New York - advice and opinions needed

[buster_broon]

Did a wee search and the only threads involve game stores or shopping for games

This thread is for the people who have been there and have done the touristy things and can let me know which sights are the best to see

I've already got myself a 3 day New York pass which opens up a world of attractions and I know some of the things I want to see Like USS Intrepid for example and I've booked my visitors pass for the 9/11 remembrance centre and I guess it would be best to do the Statue of Liberty right after that due to location - all that type of info

Plus it would be nice to know how much time I can give myself for visits and how to plan something where I can visit as much as I can

Not leaving until February so loads of time to plan - staying at Morgans in midtown

[QualityChimp]

You'll have a great time, Buster!

Here are some of the things I enjoyed on my two visits:

Empire State Building day and night as it's like two different cities.

Rockafella Centre is brilliant! You get a GPS guide and it tells you different facts depending on where you are and you get cracking views of the Empire State.

Do a bus tour so you'll see most things and can go back later to something you'd like to see more of, such as Soup Nazi's shop!

We did a "Party Bus" as it had a smaller group.

Times Square is astonishing, both for the amount of neon and people. I saw New Year in from the comfort of Planet Hollywood!

A helicopter tour is a great way to get a view of the city.

Statue of Liberty is OK, but you couldn't go up it when I was there, so I couldn't cover it in slime and drive it to town to defeat Vigo the Carpathian.

Ellis Island is painful if you're not tracing your immigrant heritage as they have about 100 different ways to say "not everyone got in".

Lots of classic shops - FAO Schwartz still has a "Big" piano, but not as good as the film one.

It's a very claustrophobic city with all of its skyscrapers, so we really enjoyed a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure, which has some of the best collection of rides I've seen, including Kingda Ka, which was the tallest and fastest for quite some time.

Eat at a variety of places, if you can. We ate at a tiny place in the north of the city and in the revolving restaurant, "The View", at the top of the Marriott in Times Square.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[vanpeebles]

Statue of Liberty is OK, but you couldn't go up it when I was there, so I couldn't cover it in slime and drive it to town to defeat Vigo the Carpathian.

Hahahaha

[MisterBubbles]

How long are you staying in NYC?

[Mayhem]

The Nintendo World Store near Times Square

MOMI out in Brooklyn was a good visit for 2-3 hours if you like movie props, history and stuff. There's also a Barcade if you're into that sort of thing heh. Eats wise, we went to Lombardi's on Spring Street for pizza, and that was definitely good.

[wicky]

Apparently you can do a super hero tour, dunno what it is but sounds cool. You should look it up.

[QualityChimp]

There's probably a zillion NYC tour companies, and there are loads of movie-specific tours (you seem a fan of Sex and the City, Buster), but here's the one I went on:

http://www.newyorkpartyshuttle.com/

[buster_broon]

Thanks so far guys

Going out on the 13th February - 18th February and went to new York pass and bought two of the cards with open top bus tours for $360 that also offers free admittance into over 80 attractions

We added everything up that we wanted to do and it seemed like a no brainer - the crown is now open but Ellis Island is closed for repairs so that might rule that out

Yeah movie tours seem great and will check out that link - already going to try and do the NBC tour, rockafella centre as well as the skyscraper tours of the city, helicopter trips look awesome but a little out of budget but Empire State Building at night looks incredible

After watching man v food yesterday I intend on visiting Katz deli on the lower east side, plus as cliche as it is I'm there for valentines day what decent places to eat would people suggest?

Going to try and get a horse drawn cart in Central Park at some point

[QualityChimp]

I took my girlfriend to the top of the Empire State Building because she's a massive fan of "An Affair to Remember".

At the highest point, I asked her to marry and she said "yes".

I stopped dangling her over the edge by her legs and brought her back in once she agreed.

I'd planned the Marriott meal I mentioned for the evening, but she'd asked to see Wicked the musical so we moved it back a day. Our first meal engaged was at Wendy's! I was more than happy with that!

I'll think of some other suggestions.

[Pikate]

Forgetting the shopping and obvious i.e. Empire State and Statue of Liberty etc...

Rockefeller Center (has all sorts including the Nintendo store)
Get 'Book of Mormon' Tickets
Get Burgers at a "Shake Shack"
MOMA is probably the best museum I've ever been to.

[MisterBubbles]

The Guggenhiem museum, The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Central Park. Go to Times square and pick up cheaper Broadway tickets at a small booth ( google it ), Rockefeller Center,Staten Island Ferry, chysler building, China town, The Bronx and the student area for the best bars and clubs.

[MartyG]

The boat tour around Manhattan is worth a go if you've got a couple of hours spare as you get to see all the different parts of the island and it's not too expensive.

The natural history museum is massive, that'll take half a day or more to go around & the Museum of Modern Art is worth a look.

The Zoo in Central Park is quite small, but it's worth an hour or two. Times Square is great for a spot of street photography. Grand Central Terminal is mind bogglingly huge and there's an Oyster Bar & Restaurant in there.

And you have to go and touch the charging bull's balls

[QualityChimp]

Buster, you'd be ultra-Swiss if you booked the restaurant in advance, especially if you could get in somewhere for Valentine's Day!

I'd recommend Tavern on the Green, but your meal might have been interrupted by Rick Moranis hammering on the window, plus the fact it's now a visitor centre, not a restaurant any more. That was really pretty with all the trees lit up, shame.

How about The Loeb Boathouse in Central Park instead?

http://www.thecentralparkboathouse.com/about-overview.php

I've not been to any of these restaurants, but you could consider some of these romantic suggestions:

http://gonyc.about.com/od/bestofnewyorkcity/tp/romanticrest.htm

[bangaio]

I love Manhattan and am going on Wednesday for the third time. If it's your first time then you must do the empire state or rockafeller, museum- the MET, MOMO, Gugenheim are all brilliant. Statue of liberty is ok but if you don't want to waste loads of time get the Staten island ferry - it goes right past it and is free, leg it onto the return boat at the other end and head straight back.

Walk everywhere but also hail a cab for the proper NY experience at night of bumping over cross streets. It really is a city best seen on foot. The subway is very easy to ride as well though especially if you want to get up or down town quickly - just don't get an express train and hurtle past your stop!

The food and drink scene is briilant, some places I would recommend are:
Luke's lobster, Broome Street Bar for their chilli, chinese meat mission, Odeon for a classic tribecca bistro, the tribecca grill and at the higher end Blue Hill off Washington Sq Park is a favourite of mine and I am going to check out Cafe Boulud. Drink at up scale cocktail bars - some hotels are very good for this and also dive bars - check out the stoned crow near blue hill (if it;s still there!) especially if a yankees game is on TV.

If you want to check out some NY Jazz go to Zinc over bigger expensive places like Blue Note although it has moved to a slightly bigger nicer venue so has lost some of it's dingy charm since I last visited.

Forget going to the big stores they are all underwhelming in my opinion - Selfridges is much better in London and the rest are a cross between John Lewis and House of Fraser! At the end of the day you can go to a department store in the UK and ignore apple shops etc. unless you really want something. The one shop that is like nothing else on earth is B&H photo - it has to be seen to be believed but it is not open on a Saturday.

My favourite areas are Soho, Wahsington Sq Park, Tribeca, Bryant Park, The east Village (super hipster trendy if you like that) and Grenwich Village and Central Park and this time we're going to venture to Brooklyn.

Don't try and cram too much in - there is a lot to be said by grabbing a beer in a nice looking bar (the craft beer scene is huge there right now mmmmmm) or a coffee and watching the world go by for a bit.

[cutmymilk]

Definitely do a tour of NBC studios. Probably right up your street. Bookable in the NBC store.