Aduchamp1

Although we are not huge opera fans a backstage tour of the Met Opera was truly interesting.

Some other NY things

Getting a hot bagel at a real bagel store for brekfast.
Going to Gray's Papaya for a cheap hot dog.
Earting at a place like Big Wong's where there is absolutely no atmosphere, shared tables, slapdash service and great spicy chow fun, Chinese crullers, and roast duck.
Going into Economy candy where they have all sorts of packages and store made candy. A throwback to another time.
Getting knishes at Yonah Schimmel where they have not cleaned the windows or changed the signs since Yonah died thirty years ago.
Going to an off-Broadway play. If you are selective there are often well known personalities plying their trade in an intimate atmosphere.

MichelleY

These are things I enjoyed last fall on my first trip to NYC:

Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island
Tenement Museum - $$$$ but well worth it
Lunch at the Boat House then over to the Frick Collection
Eating at cool places and experiencing the food offerings in NYC
Met Museum
Seeing a musical

Things I would do next time:

More time at Ellis Island
Do a food tour
Do an architectural tour
More of Met Museum
MoMA
More eating/experiencing the food offerings
Radio City Musicl Hall Tour

sf7307

Train schedule:

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm

sf7307

Sorry, wrong thread.

TC

I, too, love The Cloisters in summer.

The Picasso exhibit and the American Woman exhibit at The Met are outstanding right now. Don't miss "Big Bambu" on the roof top. Its amazing! http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp

Broadway shows that I really enjoyed -- In The Heights.

Although I'll be crucified for saying this -- walk around Times Square after your show. Its changed a lot since you lived there.

A concert at BargeMusic. www.bargemusic.org

A late night drink at the top of The Dream Hotel -- Ava Lounge. http://www.avaloungenyc.com/gallery.html

mclaurie

The Tenement museum is beastly hot in the summer and not something I'd go out of my way to do in August. I would start with making a list of the things you never did when you lived here or that didn't exist then. Some of the things I've enjoyed recently, showing visitors around:
>drinks on the outdoor terrace of the River Cafe
>Dizzy'c Coca Cola for jazz
>Asiate for lunch in the Mandarin Oriental
>Robert restaurant at the Museum of Art & Design (great museum too)
>a walk through the meatpacking district and a meal
>drinks on some of the rooftop terraces
http://nymag.com/nightlife/barbuzz/11025/
>the Picasso exhibit at the Metmuseum.org

panecott

If you choose to visit the Met, be sure to see the bamboo sculpture on the roof garden. It's very cool. You can walk on it but you have to sign up at the south entrance to the Museum on the street level.

Gwendolynn

I live in Manhattan. Years ago my husband and I decided that altho we have traveled far and wide we had never "done" New York. So we bought a green Michelin and pretended we were tourists. I remember one thing we'd never seen was St. John's Cathedral ! I'm certain a current guide would give you lots of options.... along with the ideas mentioned above. The ferries are really nice if you didn't do that in the past. Will you be coming thru Grand Central? Have you seen it since its restoration? (Also, there are some nice restaurants on the Grand Concourse now.)

Centralparkgirl

If you get to spend time with a girl friend, see 'Love, Loss and What I wore'

Also

La Cage
Zero Hour (downtown)
Red
South Pacific - a must before it closes

Centralparkgirl

Also, I second the tenement tour. 'Piecing it Together.'
One tour is sufficient for one day.

sobster

Wave Hill
Fort Tryon Park (Cloisters) Eat at New Leaf
"New" Times Square
Bleecker St from like Charles St. east crossing 7th Ave. and getting to all those specialty food stores/ice creams stores (AOC Bleecker has a nice outdoor dining area.)

christabir

Governor's Island
Shakespeare in the Park (Al Pacino in The Merchants of Venice)
Go ahead - do the Circle Line
The Met, of course - and drinks sound great!
Dumbo and then walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge
Grand Central tour
Macy's!
Buy food at Faiway and picnic in the park and then search for Balto
Chelsea Piers and free kayaks downtown

There is now a NYC pass. Check it out at http://www.newyorkpass.com/

Check for special events at
http://www.nycgo.com/

Have fun!!

Centralparkgirl

I think 'Red' will be closed.

lia_b

See if you can track and find the Wafels and Dinges truck for a scrumptious dessert. I believe you can follow them on twitter. They are usually around Columbia University but move around the city at a different place daily.

paula1470

I would absolutely make sure you see South Pacific. It's closing Aug 22 and the stars that opened the show are coming back for the close. I believe Kelli O'Hara is already back and there is rumor that Matt Morrison might be there depending on the shooting schedule of "Glee". If Matt's not there, Lt. Cable is played by my daughter's friend, Andrew Samonsky who took over the role when Matt left. I think South Pacific is one of the best shows I have seen on Broadway and there have been many over the years.

mclaurie is right about The Tenement tour being hot. I went a few years ago in July and was sweating the whole time. But I still think it was worth it. I went on the Piecing It Together Tour which was about Jewish immigrants and their sweatshops. All I could think about during the tour was how hot they must have been in their heavy clothing, sitting over a sewing machine all day. If I was dying of the heat in capris and a tank top, how must they have felt. It really gave me perspective.

I would also suggest the Highline but go in the evening. It does close down at 10:00 so keep that in mind. I went in the evening with some friends and then had dinner after in the Meatpacking District. We were there last August and while it was lovely in the evening, my daughters went with their friends around high noon and were absolutely miserable from the heat. (It was a heat spell when we were there).

I haven't been to Cloisters yet but it's on my list. Maybe this October when I go. I also think one of the food tours would be fun but haven't done that yet.

My friend lives on the Upper West Side and I've always wanted to go over to Riverside Park and just walk through the park. I know there are some monuments in the park but don't know much more about it. And of course I also enjoy Central Park and a drink at the Boat House.

Hope you have fun. This gives me some good ideas for my trip in November.

paula1470

Also another recommendation for The Frick. I went to St. John's Cathedral during December of 2009 for their Christmas Concert. Never even knew it existed and enjoyed the concert. It is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. Doesn't have the beautiful paintings that other cathedrals have but still impressive. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to take the tour but ran out of time.

yestravel

We went to the Tenement Musuem last year and while it was a bit hot, it was a great experience. I wouldn't miss it. The Highline is fun, but would avoid that in the day if its hot which it likely will be in August.

Aduchamp1

Our art coop is currently sponsoring an outdoor sculpture exhinit on Governor's Island (in whhich I am not participating.)

http://www.bwac.org/

K_brklyn

Governor's island is now open to the public. They have a program called Free Fridays with free water taxis from Manhattan & Brooklyn and free bike rentals on the island.

DebitNM

What is on Governor's Island - aside from adu's sculpture exhibit?