Going back to NYC this weekend. Each time I've gone in the past I've done mostly the touristy stuff and although some of that stuff is cool, I've been underwhelmed and can't really see how anyone could possibly view this place as the greatest city in the world. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

I would like you guys to put together a list of things to do/see and places to go to get the real experience that would prove NYC to be one of the greatest cities in the world or even just the US. What are some of the hidden gems of NYC?

7/6/2011 11:28:05 AM

My favorite part of NYC is leaving.

Not my thing... too crowded, too crazy, and too not me.

7/6/2011 11:39:11 AM

message_topic.aspx?topic=489087&page=1

message_topic.aspx?topic=525805&page=1

And here are the best restaurants in the city (according to me)

http://tiny.cc/155zs

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 11:44 AM. Reason : s]

7/6/2011 11:42:18 AM

One of those threads is 9 pages and the other is just museums and restaurants.

7/6/2011 11:48:02 AM

You're going to need to be slightly more specific with things you like to do then...NYC literally has everything...some people like seeing off Broadway shows, I do not. Would you rather go to an outside bar on a boat, a dive bar with duct tape all over the seats that serves free hot dogs, or one where you can dance and might see some celebrities? etc, etc, etc, etc

7/6/2011 11:52:24 AM

I rather you not list bars at all actually. I have yelp. The city certainly has more to offer than diverse bars, right?

7/6/2011 11:53:58 AM

Yes, that was an example. But I'm not going to bother listing things I like in Chinatown if you don't want to walk around too much. There's no point in telling you where I like to bike if you have no interest in riding one or doing anything that physical. This is a lot easier if you give some frame of reference for what kind of person you are.

7/6/2011 11:57:22 AM

I'm prepared to do tons of walking since driving around last time made me attempt suicide. I plan to walk around chinatown and little italy again. My friend says astoria is a great place to check out and the rest is open. I'm the type of person that likes to do anything except art and broadways shows.

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 12:12 PM. Reason : i really just want the coolest things that are somewhat unique to nyc]

7/6/2011 12:11:35 PM

so for the purposes of this thread...

things not to mention:
bars
restuarants
music venues
touristy spots
comedy clubs
dance clubs
art/museums
broadway

things to mention:
...

7/6/2011 12:57:32 PM

dont know how you got all that from

Quote :

"anything except art and broadways shows."

[quote]
take music and clubs off and its accurate.

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 1:32 PM. Reason : once you go to touristy stuff or museums once, you've seen it]

7/6/2011 1:31:34 PM

Quote :

"I rather you not list bars at all actually. I have yelp."

"expanded" that to restaurants, and clubs in general...you know...since you have yelp.

in seriousness though, i'd check out bleecker street one night if you haven't been there before.

7/6/2011 1:34:36 PM

Quote :

"since driving around last time made me attempt suicide."

I vote that you rent a car and try harder this time.

7/6/2011 1:54:11 PM

In no particular order of importance:

1) Rent or borrow a bike. If you're like most people it's going to be too scary to ride it around the streets, so you can take it over to the west side highway. The ride along there is really great. You'll ride by a really nice boat docking area, tennis courts, chelsea piers, a skate park, helicopter launching pads, the Intrepid, a few ballfields, and a ton of parks. All of it's along the water, and there are 3 good places I know of to stop and get a drink and/or burger: The Boat Basin, The Frying Pan, and another one that's around 60th st or so under the highway (forget the name).

If you've got the cajones, take the bike everywhere you go in the city. It's crazy and hectic, but to me its fun and provides a really great sense of accomplishment figuring out where to go by yourself while not getting run over. You can get anywhere in Manhattan just as fast or faster on a bike than you can in a car or subway. If that's too much for you, at least take the subways and not taxis. New Yorkers pride themselves on knowing how the city works...it's a nice feeling knowing you can figure out where things are and how to get there by yourself.

2) Little Italy is a bit touristy for me, but since it's only about 4 blocks long I would tell anyone to at least walk through it. I've had a couple good meals there, but I don't remember which restaurants.

3) Chinatown is one of my favorite areas, mostly because the rules and laws that govern the rest of the city don't always seem to apply down there. First off, and you probably know this, Canal St is NOT Chinatown, it's a crazy walk if you like purses, rolexes, and chaos, but otherwise get off of it. There's a really cool little ninja store in Chinatown amidst all the souvenir shops I love to walk through. It's got tons of martial arts attire, videos, weapons, and all that stuff...unfortunately I have no idea what the name of it is, all I can tell you is it's somewhere south of Canal, probably on Mott St if I had to guess. You can get in a game of pickup soccer or watch all the old Chinese guys play cards or Mahjong over at the park on Baxter St. As for food, eating in Chinatown is really about knowing where to go and what to get there...walking into a random spot is really just rolling the dice. It might be a good restaurant, but chances are you aren't going to order what they make well. Also be sure to stop at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for some cool flavors like Lychee and Pandan. Here's my quick list of eating in Chinatown:

Wo Hop - noodles (chowfun) and/or late night (go downstairs)
Jaya - Sweet Basil Chicken over Rice
Thai Son and Nam Son - Pho
Joe's Shanghai - Soup Dumplings

4) Astoria - I can't really speak much about this. I go to a batting cage and beer garden out there and that's it. The beer garden is worth checking out if you like beer gardens...maybe try and hit that before or after a Mets game...

5) Lower East Side is a fairly good neighborhood to walk around. The Tenement Museum is interesting enough even for people not looking for tourist activities. You go through a couple actual apartments set up how they used to look...timing of this is around Gangs of New York I think. Tons and tons of restaurants around, I'd recommend Katz Deli or the Meatball Shop

6) Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, hit Grimaldi's Pizza and the ice cream place on the other side, walk back, or take a train back. Or do it the other way...there WILL be a line for Grimaldi's though.

There's a lot more to say, but I'm at work so I'll just leave it there for now, hopefully will add to this for you later on. If these things are appealing or not to you say so, could influence the rest of this. Since you commented on Astoria I assume you're ok going into Brooklyn too?

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 2:07 PM. Reason : a]

7/6/2011 1:59:55 PM

Great suggestions. 4 and 5 are things im looking to do for the first time. Done the others and will do them again considering the things you've said except biking. Bikers are gonna be the death of nyc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Xf3wXRfbc

I will add bleecker to my list as well

7/6/2011 2:15:28 PM

It sounds like you should probably just never leave your house. Based on the way you've approached obtaining information and nixing suggestions, I have to assume that the everyday world absolutely terrifies you.

7/6/2011 2:17:50 PM

There's no concerts going on this weekend that hit my radar, but there's ALWAYS music playing somewhere. You should see stuff on Bleecker Street if you go over there, or if you're looking for something different go to Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. They have a metal Beegees tribute band playing there Friday night, and some other band on Saturday. It's a really cool place though...you can also bowl (obviously) and eat (Blue Ribbon - great food). It's also right next to Brooklyn Brewery, which has a really cool "happy hour/beer tasting" on Friday and I think Saturday nights.

7/6/2011 2:49:02 PM

lol all that talk about bars...Well now I need a good bar with hdtvs and sound to watch the world cup on a sunday morning?

7/6/2011 5:48:19 PM

Are you visiting friends?

I go every year, we always hit little Italy, maybe a touristy thing, but usually I tell her I want to go where she goes. Its been a blast when we've done that. I go mainly to visit my friends, but experiencing the city the way residents do leaves me pretty satisfied. I've seen the touristy stuff plenty.

7/6/2011 8:58:18 PM

Thats pretty much what I will be doing for one of the days I'm there but I will be alone on Sunday and Monday.

7/6/2011 9:01:36 PM

this is touristy but I really loved it, take a walking food tour of NYC

http://www.foodsofny.com/

the greenwich village one (original) was the last one I did and it was my favorite. You get lots of food and our guide showed us some really awesome stuff and I learned a lot.

This was one stop on the tour as we passed the narrowest house in the world (currently for sale)


like I said, very touristy but lots of fun.

7/6/2011 9:19:55 PM

See a concert at Governor's Island. Walk on the High Line. Take a water taxi to see the buildings around the financial district. Walk around and see if you spot celebrities. I spotted like 4 the last time I was there.

7/6/2011 10:07:05 PM

have you been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art? I'm not an art person at all, and I always thought an art museum would be lame. But that was one of the best experiences I had in NYC.

7/6/2011 10:13:24 PM

I think you should aimlessly take up space on the sidewalk and then stand in line at Starbucks and have a hard time deciding what to order after you give up walking around.


Or you could just go to Bryant Park with a book or a chessboard and a friend. Just sayin.

I have family in the area so I always end up going to their apartments and then going out later at night. 1) I hate them for their jobs because I am jealous 2) we go out to bars because that's what you do in NYC. 3) the whole point of NYC is treating it like a normal place and acting normal not acting like a stupid tourist and treating each place like it's golden

NYC : Easy to travel to, hard to stay

7/6/2011 10:21:06 PM

the city is pretty much a shithole but there are tons of cool businesses. Tons of great shops, bars, restaurants and clubs. They have the best collection of food surely not by % but by volume. If you have 100 times more bars you're also going to have 100x more great bars. The people are great from what I've seen. Especially in East village.

The problem is the city is just way too overcrowded with people and buildings. Navigating through all the shittyness to get to the great places is rough. The subway is outdated and runs too slow. Half of my trip has been spent down there going back and forth between upperwest side and locations in downtown and brooklyn. Its god awful. The weather has been great by date standards but its hell underground.

The entire city stinks. You can be in a great restaurant but the moment you walk out you are in a shitty place until you go into the next awesome business. Unless you have the money to warp from place to place via taxi/car and not be subjected to the city's dirty, crowded, smelly streets then its not a top city.

If you say the people and the businesses are what make a city then its probably the greatest city but if you look at the city itself its a shithole.

[Edited on July 10, 2011 at 7:27 PM. Reason : LOMBARDIS FTMFW BTW]

7/10/2011 7:27:04 PM

You're doing it wrong. NYC is about as clean a city that size as you'll see in the world. Certainly not a shithole.

[Edited on July 10, 2011 at 7:52 PM. Reason : that wasn't true always, but is now.]

7/10/2011 7:51:55 PM

Yeah its clean but everything is outdated as fuck. Not like historic/cool old but just dingy and worn old. Getting around the city is a nightmare no matter how you slice it. I was downtown today and had to run by my friends place in upperwestside before going to coney island. Thats about 20 total milss traveled but took at least four hours of travel time via subway/walking. You can pretty much only go two places in a day because the rest of your time will be spent travling or in line for a public restroom. Why are there so many huge restuarants that only have 1 restroom? Do new yorkers shit?

Theres no beauty to the city at all. Theres nothing relaxing about it. Central park is ok.


Subway is not as great as billed. Its great for travling around manhattan but even if you live in East village theres no stops around and you pretty much have to own a bike to live there.

[Edited on July 10, 2011 at 8:05 PM. Reason : the clubs are so epic though best in the us by far]

7/10/2011 7:57:55 PM

Sounds like after not wanting to go to touristy places...you went to touristy places. There's plenty of beautiful places around New York, and it isn't difficult to get around at all unless you're in bigger tourist areas.

7/10/2011 8:15:17 PM

I think NYC is awesome.

Lots of history, different cultures, interesting buildings.

ntm the people there trip me out going through their daily business with no car....try to function without a car down here, if you are taking public transportation folks assume you are disabled, poor, or have a DWI.

7/10/2011 10:38:52 PM

Quote :

" Yeah its clean but everything is outdated as fuck. Not like historic/cool old but just dingy and worn old."

This happens when the city is old as fuck, and big as fuck. Its part of new York, and part of every large city.

7/11/2011 11:42:10 AM

Quote :

"The subway is outdated and runs too slow. "

And yet it is still the best system in the US, nevermind only one of 3 in the world that runs 24 hours a day.

There is plenty of beauty in NYC. Have you ever walked around the historic downtown area? Or relaxed in Bryant Park and admired the views. Strolled through Central Park? Visited the South Street Seaport?

I understand that there are a million things to do and see in NYC and as a tourist it's not easy to experience them, as it's much easier to just give up and do the usual touristy crap. But there is a lot there.

I used to live near the Astoria Beer Garden, and it's a great place to go. However there isn't much else to check out in Astoria and if I wasn't going to be in the city that long I wouldn't bother making a trip out to Queens just for that (even though it's only about 25 minutes from mid-town via the N/W trains.

There are some great museums in the city and I'm guilty of not visiting enough of them when I lived there. I've heard the Cloister's museum is really cool, especially if you like Medieval stuff. It is pretty far north in Manhattan though, so not very convenient. The Met is great, the MOMA i wasn't much of a fan of. The Gugenhiem I never visited but have heard good things.

McSorley's is a bar, yes, but it's over 150 years old and has never been renovated so it's a pretty awesome place given it's historical relevance. I've also heard the rooftop bar at 230 5th Ave is pretty great with amazing views but I haven't been there.

7/11/2011 11:43:29 AM

Get some Korean fried chicken

Maybe check out Coney Island one night if you're feeling sketchy (eat at Totonno's)

7/11/2011 12:02:38 PM

I had a burger there that I meant to make a thread about, but did not have time.

IT WAS THE BEST FUCKING BURGER I HAVE EVER HAD.

I will post a picture when I find it.

7/11/2011 12:06:46 PM

Quote :

" Strolled through Central Park?"

Central park is nice for a park in the middle of a city but i find it hilarious when new yorkers speak of it as a "beautiful place".

I took the staten island ferry and that was cool looking at the skyline. Pier 17 was cool. The new idea art museum in east village was awesome.

The cities on the west coast are just nicer overall. More geography and natural beauty.

[Edited on July 11, 2011 at 7:31 PM. Reason : nyc isn't as bad as i thought though]

7/11/2011 7:31:01 PM

I never claimed Central Park was the Blue Ridge Parkway, but the majority of people that have been there will say it's scenic.

7/12/2011 8:24:34 AM

i need a place to crash for the sept long weekend. where my nyc tdubbers at?

7/12/2011 8:33:28 AM

I really like that pizza place they have, Sbarro.

7/12/2011 9:13:46 AM

lmao

7/12/2011 9:39:06 AM

Lombardis really lived up to "best on the planet" reviews.

7/12/2011 1:35:14 PM

Interesting. I suppose it's a matter of preference. I went once and while it was good, wasn't impressed. In fact I prefer a fresh slice from Ray's by Cooper Union.

7/12/2011 2:16:05 PM

Quote :

"I really like that pizza place they have, Sbarro."

Glad to hear that finally hit the east coast.

7/12/2011 3:16:19 PM

I enjoy Lombardi's and Grimaldi's immensely for a good meal, but if I just want a couple slices of pizza I usually prefer the more traditional places like Joe's, John's, Ray's (depending on location obviously), etc.

7/12/2011 3:39:14 PM

Ray's and those places are like the smithfields bbq of pizza

7/12/2011 5:04:44 PM

Joe's has one location, John's has two, or maybe a third now from what I hear...they are both institutions to New Yorker's. The original Ray's can be grouped in that category to some. The real question here is how did you become the expert all of a sudden?

[Edited on July 12, 2011 at 5:25 PM. Reason : a]

7/12/2011 5:09:59 PM

Trip acid and go see bloody panda. If you come back sane then you are a man

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

7/12/2011 5:13:09 PM

The people are the best part. People always say northerners are rude but I think its really just the old people. I've had so many great conversations with strangers on the subway or waiting in some longass line for the bathroom. The girls are so horny. Maybe its because the bars and clubs are so good but feel like I could be in the pants of most NYC chick within 2 hours of conversation. Its incredible. Its not just me either. I'm used to being rejected by stuck up west coast girls and also notice tons of other people making out everywhere everynight. [no std]

^^I have two friends that live in NYC permanently and two friends in Long island (I don't consider that living in the city) and one friend in shitty new jersey. I also have met a few natives so I've spent this time immersed in native conversation.


LOL I keep saying natives but I really mean people who moved to nyc from other places. Haven't met an actual native. Maybe thats my good problem.

[Edited on July 12, 2011 at 9:47 PM. Reason : I know very few things about NYC but i feel like im an expert on the things I know]

7/12/2011 9:40:01 PM

Quote :

"Theres no beauty to the city at all. Theres nothing relaxing about it. "

Go in St. Patrick's cathedral. It's worth it, and it's a chance to relax. (Side note: I am not at all religious.)

Quote :

"The people are the best part. "

True.

7/12/2011 10:59:44 PM

New Yawkers?

Nahhhhh.

They're loud, rude, obnoxious, demanding, rushed, and generally abrasive. Like any big city, the ones that usually go out of their way to be nice to you are the ones looking to make a buck.


They make a damn good pie at Lombardi's though... and I appreciate a dirty water dog every now and then. Great place - but could never live there.

7/13/2011 7:55:44 AM

http://gothamist.com/2006/06/20/nyc_is_the_worl.php

Quote :

"NYC is the World's Most Polite City"

But you know, I suppose you are entitled to your opinion...

Also, I wasn't going to say this since I do fine it to be an extremely good pizza, but Lombardi's is where New Yorkers take tourists to impress them, it is not a place we go regularly.

7/13/2011 9:18:29 AM

yeah because most people can't afford to go there regularly. The places you go to regularly are not that special. I used to just ask people where they go to regularly and go to those places and all these years I though there was no way nyc had the best pizza until i went to lombardis.

[Edited on July 13, 2011 at 11:01 AM. Reason : i paid 28 for a small]

[Edited on July 13, 2011 at 11:02 AM. Reason : most good pizzas in the city are like half that price]
they also use real, fresh mozz which is really expensive.

[Edited on July 13, 2011 at 11:04 AM. Reason : you can tell the other places dont use it because it looks like fried egg whites when its cooked]

[Edited on July 13, 2011 at 11:05 AM. Reason : makes a huge difference]

7/13/2011 11:01:29 AM

Lombardi's isn't really that great. Some random pizza I had near Port Jeff out on Long Island last weekend was easily better.

^^I totally agree with that. Years ago after I had knee surgery I had to get around the city for a few weeks on crutches and people couldn't have been nicer. They'd yield right of way to me and offer to hold my crutches when I'd have to go up or down stairs to get to the subway.

Nevermind the countless times I've seen random people help young mothers carry their strollers up/down stairs. NYC'ers do things quickly and have a short fuse for ignorance or stupidity. People perceive this as being rude.

[Edited on July 13, 2011 at 11:17 AM. Reason : k]

7/13/2011 11:12:36 AM