Help us plan our 3 days in New York City
 

My sister and I are visiting NYC for three days beginning Saturday, October 6. We will arrive early in the morning on Saturday and leave Tuesday morning, and staying at the Millennium Broadway (price was too good to pass up). We have done all the tourist things in the past. We do plan to do some shopping (Bloomingdales, Tiffanys, Macys, etc.). Are the shops open on Sunday? We are interested in some good restaurants, we love seafood, italian, sushi and american. We are considering the City Cafe in Brooklyn. For two sisters, would you do lunch or dinner? I'm guessing it is more couples in the evening. What is Top of the Rock? We have never done the Empire State Building at night, so that is a consideration. Any suggestions on how to plan the three days? We are open for any ideas. We just booked this and don't have much time for planning.

Do Top of the Rock, not the Empire State Building. You can buy tickets online so that you don't have to wait to buy tickets on the day you go. If you go just before dusk you can get the day and night views. All of the big stores you mentioned are open Sundays. Check out menupages.com and nymetro.com for restaurant menus and reviews. Check out ohny.org for some interesting sight seeing options that weekend. It only happens once a year.

Do you like art/design? There are some smaller museums that are sometimes overlooked. If you are interested I'll list what I have and I'm sure others can add to it.

What about one of the food tours from www.foodsofny.com ?

Yes, stores are open on Sunday. In some neighborhoods though, small stores open at noon and close around 6.
Department stores have longer hours

Thanks all.

Margo, I just asked my sister, she is not interested in the museums, but thanks for the suggestion.

I did hear about the food tour. I'm going to check that out more.

Definitely doing Top of the Rock.

Any other suggestions are appreciated. Really could use some Restaurant suggestions, something with good atmosphere, good food, New York style, not chain restaurants (that's all we have here in Ohio).

Try the ethnic food.

Dim Sum-Jing Fung, Golden Unicorn

Jewish Deli-Katz's

Turkish Kitchen

Indian-Banjara, Mitali

French Bistro-(this is steak frite, mussels with fries, chicken and fish, Not haute French)-Cafe Deville, Les Halles

Veselka-Eastern European

Breakfast-City Bakery or Clinton Street Bakery

How about a Broadway show? There are last minute ticket booths in the city and you can score some nice seats, although Sat & Sun may not be as choice as middle of week. A lot of shows are closed Mon night. Try this: http://nymag.com/visitorsguide/essen...waytickets.htm

How about a Boat Cruise around the city (http://www.circleline42.com) It can be a fun way to get a different take on the city.

As you are staying downtown check out the great places to eat in Tribeca. (http://www.menupages.com/restaurants...ghborhoodid=23)

Definitely do Top of the Rock versus ESB. If you go late in the afternoon you can see the city during the day times as well as the lights going on as it gets dark.

When you say City Cafe in Brooklyn - are you talking about the River Cafe? Right near Brooklyn Bridge, upscale and with great views of Manhattan? If so I would definitely do dinner - the views of the city are OK during the day but fantastic at night. But- for dinner they have only 2 prix fixe dinners - one at $95 and one at $115. They serve a la carte at lunch. IMHO the food is very good (but not the best in the city) - but the views make it unforgettable.

You are very lucky since that weekend is Openhouse NY when they open otherwise private spaces. Look for more info here on Sept. 28th
http://www.ohny.org/weekend/

I also strongly urge you to take a boat cruise. I was on the nywatertaxi.com yesterday and had a ball. You can buy a hop on/off ticket for 1 day for $20/person or 2 days for $25. Since you're staying in Times Square, you can easily get on the boat at their 44th st. pier and head down to the village, or the World Financial Center, the South STreet Seaport etc. You could even use it to get to the River Cafe as it's not far from the Fulton St. pier. I'd go for an earlyish dinner.

Thanks again, everyone, great suggestions.

Yes, I did mean River Cafe. I was typing that late at night, sorry.

I was checking out that Openhouse the other day, but I'm not sure I understand what it is all about.

There was a restaurant I went to in November and I can't remember the name. Is there a Garment district? I think that is where it was at. Very nice restaurant, great menu, Regis talks about it alot on his show. does anyone know what I am talking about?

There is a garment district, but I don't think there are many very nice restaurants there. I don't watch Regis, so don't know which restaurants he's touting these days.

The OPenhouse NY opens spaces otherwise not readily available to the public. I think if you wait 2 days to see what's being opened, it will be easier to understand.

Hi! my parents are now in Miami and will be in nyc from the 29th till the 4th October. I don't think they've ben at the so talked about Top of the Rocks and was thinking of suggesting it. At what time is the sunset in nyc (in this time of the year)??
mclaurie, is there a nice boat that takes them to an unusual place?
SR my husband insisted that we do the empire state building at night and it would have been good if it weren't for the Huge line we had to wait...

Like mclaurie said, the garment district isn't really known for its restaurants, and I don't watch Regis either, so these are probably wild guesses, but here goes--
Keen's Steakhouse? Arno?

Carlota, I just made a dinner reservation at the River Cafe for the weekend of October 6, and I asked the lady what time the sun set. She said approximately 6:30 p.m..

I found out that the restaurant that I was referring to and went to in November was Valbella's. Anyone else been there?

http://www.valbellany.com/

That's the meatpacking district, now full of trendy shops and restaurants

Carlota, there is now a "fast pass" at the Empire State building if you don't want to wait in any lines. It's around $45/person. I've heard they've fixed up things a bit at ESB.

There are lots of nice boat cruises. They don't necessarily take you to an unusual place.
sail-nyc.com
shearwatersailing.com
http://www.bateauxnewyork.com/ba/index.jsp

There are some fall cruises up the Hudson to see the leaves, but those are mostly in mid to late October.

thanks! SR you are going to love the river cafe!! very romantic!!!!
one question about top of the rocks: is it just to see the view or is it a place to have a drink? or is it also a restaurant? I'm not really sure what type of place it is...

Top of the Rock (no "s") is just an observatory, http://www.topoftherocknyc.com/splash.aspx
but the Rainbow Room and Rainbow Grill are in the same building and you can drink and dine there. Rainbow Room is VERY fancy (food not considered all that great). Only open on weekends and there's a live big band and dancing. The Rainbow Grill is a nice place for a drink (and the view). Food very pricey and not all that good.
http://www.rainbowroom.com/