I had a bunch of vacation to burn before the end of the year and wound up with the next week and a half off. I'm leaving Friday morning for my grandparents' 50th anniversary in eastern PA over the weekend. After that I planned on heading into the city for a few days. I have a few friends in the city I plan on meeting up with, and I'll likely be staying with relatives in Long Island, but I'll pretty much be wandering around during the day with my camera.

I'm not trying to create an itinerary, but it's been a few years since I've been there and figured it'd be worth seeing what TWW has to say.

10/15/2009 1:53:02 AM

I love just wandering around the neighborhoods by myself, especially Greenwich Village and Soho. You never know what you're going to see.

10/15/2009 8:27:11 AM

For something a bit different you could check out one of the outer boroughs. Chinatown has all but moved to Flushing.

10/15/2009 11:35:40 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. I planned on hitting up Chinatown, for sure.

Anywhere I should avoid after-hours if I'm walking around alone with a camera?

10/15/2009 12:00:49 PM

Mott Street is your one stop shop in Chinatown

Avoid the North End of the Park, above about 97th, after sundown

Also Battery Park can get bad, but its gotten a lot better the past few years

10/15/2009 12:06:48 PM

holler at Zip ... im sure he would show you around to some cool places to get some great shots

if you want to spend about 20 bucks you can head up to the top of the Empire to get some cool shots

time square at night is a blast...i was able to get out in the street leading up to it to take some pictures but they didnt turn out so great...

[Edited on October 15, 2009 at 1:03 PM. Reason : ill post more when as i think of them]

10/15/2009 1:01:24 PM

Quote :

"Chinatown has all but moved to Flushing."

Considering that Chinatown (in lower manhattan) has been growing and encrouching on Little Italy I don't think that's really an accurate statement. But yeah, Flushing is full of Asians. But its Flushing, you don't want to go there.

Walking down 5th Ave can be pretty cool to just walk down. The storefront displays are pretty nuts and there are always a lot of dimes walking around Greenwich Village & SoHo are cool areas to just walk around as mentioned by someone else. As is the Financial District, which is the oldest part of the city and comes across to me as fairly European in design. South Street Seaport and the Fulton St Market are cool areas as well (they are next to each other). Battery Park is a nice area, right on the southern tip (I'm not sure why someone said its an area to look out for crime wise, that's not true). Walking around Central Park can be nice, especially by the Pond and the Mall. For great shots Empire State Building is good, but I'd be tempted to recommend the top of Rockefeller Center, where you can actually stand on the roof instead of just an exterior observation deck (at Empire State). Since it will be near the end of October there's a good chance the ice rink will be opening up soon in Rockefeller Center, so that could be worth looking into. Shouldn't be busy either, as it's not tourist season yet. The 48th floor of the Marriot Marquis has a cool rotating lounge that does a full turn every 30 minutes; its pretty good for views of most of the city.

It's too bad you're not going 4-5 weeks from now as all the Christmas decorations will be up across the city. That time of year has always been my favorite in NYC.

If you like sports (especially southern sports) you can't go wrong with Brother Jimmy's southern sports bar. They have 5 locations, but my favorite (and best IMO) is on the Upper East Side at 77th St and 2nd Ave. Lots of NC transplants frequent those bars and one of the bartenders, Drew, graduated from State. He works Friday/Sat nights.

[Edited on October 15, 2009 at 1:16 PM. Reason : downtown I'd say go to Off the Wagon for a crazy college style drunkfest bar ]

[Edited on October 15, 2009 at 1:17 PM. Reason : ,]

10/15/2009 1:12:25 PM

flushing isn't at all chinatown, it's all koreans

^also way to give the lamest suggestions ever - why would a NC tourist go to a shitty bbq place in NYC, that's just stupid.

[Edited on October 15, 2009 at 1:31 PM. Reason : ]

10/15/2009 1:30:50 PM

For something a bit different than what most people will tell you I'd take a walk around Battery Park City (Just above Battery Park on the west side, between WTC and the water). It's all extremely new with nice but odd parks.

In fact, a great walk/ride is to just start at the South Street Seaport and go all the way around along to water to around 70th or 80th Street. It would take a while walking, but you pass:

South Street Seaport, Battery Park (Statue of Liberty, some old fort thing, twisted metal from WTC), Battery Park City (Teardrop Park, Irish Hunger Memorial), Pier 40 (sports fields, Trapeze), Chelsea Piers (more stuff than I feel like mentioning), a Skate Park, Helicopter launching pads, The Intrepid, etc...

10/15/2009 2:40:11 PM

there are plenty of Chinese people in flushing but also a shitload of Koreans. Also Sunset Park in Brooklyn has a huge Chinese population and some great food. Sunset Park also has abunch of Hispanics and some quality taco places. If you want to take photos it might be a fun area to scope out.

also as far as walking around with a camera at night I would be careful everywhere. Always keep it around your neck. You can get jacked pretty much anywhere if you're not aware of your surroundings. If I remember correctly you're a pretty big boy so you shouldnt have to worry.

also dont go to brother jimmy's or Off The Wagon if you want to keep your sanity.

10/15/2009 3:12:05 PM

The MOMA is pretty cool. I think there is a NYC thread though

10/16/2009 2:00:05 AM

Quote :

"If you like sports (especially southern sports) you can't go wrong with Brother Jimmy's southern sports bar. They have 5 locations, but my favorite (and best IMO) is on the Upper East Side at 77th St and 2nd Ave."

haha I remember going to that one back in the day when I had a meeting so I could watch the NCAA game.

10/16/2009 2:44:06 AM

http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/

10/16/2009 11:42:33 AM