18th birthday in NYC...advice?

peopleonstreets
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:24:09 +0000

Don’t worry about the trains. Just figure out your route beforehand and you’ll be fine, especially in such a large group of people.

Times Square… there’s really nothing to do there. It’s crowded, all the lights will give you a headache, it’s easy to get separated… you can walk through it on your way somewhere else to see the sights, but everything there is touristy and over-priced, just not worth it.

Don’t know much about clubs, but I’m 17 and I know that for any of the decent clubs in Manhattan they would ID you, so that would be out. I would most recommend finding a nice restaurant to have dinner, perhaps taking a walk through the city to get there (5th avenue, Broadway are nice to get the overall impression). If you want something more exciting in addition to just eating find a comedy show or a drag show or just a show along with a restaurant, make sure it’s not 18+ though.

One thing that would be cool to do is rent some kind of loft or apartment or space for the evening, you can usually throw pretty awesome parties in those if you’re careful, but that will get expensive very quickly, especially since it’s a birthday thing and so you won’t be expecting your guests to put down any money for it. So food + some kind of show, or just food and a walk, would be your best option.

I think having them pay for the train is fairly reasonable, just see what the rest of your expenses are and explain it to your friends well.