twbuss

I am taking my daughter and her friend (15 years old) to NYC, July 31 for four nights.
Any Suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated.
Day !- Arrive at LaGuardia at 4:30 p.m. (hopefully) Take cab to Embassy Suites, check in, walk to Soho area and eat dinner (any suggestions) TAke subway to Times Square. They can't wait to see Times Square. They can browse and shop and people watch to their hearts content. Suggestion for things not to miss in Times Square (we are doing shows at a later time) Take subway back to hotel late at night

Day Two - Wake up early, take subway to Today Show. Hang out there until they get bored...Head down 5th Avenue towards Central Park seeing stores, sights along the way- Trump Tower, Toy Store, St.Patricks Cathederal, . Perhaps shopping if we see affordable stores for teens...Where is Macy's and Forever 21?

Central Park....At this point we want to see both the park and the Met. and eat lunch. (We will probably limit our time at the Met..I want them to see the Impressionist Art). Any suggestion on which to do first. They want to see Strawberry Fields for sure. Other suggestion for "to do" in the park.

After Central Park and the Met., I don't know whether to take a cab back to Embassy Suites and get ready for "Rent" or hang out, eat dinner and go to Rent without going back to hotel. This will make a long day for them and I know they will want to "get ready for the show", I just don't know how long the subway travel takes. Any advice?

Day Three - Saturday. Head towards Chinatown in the morning and check out the scene. Walk to Tenement Museum from there (is this do-able) We have reservations for noon. Eat lunch after tour at Katz's or (any other receommendations)
After lunch, walk to Soho so they can shop to their hearts content. They will enjoy anything fun and inexpensive..Also, is there a Forever 21 in Soho? After shopping, head back to hotel and get ready for show 2, I plan on purchasing tickets to Legally Blonde for Saturday night.

Maybe a place for dessert or entertainment after show. Any suggestions?

Take subway or cab back to hotel

Day 4 - Sunday..
After breakfast, head to Staten Island Ferry, take Ferry Ride to view the Statue of Liberty, after ride, see Ground Zero and the area.

I would like them to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge..so would we take a subway or boat to the other side of bridge? Eat there possibly and walk back over bridge.

After that...where would be a good place to go? I am sure they will want to do more shopping.

Go to Top of the Rock for sunset and find a fun place for dinner. Or should we take dinner in before Top of the Rock in another neighborhood.

Sunday night...I was thinking of taking them to an Improv comedy club but most of them do not have shows on Sunday night. Do you think I should see our second show on Sunday night and leave Saturday night for comedy?

Monday morning. Any ideas,,,we probably need to leave our hotel at 2 to get to the airport.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

MFNYC

Times Square, other than being flashy, touristy and mobbed, doesn't really have much to offer in terms of spending any significant time there. Don't get me wrong, it's worth seeing, but that's pretty much it. You see it and move on to the next spot. People watching is much better when sitting outside at a cafe in the village area or some other interesting neighorhood.

As far as shopping, it's just the usual tourist chains in Times Sq. Soho is more of a shoppng area (and looking more and more like a high end mall). For discount shopping go to 14th St/Union Sq area. There's Forever 21, DSW, and Filene's. Unions Square park also is a big hang out spot for high school age kids on non-greenmarket days.

A cab from the Met to Embassy Suites during the busy part of the day will be slow and expensive. The subway is much quicker. CHeck hopstop.com for subway routes.

If you are in town during the weekend there's always a street fair or 2 somewhere around town. The girls would probably enjoy wandering around one of those.

MFNYC

For more discount shopping, go to Century 21 which is across from the world trade center site.

bethke14

Regarding the day when you're seeing Rent, I would definitely take the time to go back to the hotel and relax and get ready. I always end up completely exhausted if I go straight from seeing the sights to a show. I like to soak my tired, swollen feat in a cool bath after walking around and before a show so that I can fit them into dress shoes.

The trip from the Embassy Suites to the Nederlander is about 30 minutes, I'd guess.

Macy's is at the intersection of 7th Ave and 34th St. I think they're open until 9:30. On the first day, you might want to take the subway from Soho to Macy's, and then walk up 7th Ave to Times Square. It's a very easy walk.

If the girls are at all interested, the Apple Store on 5th Ave is like none other. It's underground and just very cool. It's open 24 hours, but might be good to fit in on day 2.

Broadwaybox.com has Legally Blonde tickets for %50 off. I'd buy them in advance, or print off the discount and take it with you and buy the tickets at the box office at the theatre. This will avoid you having to spend time in line at TKTS (if that was your plan.)

Enjoy your trip!

mclaurie

Day 1
Dinner in Soho...Balthazar is one of the most popular places. You'd need a reservation. I wonder though about going to Soho for dinner. It's over a mile walk and if you don't plan on hanging out there for the evening, you might consider eating closer to your hotel (maybe at Battery Park which is almost across the street). Even Tribeca is closer.
Look on menupages.com

Things not to miss in Times Square is quite subjective. Teens who are celeb crazy seem to love

>Mme Tussauds's wax museum which is there. It's really expensive. Find a discount coupon online (I think broadwaybox.com has them) or check the Visitor's bureau in Times Square for those and maybe some other

>there's a Sephora (makeup) store there that will usually do makeovers for free (if they're not too busy).

>Here's a link to a list of stores in TS which may appeal to them.
http://timessquare.com/New_York_City..._Times_Square/

>The View restaurant at the top of the Marriott Marquis hotel revolves for great views. The food is not good and it's pricey, but many folks like to go for a drink (still pricey) or perhaps their dessert buffet.

>there's a restaurant called Spotlight NY where patrons get up and perform a la American Idol. Another option.

Day 2

I think your day 2 is much too ambitious, esp. since you have theater tickets. If you try to do all this you'll all be exhausted. You have Rock. Ctr., shopping, the park and the Met. Pick which you think is most important. I think you may want to go back to the hotel to shower and rest before the theater. Allow yourselves plenty of time. If the Met is really important to you, do it early in the day. I'll give you info and you can decide what to do with it.

St. Patrick's is directly across from Rockefeller Center and should be your first stop. There's an H & M store in Rock. Ctr. that teens love (cheap and trendy). Anthropologie is also in Rock Ctr. It's not cheap but they'll love to have a look if you don't have one where you live. Then head UP Fifth ave. towards Central Park.

The Met is at 81 st. and you'd be entering the park at 59 st. if you go the way you'd planned. If you really want them to see the museum, I'd head there first. When you get to Fifth & 59th st., instead of going into the park, walk over to Madison Ave. (one block) and take a bus up Madison to 81 st. Then walk back a block to Fifth. If you haven't had lunch by this time, Le Pain Quotidien is on Madison & ~ 83 st. There's also a coffee shop on Madison & 82 st.

To see Strawberry Fields, it's on the WEST side of the park and the Met is on the east side of the park. Your options are to walk or to take a bus across the park at 84 st. (it stops just off Fifth ave. at 84 st.) and get out at Central Park West and walk back into the park from that side. It's around 74 st.

Think about what you want to do about dinner. If you want to eat near the theater, make a reservation.

Day 3
There is a Forever 21 in Soho at 568 Broadway. There's also one near Macy's (34 st. & Broadway) The Forever 21 is 50 west 34 st. I assume you know there are discounts for Legally Blonde on broadwaybox.com or playbill.com You could buy them now online or by phone. If you want to try to save the transaction fees, print the offer and take with you, you might be able to buy the tix at the box office the first night you're here. But you're taking a chance that way. Dessert after show, in addition to the ideas I mentioned for day 1, there's also Junior's for cheesecake (west 45 st.)

day 4

The Broadway Comedy Club (and maybe others) has Sun. performances but I don't know if this place is appropriate for teens.
http://www.broadwaycomedyclub.com/

There are not many shows on a Sunday night but Legally Blonde happens to be one, so maybe that would be a good idea and you may find better seats for that performance.

Save Mon. morning for unfinished business, although I'll warn that if it's the Met Museum, they're closed on Mondays.

TC

Just a few suggestions:

-buy a copy of the guidebook "Access New York City". Its an excellent book to use for walking around different areas of the city. Each "chapter" is a specific area, Midtown, Times Square, SoHo, etc. and shopping, dining, points of interest, hotels, etc. are listed in the order they appear as you walk down the streets. So its very easy to see what you are near at any given time.

-great maps are Streetwise series for walking around and finding subway stations and the Red Maps series for shopping.
www.streetwisemaps.com
www.emapstore.com/maps/tmny3189.html

-absolutely take the girls to Times Square. There is tons that will thrill them there -- if they're lucky the Naked Cowboy will be out, lots of street artists, a few shops with touristy junk, but its the brights lights and neon that will get them. Take your camera.

-buy the unlimited ride, 7 day subway pass. Even though you're not staying 7 days, you will get more than your money's worth in riding back and forth. Your passes are also good for city buses -- you can get a tranfer from subway to bus and the drivers are very helpful with directions.

-Macy's and Century 21 are in the opposite direction from Central Park. Central Park is a HUGE area and I don't think its so easy to just walk around. If you have specific places you'd like to see, get a map and head to those areas via the nearest subway/bus combination.

-a place we love to eat near The Met, is
E.A.T., 1064 Madison Ave. between E. 80 & 81st. Its owned by Eli Zabar and the food is great! Another good/fun place is Brooklyn Diner - two locations. www.brooklyndiner.com
In SoHo, we girls like to stop for lunch at Boom, 152 Spring St. Its great people watching if you get a front window table. This is also a great shopping area.

-as for shopping with teens, favorites of ours are:

*Laila Rowe (various locations around town) www.lailarowe.com

*So Good Jewelry
496 Broadway (Spring-Broome Sts.)
Home to 5,000 square feet of costume jewelry, with low prices from all over the world.

*Chinatown, of course!

*Century 21; http://www.c21stores.com/#/store-loc...tore=manhattan

*Others:
http://nymag.com/urban/guides/family...enclothes1.htm
H&M, Steve & Berry's, flea markets in SoHo.

-another good show to consider that usually has discount tickets, is Xanadu. Its hysterically funny and totally appropriate for teens.

Have a ball!

twbuss

Thanks all so much for such great advice. Having been to New York before, I know how overwhelming it can get. I want to make this a great trip for the girls and having advice especially on neighborhoods and what is do-able distance wise is so helpful.

Keep it coming.

Myer

For the Brooklyn bridge. I would take the subway across the Brooklyn, grab a pizza at Grimaldi, ice cream dessert at the Ice Cream Factory and walk back to the city.

Grimaldi & Ice Cream are right under the entrance to the Bridge. When you walk back, you're facing the buildings.

I did it twice in the past two years. The first was in Nov and was quite cool. The second time was mid-Sept and beautiful.

Also, when you exit the bridge, you're not all that far from the Staten Island Ferry. Great ride and worth the price (free).

I like to stay close to the Park. That way I wander the Park early taking pictures while my wife is still asleep.

If you're going up 5th Ave you'll enter at the SouthEast corner. As you go up take any roadway that veers left. That way you'll get the the west side and Strawberry Fields.

Then cut across to the East side for the Met.

Great walking park.

Myer

Oh. Forgot to mention. I posted my photos from last Sept at:

www.travelwalks.com

Select NY & Philadelphia

mclaurie

Great photos Myer. Thanks for posting them.

MFNYC

Another store the girls would probably enjoy is Pearl River on Broadway between Grand and Broome sts (in Soho). It's kind of an oriental department store. My daughter gets inexpensive tote bags and little mary jane flats there. They have all kinds of cute and interesting items.

There are Sephora stores all over the city. Besides the one in Times Sq, there's one on Union Sq and another in SOho (on Broadway). ANother store similar to FOrever 21 is H&M. It also has several locations (near Macys, 2 in Soho, etc).

twbuss

Thanks for all the good advice, I booked Rent for Friday night, National Comedy Theater for Saturday night and Legally Blonde for Sunday night. Thanks to someone else's advice on this board, I got tickets for the girls and myself for $5 a piece to the National Comedy Theater and tickets to MOMA for 2.50 through High Five. Next thing is to work on restaurants or maybe we will just wing it. Thanks again,