Ah a cross post. If they love shopping you should hit Soho and 5th Ave around 57th St and shop as you walk downtown until you are pooped or you've hit Lord and Taylor. A stop in Chinatown when you are in Soho would be a good add on, but the shopping isn't as much fun since the crack-down on counterfeit goods.

Thanks! What did your brother have the most fun doing? the 17 YO is somewhat of a tomboy!

In the search this forum bar at the top of the page, type in things like "New York Shopping" and "Shopping, Soho, NY" and tons of threads will come up on the left - many with explicit ideas, stores to hit, etc. - even try "New York Shopping with Teens"

For history, you couldn't see it all in a week.

Some favorites of mine, that I think are good for teenagers are the

Tenement Museum; The Confino Family Living History Tour - first, it is only one hour long - the tour leader is an actor in costume/speaks w/ an accent from her country of origin, etc - prior to the tour there is a short film on Ellis Island and immigration which is great - you go in an old tenement that has been
preserved - it is an eye opener and excellent beginning 'piece' of history -

and , the Tenement Museum is on the lower east side which as some cool galleries and stores and is an easy walk from there up through Nolita/Soho which has shops on every street - you can just wander through -
or order the Zagat Shopping Guide or print out a bunch of shopping info from here and a map and you can figure it out.

www.tenement.org

If you are going to do one museum, choose based on their interests, the MET or the Natural History Museum - the annual Christmas tree will be at the MET and it is something to see with the neopolitan creche underneath it - and you can check their website for what else might be there -

but it is worth walking through and then bundle up and walk back to 5th ave area through Central Park

www.centralpark.com

www.centralparknyc.org

good maps, you can see what is in the park that might interest you most (ice skating, statues, literary walk, etc)

There is also free skating at Bryant Park - 10 to rent skates - which is a fun area to be in also

That time of yr I assume St. Patricks, Rockefeller Ctre, etc are all on the list

also do a search for

"NYC itineraries" and "NYC Trip Reports" and that will give you some great reading and preparatory help over the next few months -

depending on when you come, reservations will be expensive and harder to come by, so don't wait too long for those.

there are also many links on tv show tickets too -
have fun

Ground Zero is the burial ground for a couple of thousand New Yorkers, who are not likely to enjoy you saying it's "neat".
It is now just a construction site, with nothing to see or "do".

Ellis Island should be at the top of your list for teenagers. Check their website ahead of time to learn the information you'll need to find if you have ancestors who passed through. The Circle Line ferry that takes you there also stops at the Statue of Liberty, but the lines to get inside the Lady are looong, and not worth it in my opinion. My teenagers also love the Met, shopping in Chinatown and Top of the Rock.

I recommend Pauline Frommer's New York, subtitled "See More, Spend Less" which has a run down of TV tapings, how to get the tickets, etc. We have been to Conan and David Letterman, but Letterman is 18 and over only.

I didn't mean any offense by calling it neat. I simply meant it as a memorial to a tragic part of our nations history. Something that is important to our country. Like the Vietnam wall is neat. My cousin was killed in Vietnam and I think it is neat that there is a memorial to those people who gave their lives for our country. I meant the same thing for Ground Zero, and I'm sorry if I offended you by saying that.

Ground Zero is not "neat" it is the grave of thousands of innocent victims of terror - and as such is a very somber place to New Yorkers. I strongly encourage you to stay away from it - so you don;t end up like those insensitive idiots who take grinning photos in front of the construction site. (Do you consider your parents graves a "neat" sight for people to visit on vacations?)

nytraveler, with all due respect did you read armybrat's last post before yours? He has also said that his cousin's name in on the VietNam memorial and yet he considers it "neat". So to answer your question, yes he probably would think it is "neat" if people visited his parents graves. No need to get hung up on modern "slang". Neat doesn't have to be negative in the way you've taken it, nor does it necessarily indicate any disrespect in the way it would if YOU used the word "neat".

I'm very sorry. "Neat" was the wrong word to use. Please forgive me. So let me rephrase the question; What is exactly at Ground Zero (a memorial to helpless victims of terror)I realize it is a very serious memorial, and not something to be taken lightly.

Thanks NeoPatrick, That is exactly what I mean!!!

The site the World Trade Center once stood is now an empty hole/construction site while decisions are finalized about the new structures. The PATH train station has reopened within the site. The hole is surrounded by high fencing with some photographs and historical panels in one section. The bigger hole is in the sky.

Thanks!!!

Do they know when it will open?

When what will open?

Armybrat: I think you will have a better feel for what is going on down at the World Trade Center area if you google the memorial, and read links like this, to update yourself on what is going on in the planning of the memorial.

There are a few sites, like
www.buildthememorial.org

I think this will help you to get a feel for what is planned

Sorry to jump on anyone - but people do need to have some thought to what they're saying.

"Neat" has not changed in meaning recently.

And to say the WTC site is neat is the equivalent of calling Auschwitz "neat". Simply too insensitive to bear for those of us who lost family or friends. (I'm not suggesting any evil intent on the part of the OP - only total insensitivity/unawareness.)

If s/he wants to call the VietNam memorial neat - I also think that is a very bad choice of words. But - at least it isn't the exact site of the tragedy.

I think the short answer is that there is, unfortunately, nothing at Ground Zero right now, so it can be disappointing to those who hope to have some meaningful experience there in remembrance. There are high fences with only rare openings through which you can see...a construction site. That's why I suggested Ellis Island and others the tenement museum, for history interested and sensitive travellers.

nytraveler, it's funny you mention Auschwitz. I almost did in my post too, but for a different reason. I still remember getting on the bus leaving Auschwitz. There were two teenaged girls sitting behind me with tears in their eyes. One turned to the mother and said, "that was sooo neat". I really didn't think it was disrespectful at all, and I really do think that for young people, the word "neat" does have a totally different meaning from what you or I would normally accept.

I love the phrase, "the bigger hole is in the sky". If you are fortunate enough, as we were, to have a New Yorker tell you their own experience of September 11, you will have, I think, what you're looking for.

I spent 10 days in NYC over Thanksgiving this year and it was just fabulous. The decorations in the stores and the lights at night on 5th Ave were just beautiful. I was constantly taking photos of displays and store windows.

The sales were just terrific - I even braved Macy's first thing in the morning was fine. I'm from Oz and our exchange rate is excellent at the moment.

Did a couple of walking tours - midtown, Grand Central Station, financial district and a food tour in Bleeker Street. Thoroughly enjoyed them all.

You must go to Central Park - it is just amazing to have such a place amongst all the highrise. I was lucky the leaves were still on the trees and the colours were beautiful.

One memorial I visited was the Vietnam vets one downtown. I really found it moving and spent quite a bit of time reading all the inscriptions. Quite sobering.

Went to Radio City for the Rockettes Christmas spectacular and loved it. OK my be a bit twee but it was pure entertainment and worth every cent in my opinion. Have to do it at least once.

Also Ellis Island is worth going to.
I took an audio tour and found it great. Went past the Statue of Liberty but didn't stop. Not sure what you can see and do there now though.

Take the train to Brooklyn and walk back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge - great view of Manhattan. I did it at night this trip and the lights were amazing.

Hope that helps. There is so much to see and do I'm sure you will have no trouble filling your time.

One thing I have done in the past and wouldn't do again is the Circle cruise. You queue for ages and then they insist on taking your photo before you get on the boat - really annoying - and you don't see that much anyway. I thought it would give a really interesting perspective of NYC but I was disappointed.

Once we did the long circle line tour, all the way around Manhattan. It was the longest, most boring ride ever. Couldn't wait for it to end. I'd rather just do the Staten Island Ferry or the yellow taxi ferry.