christmas crowds advice please
 

so if one is doing a few touristy things during the long weekend after christmas, which would you choose...

1. Ice-skating in central park:
Friday evening (8ish) or Sunday afternoon (3ish)

2. Lunch in Soho on Saturday:
Mercer Kitchen OR Jerry's OR walk over to Lombardi's in Nolita.

Thanks,
Dina

#1.

#1

#1 in the afternoon - or you could freeze your buns off.

ok, thank you for responding, but i'm sorry i was so unclear.

my original post had actually TWO questions.
(1) which day would be less crowded for skating?
and
(2) which would be easiest to get into (or other comments about the restaurants) on a busy shopping saturday

can we please try again?
thanks!!!

Skating will be busy at both times, but probably somewhat less crowded on a Friday evening. Sunday afternoon is one of the busiest times of the week.

I'm sorry, but I can't help about the brunch. I wouldn't choose to eat at any of these places. In SoHo, I'd probably go to Balthazar, but never without a reservation, so business is sort of irrelevant.

Hi Doug,

We're actually planning to have a dinner at Balthazar. (one of my favorites in NY!)

Thanks for the ice-skating tip.

Just curious why you wouldn't choose to eat at any of the places I mentioned?

Thanks again.
dina

I just wouldn't go to Soho for brunch (or dinner for that matter). It's simply not my scene. Similarly, the UWS simply doesn't do it for me. Too many crowds and too much waiting.

And, as you said, you're looking a tourist experience, not one a New Yorker would have. I would choose Balthazar for the baked goods.

Brunch for me means sticking close to home or meeting up with friends where they live. Artisanal has been my splurge place of choice for years; otherwise, I love another little neighborhood place near my home, Benjamin, which makes the best French toast I've found in NYC.

I do love to do dim sum, and that's where I go if I want to go downtown.

Well, we plan to go shopping in soho, and then have lunch, which would be convenient. (I never really said brunch, actually). That's why I wanted to eat in soho...

thanks.

Jerry's in Soho closed about a year ago, it has re-opened again, but in Tribeca. I've never been a big fan of Mercer Kitchen (too much attitude, and the food can be erratic).

For lunch IN Soho, convenient to shopping, I like Zoe, on Prince St - not exciting, but reliable; or Aquagrill on Spring (really good food). For quite the scene you might like the newly opened Boqueria, on Spring and Thompson - excellent tapas (at least at the original location in the flatiron district) or maybe for a quieter lunch, Savoy on Prince St.

But to answer your original question: - I would ice skate on Sunday afternoon ( the chance of it being warmer) and I would have lunch at Lombardi's on Saturday!

Thanks for all the tips, MP.

We are having dinner one night at Aqua Grill. I will shoot for Lombardi's lunch, as i believe it will be a short walk from soho. i wonder if they would take a lunch reservation... hmmm. that would be perfect.

dina

http://www.firstpizza.com/newyork.html
No reservations on the weekends

Hi Dina,

Saturday afternoon is much less crowded than sunday for skating if you are thinking of going to Central Park's Wollman rink. I think it's the most beautiful place in the city to skate and at night it's magical. I actually coach figure skating there on sunday late mornings and night time is the most fun.
On another note though Bryant Park's ice rink is free and you just have to rent skates.

Jen

i think we'll try for friday night... hopefully it won't be TOO cold!!
thanks for the tip!

Or you could try ice skating in Bryant Park (42nd St. b/t 5th/6th Aves)- much bigger rink and has a wonderful Christmas market outside of it right now.

Sorry! I was thinking that BP skating is much bigger than Rockefeller Center- not Central Park. I promise to read more carefully before posting next time!

I assume the Christmas market disappears immediately after Christmas?? We arrive on the 26th...

thanks for the tip!

The view is so much prettier skating at Wollman Rink than Bryant Park!

I would skate Sunday afternoon. I didn't realize Wollman Rink was lit at night?

Skip Lombardi's. I think it is over rated and found Angelos Coal Oven on West 57th to be much better.

I think when to ice skate depends on whether so I'd be flexible. If it's mild enough on Fri evening, that would be picturesque. But if it's cold or wet, not.

For lunch in/near Soho, I'd go to some place not so well known like Bistro Les Amis.

mclaurie,
i'm sure we may resort to the weather test. we're from southern california...

what's bistro les amis like? a french lunch sounds lovely!

Gotravel,
tell me about angelo's coal oven, please! I see it's in midtown...

thanks!!

Has anyone heard of a rink that's opened behind the Museum of Natural History?

Yes, there's another post about it, but I can't find it. Perhaps someone else can and will top it. The rink's surface is apparently not ice but rather a slick, teflon-like substance (like what they use on Royal Caribbean ships' "ice" rinks).

here's the link about the rink at the AMNH:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35167663

or you can just go to amnh.org

sad, isn't it when even a fodor's editor can't fins a post? maybe the search engine needs some improvement (understatement of the year?)

&quot;I think when to ice skate depends on <i>whether</i> &quot;

How utterly embarrassing. :-&lt; Thank you for not mentioning it.

I've also read there's a new ice rink at the South STreet Seaport this year. http://www.thenewseaport.com/icen

Bistro Les Amis is just a French place with good food. Balthazar is a more famous option of the same sort in Soho but it's always packed and hard to get into. http://www.bistrolesamis.com/brunch.htm