<p>mattmom - don’t get me wrong, my family and I love the museums in NY - we just find it hard to leave them once we are there…lol. The OP said they were interested in touristy, Christmassy things - in NY, that usually involves some shopping (not necessarily buying, but at least window shopping). I know when I get visitors from out of state at this time of year, that is what they are most interested in doing. Shopping at suburban malls, nice as it is, is just not the same. Plus, given the OP’s limited timeframe, I just figured it would be difficult to fit in a visit to a museum with the other places on their list of things to do.</p>
<p>BTW, the ice skating at Bryant Park looks like fun - and it’s free (there must be a rental fee, but I didn’t see a sign with fees posted).</p>
<p>This won’t help you in your trip to New York, but it reminds me of something that happened to me when I was at Yosemite in college. There was an elderly Ranger Naturalist at the park who had been coming up there every summer for some really long period of time – like 40 or 50 years. I remember talking to him when I was a little boy (6) and every visit through college, but I can’t remember his name. One of his regular bits for us visitors was (freely paraphrased):</p>
<p>“I’m standing in Tuolomne Meadows when this tourist gets out of a bus and says, ‘What would you do if you only had two hours to see Yosemite?’ I tell her, ‘I would sit down on this rock and cry.’”</p>
<p>EDITED: No wonder I knew him. Our family always ended up at Tuolomne Meadows instead of the Valley. Not as crowded, and a lot more long-time Yosemite fans and fewer newbies. His name was Dr. Carl Sharsmith and he served in the park for 63 summers, until 1994.</p>
<p>Secret inexpensive hotel: If you have a car: Drive to New Jersey- within 20 min range are some pretty inexpensive chain hotels. I have stayed at the Econolodge in Carlstadt which gave me a relatively clean bed for about $40/night 12 years ago. If you are willing to spend a little bit more you will get good rates at the Fort Lee Hilton or Holiday Inn which are just on the other side of the George Washington Bridge.</p>
<p>I’d recommend the midtown walking tour others have suggested with a stop at the Museum of Modern Art. You’ll be right there, or there’s a convenient subway stop. It’s an easy museum to tour through at your own pace, see what you like, skip what you’re not interested in, easy in, easy out. The Met is wonderful, but it’s huge, and further up 5th Avenue. You might find it hard to tear yourself away.</p>
<p>As for hotels, look at Jersey City. It’s a short PATH train ride from Manhattan at much less cost.</p>
<p>For a one-stop, I’d say the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but first check if they have their humongous beautifully ornamented tree in the center hallway with a huge collection of Victorian ornaments. It was up last year. Really impressive.</p>
<p>Then you could also focus on their permanent collection of “European Medieval and Renaissance Paintings” (so you’re seeing European works from around 600 - 1600 A.D.). These Met galleries from that era are full of magnificent paintings with Christian religious themes. In those years, there was basically one patron of the arts: The Catholic Church. Since many could not read, the paintings themselves told the stories. Also some works are altarpieces from European churches, painted on wooden triptychs (tri-folds). </p>
<p>Amount of admission is up to you. You actually have to decide what to see in the museum before you go, or it induces A.D.D. I’m not a map-looker; I like to ask the guards standing inside each gallery to point me on to the rooms I seek. I love to shmooz with a guy from Brooklyn about which artist he prefers, Cimabue or Raphael. They have opinions, since they stand all day looking at these masterpieces!</p>
<p>Just an idea, but I would choose the Frick before the Metropolitan, especially with a limited
schedule.Its very small and every painting there is an absolute gem. I could spend 6 hours in front of Bellini’s “St Francis” alone.</p>
<p>You all are great! I knew posting on CC would give us some great ideas. You are right about us Charlestonians, we don’t skate, but it will be fun to watch anyway. There will be three of us. If it were up to me, I’d be in the Met-Musuem of Art all day. My DW would probably want to head to Canal street for the shopping and our teenager DD would want to take pictures in Central Park. She is an amateur photographer and wants to take lots of pictures. I think based on what you all have said, a good plan sounds like to start at Rockefeller Plaza and do all the sights,then walk up 5th ave and window shop, hit Central Park, then the Museum for whatever time is left. Can’t wait!</p>
<p>I need a NYC geography lesson. My daughter badly wants to meet up with friends for lunch. They suggested at a pizza place in Washington Heights called “Dykmans”. I don’t know where that is. Where is that in relation to Central Park? If it is too far out of the way, I am going to suggest that they come to us for lunch. Especially since we have so little time. If our plan works out, we will finish our short but sweet visit at the Met Museum of Art or somewhere in Central Park. Would there be a better lunch suggestion near Central Park or the Museum? Suggestions or thoughts? Thanks!</p>
<p>I can’t really think of any restaurants near the Met/Central Park (except at the museum itself) - sorry. I know some of the hotels near the park have restaurants, but I have never eaten in any of them. Washington Heights is a little out of the way - it’s very, very uptown. I’m sure you could get there fairly quickly by subway, though I’m not sure which one. A cab would probably take forever if there’s traffic - and there’s almost always traffic. Sorry I couldn’t be more help - I’m much more familiar with midtown and downtown. Even when we go to the park or museums, we usually head downtown, or to Brooklyn or Queens to eat. In the city, it’s fun to go to Ellen’s Stardust Diner - the waitstaff entertains - and my kids love going there. The prices are very reasonable and you get entertained while you eat - anyway, it’s on 51st or 52nd and Broadway.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend the Empire State building, it’s so crowded that just getting up to the top AND waiting in line to get back down again will take up over an hour of precious time. Instead try the Marriot Marquis Hotel, Broadway, around 45th street. Go up to the eigth floor, have coffee or a drink (or maybe that quick lunch) at a window seat overlooking times square. Fun AND relaxing!</p>
<p>The American Museum of Natural History has an exhibit on Mythic Creatures which looks interesting, and it’s located on the west side, which has many different kinds of restaurants, plus Lincoln Center is also on that side as well.</p>
<p>musicamusica is right: Forget the Met, go to the Frick! It is absolutely superb, and just right for a comparatively short visit. Another restaurant to consider that is close to Fifth Avenue and in between Rockefeller Plaza and Central Park is a place that specializes in fondue…The Swiss Chalet? It’s been around forever, and is fun and quite reasonably priced. Strolling up Fifth to check out Tiffany’s and FAO Schwartz on the way to the Frick…and there’s the Plaza Hotel, Central Park, etc, etc. If you’re into shops, swing over to Madison Avenue. For staying overnight, don’t overlook the possibility of close-in towns in CT or Westchester that you can take the train to.</p>
<p>Since you have just a short amount of time and are travelling as a group, jump into taxi cabs rather than try to figure out the subway system if you need to get around Manhattan within a 40 block area or so. Cabs can take 4 people, so by the time you pay for 4 subway rides @ $2. each, you have almost bought the group a cab ride.
Plus you stay above ground so continue to see more city sights.
The areas you mention you’ll be have a steady stream of cabs constantly; you don’t have to phone for one, in other words. Just hail it from the corner or curb area. Watch others and you’ll soon see how.</p>
<p>Normally I’d promote the subways, but why spend the extra half hour trying to figure it out? Just my opinion. Certainly I vote for taxis at 3 p.m. </p>
<p>9 a.m. = rush hour, so there’s a case then for subways over the taxis, depending on where you have to come from. </p>
<p>If you’re not accustomed to walking as a group on crowded NYC streets, be sure to all have juiced cellphones or a way to find each other at the end of each block.
Sometimes I’d tell my teens and H: walk the block, enjoy the sights, but wait for me at each street corner. Amazingly, the streets can swallow you up! Especially near crowded window shopping areas.</p>
<p>In museums, we always made a end-time and stood together at our “place to meet,” rather than try to stick together through every room of the museum. I could enjoy myself more if I didn’t have to shepherd them every minute. Inside a building, I cut them loose starting around age 12; on the streets, around age 14. It can be pretty crowded sometimes. You don’t want anyone to get lost, but there’s no reason to think you have to keep them in eyesight every second either after those ages. You want to have your own pleasure.
With the end meeting time at musuems, everyone could relax; sometimes sibs would wander off together, then separate; it was more organic and nice that way.
Sometimes there are public tours or earphone audio tours, which my kids happened to like very much. Timed public tours would be listed on the website.</p>
<p>It depends what neighborhood they’re going to be in whether or not cabs would be a good idea. It’s still faster to take the subway than to have to be caught up in gridlock in a cab - especially in the Times Square area.</p>
<p>^^ “place to meet” – confusing; I meant, as we entered the museum, I’d gather all and identify a pillar, ticket counter, gift shop and say that’s the end of our time here at X oclock. Then we were all freer to wander.</p>
<p>nyumom, so right about Times Square. If the OP wants to, perhaps throw out your route and let the experienced new yorkers advise you on when to cab vs. subway. It IS very specific re: neighborhood and time of day.</p>
<p>Me too on using cabs. If you are only in a city for a day or two, mass transit is a pain (London excepted). I still remember staring at the map board for the nice Dusseldorf subway system, before going outside and getting into a cab that had me at my hotel in 10 minutes. I’d probably still be standing there trying to translate my high school German into subway English.</p>
<p>P.S. “Everyone in Germany speaks English” is simply untrue – at least away from tourist areas.</p>
<p>Unless they’re travelling far beyond midtown and the discussed areas and sites (Times Square, Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave., Central Park, The Met), they won’t need cabs OR the subway. All walkable in a six hour period. If, at the end of their visit, they need to cab it to a starting point, it’s easily done in that area of town. We stay in Times Square every time we’re in the city and have no problem getting cabs or getting anywhere (or through TS)from there by cab. Same with 5th Ave. (shopping area/entrance to Central Park), or up near the Met. Cabs everywhere.</p>
I’m not a map-looker; I like to ask the guards standing inside each gallery to point me on to the rooms I seek. I love to shmooz with a guy from Brooklyn about which artist he prefers, Cimabue or Raphael. They have opinions, since they stand all day looking at these masterpieces!</p>