With help of people on this board, I have developed a draft itinerary for a trip to NYC w/my 11 yr old daughter over Memorial Day weekend. Would appreciate answers to questions indicated and any comments. We have done some of the tourist things on past trips. Want to focus on neighborhoods this time and she wants to do some shopping. Do not like to eat late after show- daughter will be starving. She is not into exotic food, likes normal american food or Italian. We need subway help. When to fit in Tenement Museum, Sat or Sun? Originally thought we'd shop more around there so should go on Sun. (shops closed on Sat.), but have heard shopping not so goo around there anymore so Sat. is ok too.

Fri., May 28: 2 pm shuttle to NY, land around 3, no luggage to claim. Arrive at Michelangelo hotel (152 W. 51st st) around 4-4:30, check in.

Quick dinner somewhere close to hotel.
(WHERE?).

8 p.m. Wicked at Gerhswin, 222 W 51st st.

Sat.: Explore Greenwich Village (HOW TO GET THERE?) Shop at Betwixt (rec. on here as good for 11 yr old girl). Go to Washington Square Outdoor Art Show running on University Place from E 3rd to E 12th (daughter is budding artist).

Lunch in Village (unless do Tenement Museum before Village and lunch close to there); make this our main meal of the day (if lunch is in Village, where? maybe just find a place).

SOHO? is it worth it after the art festival above? If not, we could start the day w/Tenement Museum Confino tour which we want to fit in somewhere anyway, and maybe toher stuff in Lower E. Side on Sun. below, and then go to Village after that).

back to hotel (cab maybe) to change, relax awhile.

quick light dinner (WHERE?)

8 p.m.- Hairspray at Neil Simon, 250 W 52nd.

Sun.: If Tenement Museum not fit in on Sat., do it here in late a.m.

Lunch around Tenement museum (maybe Sunshine Factory Cafe at 11 Essex btwn. Hester and Canal; thought about Katz but it might be too much sandwich for her; maybe go to Economy Candy or Sweet Life (candy) to buy some candy; Il Laboratorio del Gelato for dessert (95 Orchard)

When we go to Tenement Museum, is "Bunnies" worth it? (the largest NY children's dept. store at 100 Delancy St., has teen clothes- open 7 days)

Walk Little Italy and Chinatown.

End up at the Times Square Fair on 7th Ave. from 47th to 59th- 350 vendors, "shopping carnival"; this is right by the hotel. If we do Tenement Museum on Sat., we will have more time at this festival.

Depending how much of the above we do, could we fit in the Staten Island Ferry at dusk? Maybe not, we'd have to go all the way back down for it.

Nice Dinner. (WHERE? Maybe Landmark in Tribeca? We'll have time, no show)

Mon.: Check out of hotel and leave bags. Get to South St. Seaport (HOW?)
Take water taxi (or subway?) to Brooklyn.
Grimaldis for early lunch. Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory below bridge for dessert. Jacque Torres Chocolates on Water St. for gifts to take home (we love watching Dessert Circus! can't leave this out) Walk the bridge back to Manhattan.

Back to hotel to get bags. To LaGuardia for 4 p.m. shuttle.

Tratoria del Arte and Cafe un Deux Trois have also been suggested for dinner (Sun. night? rest of nights we need somethign quicker due to the shows).

THANKS!

To get to the village, take the R or N at 49th & B'way to 14th St/Union Sq. Betwixt is a high end tween/teen clothes store (designers like juicy and the high end blue jeans). I beleive Bunnie's is more of a low end store and similar type stores can be found on 14th Street. Whil wandering around the art show, go to Girl Props on 8th ST (between University and Broadway). Lots of jewelry, hair and other accessories for girls, very trendy, inexpensive stuff. Also on Saturday there's a street fair on 3rd avenue between 6th and 14th sts. That's worth checking out if you have the time. You can find all kind of unique items, inexpensive t-shirts, and even a variety of food. As for lunch, there are so many restaurants, particularly in the Bleecker/MacDougal St area. Also decent food is Patsy's pizza on University and Cafe Spice on the corner of University and 10th St. Also in the area, check out the Forbes Gallery. It's on 5th Av between 12th & 13th Sts. It's free and filled with many of M. Forbe's various collections including model boats, toy soldiers, monopoly boards and historical documents and other items.

Check the Tenement Museum web site, by the nature of their space they have very limited capacity and often sell out their allotment of tickets for the various tours, so try to plan ahead on this one.

There are no shortage of Italian restaurants in the theater district (or anywhere else in NYC). ViceVersa @ 325 w 51st betw 8-9th sounds like a good bet for 1 of your theater nights. It's Italian, has a garden & has a pre theater prix fixe dinner. At $30 it's not cheap, but if you just ate pasta instead of a full meal it would be less. Azalea is another Italian @ 224 w 51 (bw'ay & 8th). According to Zagat their pre fixe is $35.

A fun experience might be to take her to the 21 Club (21 w 52 betw 5-6th) for a pre-theater burger. If you sit in the bar area (I think they allow kids to sit & eat in there) there's all sorts of fun memorabilia hanging from the ceiling from famous patrons. This was a speakeasy during prohibition & a good bit of history/education.

I can't advise you about the clothing place on the lower east side. I trust MFNYC's info/opinion because she has kids. If you can, I would do the tenement museum on Sunday so you can have a look at the shops.

If she's a budding artist, I'd definitely do Soho. The outdoor show around Wash. Sq park is fun & you'll see some good stuff, but it's not the same caliber of the galleries in Soho. As for lunch, anywhere around the art show will probably be crowded. If you continue on to Soho you could eat there as well. One idea is Provence which is a beautiful French place (but for lunch there'll be a brunch menu). It's on the edge of the Village & Soho. Balthazar is another great brunch spot in Soho. Normally these places are packed but many NYers will be away. Good @ 89 Greenwich Ave (goodrestaurantnyc.com) also has a great brunch.

So I'd do the village & Soho Sat. & lower east side with the tenement museum, Little Italy (maybe-not much to see), Chinatown on Sunday. Take the Staten island Ferry while you're downtown & don't worry about it being sunset---or arrange your time down there to make it. You may have to give up the street fair in Times Square-not a big loss IMO. These things are usually food oriented & it doesn't sound like you guys are into ethnic food.

I think Sun night dinner should be an event since you have no theater planned. Unfortunately my experience is many restos are closed Sun night of that weekend. If you want to stay downtown, consider going to the Sea Port then. You're not far (it's below Chinatown on the east river). There are some decent restaurants there & there might be some live music.

If you want to go back to the hotel to freshen & change, Trattoria dell 'arte is a good idea. You could also walk up to the new Time Warner building at Columbus Circle where there's a food court.

Thanks so much! MFNYC, we will go by Girl Props (and skip Bunnies), and try to make that 3rd Ave. street fair while walking. Maybe pop into Forbes.
Mclaurie, thanks for the dining suggestions. I think you are right about the ferry, we will just do it while down there at whatever time we can. And we can ditch the Times Square fair after being to the one that MFNYC suggested.
So I think we will do the Village and Soho and ferry on Sat., then Sun. go to the Tenement museum and walk through Chintatown/Little Italy. I have been checking Tenement website and so far they have good availability- now that I am making final decisions I'll book that.

I have another question. For art galleries, shops to duck into, and general fun people watching and strolling, would you recommend Soho or Tribeca? My first thought is SOHO (although I've never been through there) but I've seen posts on how crowded it gets. I've had dinner in Tribeca before, and once did an art walk on a Sat. where you walk around the artist's lofts and homes and meet them, but I did not do the galleries and shops and did not take note of them.
Also, I ended up booking the tenement museum on Sat. at noon (yep, anonymous was right, the tour I wanted had filled for Sunday) so will be there early, leave there at 1 p.m., and head over the the Village, then Soho (or Tribeca is you think that is better).

I'm not up on latest gallery trends, but I think you'll find more art galleries in Soho than Tribeca, but it will be mobbed in Soho, especially that weekend. I think there might be some newer galleries on the lower east side. You should maybe check in New York Magazine (their website nymetro.com) I metioned on purplesage's thread about a rest. called Schillers on the lower east side. (schillersny.com)

Thanks, mclaurie. Maybe we'll save Soho for next trip if it is that crowded. BTW- alot of your old posts went into my planning (all printed out in my NY file- really). I will check purplesage's thread again.

I suggest a pre-theatre dinner at Trattoria dell Arte because it is very close to the Michelangelo and they offer pre-fixe pre-theatre fare, and your daughter will get a total kick out of the interior space. And the food is very good! I wouldn't save it for Sunday night, I would spend that free night going somewhere farther from hotel. Another dining suggestion in Times Square that kids like is Ruby Foo's. Chinese/ asian, great decor always bustling. And even though she is 11, you may still want to walk past the American Girl store at 45th and 5th (i think) just to take her back into little girl-hood for a minute. It's a lovely store and so close by, very HOT at the moment.

Have fun!

emd, about that time of year last year, I happened to stumble upon the most wonderful street fair in Murray Hill.

Instead of it being a bunch of junk vendors, there were artists, furniture makers, jewlers (silver and semi precious stone kind), etc. There were some really nice things.

Does anyone know what I'm refering to?

Thanks, Edye. I took her to American Girl place in Chicago for her 9th birthday- loved it. We might pop in there while in NY also. Will take you up on Traittoria - yours is the 2nd recommendation, so that will be early dinner Fri. or Sat. Will put Ruby Foos on the list for the next trip (already planning the next trip!)
Gotravel- I looked on the NY event site (can't think of the exact address but it is where I saw the Washington Square art festival and the Times Square fair) and didn't see anything in Murray Hill for memorial weekend...but thanks for the info (again, filed for next trip, unless we hear otherwise)

Memorial Day weekend should be nice here, the weather has been in the 80's the last few days and is forcast into next week, so bring shorts for warmer weather. Be glad you are coming this year, because last year the temp was in the 50's over the same weekend.

I would second the Street Fair as a fun afternoon. They happen every weekend here in the city, and alot of the vendors you will see from one weekend to the next at different fairs. Last weekend I bought a really pretty cashmere scarf for next winter, so you will see a wide variety of things for sale.

Since your daughter is a budding artist, you might try the Met, for a couple of hours as well. There is a beautiful garden on top of the museum to enjoy a bit of the outdoors and a beautiful view of the park.

For shopping, you also might try Daffy's and H&M in the Herald Square area, lots of shops in that area and for very inexpensive trendy clothing, Conway, (think jeans, tee shirts, shorts) also in the Herald Square area next to Macy's.

I would also suggest America as a good choice for brunch on Sat or Sun. They have a magician that does tricks for the kids. Good food there and a huge menu. (18th and Broadway)

Dim Sum in Chinatown might be fun for her, and there are a few really good places like the Golden Unicorn (just off Chatam Square, and the Bowery, actually you can walk it from the Tenement Museum, straight down The Bowery).

Some shopping on Canal St, more for you than your daughter, but if you walk up through Little Italy more shopping there she might like.

I would also suggest taking the Staten Island ferry just at dusk, a beautiful view of the city and the Statue of Liberty, or if you are still awake after the play, take the #1 subway down to South Ferry the last stop and take the ferry over be a nice ride at night.

Have a GREAT time while you are here.

FYI, the vendors for some of the bigger street fairs sell the same stuff sold on the streets on Canal Street.

For some really interesting shopping, get off Canal and go further into Chinatown. Pearl River, has moved to SoHo is really cool.

Go Travel-What does Pearl River sell? I've seen it mentioend on posts here before.
wantsomesun: Mais non, I would never make the mistake of wearing shorts in NYC. I would rather dress like I was doing the Iditarod race. (This is a little running joke- if you don't get it you haven't seen the recent NYC fashion do's and don'ts threads, "blue jeans in NY") Excellent suggestions- I am already seeing an "October in NYC" trip in the making.

emd, go to www.pearlriver.com and you can see what they carry but they are a Chinese department store. They used to be super cheap when they were in the dark and scary Chinatown location. Since the rent went up in SoHo (along with a hefty interior design fee) the prices went up a little but not too bad.