My husband and I will be in New York the last weekend in September and would love ideas for things (bars, restaurants, sights and sounds) to do that are a little off the beaten path. We have both been to New York before so we have done most of the major sights but we do plan on going to Ellis Island and Ground Zero this trip.

I would like to go to a Broadway Production but he is not big on the theatre. He likes Elvis music so I thought that All Shook Up might be a good compromise. Has anyone seen it? He likes comedies so if anyone knows of a good comedy maybe I could get him to that.

I appreciate any and all ideas. Thanks for your help.

My sister, my daughter, and I spend a long weekend in NYC every spring, and I always post a report; if you do a search it should pop up. And there is tons of information on this site about off-beat things to do in New York. We saw All Shook Up last month, and loved it, and I think you can get discounted tickets now through playbill.com.

For great food off the beaten path (for non-NYers), the East Village is loaded with interesting restaurants. Also the lower east side has some great options. Menupages.com is a great resource to read about restaurants. You can search by location and type of food, and also view menus. I have found the comments on this website to be very on target.

Without knowing more about you it's hard to tell.

Even if you 've seen the major museums - New York has dozens more - have you been to the Musuem of Sex? The New York Historical Society?

Even if you been shopping - there are tons more shopping areas to explore - have you seen them all?

Have y ou explored all the neighborhoods in Manhattan? How about Brooklyn?

Do you want to do something active yourself (ride bikes in Central Park - do almost anything at Chelsea Piers)?

Do you want to spend a day at the beach - or exploring some of the historic surroundings (houses of Rockefeller or FDR or Teddy R)?

Are you interested in plants - or animals? The Bronx or Brooklyn Botanical Garden. The little zoo in Central Park - or the best in the world in the Bronx or the aquarium in Coney Island?

What interests you most - then people can make better suggestions!

Another food option would be to take the train to QUeens (Astoria, Jackson Hts). There are tons of ethnic restuarants that are very good and very reasonable (Greek, Indian, Middle East, Argentine, etc.).

Some other sight seeing ideas: Museum of the Moving Image, the Tenemant Museum, Museum of the American Indian, Forbes Gallery, gallery hopping in Chelsea, The CLoisters.

Pick up a Time out or NY magazine when you arrive in NYC, and check the listings in the back of the magazines.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions.
Nytraveler - I didn't even know there was a Museum of Sex!!! Don't think I will visit it, but you never know! Is there a website for all the museums in NY (or am I a just missing them on this website) because some of the ones y'all listed sound really interesting.
Riding bikes and spending time in Central Park is something I would love and what is at Chelsea Piers and is it hard to get to? We love the water and would be interested in those areas.

We have been to 5th ave. and China Town but that is about it and we have never been to Brooklyn. We were told about Pete Luger's and I think they said it was in Brooklyn. We love to go to cool and interesting neighborhoods and find fun places to sip cocktails and people watch.

MFMYC -How long does it take to get to Queens?

I will check out the Time out or NY magazine and Menupages.com and playbill.com. Thanks

Most all museums in NYC

http://www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.html

2 of my favorites are the Forbes Gallery (free) and the Frick. Both smaller and easy to do.

Brooklyn is certainly worthwhile. If you put it in the search function above you'll find lots of previous posts with ideas on what to see/do there. Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is a popular thing.

It will probably be too cool for the beach but taking the Ny Water Taxi or a Circle line ride might be fun. A row in Central Park is another option.

Chelseapiers.com (a sports complex) not hard to get to.

If you would like good bars, people watching and affordable food, go to the East Village. Good scene and endless places to go. Just walk around. Lots of activity and a million places to go-not touristy...local bohemians, scattered yuppies and Ukranians/Polish-one of the last "real" neighborhoods in NYC. I have lived in the EV for 10 years. I'd check out: La Souk (Moroccan), Il Bigatto (Italian), Jules (French-been in the neighborhood for years), Two Boots (amazing pizza!the best in my opinion), Mitali East (Indian), Caravan of Dreams (vegan-really, really good and I'm not even a vegetarian)...I could go on forever...If you have any specific wants for food etc...let me know...Regards.

Travel time to Queens from Midtown is about 15-30 minutes.

Jackson Heights is on the E or F trains and you would get off at Roosevelt Avenue. Just outside the station are many good Indian restaurants. There's an Argentinian steak house a few blocks away and some Columbian restaurants along Roosevelt Avenue.

Another fun neighborhood in Queens is Astotia - also 15-30 minutes from midtown. It's known for Greek and increasingly Egytptian food.

Queens is great place. It's the most ethnically diverse county in the US. Let me know if any of the above sound interesting and I'll send details.

Try www.comedycellar.com
You could eat in Greenwich Village and then go to a show.

The shows generally start at 9pm, there are 2 showings most nights.
3 shows on Friday the last is 12:30am.

There are now 4 shows on Saturday starting at 7:30pm and the last show is 12:45. Useful if you're both insomniacs