<p>Change previous post Mccullough’s The Great Bridge …</p>
<p>When I go to NY I love Central Park…but I also like Bryant Park. It’s a nice place to sit down and have a glass of lemonade. If you haven’t been to Grand Central Station, go there. It’s an awesome train station.</p>
<p>I agree Cloisters is lovely and peaceful.</p>
<p>Something not mentioned yet that I love are the NY food tours. There is a great one of Chelsea Markets and the Meat packing district, one of SoHo and one of Greenwich Village. They are wonderful as you get to taste food from the area and you get some history and architecture and social commentary, as well as a small amount of exercise! You can find them by googling food tours of New York. I also would recommend spending time walking through Central Park if you get a good day. The park is great and the people watching is terrific. Another thing to do is to go down to the 911 site. It is now open to the public to see the rebuild and it is very moving.</p>
<p>As for restaurants, I usually look at Chowhound and Yelp for the area in NYC where I want to eat. Usually after reading things with at least 4 stars, I can find a good restaurant. Make sure you have reservations, if they are needed. </p>
<p>But most of all, just enjoy your trip!</p>
<p>As long as we’re on the topic of food, NY has one of the great street food cultures in the world. In what other US city do you see so many people walking down the street with food in hand? It’s one of the few places that when it comes to pizza, it comes down to slices. I’m not sure if I ever saw a whole pie until I left the city. And outside of the city it’s almost impossible to buy a slice. So check that out, as well as the variety of food carts. And don’t forget Papaya King, or Gray’s Papaya–cheap hot dogs with so-called tropical drinks. </p>
<p>All of the above, if you want to go native, plus Katz’s deli on Houston where you can “Send a salami to your boy in the army” or sit in the seat where Meg Ryan did her orgasmic thing in When Harry Met Sally, prompting the classic reply, “I’ll have what she’s having.”</p>
<p>Those food tours are terrific…but many of them require reservations far in advance.</p>
<p>Don’t forget a United Nations tour, it is free. Also Window shopping on 5th and Madison or near the Rockefeller Center.</p>
<p>OP, if you decide on going to The Cloisters, you can ride the M4 bus all the way. The Cloisters is the last stop, and rides through many neighborhoods, which is just another bonus. Pick up the bus anywhere along Madison Avenue starting at 34th. </p>
<p>Just remember the bus is $2.50 per person, per ride, coins only. (Yuck) I have always purchased a Metro card (7 day is minimum) which today costs $29 BUT allows for unlimited bus and subway rides. I have made mine pay off in 3 days!</p>
<p>Personally, I rarely call cabs because it still feels too “Park Avenue-ish” for me. </p>
<p>Moreover, with Manhattan traffic being the way it is, riding the subway or sometimes even walking 20-40 blocks is much faster at times. </p>
<p>Granted, I did walk from Battery Park to Columbia University twice…one time carrying 20 pounds worth of laptops & accessories in my backpack on a July day because I felt I needed the exercise. </p>
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<p>Actually, if you purchase a regular metrocard(not the unlimiteds), you not only get cash bonus, but each ride is only $2.25. Better to use that than cash. </p>
<p>It’s not too different than the last time I was in Boston where it was $2.00 with cash, but $1.70 with the “Charlie Card”.</p>
<p>D1 is 23, she takes cabs more often than I do. She laughs at me because I’ll take a bus sometimes. She’ll tell me, “Mommy, between 3 of us that’s $7.50, we could get there cheaper and faster in a cab.”</p>
<p>To answer above poster, yes you can take the 1 train from Columbus Circle, 59th Street to Penn Station. You can also get the downtown E and A trains at Columbus Circle and they both stop at Penn.</p>
<p>If you walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, I’ve head this is the place to visit:</p>
<p>[The</a> Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory](<a href=“http://brooklynicecreamfactory.com/]The”>http://brooklynicecreamfactory.com/)</p>
<p>(I can’t vouch for it, as the only time I did walk over with my GS troop for our ‘bridging’, we arrived around 10am and they don’t open until noon).</p>
<p>From there, you can take the water taxi back to Manhattan (pier 11 on Wall Street).</p>
<p>Last year I had some time to kill after arriving at Grand Central Train station, before taking the bus to Laguardia Airport. I walked toward Bryant Park, picking up a take-out lunch along the way. It was a great day, with park tables/chairs available and a free lecture. </p>
<p>Then I visited the nearby NY Public Library. Very interesting, including a gift shop - my dad loves the pen that I got for him there.</p>
<p>DD14 and I did the flea market yesterday… We had a great time! We then went to the Museum of Natural History to sit in a little park area… and “people watched”… chatted with the natives… we then caught the train to Laguardia High for an admissions reception for Rice, UChicago, Brown, Cornell and Columbia… amazing day to be in NY. Thanks to whoever posted about the flea market!</p>
<p>Yes, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is good, but you also don’t want to miss getting chocolate at Jacques Torres. It has great frozen hot chocolate, frozen mocha, etc. and it’s own ice cream store. Across from Jacques Torres, go to Almondine and pick up fantastic sandwiches, bread, soup, for a picnic in the newly expanded Brooklyn Bridge Park. Second /third the motion to walk around DUMBO ( although it’s noisy) and then more importantly up to Brooklyn Heights and the Promenade.</p>
<p>South Street Seaport is horrible! Avoid. Unless you really like generic malls that you can find anywhere, filled with places like Claire’s Accessories, the Gap, and Year-round Christmas ornament shops.</p>
<p>Third the motion to go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Museum.</p>
<p>Personally, I prefer Brooklyn to Manhattan, by far. </p>
<p>Manhattan around 57th street, sadly, is less like real NYC and more like tourist land. </p>
<p>If you enjoy farmers markets, the one at Union Square is really good. M/W/F/Sat.</p>
<p>So…first day has been planned. Meeting relatives and going (via something called the High Line) to the Tenement Museum, Chelsea, Meatpacking district, Staten Island Ferry. Got my tennis shoes ready, water bottles…I suspect that we’ll be exhausted.</p>
<p>Daughter’s HUGE request: REAL New York slices…not the gourmet stuff.</p>
<p>Second day: Upper east side for the Met, the Boathouse and browsing around UES. (Now…as to shopping…any nice boutiques there for daughter?). </p>
<p>Now…tacky security question of the day…I wear a large engagement ring…fully insured…but large…When I was in Europe I wore another ring and kept the diamond home. Last time in NYC I wore it…but it was cold so gloves covered it. I’ve worn it everywhere else: should I leave it home?</p>
<p>New Yorkers wear their jewelry. They wear their 2+ carat diamond ring, tennis bracelet and earrings. The only time I turn my ring inside is when I am riding a subway. Oh, yes, I wear everything when I am in NY.</p>
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<p>If we’re talking the NYC of my childhood/early adolescence in the '80s and early-mid '90s, I’d strongly recommend leaving that ring home. </p>
<p>Nowadays, I wouldn’t worry as much. Still, I would still recommend wearing something less flashy as the more prudent choice.</p>
<p>The High Line is great and a welcome addition to our city and great re-use of space… but it won’t get you to the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side…it is a pretty far walk from the High Line so at that point you might have to grab a cab.
No one has mentioned the Statue of Liberty. You get the boat ride and the statue itself. I along with most New Yorkers have only been once or twice and not in recent memory. The Circle Line is a nice way to spend a few hours, although at this time of year you will be surrounded by 6th graders and 8th graders taking end of year class trips.</p>
<p>The Empire State Building tour is great for beginning. The summer is a great time to take a boat tour downtown or a lunch or dinner cruise. The cafe at Rockefeller, right next to the ice skating rink has great food and is reasonable.</p>