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+--- Thread: Heading for New York, what to do? (/showthread.php?tid=296614)
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Heading for New York, what to do? - davester - 06-30-2025
Hey all,
We're spending 10 days in New York starting on Tuesday. We'll be staying at a friend's place on Long Island but will have a car plus we'll take the train in to Manhattan a few times. Wondering what the forum brain trust has in mind that would be fun things to do. We already have the Met, the Frick, and the Highline on our list. What are other "can't miss" things to do?
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - special - 06-30-2025
Normally I would say to Skip central park. It's just a park. It is very nice, but there are better things do see IMHO. But if you have 10 days, maybe do visit Central park in one of these days
Times Square/Broadway
A Broadway show
Rockefeller Center
Intrepid
Grande Central https://grandcentralterminal.com/visit/
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
MOMA
Battery Park / Castle Clinton / Financial District / 911 Memorial
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - Fritz - 06-30-2025
Bring weapons!!!
Just kidding.
Only if you ride our immaculate subways.
If you like opera or bway, you can usually find discounted tix.
The Gugg.
Folk Art Museum.
9th & 10th Ave for food if you want to avoid mid town insanity prices and crowds.
and below 14th.
There may some free stuff up at Lincoln Center in the eves.
And Battery Park City. Central Park is cool, just watch out for cyclists.
In midtown especially be very aware of ebikes.
Prospect Park in Bklyn is rather lovely. Carroll Gardens and Park Slope west of the Park.
As is Williamsburg. And Greenpoint north of Wburg.
Smorgasburg depending on the temp, in Marsha Johnson Park on the east river in the BK.
Good town for jazz.
Chelsea Market, though tending to be crowdy, is a fun hour or two with lots of food, fashion & smurfs.
LI beaches are nice depending on where you are.
Unless you have a "mission" I'd avoid the Apple stores.
Try to avoid Times Square area. There really is nothing to see there but crowds, foreign tourists, scams and shams.
Unless you go at 3am, when it's still crowded, but even more uninviting.
Don't go see a TV show being shot of any kind. Trust me or bring a can of paint.
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - special - 06-30-2025
Also check out davemchine's report
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheBadApples/comments/1l19gbt/returned_from_new_york/
I’m back from New York and had a very good but exhausting time. I recommend good shoes and being skinny. I also recommend a zoom camera. Put phone in low power mode to last the day. Here are a few photos https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1u5DaMXLWdcMm
What I did right
vintage boat architectural tour was great. comfortable and I saw a lot.
The MET was amazing. We stayed maybe 4 hours and could have stayed longer.
took a monocular which was very helpful while sightseeing.
What I did wrong
As a first time visitor I tried to travel light and left the Canon SX50 at home which was a big mistake. Many of the sights are seen from a distance and my iPhone was not adequate.
Walked so much I got terrible blisters.
Didn’t check if tickets to venues was needed. I missed out on The Frick.
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - Rolando - 06-30-2025
Some of my best memories are at The Museum of Natural History.
Loved it.
A young friend of mine spent a week there. She had fun re-creating famous album covers
Freewheeling Bob Dylan
Paul's Boutique, among others!
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - ho'ard - 06-30-2025
NY Phil, High Line which is a short walk from B&H (check hours and make sure it isn't a holiday!)
Research best bagel. You should visit Central Park, at least to get a feel for how big it is. Go directly to North Meadow or The Ramble area on transit, don't bother with the southern tip of the park, too crowded.
Try to see something at Carnegie Hall (there are several spaces within with different programming.)
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - dk61 - 06-30-2025
That's going to depend a lot on your tastes. I find Guggenheim not worth a visit from the art perspective, compared with Met, Frick, MOMA. It is architecturally interesting. If you want something not too traditional, Mercer Labs is fun. Natural History Museum may be fun depending on what you like. Central Park is nice if the weather is nice, but if you are from a part of the country where you have a lot of state parks may not be worth a prolonged visit - it is mainly an oasis for New Yorkers who do not have many other green options. Williamsburg is cool but it is basically like any gentrified area in an older US city. Peter Luger and Laser Wolf there are both good but probably somewhat overhyped and overpriced (I still enjoy them from time to time). The touristy thing I like is Circle Line cruise around the island. You can also take a free ferry to Staten Island. Brooklyn Botanical Gardens are great, as is Bronx Zoo. You may consider going up one of the tall buildings for the view (I have to say that I lived in NYC for 7 years and never went to either Empire State Building view platform nor to the Statue of LIberty, but did go to the bar at the top of the old WTC). I would disagree a bit about Times Square - if you are in NYC, you should pass through it. Another touristy thing there is the rotating restaurant in the Marriott. But in general, you should explore all the different cuisines that are available in the city rather than go to a corporate restaurant.
Regarding Long Island, I also lived there and never found any of the beaches there worth spending time on (but I am used to Mediterranean coast and Aruba). Caumsett state park is very nice, though, and it also may be worth to visit Teddy Roosvelt's Sagamore Hill house.
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - SrBigStuff - 06-30-2025
Howard Greenberg gallery is an absolute must for photo fans.
The Morgan Library and Museum
The tenement museum
Mamoun's falafel
Tal bagels (although my last visit was underwhelming)
Random sketchy Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that may surprise you
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - Fritz - 06-30-2025
Caumsett is my neighbor and indeed rather nice. It's where I ride and walk to avoid cars.
croissant crawl
https://archive.ph/YZNlS
RE: Heading for New York, what to do? - August West - 06-30-2025
Hope you have a good trip.
Off the top of my head, museums are great, IIRC the Frick had a recent renovation. MOMA and its store are always fun to hit.
The Met is world-class opera, worth attending. Across from the Met, by Julliard, is the Walter Reade theater. If they are playing a film you like, go see it. It's not kept as tip top as I've seen it in the past, but it's a roughly 300 seat theater modeled after Ray Dolby's (RIP) South of Market screening room. I have not seen the other rooms they added, so I can only assume the have some quality.
I always seem to hit Bryant Park for a coffee and maybe a snack from Whole Foods when I'm having some time in Manhattan for some reason, and I'll hit some cooking stores, but you probably won't want to haul stuff back to Berserkeley.