<p>You can always enjoy a hot dog or pretzel from the street vendors for lunch-- a NYC tradition. </p>
<p>My dad is a docent at the Bronx Zoo on what is referred to as “whacky Wednesdays”. Definitely a place to people watch. Sometimes you get the animals and the humans mixed up.</p>
<p>There is so much to see just by walking up 5th Ave or over to Times Square. Go up to the NBC/Radio City area. Even if you can’t get tickets (free) to a TV show, the giftshop is fun to walk around in. Also true for the MTV sore on Broadway (or is it Ave of the Americas (6th Ave)? I forget- Sybbie- help!) Go down to the Toys 'r Us at Times square. Great place to Play (since FAO Schwartz closed-- so sad). </p>
<p>I DITTO the trip to Serendipity. A MUST for a frozen Hot Chocolate or some of their Chocolate mousse, or the biggest Hot Fudge Sundae… yummmm…</p>
<p>SoHo and The Village are great to visit. Chinatown is also a hoot, and you can probably get fascinating fabric there too. Consider taking the subway to Battery Park and go to either the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Lots of street acts can usually be seen in Battery Park.</p>
<p>There are a gazillion museums of all shapes and sizes. I am sure the links mentioned above will get you lots of info. </p>
<p>Don’t forget to go into Grand Central Station and find the one spot on the ceiling that they left untouched (they didnt clean) when Jackie O pushed to save and restore the station. Then go down a few blocks on 42nd St to 5th and go into the NYC library. Then make a right on 5th and go down to St. Patricks Cathedral. Keep walking, and after you looks in Tiffanys windows and buy a fake pair of Oakley sunglasses or a watch for $5 from a street vendor (that will break in 10’ but who cares) go down to Rockefeller Center (NBC studios) as I mentioned above. Time will FLY! There is so much to do. There is also a fun restaurant on Boadway where the waiters and waitresses are all aspiring actors/actresses and they get up on stage and sing. I forget the name-- its a 50’s style soda shop/deli. You don’t have to order a whole meal. You can just get an “eggcream” (another NY tradition) and listen to the music. Someone please help me with the name of the restaurant-- I think it is a girl’s name-- but it escapes me…</p>
<p>Mezzomom, your hotel is a great location for MOMA. For cheap but good food restaurants, try Chinatown, also East 6th street Indian restaurants if that’s something you like. There are lots of good neighborhood Italian restaurants in the city - but try to get away from the neighborhood near your hotel which will be very expensive. For deli food, your hotel is very near Carnegie Deli and Stage Deli if you really want a pastrami sandwich (although I like Katz’ Deli on the Lower East Side better for this). My son swears by a great dumpling restaurant near NYU (I’ll try to remember to ask him the name but he’s out of town now).</p>
<p>Have fun in NYC! The weather in April is USUALLY pretty nice.</p>
<p>This is great!!! My Ds (13 and 15) are doing NYC for 4 days, and WashDC for 4 days over spring break…the bus between is $20 one way…We plan on doing the double decker bus thing (we have never been to NYC and want to at least see some things)</p>
<p>We decided to do the on and off bus trip, shop and hang out…in WashDC, thats when I will be “dragging” them to the memorials, Smithsonian, etc…</p>
<p>As well, we will be getting in a couple of college visits…two formal, the rest walk bys…and before you think we can’t do it, you should have seen us go through the Vatican museum, Rome and Paris. We move light. Lunch takes about 15 minutes, and we like to just walk and be part of the city…</p>
<p>As well, are there anyplaces that are overrated, and with our time constraints are not worth the time? And where is the best place for cheap but fun to take teen girls shopping? We are from SF and want to get stuff with more of an East Coast feel…
Thanks!!!</p>
<p>H&M and MEXX on 5th avenue for teen girls shopping (but are they in SF too?!) The NBA store on 5th avenue is a big hit with my teenage boys. There’s a small court on the basement floor. NIKETOWN on 5th/57th is like a sneaker museum if your girls are at all into that. The sidewalk venders along the side streets off 5th avenue in the 50’s will be huge hits with teenage girls - fake Prada, Coach, Kate Spade bags for $10 and up.</p>
<p>Top of the Empire State building is a worth it (if there isn’t a long line when you show up …). </p>
<p>I think the Hard Rock Cafe is a waste of time/overrated - very expensive and purely a tourist trap.</p>
<p>Someone above recommended Serendipidity - Yes! for their Frozen Hot Chocolate :)</p>
<p>Shopping- Filienes basement- union square, Century 21, you can probably get a pair of genuine burberry sunglasses for about $30, Syms- downtown manhattan-trinity place, </p>
<p>CHelsea matket- Chelsea Thai (cheap but good thai food) Amy’s Bread (you can watch them make the bread) FatWitch Bakery (gotta get those fat witch brownies) Eleni’s cookies, </p>
<p>I often stay at a hotel near the Sheraton. Like earlier posters, I’m happy to get by with a slice of pizza for lunch or maybe a couple of street-vendor hot dogs. I hate to recommend a chain spot in NYC, but there is an Au Bon Pain on 55th between 6th and 7th that I rely on for breakfast (tea, croissant etc.)</p>
<p>Good to go to the museums when they are least crowded. Call them and they will tell you when that is. It is definitely not Saturday and Sunday, so that’s usually when I shop, which is free as long as you skip the buying part. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, even at full fare, is probably your best museum value, though I recently went here and found it fascinating: <a href=“http://www.tenement.org/[/url]”>http://www.tenement.org/</a> It routes well with a Chinatown lunch. Have fun.</p>
<p>My teenage boys like the NYU/Cooper Union neighborhoods–because there are so many college age kids. Great people watching. S2 likes to play speed chess in Wash Square.</p>
<p>My favorite East Village restaurant is Cafe Orlin on 2nd street. </p>
<p>I like the Streetwise Manhattan Map. Small enough for coat pocket, plasticized-- and it has a subway map on the back. (Avail most bookstores or Amazon)</p>
<p>There is a good cheap deli in the Edison Hotel in the theater district. We had 45 minutes to eat and get to our show a few weeks ago and they took care of us with time to spare. Check out the murals in the Edison lobby.</p>
<p>In a sure sign that I am spending way too much time on CC, I had another idea in the middle of the night for teen girl shopping. A good friend of mine from SF brought her teenage girls here last spring for a visit, and I now remember meeting them for lunch and getting a report on their morning shopping exploits. The girls loved Bloomingdales - while there’s lots of expensive stuff here too, some of the ground floor accessories, and there is a floor/section aimed at teenagers - are within a reasonable teenage budget. And Bloomie’s is a scene!</p>
<p>If you’re not a big meat-eater, and if your d’s rehearsals are in the theater district, just walk over to 9th Avenue and you can find all sorts of great ethnic eats, cheap, in very simple surroundings, a real NY experience. Try Pam Real Thai at 49th St. and 9th Ave or Mee Noodle at 53d and 9th. Have fun.</p>
<p>7th @ 53rd st… ok, you are not too far - you can stop in for a (free) peak at the Whitney museum at Altria. This is near my new office, but I haven’t stopped in yet. </p>