Headed there this weekend. (fri-sun) I have never been there? What should I see? Ground Zero is #1 on my list. Outside that, up for anything.

So many things....Central Park, Theatre District, Little Italy and China Town, Empire State Building, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, New York Public Library.

One must see if you are going to Ground Zero is the little Church (name escapes me) that is right next door...was not damaged (not even one pane of stained glass) when the towers went down and was a rest haven for the workers. Awe inspiring.....

just off the top of my head......

Times Square
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Grand Central Station
Rockefeller Center
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
Central Park
Chinatown
NYSE/Wall Street
Brooklyn Bridge
5th Avenue

A little more time required.....

Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
American Museum of Natural History (a favorite)

That should be a start

too much to see it all in one weekend.

Ground Zero isn't much more than a construction site now. Its interesting and all I guess but I wouldn't spend too much time there

you need to get a beer at McSorleys

I enjoyed the Ha! comedy club. You can get tickets discounted from guys on times square, its $10 a ticket , 2 drink/item minimum, so its not overly pricy if you were planning on getting hammered anyway.

don't bother with empire state building. wayyy too long a wait for what you end up getting. (a cool view). go to some other skyscraper that lets you go up to an observation deck.

Have cocktails at the Hudson Hotel before you head out to dinner.

For night life...I would highly recommend Crocodile Lounge. It's on E 14th St. between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.

They have the greatest drink special ever. For every beer you order, they give you a free pizza. Not a slice, not a personal pan pizza...a whole medium sized pizza...FOR EVERY BEER YOU ORDER! And the beers weren't that expensive either. I think I paid $4 for a Yuengling draft.

Don't bother going out to see that Statue of Liberty...takes like 4 hours round trip...You can see it from Battery Park just fine. If you were there for a week, I would recommend going out, but a weekend is not enough...you need more time!

sherm03 wrote: For night life...I would highly recommend Crocodile Lounge. It's on E 14th St. between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.

They have the greatest drink special ever. For every beer you order, they give you a free pizza. Not a slice, not a personal pan pizza...a whole medium sized pizza...FOR EVERY BEER YOU ORDER! And the beers weren't that expensive either. I think I paid $4 for a Yuengling draft.

Sherm, great call about the Crocodile Lounge, I have been there a bunch of times for the free pizza deal. They also have skee ball, I mean, come on! Fantastic.

Anyway, let me know what you are into (types of bars, restaurants, scene, etc) and I can point you in the right direction. Too much to see and do without a little more focused criteria to work with.

From someone who spent all of last summer living in Manhattan...

#1 Central Park -- The place is unbelievable. A man-made haven to "get away from it all." Truly unbelievable how much goes on there; and by "goes on there" I mean just seeing the people escape from the brick and mortar that encases NYC. It is truly an oasis in the middle of a concrete desert.

#2 Time Square -- The lights and colors are second to only Vegas. There is so much to do and see there it is truly amazing. I wasn't big on "checking out every venue." I simply preferred to just walk the streets.

#3 China Town -- DO NOT... I REPEAT... DO NOT purchase anything. You will simply be wasting your money. I purchased a Movado watch from some guy for like $25. This thing look legit as hell at the time. You know... you are all caught up in the moment, etc. This wasn't just one of those guys flashing bling on the streets, this was one of the guys who came from the houses. They say they just got it off the "trucks" and need to get rid of it as "fast as possible" because the item is "hot." He wanted to sell it to me for like $300. I figured, "It's probably fake, but $25 is worth the story to me;" besides, like I said, it looked extremely legit. Well.... after taking it home, and examining it a little closer, it definitely doesn't "wear well."

#4Empire State Building -- Be sure to go to the top. Yes it will be a long wait, approx 2-3 hrs, (DO NOT get suckered in by those Jamaican guys selling "fast passes"... that's complete b.s.) but it is definitely worth the view. To be at the top of the City and have an eagle-eye view is breathtaking.

#5 Statue of Liberty -- If you want to see the Statue of Liberty, take the Staten Island Ferry. It's free. It travels pretty darn close to the Statue (close enough that you can get some amazing pictures), and best of all you will only have to wait like 20 min as opposed to the DAY-LONG lines which charge up to (I think) $50 per person to travel over to the Island and then you have to seriously wait like almost and entire day to get on the boat. Trust me... you will thank me later.

#6 Grand Central Station -- Do it. It may sound lame and cheezy, but it is amazing to see how everything feeds all into one central location. Truly an awe-inspiring moment.

#7 Metropolitan Museum of Art -- Want a little secret? You don't have to pay the SUGGESTED $35 per person. Read the fine print... it reads "SUGGESTED." When you go up to the ticket station, simply hand the lady (or gent) $1 and you will receive your admission ticket. True story.

** In all honesty, there really is nothing (at least nothing was up when I was there just this past summer) to see at Ground Zero. I told my girlfriend at the time (who is a native of NYC) that I really, badly wanted to go see Ground Zero and she tried constantly talking me out of it. Then, finally, one day I convinced her to take me. When we got there, I saw exactly what she meant. They have the perimeter walled up with these 15 foot walls. You can't see a damn thing. Yes it is striking to be at the foot of one of the world's most historical moments, but honestly there is nothing to see or do there (yet). I would HIGHLY suggest saving this for when the memorials are erected.

** Honestly, the best things to do are to just go to the parks and catch all the people. All the street entertainers and performers. Seriously.

If you are into "hippies", be sure to go to The Village. It is basically as "liberal" as you can get. It was not my thing, but it was just kinda really cool to see all the "liberal" movements. There is also an AMAZING french fry place that serves a bunch of different sauces. It's literally a hole-in-the-wall type place, but it is extremely delicious.

Blue Ribbon in SoHo is our favorite restaurant (tied with Gramercy Tavern):

http://www.blueribbonrestaurants.com/rests_brass_man_main.htm

We went there once a month when we lived in NYC together from '03 to '06. They don't take reservations for small parties, but it is incredible.

Thanks For The Help.
Friday-Leave Pitts. 10:30am.
Staying At The Tudor Hotel. I Guess Its Next To The United Nations Building.
Ground Zero And Dinner At The Oyster Bar.
Saturday Is Up In The Air. I Want To Hang Around Time Square. We'll See What The Wife Wants.
Sunday St Pats. For Church And The Waldorf(?) For Brunch.

Taking Our 4 Year Old Son. In-Laws and Brother and Sister In Laws Are Coming In From Vegas. Hopefully The In Laws Will Watch Him 1 Night.

Go to Brooklyn on Foulton Ave. (Under the bridge) get some Gramaldi's Pizza, Then walk down to the pier for dessert and get some Brooklyn Ice Cream which was voted best in NYC.
Then to work it off walk accross the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhatten. You won't regret it.

sherm03 wrote: For night life...I would highly recommend Crocodile Lounge. It's on E 14th St. between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.

They have the greatest drink special ever. For every beer you order, they give you a free pizza. Not a slice, not a personal pan pizza...a whole medium sized pizza...FOR EVERY BEER YOU ORDER! And the beers weren't that expensive either. I think I paid $4 for a Yuengling draft.

You fuckin' with us? That is awesome!

Another thing
get a weekend subway pass.
much cheaper and unlimited riding.
Don't do cabs, too expensive.
When we go we either take the subway or walk.
Another free thing
Take the Staten Island Ferry over and back. Goes past the Statue of Liberty.

sherm03 wrote: For night life...I would highly recommend Crocodile Lounge. It's on E 14th St. between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.

They have the greatest drink special ever. For every beer you order, they give you a free pizza. Not a slice, not a personal pan pizza...a whole medium sized pizza...FOR EVERY BEER YOU ORDER! And the beers weren't that expensive either. I think I paid $4 for a Yuengling draft.

I would go to NYC just for this deal.

Empire State Observation Deck...just don't jump off

justincredible wrote:

sherm03 wrote: For night life...I would highly recommend Crocodile Lounge. It's on E 14th St. between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.

They have the greatest drink special ever. For every beer you order, they give you a free pizza. Not a slice, not a personal pan pizza...a whole medium sized pizza...FOR EVERY BEER YOU ORDER! And the beers weren't that expensive either. I think I paid $4 for a Yuengling draft.

You fuckin' with us? That is awesome!

He is not. I have experienced this as well.

Scarlet_Buckeye wrote:

#7 Metropolitan Museum of Art -- Want a little secret? You don't have to pay the SUGGESTED $35 per person. Read the fine print... it reads "SUGGESTED." When you go up to the ticket station, simply hand the lady (or gent) $1 and you will receive your admission ticket. True story.

This is true of every publicly funded museum in the city. Don't be embarrassed to do this. These museums get a lot of funding from both public and private donors.

Certain museums, including MoMA and the Guggenheim do not receive public funding and unfortunately you do have to pay the full entrance fee, but if you enjoy art it can be worth it.

justincredible wrote:

sherm03 wrote: For night life...I would highly recommend Crocodile Lounge. It's on E 14th St. between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.

They have the greatest drink special ever. For every beer you order, they give you a free pizza. Not a slice, not a personal pan pizza...a whole medium sized pizza...FOR EVERY BEER YOU ORDER! And the beers weren't that expensive either. I think I paid $4 for a Yuengling draft.

You fuckin' with us? That is awesome!

No lie man. It was crazy. Me and my buddy walk into the bar, and I ordered a Yuengling and the girl goes, "is it ok if your pizza is plain?" And I was like, "excuse me?" She says, "we've had a rush and don't have any pepperoni left." I guess my face looked really confused because she followed it with, "you do want the free pizza right? You get a free pizza with every beer." It was the most amazing deal I had ever heard of.

I want to live above this place.

Here is a pic of the Crocodile Lounge, and the famous free pizza:

BigAppleBuckeye wrote: Here is a pic of the Crocodile Lounge, and the famous free pizza:

Holy canoli