Ideas for First Night in NYC?
 

We will be arriving in New York next week. Any ideas for what we should do our very first evening in New York (we are traveling with 2 young children, arriving around 3 in the afternoon and staying a couple of blocks from central park. The kids will probably be tired but eager to walk after riding on a plane all day. Thanks for any advice. Hoping to get our first visit off to good start.

That's easy. Take them to see Times Square after dark. It'll dazzle 'em. I still remember the first time my parents took me there at night when I was 12. A bitter cold February night. The rest of my family was freezing and I wouldn't leave. Just walk around!

Go to FAO Schwartz across from the Plaza Hotel, then down to Rockefeller Center to watch the ice skaters. Have supper at John's Pizza, there is one on the East Side and another near Lincoln Center on the West Side.

The Empire State Building Observation Deck on 33rd St. & Fifth Avenue is open until 11:00 PM. The view is amazing on a clear night. Crowds are thinner at night and there is a Houlihan's restaurant on the ground level.

Thank you for the great suggestions. We will do a combination of all 3. Thanks for all your help in planning our trip!