manhattan midtown east/UES
 

i'm staying at the roosevelt hotel dec 6-10,2012...what should i do on the eastside?? how's the hotel choice?? thanks, adrian

Why do you want to restrict what you do to the eastside?

What are your interests - shopping, museums, people-watching, parks, memorials, eating?

Also, just so you know, your hotel is on the eastside, but barely - 5th Avenue is the dividing line between east and west.

The Roosevelt is a traditional, older (1920's) hotel that was renovated not so long ago. It generally offers excellent prices, if somewhat small rooms.

Don't know why you are asking about the east side. the subway goes everywhere and the Roosevelt is right near Grand Central - so subways going both N/S and E/W.

You can easily get anywhere in the city from there.

Oh - and the Roosevelt is at 42nd - nowhere near the upper east side - which is 59th and north.

this is our 5th trip to NYC, never explored the eastside/UES before. oh, and i'm pretty familiar with the geography, thanks. we're going to the guggenheim, and skating at wollman. we like the off the beaten track stuff though, not-so touristy, quirky shops, restaurants, etc. thanks

The truly UES (east of 5th Avenue, north of 59th Street) is a mostly very upscale residential neighborhood.

so i'll skip that then.....

Sorry, but sf307 seems to be pretty out of touch with the area.

The Upper East Side has almost all of NYC's major art museums and several other interesting museums like the Museum of the City of New York and the Neue Galerie, which specializes in Austrian art and has one of the best pastry cafes in the city. So it's much more than residential.

However, one of the least interesting museums in NYC is the Guggenheim. Go to see the building, and stay if there's a special exhibit that really interests you, but otherwise it's an overpriced museum of limited interest (there's very little in the permanent collection that's worth the money).

Also, Madison Avenue from 60th Street up to the high 80s has the highest concentration of luxury designer boutiques of any part of the city except for SoHo.

The Roosevelt is quite nice and it's on 46th and Madison Ave. I used to hold job fairs there a couple time a year. The rooms are good size for NY, and the hotel was recently rennovated so ask for a newer room, and ask for an upgrade when you check in. If they have the rooms available they might do it.

The hotel is close to Grand Central, and lots of shops within a few blocks. A fav is Daffy's a block or two away.

A REALLY good restaurant that is NEW is close by Da Noi at 49th and 3rd Ave, really good Italian, I was there last week for dinner and LOVED it.

The museums are all on or just off 5th Avenue. Once you get OFF 5th Avenue, it's still MOSTLY an upscale residential neighborhood. I think the OP already knows about the museums.

And yes, there is also a lot of very pricey shopping on the UES.

If you're over on the WAY upper east side, Pio Pio is a wonderful and very inexpensive Peruvian restaurant. It's on 1st Avenue between 90th and 91st.

i want to see the guggenheim for the architecture as well as the picasso exhibit going on thru jan 2013. What is Daffy's?

Daffy's is a discount clothing store, but on another thread, someone mentioned it's in bankruptcy and going out of business.

Sorry, it's "liquidating" and going out of business.

neue gallery sounds interesting, i've heard of it...how about a nice italian restaurant? i've been to Il postino and enjoyed it.....

oh, Da Noi @ 49th...thanks!

We just came back from New York in July and since my family has never been (just me) we mostly did the things first-timers did, so those would not be of help to you. One exception was our visit to the Morgan Library and Museum, which not everyone does on their first trip. It's about five blocks from you, on about 36th and Madison. Would recommend it.

thanks.....we'll check it out

Check out the main branch of the New York Public Library, it's a monumental building on 42nd & 5th, also check out Bryant Park behind it. There both a 5 minute walk from your hotel.

Also there's a rooftop bar atop the Roosevelt you might enjoy if the weather cooperates.

If you're into shopping Saks and Bloomingdales are worth a walk through.

If you're into red sauce Italian, check out Angelo's and Tony D'Napoli's in the East 50's & 60's.

If you want good Cuban food, try Sofrito's on East 57th Street, nice decor and reasonable prices, but noisy.

The Smith on 2nd Avenue in the East 50's is new and always mobbed, caters to a young crowd, good and reasonably priced.

Good Turkish at Sip-Sak in the 2nd Ave./East 40's, funky and reasonable.