kizkiz wrote:empire state - plan is to do top of the rock instead.
Good choice. Line isn't much shorter, though. The tree probably won't be lit, but it should at least be up (it gets put up earlier every year), and you should be able to get out onto the rink.
kizkiz wrote:liberty - staten island ferry. It's free. lol
Once you get off at St. George, get right back on. Having lived there for over 20 years, I can tell you there is absolutely NOTHING worth seeing on Staten Island - especially when it's cold out.
If you were coming in the summer, I'd say head out to Coney Island - that's my neck of the woods - but boardwalks aren't fun when it's cold.
Definitely hit up a couple of museums if you can - everybody knows MoMA, the Met and the Guggenheim, but the
Museum of the City of NY is up near the northeast corner of the park, and they've always got interesting stuff there.
Go see something on Broadway. There are always a lot of great shows playing, so you really can't go wrong.
Plenty of good kosher delis in town - Katz's on Houston gets all the press because of When Harry Met Sally, but the
2nd Ave. Deli (which is not actually on 2nd Ave., although it used to be) is great, too, and usually less crowded.
There are about 10,000 Ray's Pizzas, all claiming to be the original. I highly doubt any of them actually are, and I wouldn't recommend any of them.
If you want to try NY pizza (and you do), go to
John's. The Times Square location is my favorite - it used to be a church, and it's beautiful. Sit upstairs if you can.
If I think of anything else, I'll post.
Overall, touristy stuff might be a little less crowded than usual because it's cold, but you'll still be fighting through a sea of bodies. People WILL stop in the middle of the sidewalk. ALL. THE DAMN. TIME. So, good luck.
If you're going to be here for Black Friday...well, we don't have any Walmarts or anything (at least, not yet). Ideally, you'd want to stay away from the major department and electronics stores, but that may not be possible. What kind of things will you/she be looking to get?
Also, be advised - the day of the Macy's Parade, everything between 5th and 9th Avenues will be a mess from 77th to 34th Streets, and the craziness may well leak out of that area, too.
By the way, I work in (north) east midtown, so if you want to talk to a real New Yorker, we can meet up for dinner or a quick lunch or something at some point. Maybe we can get AoG to take the subway uptown, and if we're really lucky, tzor could come in on the LIRR. Just putting that out there.
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