republic, and Chat and Chew. OH and you have to eat a street hotdog. The secret is that the dirtier the water, the better it’ll be. I’m telling you this because you’re the ONLY person who will believe me when I say this.
Otherwise do a couple of touristy things. They’re pretty fun. It’s actually pretty neat to go to the Statue of Liberty… Going up in the Empire State is cool too, but it costs a fucking fortune now.
isn’t it wierd that i just commented as Jami? Im tired.
my friend brahburns (joel) and his gf live in the lower east side and they’ll be in denver for the show tomorrow. you can always ask them what there is to do. that is, if you show.
i still remember i owe you and g a drink.
Thanks for the contact person shmeder. Especially thanks for taking some time out for me Jason. Everybody go visit When I Feel Heavy Metal right now!
Street meat is definately on the agenda. I’ll keep an eye out for muddy dog juice. And it is wierd that you signed as Jami.
I’ll talk with brahburns on Saturday.
You’re going at one of the best times of year to be in the Big Apple; spring (and then mid fall and then the holidays)
Truly, there is never a dull moment… Often, the best times are to find your personal ties to the city and explore those, if they exist. My whole family is from there, and touring the Lower East side flats and having blintzes at Rattner’s (gone now… very sad) was like being with my grandparents in their youth. The market at Orchard and Delancy is a sight, and the South Side Seaport is too.
But then there’s Yankee stadium and little Italy (the food. Dear lord, the food)… head up to the Village and walk around the park… speaking of parks, Central Park is worth a trip any time of the year. Ellis Island and Lady Liberty are still sights that touch something in any American who’s family came through New York, and I like to catch a ferry out whenever I can… Jami’s totally right about the dogs, although the shishkabob vendors were awesome too, last time I was there. And you have to have a piece of pizza.
It’s funny, you can take a pizza restaurant, and transplant it out here with all the same components–people, ingrediants, ovens, everything, and it will still taste different. My opinion: East River water makes the difference. I don’t know if it’s all the Gotti and Giancana boys at the bottom, but the water goes into the pies and makes a world of difference… mmmmm good.
If it’s your first time, then by all means do as much as you can, and wear good shoes. My first time there was spent traipsing up and down for about 11 hours without stopping (this was from morning to evening). The Strand Bookstore will not disappoint, and be sure to go into the section in the basement that has all the “reader” copies of recent bestsellers. These books (which are copies given by publishers to book reviewers for magazines and newspapers, and then sold to The Strand by those reviewers) are shelved, if I remember, alphabetically by author name, but they don’t put the spine where you can see it–but it’s worth digging, because you can buy a $25 book for $12.50, even if it was just published a week ago.
Be careful about which pizza place you choose–some are truly authentic NY slice places, but others have a chain-y feel (because they are chains–but then not all of those chains are bad), and the pizza can be just so-so.
What should you skip? Times Square can be fun in very small doses–be sure to go at night–but my god, it’s full of people from Des Moines. I wouldn’t skip it, but I wouldn’t spend all my time there. Ground Zero is also mostly full of tourists–they have these plaques and interpretive pieces on the history of the WTC–but quite frankly it’s not all that interesting. But if you want to make it so, go to the (fairly new–two years old, anyway) World Trade Center PATH station, designed by Santiago Calatrava, and get on the PATH train and take it to Hoboken. At Hoboken, get off and take the train back to Manhattan. Why this short excursion? Because (or at least this was so two years ago when I was last there) you can see Ground Zero from inside Ground Zero–through the windows of the train as it passes through. But they just started construction of the so-called Freedom Tower recently, and so the visibility might not now be the same.
So the answer to “what should you skip” might be: nothing–whatever you do will be fun.
Speaking of pizza, if you bother with Brooklyn it is IMPERATIVE that you eat at Patsy Grimaldi’s. I’m telling you its a fucking requirement.
walk across the brooklyn bridge! lived in nyc my whole life and didn’t do it until my 25th birthday. its awesome. and, once you get to brooklyn, you’ll be in the perfect location to stop by grimaldi’s, which is among the best pizza places in the city. and go to peter lugers in williamsburg – awesome steak, but the secret is if you go for lunch, there are no lines and they have amazing burgers. take time to walk through central park. and riverside park too if you have time. and get a tiny subway map and a metrocard because subways are your friend.
jami is wrong about go sushi. it’s gross. but she has never been more right about patsy grimaldi’s. i saw john turturro (sp) last time i ate there. it’s amazing. but as far as touristy things, jami wouldn’t know cause all she ever did in ny was watch someone else’s tv.
i would just visit the different neighborhoods. do lots of walking. you’re bound to run into some cool stuff without trying.
pick up a time out when you get there and see what bands you’ve always wanted to see are playing. go to chelsea and see some good and probably really bad art. i didn’t read any of the other comments and must be rewriting what everyone else has written.
go to printed matter. i think they moved.
i never got to the NY transit museum and regret it. some day.
Wow! Everyone, thanks so much for the advice. I have a long list of things to do now and there were some great ideas in these comments. I am wondering now if there is time to do all of it. Of course there isn’t! Anyway, thanks one and all for all your ideas.