What is your favorite thing to do in NYC?

Sit around Columbus Circle or Union Square and people watch with a cup of coffee.

On the corner of 8th and 57th is a pizza shop. If you order a slice it is like the size of three slices. Frigin great pizza and the next block up is central park.

Riding the subway, the smell of piss. (really) Walking the city, and Sunday mornings are magical.

Just being in the city is my favorite thing to do.

This isn’t a favorite thing but I would suggest going to see the grounds of the (former) World Trade Center.

When I was there, it was to visit family, but they now live in California, so there’s nothing there that would convince me to come back. I do like looking at the museums online.

I was just asking this now because I wondered what everyone else’s favorite thing was to do in NYC, since I had just visited for several days earlier, but SirBailey, right now the city is building a “monumental” (tee hee) plaza thing which will hold a new and improved memorial, along with several new glittery buildings. In other words, there is some very tall mud-wrapping and fencing surrounding the site, and anything originally there is shut.

Though I’ve only been there once, the movies are enough to convince me that the best thing to do would be to walk around the city in a nice neighbourhood, or to sit around the busiest area of downtown, watching to people rush by, or maybe just lounging in Central Park…

get away from the stank

seriously, it smells!

I have visited more than half of the states of the US and NY was my least favorite.

@Fred931 , I know. I live in NY.

Thing? So many THINGS.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, especially if your relatives came through there.

If you love art MOMA and the Metropolitan museum of art are amazing, if itis summer you can go to the terrace at the Met and look out onto central park.

American Museum of Natural history, especially the new planetarium, especially if you have kids with you.

Stage Deli for a pastrami on rye with a Dr. Brown’s cream soda.

Bloomingdale’s (no tax on all garments less than $110 or maybe it is $150???)

Macy’s is still the largest department store in the world I think? For sure in the USA, but it is very crowded usually.

Baby Cakes brownies are gluten free and AMAZING. The store is downtown.

I like using the subway, but then I am into transportation and love the history of it. Grand Central is worth seeing too, in so many movies. There is a small transportation museum in Grand Central (the main one is in Brooklyn I think) that I like, it takes 30 minutes and you can buy trinkets there like umbrellas and t-shirts with NY subway letters.

Oh @SirBailey

I love looking at architecture, so visiting some of the incredible churches they have.

You know, reading my answers and reading all of yours, I realize just how much I take NYC for granted sometimes.

(though just sitting and watching people from all walks of life is my favorite thing to do)

(Preferably on a cool Autumn day with a girl snuggled up next to me)

The Metropolitan Museum is like a seventh wonder of the world. Must visit each time I am in the city. And then, everything, walking on the streets, finding new restaurants (all seem to be pretty good), and the other fantastic museums, the people, Central Park (check out strawberry fields, the skaters on the weekends), try and see some good theater (tickits-tickits for discount tickets that night), and I also love the Y on 92nd street, that always has great speakers just about every night.

Forgot pizza…hell food in general…lots of good food. I love the eggplant parmesian at Fresh basils on Lexington near 56th. Yum!

Wicked is awesome if you have not seen it yet.

Watching people in Union Square on a nice summer afternoon.

And during the summer there are free movies and concerts and more in central park.

The 92nd Street Y is amazing, as is the Met.

I literally know it like the back of my hand, I’ve been there so many times. I used to work in the are and would just go there when I had down time to site and write.

I’m with @Grisaille and with @Deepness
absolute freedom when I lay down in union square
I feel accepted

Also, the film festivals. Really amazing film festivals, from all different parts of the world/genres.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I know. No matter who you are, you’re accepted there.

Ah… I feel like going to NYC….

If I’m still fluthering by then, it would be pretty cool if someone here could be a guide.

No pressure at all. hint hint =P

When in NYC, I like to bash the left coast, and in particular those very strange, and scary “people” that call Los Angeles” home…..wtf

@whatthefluther Seriously, what’s with you guys?

Why was everyone smiling at me when I was over there?

And the direct eye contact?!

You Westernerers are rude.

@Grisaille….With that innocent New Yorker look, you undoubtedly got hit on by scores of people from both sexes and everything in-between (and we are very proud of the everything in-betweeners here in L.A). Yeah, I guess I should have warned you, but some how it was more fun to not). See ya…..wtf

@Grisaille We midwesterners are very kind.

@whatthefluther I’m not gonna lie. I was; when was around the LACC – even on the bus going there – I was “talked” to by people of all orientations.

That was, until I opened my flapper and my thick Bronx accent came flyin’ out. I really did stick out like a sore thumb :P

@jonsblond Oh, I know. I’m just teasin’ you folk.

@Grisaille….Groans and grunts would have gotten you anywhere you wanted to go, but you open your mouth and it spells…...oh my goodness…...it spells….THE YANKEES, METS, KNICKS, ETC….ouch!!! See ya….wtf

@Grisaille No really. We’re very f*ckin kind in these parts!

<chews on piece of Timothy grass>

@whatthefluther That’s Yankees. And always The Yankees, my friend.

AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT

@jonsblond Woah, slow down. I believe you… honest! You aren’t gonna pull out a shotgun or anything, right?

I’ve heard some stories…

@Grisaille,....Yeah and you can take your NYC, Boston, D.C. and all the Florida swamps and shove it.. Everyone knows L.A., San Francisco, Portland and Seattle and points in between (OK add San Diego) is where it is happening! Damn wrong-coasters!

@jonsblond….Don’t listen to @Grisaille,....wait exactly which side of the Mississippi are you on?

I’ll tell you what. We’ll take Seattle, the suicide capital of the United States, and you take Florida and we’ll call both sides even.

Deal?

…please?

@Grisaille….Deal….we get @jonsblond…you keep the gators…..wtf

I’ll take both coasts! San Diego and La Jolla are awesome! Went for my first time just a few months ago. NY, FL, D.C. love them all. By the way if you love NY you have to go to Tokyo—amazing.

@JLeslie Believe it or not, because I booked my flight/hotel so late (the Expo I went to draws in about 70k people), I probably spent as much money going to and in L.A. as I would if I went to Tokyo. Really.

And I really wanna go to Japan. :[

@whatthefluther I ‘m 60 miles east of the Mississippi. I’m located in the middle of nowhere but the center of awesomeness.

@jonsblond….Aw….true west coast mentality! We carved you guys out to our side and let them keep the gators. Win-win for us! See ya….wtf

@jonsblond
@YARNLADY
If you haven’t fallen in love with NY, you really never experienced NY. And NY is more than a city, it’s a state with mountains and beautiful beaches and tree lined estates.
Tell me one thing you can do or experience anywhere else and I’ll give you 100 that you can do in NY.

I go to a lot of free concerts at the Bandshell, and at the piers, at South Street Seaport and in WIlliamsburg. Every band you could possibly imagine comes through here.

Except Regurgitator.

@SeventhSense….Maybe get a suntan and eat fresh local produce 12 months out of the year, here in L.A.? And that is for starters! Actually, NYC is very nice…..for a visit!

@wtf
ok lately it’s been wet and you can’t compete with the CA weather but…
You can do that here or here or here
or the great lawn in Central Park
And Produce? How about fresh produce from every nation on earth daily FEDEX.

@SeventhSense

I love the wilderness. Nothing compares to this. Porcupine Wilderness State Park, uppper pen. Michigan

@jonsblond
Except this

@SeventhSense I’ll give you that, but that’s not in the “city”. I’m not a city girl btw.

@SeventhSense…In all seriousness, I can’t include Los Angeles among the great cities of the world, where NYC rightly belongs. San Francisco, yes, but L.A. just doesn’t have the concentrated splendor of NYC or the others. Our splendor is hardly vertical…it is sprawling under and basking in the warm Southern California sunshine. But we do have The World Champion Los Angeles Lakers!

@SeventhSense Since when does NYC stand for the state of New York?

@YARNLADY
It’s a state of mind

@Grisaille Save up frequent flyer miles so you can upgrade. Tokyo is a looonnnggg flight.

Brooklyn.

@jonsblond
& @YARNLADY
No my references are not all in NYC but this thread is not about comparing other places to NY either so it’s all good. And there is a common prejudice that NY is all urban sprawl and decay. Yes there are certainly issues that one would not find in a small town including some dirt and grime but the good far outweighs it in the form of cultural institutions, learning institutions, culinary institutions, entertainment institutions, medical institutions, and a cultural diversity that is found nowhere else on earth. It’s not a fluke that the United Nations is headquartered here nor is it a fluke that Manhattan was attacked on 9/11. Most major radio, television, and telecommunications companies in the United States are based here, as well as many news, magazine, book, and other media publishers. It is the heart of this great nation’s engine.
effin’ haters ~_~

Museums, and more museums. I love MOMA, the Met, the Cloisters, the Guggenheim, the AMNH, and so many others.

A few people have told me they like the cruise around the city, I’ve never done it. I’ve been told to take the one that doesn’t last too long, maybe an hour???

And, a girlfriend of mine did that hop on hop off bus thing. She’s been to NY a bunch of times, even I have gone with her twice, but the last time she went with her boyfriend they did the hop on hop off and she loved it.

@Darwin Let’s not forget the Sex Museum, the Transit Museum and TV & Radio Museum.

Man, we’ve got a ton ‘em, eh?

@Grisaille The best part of the transit museum is the old ads on the subway cars downstairs.

Isn’t that the same city that called a woman “the world’s worst Mom” for letting her 9 year old child ride the subway alone? And the same city that has blue lined areas where cab drivers will not go? I remember getting off the plane with my three month old son, and wondering what is that horrible smell, and it turned out to be the air, everywhere.

@YARNLADY when were you there?

@JLeslie In her defense, our city does smell.

@YARNLADY New York City is a bad place because one woman amongst 10 million is a crap parent? That’s akin to saying Iranians are bad people because Ahmadinejad is a jerk.

And no, there is no place in NYC that a cab will not go. Not only is a gross overstatement of the nature of the city itself (mayhaps true in the 70–80s), there is a law stating that a cab driver is obligated to take you anywhere in the city. It wasn’t introduced because cab drivers felt they were unsafe in certain areas, it was because they didn’t want to stray too far off their usual routes (taking people a few blocks, picking up someone else, lather, rinse, repeat). People who wanted to go to an outer borough would be denied a ride; local officials realized that was wrong, they acted on it.

And as for the smell, yeah. We’re commercial/industrial heavy over here. Can’t blame you on disliking that.

I just have to defend NYC for minute. Back in the day before cell phones, if you asked someone for change for the pay phone and they did not have 4 quarters, they would just GIVE you a quarter so you could make your call. This happened to me more than one occasion. My grandmother when she fell in the street…two women helped her up and to a shop on the corner. The people working there called an abulance for her and the two women stayed with her until the ambulance came. Every time I take the bus from the airport I never know when my stop is coming up for the subway…the driver always remembers to tell me when to get off. I have more but I won’t take up space.

Just wondering about this 9 year old…did he live in the city and use the subway all of the time? Probably was not that big of a deal then I’m thinking. In the middle of the day basically every stop has someone working in the booth, and he probably had a cell phone. Did anything bad happen to him/her?

I saw a thing with that kid and his mom on the evening news. The kid had a phone, money, and did the route a bunch of times. I can’t think of a safer place for the kid to be. One scream and 50 people are looking into what happened.

I went to NYC in 1980. My Hubby and his parents were born and raised there. They all live in California now.

To be honest, I also read a report on a test of ‘honesty’ in US cities, the lost wallet bait, and dropped money bait were returned more often in NYC than any other city.

@YARNLADY NYC was just starting to get better in the 80’s. It had a little bit of a bad run in the 70’s for crime, grafiti, etc.

@YARNLADY Well, that’s awfully nice of you to admit.

Though, you drop money, it’s mine.

I’m kidding.

Maybe not.

Drive around Manhattan at night, walk around the Times Square area at lunchtime.

I only found myself in NYC by accident, in may 2001. I had to be in NJ for 3 days for business, but I ended up having nothing to do for 2½ days so I just drove around and after a while was intrigued by signs that said “New York (or NYC) 40miles”, or something like that. I was so unhappy to leave warm and sunny Central Florida, especially just days before having to go back to goddamned france that I had not even bothered to look at a map before leaving, let alone learn anything about the area. When I saw the signs I just thought there probably was a New York in NJ, just like there’s a Paris in Texas, Michigan, france and other places. I had nothing better to do so I went to check it out, passed through a tunnel and found myself in NYC, then realized it was the real deal.

So I just drove around, all night, but I stuck to Manhattan because I had no map, no GPS, and no one on hand. I was just mesmerized by everything I saw, like someone had built that place just for me and surprised me with this gift.

At around 2am I decided to walk around a little, in the Times Square area. I just took it all in. But some random guy was walking next to me, casually hitting his pal with a chair, made a bit of conversation with me, ended up inviting me to crash at his place, so I figured it was better to drive than walk, at night at least.

Ar around 4am I was involved in a wreck. Some guy didn’t see the red light and hit my car, fortunately there was only cosmetic damage. I had heard so many horror stories about New Yorkers down in Florida, including this one: as I used to hear, if you were involved in a car accident with a New Yorker, they pinned the whole thing on you and their cops would go along because they covered for one another. I was a bit nervous but the guys were great, they took full responsibility, the cops were professional, in fact I was so pleasantly surprised that this annoying incident turned into a positive experience. So I went back to driving.

I only stopped driving at 11am. Parked the car, walked by a hair salon, got a haircut, found a small restaurant, got lunch, and then I spent 3 hours walking around Times Square. Went back into the car and drove around Manhattan. I had heard so often that driving in Manhattan was a nightmare, especially at rush hour. It ended up being a blast because it was so easy to get by, compared to Paris in france or just about any Italian city.

At around 7pm I was tired, wanted to sleep, finally, so as I was unable to find a room in a decent Manhattan hotel I just went back to NJ.

To this day it’s remained one of my fondest memories.

I live in the West Village but I will head over to Williamsburg in Brooklyn on the weekends. There are tons of great food and drink places.

I guess I am a “Reversed” Bridge and Tunnel.

My favorite museum is the Museum of Natural History. I make sure to always stop in there. I also love the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Admission to these museums (for students, at least) is optional, which makes it great.

Also, I love just walking around Prospect Park. I love walking around and finding new restaurants. If you like Japanese food, you should try Sushi Samba – it’s a great Japanese fusion restaurant.

Totally touristy, but going to the Rainbow Room and the HUGE Toys R Us in Times Square is always a fun time.

Also, going into Chinatown is a lot of fun, and Little India, too.

It’s chock full of things to do all the time. There is never a dull moment.

I just want to say “YAY NEW YORK!” I’m a short person and every time I go to the city, I feel about 2 feet taller. It’s such an alive place; you never know who or what you’re going to see there.

One of the many things I like to do is sit in the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel and have a (very expensive) glass of wine. I feel that I’m in the presence of wonderful literary ghosts. My very favorite thing to do is to walk around the city; particularly through Central Park on a Saturday in May. People are biking, roller bladers are roller blading, lovers are kissing, children are climbing….The people watching is terrific!

I simply love New York.
Give me Park Ave.
The Stores!
Times Square!
(it’s funnier when Eddie Albert is doing the counter verses).

I looooooooooove to visit NYC! The last time I went was mid-December, and seeing the big Christmas tree, ice skaters, and window displays just felt like being on a movie set.

We’re a 2 hour train ride from NYC and every now and then go just for the day. I love the whole thing, from Grand Central to the people-watching. I grew up in the midwest and have always lived in small towns, so NYC is like another world to me. The first time we took our daughter to the city, she was 8 years old and spent the entire day being amazed. We went to the AMNH, had lunch at Bubba Gumps so she could sit and look out at Times Square, and rode the ferris wheel in Toys R Us. So corny, but we had the best time! This summer we are taking all three kids to the AMNH. It will be the first time we’ve taken the boys to the city, and they are really, really excited about it.

@shipwrecks I love Chinatown!

In reference to the 9 yo riding the bus alone, when I was a kid (and we lived in Connecticut) that is what City kids did. They were very capable and knowledgeable about getting around the city by bus and/or subway or even cab. It made me incredibly nervous even at the age of twelve, when I had to start riding the train to school on my own, but City kids grew up knowing how to do stuff like that.

OTOH, a lot of them didn’t know how to ride a bike.

I know when I was in London when I was 14 and my sister was 11 we took the London subway/tube ourselves to get our haircut and met our parents later somewhere else in the city. I had never been to London before, just there for a weeks vacation. We didn’t have cell phones or anything like that back then.

My favourite thing to do in NYC?

Eat! I should be the size of a small mansion at this point, frankly.

If you guys ever come to NYC, I’m taking you bastards off the beaten trail.

All this talk of Toys ‘R Us and AMNH. You really need to check out the “local” (does it count as local if it’s the convergent point of the better part of the world?) music scene, great deals at great bars (5 shots for 10 dollars. 3 dollar pitchers from the tap. C’MON NOW), cheap yet quality eats, expensive yet quality eats, grandiose office buildings obviously overcompensating for something (yes, they really are a sight to behold. Chrysler is one thing; Hanover and Empire street buildings are another beast in itself), peaceful places that you can people watch (I like the UES for this; also West NY and Brooklyn so I can sit on a bench and look at the NYC skyline from a distance) and much, much more.

Take a walk through a 20 block flea market and indulge in food from all over the world (and pick up a snazzy pair of sunglasses).

Pass out drunk outside a bar and wake up in a panic, only to realize that four other people laying there with you.

Realize that Central Park isn’t really a park as much as it is free real estate for artists to showcase their talent.

Visit Ground Zero and stare in amazement at how we all just walk past with our heads held high.

I think I love this city a bit too much.

@Jack_Haas I love your story.

Walking through the financial district on the weekends is amazing. It’s a ghost town down there. You might not think so, but NOBODY goes down there, save for tourists on their way to the ferry or Battery Park. Seriously, if there could be tumbleweeds down there on weekends…

@Shegrin Indeed, quite lovely when I had projects going on there on the weekends. Less hustle and bustle.

You’d be surprised at how much actually happens on the weekends. Reno work still continues.

OK I’m feeling the love now.
Windows on the World
Grand Central Station
And where else are you going to see a full scale model, 21000 pound(10.5 tons) of the worlds largest animal the Blue Whale but at the Museum of Natural History

How about the incomparable NY native Louis Comfort Tiffany at the Metropolitan. And his views of Oyster Bay are quite accurate. A half hour from the city, ten minutes from my house. While there you can visit the home of Teddy Roosevelt

@SeventhSense Dude! Windows on the World no longer exists it was in one of the towers that came down on 9/11.

@JLeslie @Darwin Hubby used to ride the subway alone when he was growing up in NYC also, but things have taken a change for the worst in the last 10 years.

@YARNLADY

Not true at all.

This shows all crime in NYC for the past 40 years. As you can see, we’ve been on a healthy decline in nearly all areas. We’re the safest we’ve been since the 60’s.

In fact, you visited at the height of the crime wave. Surprised you didn’t get pick-pocketed :P

As an aside, I didn’t start riding the subway ‘til I was in my late teens. Me and all my friends would walk to school, which was a mile or so from our projects.

I stand corrected, with the increased security in all of NYC, and especially the subways since 911 it is a safer place to be.

When I was there, I was always with family, and very cautious.

Yeah, the security is definitely ramped up to insane levels post-9.11. Police force, Armed Forces, undercover agents… they’re all well represented.

But hey, if you didn’t like the city, no one is holding that against you. Different strokes, as it were.

Besides, our city stinks.

@Grisaille thanks, I just wanted to set the record straight, I got the wrong decade.

^OMG that was a horrible faux pais of me!^
I apologize profusely. Of course I meant the Rainbow Room.

I forgot the name, but has anyone been to that secret burger place hidden in a hotel lobby and only serves burgers fries and cola, and are extremely delicious?

That would be Le Parker Meridien

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/food_and_travel/article2320255.ece

@Grisaille And how about watching manhattan wake up, all these delivery trucks buzzing around. Awesome city.

@Fred931 – Burger Joint!

But the best burgers in the city are probably at Donovan’s pub in Woodside, Queens and Corner Bistro in the West Village.

@aprilsimnel LIESSSSSSSS!!!!! ALL LIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bitch about the infuriating lack of parking.

Just went to the Met Museum of Art yesterday…fantastic as always…Afghanastan exhibit was really good, the detail in the jewelry and gold thingies they made to sew onto clothing just amazing, I don’t understand how they made all of those by hand so exact.

Ate at Prime House 27th and Park at my brother-in-laws suggestion and was nervous my vegan sister would have trouble in a steak oriented restaurant that literally has little cows on the door, but the food was yum! Crab cakes were the best I have had in a while, and the salads were great. My sister had a pepper, tomato, onion, something with a vinegrette, really delicious, highly recommend it.

@Noel_S_Leitmotiv Parking does suck, better to use public transportation.