New York City

WTC memorial site you won't see much of because they have a giant ass wall around it due to ongoing construction. You have to get a ticket to visit the actual memorial (they're free...goto their website and reserve a time), at which point you can go inside. It's easy enough to see the new buildings being constructed, though.

Empire State Building is basically just an office building...I assume you just want to go to the top and look? It gives you a good view of the city, but be prepared to wait a long ass time (and you gotta buy a ticket).

For museums, the Metropolitan Art Museum (not just famous art like stuff from Van Gogh, but also ancient artifacts from Egypt/Rome/etc) and the Natural History Museums are musts, IMO. They are world class museums with amazing collections.

The MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) is pretty cool too.

I saw Ratatat play a show at the Guggenheim back in '06. It was awesome. Definitely a cool museum, I'd hit that up too.

Madison Square Garden isn't much to behold from outside, might as well go in. And if you're in the mood for pizza go into Penn Station (underneath MSG) and go to Rosie's.

It's kind of a frou frou, but my wife and I had afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental the last time we were in NYC. It's on the southwest side of central park about 25 stories up, with floor to ceiling windows, so you get an amazing view of Central Park. The food and tea were pretty good too.

Another thing that we make sure we do is hit up a ramen place. Ippudo is the best (imo) and they have a new location called Ippudo Westside, which is in a much more convenient location in midtown. We've been to the Momofuku Noodle Bar as well, but it's definitely not as good as Ippudo.

Also, if you want to go to a Broadway show, you're probably too late to get tickets to the bigger ones for October (i.e. Book of Mormon), the cheaper seats sell out fast.

Also, regarding Le Bernardin, my wife and I ate there for the first time earlier this year. Amazing amazing meal. But one thing that I totally forgot about was tax/tip. We both got the 7 course tasting menu, so that's $300. With tax that's like $330. With tip it was like $390. I mean, we can afford it, but it was a little silly seeing our $300 check balloon that much.

In addition to Ippudo, Totto Ramen is also a great noodle shop.

If you enjoy stand-up comedy, you really should check out the Comedy Cellar. I go there every time I'm in NY. They have a surprise guest comedian every night and it's almost always a big name. Once it was Chris Rock. The most recent time I went it was Aziz Ansari. It's also cheap. Tickets are only $12 and there is a two drink minimum but beers are very reasonably priced - $5 I think. Reservations are necessary but one night beforehand is really all you need to do.

i would spend one whole day in central park. get a map and walk as much as you can. rent bikes if you want. it is all worth seeing from 60th street to 110th (the whole park). except skip the zoo - it's really lame as far as zoos go. pick a good weather day if possible obviously.

spend one day at the met(protip: it is always free - when you get a ticket you can give whatever you want including nothing)and natural history museums. one day each if you can afford to time-wise, otherwise do one in the morning and one in the afternoon. weekdays best and if you get a rainy day. they are both gigantic and treasures of this city. imho guggenheim and moma are both incredibly overpriced and lame unless there is something specific there you want to see. there are many other better, smaller museums but i'd give it a pass unless you love museums or you're only here a couple of days. i can recommend some smaller ones if anyone wants to tell me what you're into art-wise.

other than that i would pick aneighborhoodor two that sound interesting to you and just walk around for a morning or afternoon.

i also recommend checking out any plays, operas or dance for the nights you are here and just going to whatever sounds remotely interesting if you can swing it. particularly operas - sitting up in the cheap family circle is actually quite good too. it's really a cool experience at the met. i would skip musicals unless you love them. most suck really, really bad and you will want to die.

food-wise, you don't have to blow a load of money unless you really want to. tell me what kind of food you like best and i can make some recommendations. or just use google/yelp whenever you get hungry or ask someone with a dog where a good close restaurant is. essa-bagel is, however, the bomb.

i can't stress enough to skip the touristy areas, ie times square, 5th ave, empire state building. crowded and pointless. that said, it probably is worth riding on top of a tourist bus once around the city if the weather is good to get your bearings. other than that just take cabs or use the subway if you're good with subway systems.

happy to answer any other specific questions.

Adebisi_sl said:

There seems to be three shows at the Comedy Cellar. 8pm, 9pm, and 11:30pm on Wednesday for example. Are you booted out after each show?

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Yes, you're booted after each show. They go over sometimes though. The late night show is deemed the "nasty" show and the content tends to be a bit more adult.

9pm show has had both the Chris Rock and Aziz Ansari appearances so I'd likely go with that one.

If your into Authentic Chinese Food check out Shanghai Joes and get some soup dumplings (xiaolongbao, ???).
http://www.yelp.com/biz/joes-shanghai-new-york-2

Fiance and I make an effort to go here every-time we drop by NYC. Supercheap too.

My buddy and I drove down for a weekend a while back. Stayed like 2 blocks from time square.
Memorable things:
Time square at midnight being busier than downtown here (ottawa) @ 5 pm friday
Buying a fake rolex (had to do this) from a guy with the display in his coat
Going around a corner and seeing a huge line up, thinking its for some show or something, go round next corner, its for a shawarma stand
Chinatown, buying fake shit but u go like underground through a maze of sorts to a back room to see the goods
Getting off at the wrong exit in jersey and thinking "we are fucking dead men"

Cool place, 10 days woulda been alot better than 3:/

Adebisi_sl said:

Ooooo where can I buy piles of fake shit? Fake Vuitton for the Mrs.

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We were approached in chinatown, almost under the bridge across the harbor area.

Got the wife this coach bag, which apparently are big bucks and she said no one could tell. Didnt seem that hot to me but whatever

Edit
Go to the toyrsrus in time square! They had a fkink ferris wheel inside, and a lego trex that was probably 3 stories high. Also central park, its just a park but middle of metropolis i found that cool.

As everyone else has said, the Met and Museum of Natural History are bothessential. You'll need a full day for each (the Met even more-so than Natural History), and wear comfy shoes. I'm partial to the Museum of Natural History, as I'm not that big of an art buff, but both are truly awe-inspiring.

Beware of Elmo.

Eat whatever looks good.

Buy some street food and wander around Central Park.

Strand Book Store.

If you have medium/grande sized balls and want an adventure, take the 7 line into Queens and go wander around Jackson Heights/Corona near Citi Field. It's like an entirely different fucking country, but you can grab some awesome Colombian/Honduran/El Salvadorian food. Catch a Mets game too; they suck, but Citi Field is fantastic.