NRR - NYC

Do your own research wrote:

http://newyork.timeout.com/

Thanks for the link. I am of course doing my own research, but figured a helpful local is worth a lot more than a travel guide.

Great wine bar -

http://www.yelp.com/biz/gottino-new-york

Check out the highline park in Chelsea, that's a good place to visit.

Go over the Brooklyn bridge and have pizza at Grimaldi's. Katz's or Carnegie deli for pastrami and an egg cream. Go to the Iridium Jazz club to see David Fiuczynski (get tickets asap). He will blow your mind. Skip the musicals and find a good play or see if American Ballet Theater is in town. Both are cheaper than the musicals and more interesting. Go to the Guggenheim Museum and take a walk in Central Park. Check out Grand Central Station and Time Square. For excellent food that isn't a bank breaker, head to the "little/town" sections downtown (Italy, China, India). Everything is good. Take your pick. If you can't get good Ethiopian where you live, now is your chance.

that's one of the cool places to eat - if you can get in. Smart plan would be to eat there early and then walk around the neighborhood. I think they will let you stroll even while you wait if you leave your cell phone number for them to call when table is ready.

If I had just a weekend in NYC, I would spend as much time as possible downtown - in greenwich village, east village, soho, chelsea, Chinatown - that is where the young interesting nyc is.

The money is on the upper east side tho - if you like seeing how rich people live, walk a few blocks in the 60s between 5th and park.

Clearly go for a run in central park - a running mecca. There is a 15k xc race in van cortlandt if pain is indeed your goal, and a 4 miler in Prospect Park bklyn if you are less stotan. If you go to prospect park, definitely walk around park slope - one of the most livable city places on the planet.

Thanks for the tips so far. I have been a few times before, but usually visiting friends. No one else in my group has been, so while I am content just to roam SOHO and the villages, I feel obliged to have a bit more of a plan.

I had been thinking of the Brooklyn Bridge walk (weather depending) and Grimaldis and also Staten Island Ferry.

In addition, Times Square (very briefly), Rockefeller Centre (just to see the tree and the rink quickly). The MOMA. Maybe a drink at the Mandarin Oriental. The rest will probably just be walking the neighborhoods. Drinks/Dinner/live music at night.

A run for sure in the park.

Is Magnolia Bakery still a thing?

Do stop in Molly's Shabeen on Third Ave btwn 22&23 St.

Great comfort food, burgers bubble&squeek, chops, shepards pie daily specials wood tables sawdust on the floor except around the working fireplace.

95% local- been around for a while-sister pub on westside nr MSG

they pull an honest pint

I would recommend famous ben's pizza in Soho

cupcakes : magnolia bakery and baked by melissa

For great comedy check out ASSCAT at the Upright Citizens Brigade. It was founded by Amy Poehler and its on Sunday so someone will generally stop by from SNL

http://www.ucbtheatre.com/

Jimmys No 43, is a great quiet beer spot. Specializing in usa craft breweries and belgian beers. The food is decent too.

http://www.jimmysno43.com/

You can find Magnolia on just about every street corner now...

Hit up Carmine's on the upper west side for some good, fun, family style Italian eats..

Junior's in Brooklyn is authentic and, diet be damned, legendary for their cheesecake. Burn it off by walking aback across the Brooklyn Bridge.

White Horse or McSorley's for drinks and history; Old Town near Union Square for a nice atmosphere.

Lenox Lounge in Harlem.

[quote]jdrun1 wrote:

You can find Magnolia on just about every street corner now...

There are four locations? The same as Juniors actually.

Skip Magnolias and go to Alice's Tea Cup for the amazing scones. There are three Manhattan locations.

Definitely see the tree and skaters in Rockefeller Center. Also, check out the window displays on Fifth Avenue. If you're really into the Christmas scene, a quick tour of Macy's, including Santa Land is worth an hour or so.

For restaurants, you can find an enormous array of relatively inexpensive options on Ninth Avenue, in the 40's and 50's. Most theaters have lots of open seats for their shows. Avoid the exorbitant ticket broker service charges by walking up to the box offices.

If you run in Central Park, be aware that the bridle path gives you an off-road option. The path along the West Side Highway is scenic, but paved and heavily used.

s;fslkhfslhff wrote:

I had been thinking of the Brooklyn Bridge walk (weather depending) and Grimaldis and also Staten Island Ferry.

Brooklyn Bridge Park is cool. A walk starting in DUMBO down to Grimaldi's for lunch and then a walk through the park might be nice. Honestly, though, I can't say that Grimaldi's is as awesome an experience as they hype might lead one to believe. It's a pretty good pizza place. No better or worse than any other pretty good pizza place anywhere else in the country. In my opinion, it's worth stopping by if there is no wait, but I wouldn't stand in line outside for 30 minutes in freezing cold whether for the stuff.

I'd also take the time to walk the High Line in West Chelsea. Cool concept for a park and an interesting reuse of industrial infrastructure.

flightseeing- if you have never been up in a helicopter NYC from the air is grand and expensive but what the heck.

Do not eat at Petes Tavern no matter what 0'Henry says!!

Danny Myers' group of Restaurants cover the spectrum and you can not go wrong

Meyer's restaurants include:

Union Square Cafe (with Michael Romano)

Gramercy Tavern

Tabla (with Floyd Cardoz)

Blue Smoke (with Kenny Callagahan)

Eleven Madison Park (featuring a much-talked about 'minimalist grid' menu)

Shake Shack

The Modern

Cafe 2

Terrace 5

Union Square Events

Maialino

Six of his restaurants are in the Union Square area of Manhattan; the greenmarket there played a role in the situation of his restaurants. A 4 block stroll from Gramercy Park. Use public transportation parking a car in a garage in nyc for 6 hours costs = a months re ntin Lyle Iowa.

XMAS on Fifth Ave is crowded and pushy but an experience you won't forget. Stop in St Pats no matter your religion, beautiful as is St John Divine in the upper wast side. Christmas music a plus.

Do not eat at Rolfs German rest around the corner from Molly's-- no matter what you heard about the Christmas decor!! Killer food in the wake and casket meaning.

Enjoy my town!!

Damn, all of you are so limited and touristy.

Ooooh step your foot in Brooklyn and turn around and walk over the bridge. Wow!

XY wrote:

Damn, all of you are so limited and touristy.

Ooooh step your foot in Brooklyn and turn around and walk over the bridge. Wow!

Well what would you expect? I am in town for about 48 hours. I currently live in a thriving urban area that offers a fringe music, arts and club scene. Sure I could go to NYC and seek out some alternative "authentic" experience, but that experience would not be much different from my current life. Why would I blow my time in an iconic city avoiding its icons?

If I lived there I would not go to the Empire State building everyday, but since my time is limited, we want to get an overview and the most bang for our buck - touristy or not.

But if it makes you feel more authentic to feel superior to us that's cool. But be sure to avoid the Louvre, don't eat any croissants, and don't even glimpse at the Eiffle tower next time you are in Paris.

Oddly enough, I once managed to be in Paris for at least 48 hours without even seeing the Eiffel Tower. I mean, not even in the distance. I didn't think that was possible.

If the OP was going to be in NYC longer, I'd suggest going up to The Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park, but there's probably not time for that. Instead, maybe you could do an evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is open to 8:45 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

I assume you're a track fan since you're on here, so you might want to check the Armory Track & Field Center schedule. Some of the meets there literally have thousands (several thousands)of runners, and meets go off like clockwork, with little time wasted. Some of the officials and scribes adjourn to Coogan's, around the corner, which serves very decent food.