Hi to everybody, I'm new in this forum ...
Me and my husband are from Italy, but we used to live in Ireland, we're 29 years old. I'm trying to plan our FIRST trip to US. We're going to start our trip from NY ... what should we absolutely see in NY? We would like to live the real life of the city ... any suggestion?
Monikelly.

If possible I would like to have an idea of what we should see in the NY's county ...

Monikelly, we need more information from you:
1. How long are you planning to stay?
2. When are you coming?
3. What are your interests--just the "sights? Museums? Theater? What?
Tell us more.

Oh man, where to start? Here's a partial list of "must-sees" for a first timer:

--Times Square
--Broadway show
--Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island
--Empire State Bldg.
--a walk through Chinatown and/or Greenwich Village
--one of many museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Nat'l History, etc.
--shopping on 5th Avenue/Madison Ave.
--the NY subway

If you want to get a sense of the "real life" of the city, I would recommend that you not stay in Midtown, and stay instead in an area such as Tribeca, the Village, or perhaps the Upper West or East side. We'd be happy to answer more questions.

These are a few "real life" things you can slip into the general must sees of the city:

1. Assuming you'll be in the area to visit the World Trade Center site, go to Wall Street on a weekday. It's just a great vibe to feel the pulse of the financial center of the world. See if you can get tickets to the New York Stock Exchange tour also: I believe you can get tickets on the same day but after 9/11, I'm not sure if there are any other restrictions.

2. For nightlife, go to SOB's on Varick St. The music is usually of a latin flavor but I've also seen calypso bands here and saw the hip-hop band The Roots here in November. What I really like about this place is how much a great cross-section of New Yorkers it draws. You'll find people of every race, age, occupation, etc. and they're usually unpretentious and there just to have a good time.

3. St. Mark's Place, just off Cooper Square, is a street where you can find many different types of cuisines, cafes, bars and stores. It's one of the main hangout areas for NYU students also and given your ages, you'll be comfortable.

4. The Cherry Lane Theatre in the Village is a very cool and quaint performing arts theatre tucked away in a quiet spot of the Village. Besides some excellent experimental work by playwriters, it's just such an oasis in the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city. I highly recommend stopping off in the Grange Hall restaurant right next to it.

Hope this helps a little bit. Here are some websites to help you find more info on these things:

http://www.sobs.com/
http://www.cherrylanetheatre.com

Use this site to find out just about anything else you need to know:

http://newyork.citysearch.com

Monikelly:

Welcome to the biggest city on the planet! I do not mean that to discourage you, but you need to prepare for this town!

This forum is wonderful way to start. You say you are new to it. Here is what I do when checking out a city. Try highlighing "New York" in the drop down menu box, type in "New York City" in the "space" and hit "enter". Lots, and lots of great ideas will be at your fingertips!
JOHN

Biggest city on the planet? Not.

Greatest -- yes!

Thanks to everybody for your reply, you all were very kind and gave me a lot of new ideas ... and links also ... lovely!

my next questions:
I heard of a restaurant called "Tribeca Grill" in NYcity and someone told me that this is the one of DeNiro. Is it true? Anyone was there?

What other cities do I HAVE to visit around NY city? I have friends in Paterson and I think I'll go there, but what else should we see ??

To answer a few question:
1. How long are you planning to stay?
I don't know exactly, I'm starting from here to visit as much US as I can, I know it will take ages to see and know everything from NY to California, but I think I can take max 3 weeks off work and that's why I'm trying to organize everything ...

2. When are you coming?
This is also to decide, and can be a question a will do to you: When do you think is the better month to come to US considering I'll visit from NY to California ?

Hi
If you have three weeks and you are going to California in that time, you might want to skip Paterson and concentrate on NYC. Maybe your friends can come into the city and visit with you while you sightsee?
I have been to the Tribeca Grill a couple of times, maybe it is just me, but I did not love it.DeNiro is an owner. It was crowded and rushed feeling, I doubt you will see a celebrity.
I would take everything on my list of must-sees and try to keep them in catagories of neighborhoods. Then try to work out a schedule of a neighborhood a day.
Do you have any idea of where you want to stay? Budget?
This is a huge trip considering the city you want to see and the amount there is to see..and then California!
What else are you interested in?

"I'm starting from here to visit as much US as I can, I know it will take ages to see and know everything from NY to California, but I think I can take max 3 weeks off work . . . considering I'll visit from NY to California"

Uh-oh, a little chill just went up my spine. You aren't planning on seeing things IN BETWEEN NYC and California, too, are you?! Your 3 weeks might be enough to make a dent in that one city and that one state, but please tell us you aren't really thinking of this as a cross-country journey.

The closest major cities around NY are Philadelphia (by train), Boston and Washington, DC (train or plane). But if you're planning on going to California (3,000 miles-5+ hours by plane) you'd better pick & choose.
As to when, I always like September. The kids are back in school so it's not the height of tourist season, the weather on the east coast is still warm but not usually brutally hot & you may even get to see some fall colors towards the end of the month.
Without knowing your interests or budget I would suggest the following for 3 weeks
week 1 New York
2 days Washington DC (by Amtrak train)
3 days New Orleans
2 days Santa Fe, New Mexico
week 3 San Francisco & Los Angeles

In response to your recent question, probably the best time to see both California and New York is either the spring (May-June) or the fall (September-October).
Tribeca Grill is okay, not great, but decent. If you want to go there because you want to see Robert DeNiro, your chances of succeeding are slim.
Yu still seem to be far from knowing exactly what you want to do--or at least, are not conveying that to us. As previous posters have said, your plans still seem a bit vague.
Questions:
Do you plan to see only NY and California?
Or, are you thinking about driving cross country?
Fill us in on what your general plan is. If you don't have one, that should be your first step.

You're right I don't know exactly what I want ... but I'm trying to figure it out ... I just started in this days to think about it ...
I thought that we can move by plane from city to city (only the most important and really interesting) and starting from NY I would like to visit some city until we will land in California ... do you think this will be too much ?? I don't have any idea ... really ... but this was the dream ... I know I wont see Everything in US nor Every city, but I'll love to take the best of SOME IMPORTANT city that have something to give ...
As this is my first US travel, I'm interested in touching the US culture in different counties and see the "must-sees" for the first timer ...
I'm going to write down a list of places and things TO SEE, after that I'll think to the connection between the places and after that the hotel.
We won't think to the budget now, but we'll talk about this at the end of the list of the things to see and after that we'll decide to keep everything in the list or to delete something and after choose the way of transport and the hotel.
We have all the time to plan and to collect the budget we need as at the moment we don't have any idea of the time when we'll come to US. We only want to have a very good time when we'll be in US!!

In that case, I think you should use your time with one week split between New York and another city (Washington, Boston, or Chicago), and then fly to San Francisco. Spend most of the rest of the two weeks in California. You can do many things like go to Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas (in Nevada actually), Death Valley, L.A., and drive up the coast back to San Francisco which is one of the most spectacular drives in the world.

If I were visiting the US for three weeks, I would land in NYC stay a week, fly to California stay a few days in San Francisco, go to LA for a few more days. Since I hate long flights, I would fly back to NYC for the third week, seeing all the rest of the sights that you missed the first week.(breaking up the long trip from CA to Europe)
The flights from NY to Ca are about 6-7 hours long, I think. There is a three hour time difference.
You need a car in LA. SF is more doable, much like NYC or London. But you might get a kick out of renting a car and seeing Hollywood, the beach and some stars homes. Then come back to NYC
My favorite time in NYC is the fall. Warm days and cool nights and pretty colors. The first week you could do all the major tourist sights, the last week you could do the smaller, how New Yorkers live kind of sights. And I believe that would be a good time to shop