Whoa, didn't want to create a fuss about the Big Apple Greeters. But I want to clarify the circumstances.

For one thing, our greeter was a full-time bank executive from Queens who takes an occasional day to do the greeter tours for his amusement.

Secondly, I had no problem getting a sweatshirt for him, nor did I have a problem paying for his lunch--the question was stated that they don't expect a tip. I think they do in some fashion, and I think a $40 lunch/with alcoholic drinks at the greeter's favorite place to eat and his choice of restaurants was a tip.

We did have a few other issues with our greeter that shouldn't reflect on the organization as a whole. One, he was an middle-aged (45 or so) single guy, who spent most of his time hugging our two teen aged daughters who kept getting slightly freaked out about it and secondly he must have taken 15-20 photos of our girls for his personal collection that day. He didn't seem to want a picture of me or my wife, not that I am that photogenic, but still why just two teens 16 and 14 at the time.

Now if nobody sees a problem with that, I am sorry and I won't comment on Big Apple Greeters again.

Ohh, I forgot to mention, when he first contacted us, he insisted he liked to do full-day tours instead of the 1/2 day that we had originally requested and he specifically mentioned he liked families with teenagers, because he had some great ideas for what "they" would like to do.

Well given what you describe, I hope you informed the Big Apple Greeters organization of your experience. It is the exception rather than the rule on all counts.

I agree, I do believe it is the exception! It was one of those events that made us very uncomfortable, and we did mention it in our evaluation of the tour -- you want to be tactful, because he didn't do anything technically wrong -- but it did not come across very well.

You'll have a blast! NYC is the best. Use your hotel conceirge to purchase tickets (learned this later on in trip)...Montey Python is great/hilarious.

Don't miss out on Greenwich Village & SoHo; great shopping and awesome food. We did the double decker bus tour (cheesy) but definately worth it. You can hop on and off when you would like and it's a cheap means to get around town during daylight hours.

Central Park is definately worth it too; especially when the weather's nice.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the input!

maybabe80 - when you say "Use your hotel conceirge to purchase tickets" do you mean ahead of time or immediately upon arrival? (Sorry if this is a dumb question, I've truly never taken advantage of this service.)

Also, are there any areas that we should definately stay away from?

Thanks again!

If you stay in Times Square be aware that it is very, very crowded and hectic.
It is not really the center of things, just the center of the theater district.
There are other prettier neighborhoods, for example the upper east side, or along Central Park , that are much calmer. It depends on your taste and tolerance for crowds. Loved the Lion King. Cabs are expensive. The subway and buses are the way io go, although I imagine the subways could be confusing for a first timer. SOHO and the village are fun. We also have lots of great museums. If you are going to the Statue of Liberty, see if you can combine it with Ellis Island-very interesting.

You can certainly ask the concierge of the hotel you chose to make reservations and purchase tix in advance of your trip. Just realize you will pay a premium for the tix and you could probably do better on your own with advance planning. Some concierges can get tables at restaurants that might be booked. But again, since you are planning in advance, you should be able to get a table is most any place you'd chose.

As far as things to stay away from, I'm on a crusade to downplay Little Italy and Chinatown. Little Italy is 2 short blocks of what's now become very touristy restaurants serving mostly mediocre food. Chinatown is a heaving mass of people trying to buy & sell illegal merchandise.

We've heard on another thread that the 9/11 exhibit at St. Paul's Chapel (across from WTC site) has been taken down. The WTC site itself has (finally) become a construction site.

The first thing you should get is a good map. This is one that seems to work well and includes a subway map.
http://www.vandam.com/shopflash/unfolds_a.htm
You can evidently find it at some Barnes & Nobles.

You should consider a bus tour to get acclimated. The hop on/off are most popular but there's also kingofny.com and nypartyshuttle.com--smaller buses. The guide of kingofny gets high marks.

You can also consider some walking tours. Bigonion.com does some interesting ones and foodsofny.com tasting tours are very popular.

4khansen -

A $40 lunch (hardly a luxury for a bank exec in NYC) is not a gratuity. Unless you thnk it;s a gratuity when you're someone's houseguest and take them out to dinner. It's just a small sign of appreciation for what they've given you. The way civilized people treat each other. (I repeat - what did you expect him to do - sit on the sidewalk with a hot dog waiting for you while you ate in a restaurant?) And how much do you thing his time is worth?

A gratuity would be if he had asked for $100 cash.

I live in NYC -- and the one thing I would strongly suggest is NOT staying in Times Square. Times Square is extremely crowded and super touristy -- if you want to get the real New York experience, definitely stay somewhere else where you can get the flavor of a NYC neighborhood without the crowds. Depending on your budget, you can find hotels in great NBHs like Upper East Side, East Village, Greenwich Village, etc... midtown east probably has less expensive hotels than upper east, but will be less crazy than Times Square.

The only thing i have an objection to on your list is the Yankees game -- as a die-hard Mets fan, I strongly urge you to go to a Mets game at Shea instead -- after all, it will be one of the last years it's there!! :)

Enjoy your visit!!