Christmas season in NYC with tween and teens
 

Sorry if there have already been a lot of posts on this subject, but I'm kind of struggling to come up with things to do. We will be spending a day in NYC on Monday Dec 13th. We typically go in to the city once or twice a year. We will see the tree at Rockerfeller Center and probably go ice skating in Bryant Park. The Mets Clubhouse store is a must do for my 12 year old son, and my 16 year old daughter will want to do some shopping, although not sure where - she's really just in to some pretty mainstream typical teen fashions (American Eagle, etc), and maybe some inexpensive jewelery. The kids aren't really fans of museums and I think many are closed on Monday, but maybe the Natural History museum. Last year we saw Wintuk, but not looking to do a show this year, partly due to cost. Also somewhere to eat - I saw a recommendation for a burger place in the Parker Meridien. Anybody tried it? We used to do ESPN zone, but I think it's closed? The kids aren't very adventurous eaters.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

There is a burger place in the Parker Meridien called "The Burger Joint" and it's good but can be pretty busy. But there are lots of burger places now in NYC. You could do Five Napkin Burger (reservations really essential, though, unless you want to wait 90 minutes for a table). There's also HB Burger, which is a bit cheaper. These are both in midtown. There's also a Shake Shack now in the new Intercontinental Hotel, and it's always very busy. ESPN Zone is indeed closed. But there's Hard Rock Cafe near there.

The Museum of Natural History will be open but most other museums are closed. You could go to Top of the Rock if the weather is good. There are a million things to do for the holidays though. Free ice skating at Bryant Park (you rent skates), ice skating in Central Park. Christmas trees and windows. Millions of events for the season. I'm not sure how anyone could have trouble finding something to do in NYC, but I may be biased.

The best place for teen shopping is Broadway from about 8th Street all the way down to Canal.

Your son might like Forbidden Panet on B'way and 13th.

And they both should like Evolutuion on Spring Street.

We posted a ton of places to go with tweens in the Big Apple on our blog's tween travel page at: http://shoptwixt.blogspot.com/p/tween-travel.html
We also recommend Dylan's Candy Bar, SweetiePie, the Peanut Butter Company, Serafina's, Serendipity, the amazing Food Hall beneath the renovated Plaza Hotel (something for even the pickiest eater - all in great style and a convenient midtown location), the Apple Store next door to FAO, the elevated park The High Line (www.thehighline.org), Papabubble on Broome Street (you can watch this very cool, very high tech candy being made), Momofuku's Milk Bar for a fun coffee/cookie stop, and MOMA is free on Fridays from 4-8pm (at least they were when we went this summer).
Your daughter will also love the Tokidoki capsule store in SoHo on Spring Street.
Our tweens also still love the horse drawn carriage rides in Central Park, but these are pricey.
Have fun!

Carriage rides are pricey and not at all friendly to the horse. Walk in the Park or if you are in the West Village and it is a rainy day anyway, go see The Legend of Pale Male.
http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...le-see-it.html

Canal St, is a shadow of it's former self, alot of the little stores there have been closed and knock-offs are harder to come by with recent crackdowns. Most of the stores there sell "pashmina" scarves in every color you can think of and it seems to be the major thing on the whole street.

There are also alot of jewelry stores with high end (all gold) jewelry.

For a teen, head to 34th St around Macy's there's Old Navy, Macy's Daffys' H&M and a favorite of mine for jeans/tees is, yes I know it's not everyones favorite, CONWAY. You can't beat jeans for $8.00 and tees for $3, for a teen it will greatly expand buying power. For costume jewelry head down Broadway and you will find all the costume you could want from $1 to high end $10. You pick up a small basket when you go in and fill it up, full it's maybe $20.

The Museun of Natural History is a good idea and yes it is open on Monday's. Take the B/C train to 79th St. You can eat right in the cafe at the Museum, or walk over a block to Columbus and walk downtown there are multiple restaurants on EVERY block. Of note there is a fairly new Shake Shack on Columbus and 77th.

If you are midtown a recent find of mine is The Primeburger, a GREAT little diner/restaurant with the BEST burgers. Been there since the 30's and hasn't been redonesince the 60's so it's pure olde New York. It's on 51st between 5th and Madison across from St. Pats. CHEAP and GOOD.

Hope this helps have a great time while you're here.

Travelbuff

I mentioned B'way from 8th Street to Canal Street and that includes Pearl River. The streets are impassable with people on any Saturday and Sunday. When the Euro is good, there are scores of Europeans buying there.

I did not mention Canal Street for shopping.

Thanks everyone. Doug, I'm struggling to understand why I'm having such a hard time finding things to do since as you say there is a ton of stuff in NYC. I think part of the problem is that we are only there one day during the day on the 13th. Many of the Christmas events seem to be shows or evening events. We were already planning the ice skating and we did Top of the Rock last year. We will most likely stop by to see some of the windows, too, as that is part of our normal routine when we visit at this time of year.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations on places to eat and shop.

H&M and Forever 21 (various locations) are good for a mainstream teen. There's lots of shopping right at Union Sq, including the Holiday Market, Forever 21, Norstrom Rack, Filene's, American Eagle, DSW, B&N, and more. Modell's (various locations) also carries lots of 'team' apparel and is cheaper than the Mets clubhouse.

There are also many restaurants in the area. New places of all kinds have been popping up on just about every block on University Place. In the general area there is bbq, italian, japanese, vietnamese, indian, crepe, middle eastern, diner/coffeeshop, etc.