A single saturday in NYC

[vonkaar]

So, Jen and I will be in NYC and only have 1 day to ourselves. Unfortunately, the rest of the trip is spoken for. This will be my first time in the city and she has only been once, when she was 8.

What should we do in 24 hours?

I've made my little list of things I want...
1) Ride in the NYC subways
2) Take a NYC cab and yell, "follow that cab!" when I get in... which I'm sure they've all heard a thousand times from loser tourists, but whatever
3) Eat a street-vendor NYC hotdog.

Everything else is gravy... shopping... shows... Statue of Liberty... that's all I really have on my 'have to do' list.

So... I ask again, what should we do?

[Arlos]

Get a street vendor Knish as well as the hotdog. Knishes are just awesome. Basically, it's breaded, spiced, deep-fried mashed potatoes. So bad for you, but insanely tasty. You should also get a real NYC pizza slice, so you can see just how bad of imitations "NY Style" pizza places are elsewhere in the country. Oh, and try a real NYC bagel or two as well. Huge difference from the crap you get at the supermarket.

Go to the Bronx Zoo, it's one of the best in the world, seriously. WELL worth going out of your way to see.

Go to the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Amazing views, honestly.

When you're riding on the subways, make special note how every single building you pass is topped with coils of razor wire, and every exposed surface is covered in graffiti. Serious amusement value. heh.

Much of Central Park is very nice as well, and well worth seeing during the day. Just don't go at night.

Go to the Natural History Museum. It's not as good as the Smithsonians, but it is most excellent.

The Statue of Liberty was pretty disappointing, actually. The museum at the base was really cool, though. The statue experience itself was as follows: Walk up a shitload of flights of stairs as part of a gigantic line of people, where you might go up 1 or 2 steps a minute, max. The inside is just green copper sheeting with reinforcing rods, and that's all you can see for the hour you're going up the stairs. Then, there's the head. The area in the head is maybe about as long as your average couch, basically just a long landing at the top of the stairs. The windows you see in all the pictures are approximately the same size as the windows on the airplane you flew to NYC in, just much dirtier and scratched to hell. Then, after you've walked your 6-8 feet through the head, it's another 30-something flights of stairs down, just faster because people go down faster than they go up. All in all, really not worth it, IMHO, especially since you have to deal with the time it takes to get ferried out there and back, etc.

It's been years and years since I went, but I actually liked the place. Despite the weather generally being vastly shittier than here in California, I'd definitely consider living there, if I was offered a decent enough job there. Just would make sure to have a place with Air Conditioning and an elevator. rofl. Oh, and probably would pick up a moped or motorcycle, since car traffic TRULY sucks donkey balls.

-Arlos

[vonkaar]

There's no way we'll get to the Bronx zoo... she's a 5th generation San Diegan (oan?) and is INCREDIBLY snobby about 'her' zoo. If it were just 'local' pride, it'd be one thing. But... her grandfather was one of the largest private benefactors to the zoo so she always had (still gets, actually) free tickets and VIP treatment whenever she went. The koala exhibit at the zoo was built pretty much for her... there is plaque at the exhibit that says something like, "this sanctuary is dedicated to the blahblah blahblah for my grandchildren, Norman G Levi" And since he only had 3 grandkids, Jen was the only one who cared about the zoo (and she was obsessed with Koalas) it's like, "her" koala place. So... yeah... she's a huge snob about the SD Zoo. I can't even get her to go to the Fort Worth Zoo, and it's a pretty decent one. The Dallas zoo is a giant asshole (they just had to give away their 1 Elephant, rofl), but the FTW zoo is nice.

My brother lives up there (his wedding is the reason for this trip) and always preaches Knish... so I guess we'll have to find some.

We want to have at least 1 'nice' restaurant experience... we've eaten at all the 'fine dining' in Dallas and that took all of like, 10 trips... but NY is the Mecca of foodies in America so any reccomendations would be appreciated =).

[Arlos]

From what I understand, the San Diego Zoo is the undisputed #1 zoo in the country, but the Bronx zoo comes in anywhere from #2 to #5, depending on who you talk to. It is world famous, and *I* certainly enjoyed the hell out of it, so if you CAN talk her into going, do so. Heck, why wouldn't she want to see the closest competition, so she can pass on ideas to make sure SD stays ahead?

I'm the wrong person to ask for fine dining in NYC, since it's literally been a decade since I've been there. Maybe consider going to Bobby Flay's place, the Mesa Grill? Then again, kinda redundant to go from Texas to a place in NYC just to get Southwestern US food... heh. Didn't the Japanese Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto start at Nobu in NYC? He's got his own place now, but supposedly Nobu is some of the best Japanese food in NYC.

Sorry to be such a downer about the Statue of Liberty, by the way, just don't want you to waste 3-4 hours of your one free day on something that will ultimately just be a disappointment.

Knishes will NOT disappoint you though. Be warned, they are addictive, though. heh. I've been jonesing for one for YEARS now...rofl.

-Arlos

[Reynaldo]

I heard there's a place in NYC called Jeckyl and Hyde or something where it's completely pitch dark inside, and once you get in the front door you get placed in a pitch black room and if you don't find the exit in a certain amount of time, you have to go back outside and get back in line.

Eating food in complete darkness and all that stuff. I dunno, the guy talking about it was hyping it up and said definitely a worthwhile experience.

[vonkaar]

Rey:
I like a little less torture with my food =p.

Arlos:
That seems to be the opinion I'm hearing from everyone about the statue. If anything, I mostly just wanted my picture taken in front of it... but the hotel we are staying at is right across the bay from the statue's island so maybe I'll just get a 'mini' picture instead =).

Also, we are absolutely avoiding any sort of driving... taxis and subway... that's it. Texas drivers are bad, Californians were worse... but from what I saw in Boston, I want nothing to do with the insane NE traffic unless a trained green-card driver is hauling me around.

[Tossica]

I was in NYC for a little over 24 hours back in March.

What we did:

Drove to Queens from Long Island and parked there.
Ate some kick ass mexican food at some hole in the wall place.
Got on the train and went to Grand Central and had a beer.
Went to Times Square and had a beer.
Went to Soho and had a beer.
Went to Chinatown and had a beer.
Went back to Queens and had a beer.
Found a polish bar and had some more beers and a sausage.
Went back to Long Island for some beer.

[10sun]

Take a walk along the Hudson side of Manhattan in the morning, check out the old ship terminals and maybe the Intrepid museum if it is open yet.

Check out Ellis Island; the place is loaded with history and has great views of the Manhattan skyline / Statue of Liberty... at the same time though, you could spend a day there too easily. You may want to go someplace a little easier to digest.

Perhaps Washington Square Park in SOHO? There is something going on there almost every day of the week. Worst case, you can get some ice cream and just sit and watch the world move past while at the fountain.

Lots of other stuff to do. Better you ask about locations than to ask people to design a tour for you I'd think. Do some research.

[Ginzburgh]

Go to Cafe Wha in Greenwich Village on Macdougal street. It's awesome. It hosts two shows a night, one at 9:00 and the other at midnight and each show consists of a 30 minute comedy act followed by one of the best house bands in new york city. They play everything from Stevie Wonder to Bob Marley to Radiohead.

It's the one place that i recommend to out-of-towners. I recommended it to Araby and I think she went and had a good time If I remember correctly.

http://www.cafewha.com

Make reservations on the website because there is typically a line at the door. If you have reservations you can just walk to the front of the line and get right in.

Your cafewha experience is always best when preceded by hanging out in Washington Square park right across the street and watching the street performers do their acts, which are always entertaining to say the least.

[araby]

Cafe Wha was a good time, indeed. Great music and food.

the other thing I would suggest doing is taking the Staten Island Ferry out and back, just to see the Manhattan skyline. I wouldn't even bother going to the Statue of Liberty, just view it from the boat. It doesn't take long, and it's worth it especially if you've never been before. I was especially glad I did that.

[Kramer]

if it's still there, try Rice in nolita, very tasty little hole in the wall, and grab a beer some where in alphabet city, and tasty puerto rican food!

[DangerPaul]

Go to the World Trade Center...
oh nevermind

[araby]

knock knock

[brinstar]

who is at the door

[araby]

9/11

[brinstar]

oh that's a shitty knock knock joke

[araby]

it was funny in text but whatever dork