You should EMAIL the concierge at your hotel for suggestions on NYE and dinners. Sometimes a concierge at a good hotel can get you reservations you couldn't otherwise get on your own.

The information about First Night in New York is dated. I believe it has not taken place for at least one year.
As for what to do on New Year's Eve....sure, restaurants charge more money ror the night, But it's New Year's Eve, and what do you expect. You can still find a lot of places where you won't have to mortgage the house and will still have a good time!
McLaurie has a good idea about contacting your hotel for info.
Going to the fireworks in Central Park and then returning downtown doesn't seem very practical to me!

Yes you should be able to get uptown and then back to your hotel, or anywhere else you would like to go after the concert.

The #1 train is a block west of the cathedral and the C/D train is just a couple of blocks east. There is also a bus that goes east on 110th and of course buses that head downtown on Broadway as well.

If you do decide to come to the concert we'll make sure you get on the right bus/subway to where you are going.

Howard re your comment about seeing the firework and then going back downtown- I have been thinking maybe we'd see the fireworks at midnight too(as a trade-off since my kids think they want to go to Times Square but we are NOT doing that) but we are staying at Affinia Manhattan. So I am wondering if it is worth it to try to get to the fireworks and then attempt to get back to the hotel. It seems like it coudl be a major hassle getting back to the htoel after the fireworks. I will never find a rate now at another hotel closer to central park like we have locked in for that week at Affinia Manhattan ($278 a night for a 1 bedrm suite w/two queens and a sofabed). But I am getting bummed that we are in a location below Times Square and it seems will be a problem trying to get past Times Square to go to the fireworks or anywhere else past Times Square. Do you think we can walk "around" the Times Square festivities, on 10th or so, to get to Times Square, or is it just nuts even there?

Does anyone have further info on what the activities at Grand Central? What kind of activities? Is it sane?

emd, is the Affinia on West 37th Street? If so, you can walk around Times Square by using 9th or 10th Avenue. I would definitely walk. Even if you are lucky enough to get a cab, the traffic will be horrendous!
My comments about not going to the fireworks were meant for the OP who was staying downtown.
As for Grand Central activities, as I said before, I believe that First Night is a thing of the past. It used to take place there.

Thanks, Howard, that is very helpful.

Grand Central doesn't have anything specific for New Year's Eve on their website, but you may want to check back closer to the date?
http://www.grandcentralterminal.com

The thing about walking around the city on New Year's Eve is that (given the usual caveats about bad weather), there will be a *lot* of other people walking around, too. So it's safe, and can even be fun.

However, NYE along with St. Patrick's Day is what is often referred to as "amateur night" - lots of people coming in from other places, having too much to drink, then wandering about in cars or on foot. This is especially true around Times Square and in the East Village...

The fireworks in Central Park can be nice. There's also a NY Roadrunners race every year in the park; finishers get a glass of champagne! emd, if you go to the park, you may want to detour east and walk down 5th or 6th Ave, then cut back across town where your hotel is. You could make it part of your plan, say, watch the fireworks on the east side of the park...

For New Year's Eve a few years ago, my BF and I joined some friends at Pete's Tavern in Grammercy. They have a prix fixe, a mid-40's (and up) crowd - and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I've also gone to Temple Bar on New Year's, at the time it was probably the nicest part of a holiday pub crawl...

Basically, as others have said, pretty much every restaurant and bar in the city will have something going on. So I would suggest finding a place you like / sounds interesting, then contacting them about what they do for NYE.

emd, I don't think you'd have a big problem getting to/from Central Park to Affinia Manhattan. It's not that far to walk and as said by others, you can either walk west of TS or east. I'd pick east and maybe walk down Fifth Ave.

For anyone else reading this, there are also fireworks in Brooklyn at Prospect Park. I didn't suggest this to carrom since she said in her original post they're not that into fireworks. But that would be the more logical option for someone staying downtown. Actually, there may also be fireworks near the Statue of Liberty which would be even closer to Soho.

Thanks, mclaurie. I think btwn this thread and the other one that lists a lot of New Years Eve concerts and activities we have a pretty good reference for anyone who is going to be there for New Years Eve.

Gosh, thanks everybody esp wantsomesun for concert offer but I think from what we've heard that we'll stick to downtown and maybe check out statue of liberty. We'll see if our hotel is having a party and e mail a few of the neighbourhood restaurants. I checked out broadway box but we got cheaper tickets through Telecharge.com for Jersey boys and Spamalot. I hope they are trustworthy since they still haven't e mailed the tickets! Looks as if our week in NY is really taking shape. Thanks again everybody.

Another possibility is the New Year's eve concert at Lincoln Center. This year features Audra McDonald and the New York Philharmonic in a program of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin etc. You could follow the concert with the fireworks in Central Park as suggested by others.

If anyone else would like tickets to the concert at St. John's please let me know. It really is a special event and well worth taking the time and effort to get there.

St. John's is located at 110th and Amsterdam and close to the #1 and B/C subway lines.

I was out and about tonight and I couldn't beleive all the Christmas decorations that are already in some stores. I guess the holidays are just around the corner......

Oh, wantsomesun, that makes me want to come to NYC for NYE. What a nice offer. I'd definitely take you up on the concert tix (and the chance to sit with friends and family) for such a great service.

Hope this year goes as well as the previous years you've been singing with them