Hi,
My hubby and I are travelling from west coast to NYC arriving on Dec 21 at Newark around 6pm and staying Midtown East in the Marriott NY east Side on Lexington -our last night 24th is at Renaissance hotel in time square.
Things we would like to do/see in no particular order:
1.Empire State building observation deck
2.Rockefeller Center/ice rink/tree
3.Central park Wollman rink for skating and strawberry fields
4. Holiday windows - which ones are close by each other and window shopping
5. Little Italy
6. Greenwich Village.
7. Staten Island Ferry
8. Eat real NY pizza
9. Have a good bagel and/or eat at a good NY deli
10. Maybe afternoon tea at Tea & Sympathy
11.Mayeb Soho/east village or chelsea(which do you recommend for cafes and window shopping)
12. Eat cheap ethnic food - Indonesian, Thai, Middle Eastern, Italian
13. metropolitan museum maybe
14. mayeb midnight mass at st patrick's
I've been to NY before but can't remember the distances so what would be a doable itinerary? Would it be best to buy the subway pass or how should we travel around?
All advice appreciated!
Also what about reservations for that week? We're not planning on eating anywhere too fancy..

Answers to all your questions are already right here if you do a tetx search. Start with NYC AND Christmas in the text search box. A Grayline downtown loop bus tour will cover a lot. Other searches to do:

NYC AND pizza (Grimaldi's in Brooklyn supposed to be the best)
NYC AND bagels or delis
NYC christmas windows

Do go to the Met, if just to see their Xmas tree.

Yes get a metrocard-2 options to consider is a week card for $21 I think unlimited use or pay as you go starting at $10 where you get 6 rides for the price of 5.

Make reservations for dinner. It's a very busy time.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I am interested in opinions on the grayhound loop bus- would it still eb enjoyable in the winter ? Also would it be better to use subway to get around.
If anyone has suggestions as to doable day itineraries and which places that would fit in nicely into each day , that's really what I am looking for.

As for daily itineraries, you don't have to go very far to find a good one. Check out Fodor's NYC destination report on this website.

Hi, I don't think Tea & Sympathy does afternoon tea. When I was in NY in September that was one of things I wanted to do after walking around most of the day. We wanted a cup of tea and a cake but walked into the tiny restaurant and were told they only served tea next door (also part of T&S) but next door only offered takeaway tea. The man said we could sit on the bench outside. This was not what we had in mind so we didn't bother.

This board has lots of other suggestions for afternoon tea. Do a search to come up with ideas.

Mac123