AZS2KDancer

I've always loved visiting the city. I'll keep this list for future reference. I used to date a gal in Brooklyn, so going to the beach in the summer, or taking the train into Manhattan, walking the museums, visiting Lady Liberty, Broadway and off Broadway shows, the above lists are fantastic.

There's a saying that say if you're tired of London, you're tired of life. But I think it applies to New York City, too.

ralper

55. Visit the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, better known as the Guggenheim, it is housed in a unique building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Both the building and the museum are outstanding. The Guggenheim is on 5th Avenue near 86th Street.

56. If you are a sports fan, and you've already gone to Citifield for the Mets and Yankee Stadium for the Yankees, try to get tickets to see the Giants (almost impossible to get tickets) or the Jets (I'm a Jets fan, but they've been terrible for the last few years and I hear tickets are available). Both Play in Met Life Stadium across the Hudson in New Jersey's Meadowlands. Go to Madison Square Garden at 34th and Eight for the Rangers, Knicks and some really good concerts. (Madison Square Garden is neither square or a garden, but years and years ago it was located in Madison Square Park at 23rd and Broadway, hence its name.) If you go to Madison Square Garden, if you can get tickets, you might run into Spike Lee at a Knicks game and any number of other celebrities. Go to the new Barclay Center on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, a short subway ride, to see the Brooklyn Nets (yea Brooklyn) and next year the New York Islanders. You probably won't have to stand on line for tickets to these games (I know the rest of the nation stands in line, but us New Yorkers stand on line.) Or, you can take the PATH train (if its recovered from Sandy) to Newark to see the New Jersey Devils play at the beautiful Prudential Center (yes I know we lost Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalachuk but you still have a chance to see Martin Brodeur, perhaps the greatest goalie of all time, before he retires). Also, the New York Liberty of the WNBA play at the Pru Center in Newark and you can usually get free tickets. We went to one of their games a few weeks ago, sat at courtside and had a great time.

57. Take a tour of the NBC studios. See where Saturday Night Live, The Nightly News with Brian Williams and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon comes from. CBS' David Letterman's studio is also in New York and if you plan ahead you might be able to get tickets to one of his shows.

58. The New York City Transit Museum. Housed in a no longer used IND subway station in Brooklyn Heights, the museum is host to subway cars from almost every generation of the New York Subway system along with items used over the years. It's really quite a fascinating exhibit and well worth the few hours spent.

59. Rockefeller Center. A nice area in midtown Manhattan. I've never been to the observation deck but I hear it's quite nice. You and your lady can rent ice skates (fall and winter) and spend a few hours ice skating. A very New York thing to do. If you're lucky enough to be in New York at Christmas time you absolutely must see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. It is amazing. Generally, Rock Center is very crowded at holiday time but you can also go into Central Park, to the Wolman Skating Rink, and spend a few hours ice skating there. I'm not sure if the Central Park carousel is open all year round, but if it is you and your lady should be kids again and take a ride. It's a fun thing to do.

MsPerky

The +1 and his son are going to a Giants game tonight and a Mets game on Tues. They are vacationing in NJ/Hershey Park with Grandma.

DiamondDave2005

The best things about the observation deck (Top of the Rock) are that it's way less crowded than the Empire State Building, and it has three levels to view from. When you go up there, head for the top level. There are unobstructed views up there as they don't need glass barriers around it, and it makes for much better photography.

Sample pics: You can see the second level observation deck in this one. That deck has glass all around it, but it does have gaps that you can poke a camera through.


The observation deck at the Empire State Building was packed that evening.


Another nice outing is on a sailboat. I did this with my parents back in May - http://www.sail-nyc....erica-2.0-sails

It didn't cost much more than the Circle Line, but we had 13 passengers on a boat built for 75. They are still talking about it three months later I snapped a pic of the Circle Line boat from our yacht that day, and it looked like a can of sardines.



Sailing by lady Liberty



L.A. Burdick had the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted, plus awesome desserts and artisan chocolate.

http://www.burdickchocolate.com/stor...cafes-nyc.aspx

ralper

Chris,

I'm curious. Did you ever get to spend a weekend in New York? Did you like it?

cdubea

My apologies.

No we didn't go. My daughter, who is a Secret Service agent, advised us that the UN General Assembly was the scheduled during our planned weekend and advised that we wait. So we did.

Funny thing is, I'm having an unplanned vacation thanks to our illustrious lawmakers, and have some time on my hands.

I've got a bathroom rehab I'm in the middle of so that has first priority, but once I get to a stopping point with that (waiting for the granite guys) I'll look at scheduling something.

Thanks all for all the awesome advise.

I REALLY appreciate it!

One thing I will do for sure when I'm there is visit B & H Photo. As a photographic hobbyist I've always wanted to see that place. I'm certain that my credit card won't be so enamored though....

Heyitsgary

If you do, say hi to Norm (F1-Fanatic). He's a member on S2Ki and a former (if not still current) owner.

dlq04

Bought my last camera from B&H. Small world.

ralper

Be very careful at B & H. The merchandise is so nice and the prices are so good it's very easy to spend much more than you planned on. Its a great store.

If you do go to B & H you'll only be one Avenue block (Avenue blocks are about 1 1/2 times longer than street blocks. 20 street blocks make a mile. Avenue blocks are the distance between one avenue and another, street blocks the distance between streets) away from Penn Station and only about 2 1/2 Avenue blocks from Herald Square and Macy's. Macy's 34th Street is the flagship Macy's of the chain and quite an interesting store to visit. Herald Square is directly in front of Macy's where Broadway and 7th Avenue cross. You've seen Herald Square on TV during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is an old statue of Horace Greeley, the founder of the now defunct New York Herald, in Herald Square.

Herald Square is where the New York Herald was published back in the day just as Times Square is where the New York Times used to come from.

Today I heard on the news that F.A.O. Schwartz, the venerable old toy store on 5th Avenue and 58th Street may be closed. It seems it's current owner, Toys R Us, thinks the real estate is more valuable than the store. Make a point of stopping into F.A.O. Schwartz, its a New York institution with not too much time left to live. If your children (or grandchildren) are into stuffed animals, F.A.O. Schwartz is the store to see. Just bring a whole lot of money!

ralper

The three of us are heading into the city this morning. Adam has taken up photography as a hobby so we're going to visit B & H Photo. I'm sure we'll have lunch at Big Wong's in Chinatown and spend the rest of the day just walking around. More later about all of the interesting things we see.