What would you do and where would you go if you were in NYC for 5 days?

How old are you?

I like the touristy things in that city, art museums, history museums, statue of liberty, empire state building, carriage through central park, Broadway show, off Broadway show go to Chelsea to check out the ‘individuals’.

And stop by 23rd St in Chelsea.
Amazing Pizza.

I am a Manhattan rat. Love Central Park. Also Little Italy has some of the most incredible food on the planet.
Times Square
Art Museums
42nd St.

Look up NY Live cams- there is a free version I like to watch.

go see “you’re welcome america” starring will ferrell

If you are visiting NY on a monday night, you should visit the Village Vanguard jazz club and see the monday night big band there. Amazing.

The museum of modern art, The museum of natural history is a must, it’s different from just about anywhere else and is huge. The Brooklyn botanical gardens are beautiful, and of course central park, you could spend multiple days doing stuff there. Don’t know if the ice skating would still be going on.

Statue of Liberty.
Times Square
At least two or three shows on Broadway (Lion King leaps to mind)
Central Park
World of Disney store
that giant toy store whose name I can never remember, and was featured in the movie “Big”

I live in NYC and my favorite things are:

Museum of Sex
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
Bronx Zoo
Top of the Rock (don’t go to the Empire State building – Top of the Rock is practically an identical view, is heaps cheaper, and requires almost zero wait time, as opposed to the two hours or whatever that the Empire St building will have)
St. Marks Place
Art Galleries in Chelsea
The MoMA
The Metropolitan Museum
The Guggenheim (although it’s a little pricey)
The Cooper-Hewitt Museum
The Frick
The Whitney Museum
The Natural History Museums
Chinatown
Prospect Park in Brooklyn
The Cloisters (although it’s WAY uptown – I’m talking 193rd st.)
Times Square is a waste of time; it’s just a bunch of stores you can find other places.
See a Broadway show (although a lot of them are closing because of the economy)
Go to a comedy club, if you can find one with no cover charge (or one under like 5–10 bucks; be aware that there may be a drink minimum – usually two – and that those drinks may be pricey. Most clubs are not all ages as well.)

The best food I’ve found:
Diner food – Cozy Soup n’ Burger on Astor Place
Mac and Cheese – S’mac on 12th St
Pizza – Two Bros on St. Marks (a slice is 1.00; can’t beat that!)
Vegetarian/Vegan – Angelica’s Kitchen on 12th St
Halal – Rafiqi’s Cart (get chicken and lamb on rice with white and hot sauce) which are all over the city
Chinese – Yummy House on 3rd Ave
Waffles – Le Petit Belge on 14th at Union Square
Dessert – Max Brenners on either Union Square or 3rd Ave
Frozen Yogurt – 16 Handles (WAY better than Pinkberry, no matter what anyone tells you)

I can tell you more, if you give me a kind of food, they’re just a little hard to come up with off the top of my head…

I’m in Brooklyn, and I say, “Come see us!” I feel like Marty Markowitz now. He’s our borough president and a real booster, but anyway.

We have the Brooklyn promenade. We have Prospect Park (as mentioned by Tits). We have the Brooklyn Museum. We have the ocean (a train ride away on the F, N, R, or A trains). We have galleries and DUMBO, which has many opportunities for artsy photography. I think there’s even a hip-hop history walking tour. The best pizza in NYC, nay, America, is in Brooklyn. No sleep ‘til Brooklyn!

@MrItty – That’s F.A.O. Schwartz.

If you like Italian food go to Little Italy the restaurants there are great but a bunch of yuppies like to hang out there too. Go to Peter Leugers steakhouse for some awesome steak of course.

@MrItty , you’re thinking FAO Schwartz.

@LKidKyle, a few other things from a New Yorker:

The Museum of Natural History is right next to the Planetarium. Go early and see both on the same day.

Depending upon WHEN you come, the Yankees and the Mets have brand new stadiums you might want to check out. (The Yankees in the Bronx; the Mets in Queens).

Look up the following Restaurants: Mars 2112, Russian Tea Room, Tavern on the Green, Jeckyl and Hyde.

also Chinatown and Little Italy are right around the corner from each other. Again, a same day thing. Then go to the South Street Seaport.

Do take a look at Ground Zero, where the World Trade Centers used to be.

If you are near Rockefeller Center around 7 am, be part of the “Today Show” crowd and wave to your friends from television. Also take the tour of NBC.

Cower in my hotel room!

Not really, I lived there five years, but it seems appropriate.

I would go to the Museum of Natural History, the Planetarium, MOMA, see a Broadway Show (at least one), SoHo, Greenwich Village, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Bldg. And definitely take a horse and carriage ride thru Central Park (in the evening). Some things to do are strictly daytime while others are meant for the evening. It is easy in NYC to do several things in a day and enjoy all of them.

Here’s a little secret New York mothers tell their New York children:

Be wary of the outdoor push cart vendors (like the hot dog vendors). Don’t even THINK about buying from them if they’re not wearing plastic gloves dedicated to the food while they handle the food. Some of these vendors quickly go to the bathroom between cars and, well, there’s no place for them to wash their hands.

One thing I would add. Most TV shows offer free tickets. If you know your dates in advance you can get them. The Daily Show with John Stewart, David Letterman, anything that tapes in New York.

Yes, don’t eat the dirty water dogs! Frank Zappa didn’t write that song, but you listen to @Mr_M!

Yes, actually truth be told, I NEVER buy from them, plastic gloves or not.

@Mr_M: Mars 2112 was such a waste of time and money :( I never buy hotdogs, but I do get halal food on the street sometiems. I LOVE RAFIQIS.

When did you go?

Like two years ago. Over priced, kitchsy, and the food wasn’t very good. Bleh.

Interesting. Well, one thing it’s got going for it is that it is directly across the street from the Winter Garden Theater which has the musical play “Mama Mia” right now.

@OP – There’s a lot more interesting restaurants that are cheaper, with better food and are more representative of the real New York City than Jekyll & Hyde and Mars 2112. The locals I know believe them to be tourist traps. Here’s a Zagat’s group of listings.

I meant this answer for the OP.

I AM a local and sure, there are better and cheaper restaurants, but those are fun and different to a lot of people.

I am local as well, and I don’t like it, haha.

I wouldn’t expect you to.

you can make your own muppet at fao schwartz!

eat at Pommes Frites. Seriously. So good.

Catch a show (Wicked is amazing, as is Avenue Q)
depending on when you’re there: see the Yankees
visit Toys R Us in Times Square (I don’t care how old you are it’s awesome).
Head out to Brooklyn as mentioned above by @aprilsimnel lots of cool shit there (also if you like Falafel and happen to be out in Brooklyn Mr. Falafel in Park Slope is SO GOOD).
When it’s nice my favorite thing to do is stop by Jamba Juice then wander around Central Park
The Zoos (Central Park or Bronx) are both really cool, and so are the Museums (I personally love Natural History and MoMA).
I’m sure I could go on forever.

When I visited NYC I enjoyed Times Square (you gotta go there late at night, it is amazing), Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Greenwich Village, MoMA. Personally I thought the Red Line Tour and the Empire State Building were a wast of time. (Listen to Tits about the Empire State Building, it is crowded, expensive and really run down.) Ride the subway and take a cab. Also, it is worth seeing the World Trade Center site, it truly is hallowed ground and it is a very moving experience. Wear the most comfortable shoes you have as you will be walking A LOT!

If the weather is good, my favorite thing to do in New York is just walk – I love walking through all the different neighborhoods, looking at the buildings, watching the people. I used to go to NYC for work every May, and I always stayed near Times Square – on my day off, I would walk all the way down Fifth Avenue, from Rockefeller Center to Washington Square Park, with detours along the way to visit all of my favorite places.

Among my favorites:

- Strand Bookstore
– Max Brenner – chocolate heaven!
– NY Public Library
– St. Patrick’s Cathedral
– sitting in Washington Square Park with a book I just bought at Strand, drinking hot chocolate from Max Brenner’s…

I also always meet my friends at Serendipity for desserts – the ice cream sundaes are the best!

@sdeutsch Strand is amazing! I can’t believe I forgot it on this list. I remembered it the last time someone asked this question!

@adreamofautumn I know – I can spend hours just wandering around in Strand! It’s probably a good thing that I don’t live in NYC – it keeps me from buying more books than will fit in my suitcase!

Street vendor bagels for breakfast, mornings at a museum, deli or bakery for lunch, afternoons to shop, evening for a great dinner, show or both. See the Statue of Liberty if it’s your first trip and don’t skip Ellis Island. The trolley bus tour is actually pretty fun if it’s nice enough to sit on the top deck.

In the summer, if I’m on my terrace, every time I see a tour bus drive by my building, I wave at the passengers.

@aprilsimnel that’s so cute! I’m less nice to tourists than I should be. I try though! I swear!

@aprilsimnel and @adreamofautumn : I’m not very nice to tourists either, but I will stop to ask if someone needs directions, and give them. I’m definitely meaner to the Children’s International people and those guys selling salon visits for some ridiculous amount of money who always try to stop me when I’m on my way to class.