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dianal84 Apr 24th, 2003 03:04 AM

New York City
 
I've seen this question asked before, but never paid attention to it!
We are going to NYC with our teen kids. We'll be there for a few days. What activity, restaurant, show, do you think we just have to do in New York City?
I thank you in advance!

mclaurie Apr 24th, 2003 03:50 AM

If you type teens AND new york into the text search you'll see all those questions and their answers. It also makes a difference whether they're boys or girls. The teens seem to like the show Rent (better than the parents!) which is available on discount websites like Playbill.com

Restaurants depend upon whether they're picky eaters or adventurous. Everyone likes Little Italy and Chinatown.

Take at least one boat trip. The Staten island ferry is free & provides a great view of the statue of Liberty or do a half circle Circle Line Cruise.

JungleCat Apr 24th, 2003 07:21 AM

Check out Chelsea Piers, a large recreational facility on the waterfront.

http://www.chelseapiers.com/

weenie57 Apr 24th, 2003 07:44 AM

When are you going? On May 18 and 19 Lincoln Center is hosting the Essentially Ellington contest, with free admission to the competition. It will be 15 of the TOP High School Jazz Bands playing all Ellington stuff. It will rock - and it's free - and it's teenagers!!

karebear4567 Apr 24th, 2003 08:15 AM

for eating: Little Italy, Greenwich Village
in Little Italy - Da Nico and
Cafe Napoli are good. Ferrara's is famous for dessert.
If you like seafood, my favorite restaurant is Aquagrill in Soho.
for shopping: Soho
shows: Rent, Cabaret, Mamma Mia, Les Mis (although its almost finished its run)
Museums: Madam Tussaud's wax museum, the Met, the Guggenheim

karebear4567 Apr 24th, 2003 08:16 AM

for eating: Little Italy, Greenwich Village
in Little Italy - Da Nico and
Cafe Napoli are good. Ferrara's is famous for dessert.
If you like seafood, my favorite restaurant is Aquagrill in Soho.
for shopping: Soho and 5th Ave
shows: Rent, Cabaret, Mamma Mia, Les Mis (although its almost finished its run)
Museums: Madam Tussaud's wax museum, the Met, the Guggenheim
other stuff: I like to check out the fancy hotels like The Plaza

jules_248 Apr 24th, 2003 11:54 AM

Great suggestions so far. Aquagrill is a little fancy for teens though (and expensive!). The Museum of Natural Histroy is always fun, they have a great planetarium show. Definitely take the Staten Island Ferry (it's free!) and check out a show. Teens will love Rent or Hairspray. Hairspray is hard to get tickets to though, so call ahead!

syd1 Apr 24th, 2003 03:16 PM

something different --
the Metropolitan Opera gives backstage tours. You might want to check it out. It's amazing.
You can also try and get tickets to a tv show (david letterman line up begins early morning) but teens love it!
Contact Conan too beforehand -- there may be a way to get tix.

penel523 Apr 25th, 2003 05:39 AM

Just got back from four days in NYC with two teens. We got tickets in advance for Rent, which they both wanted to see, through playbill.com. That gave us ticket prices of $45 each for good mezzanine seats. They both liked it, though we didn't particularly.

The next night we gave them a choice of shows. One wanted to see Man of La Mancha, and the other, Chicago, so we split up: one of us went to one show with one kid, and one went with the other. They both really loved the shows (and we did, too). A tip about Chicago: Rush seats go on sale at 10 a.m. If you get to the theater at 9 or a little before, and wait in line, you can get these seats. They're orchestra seats, on the sides (we were way over on the right, but the fourth row), and they cost only $26. Each person can buy 2, and you can charge them. Only 25 are available. I got to the line at 8:45, and was eighth in line.

My daughter was looking at colleges, so my husband and I split our time between her and our son. My son and I went to the Museum of Television and Radio on W. 52nd Street, which we really enjoyed. Allow plenty of time, as it's not a traditional museum (see http://www.mtr.org/). (Last time we went, we took the NBC tour, which was also lots of fun.) And while my daughter and I were looking at a college, my husband and son went to the Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History. A big hit.

Remember to ask for a AAA discount, if you're a AAA member. It got my son and me into the radio and tv museum free.

We had great successes with restaurants. For dinners, we ate at John's Pizzeria in the theater district (and later ate lunch at the original John's in Greenwich Village), at Sam's in the theater district, and at ESPN Zone in Times Square. All the food was excellent and reasonably priced. We just walked into John's and Sam's, respectively, at about 6, and got seated promptly. That gave us plenty of time to eat before the theater. Sam's has a lot of Italian things, but other stuff, too--and was highly recommended by some members of this forum. I too can rave about it. You feel like you're eating at a "real" adult restaurant and not just catering to your kids.

ESPN Zone will probably have a long wait, if you go there. They don't take reservations. We went there one night at 6 and found the wait would be 45 minutes. We were afraid that wouldn't give us time to make 8:00 curtains at our respective shows. So we asked what would be a good time to come to avoid a wait. They said 5:00.

The next night we got there a little after 5, and were told the wait was an hour. We were planning to go to a 7:00 movie so weren't happy. But we decided to stay, and it turned out the wait was only half an hour. And the food was really very, very good.

For lunches, other than John's, we relied on local delis. And we didn't get free breakfast with our hotel, so my husband and I would just go to a deli and bring back bagels. And we kept a quart of OJ in an ice bucket. That way the kids could eat when they got up, and we saved money.

Oh, and I forgot to say that we went to Ground Zero as well. There's a building nearby where you can get a bit of a bird's-eye view, and also look at plans for the new construction. It really looks like a construction site now, but it was still quite moving.

We walked. A lot. Probably more than the kids would have liked. But I think they're getting a real feel for the city. My son and I, for instance, walked from Lincoln Center to the radio/tv museum, which allowed us to walk along Central Park and down Fifth Avenue. And we walked from there to our hotel in Times Square.

The kids also went off on their own a few times, generally within Times Square. They--and we--felt quite safe.

Hope this helps!

Nina66 Apr 25th, 2003 05:25 PM

Penel523, great trip report, thank you. I am now teenless (thank Gawd), but you gave some good suggestions for grownups too.

katk Apr 27th, 2003 08:12 AM

Just went with my 17 year old son to Nyc for two days and we went to see Chicago against my son's wishes and he loved it. He's in a jazz ensemble at school and really enjoyed seeing the interaction with the orchestra during the play- I think the ticket site recommends the play for over 12 years old and being a mother I would definitely agree and my recommendation would be for even older due to the mature content of the play-we paid full price for the tickets because we did not want to waste our time standing in line and it was worth it-the seats on the side would make it very difficult to see. Have a great time!

kzahn10455 Apr 30th, 2003 11:51 AM

I agree, Chelsea Piers is great for teens. Sports & recreational activities particularly good on rainy days since it's predominantly indoors. The Museum of Natural History and IMAX theatre might interest them. Cirque Du Soleil is in NYC 4/24 thru 6/15, you would all REALLY love that show. Good Luck!


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