New York Must sees besides the obvious.
 

I am taking a group of 30 13-14 year olds with 10 adults to New York City towards the end of June. We have some time that is not scheduled and would like some ideas on must sees besides the obvious. The obvious being what we are already seeing: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The Met, Times Square, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Broadway.

I am specifically looking for something to do between 12:00pm - 3:00pm on a Saturday.

Thanks! Cindy.

Fifth Avenue and/or Central Park would be excellent additions, particularly for that limited window of time.

What will you be doing before and after the 12:00-3:00 window? This might influence our responses as we try to offer something that fits your plan.

How many days will you be in New York, and are you planning on actually visiting all of these places or are some just being passed by in a bus?
To me it sounds like a very full schedule for a few days--maybe let the kids sleep in? ;)
Or as others suggested, depending on where you'll be after, just get there early and roam around

For boys that age:

Forbidden Planet-Broadway and 13th Street-comic books and things kids like

See if there are tours of Madison Square Garden at that time

There are true crime tours and books that they lay out true crime tours

Union Square is a great place on Saturday - the market is in full bloom - great people watching.
Top of the Rock for great photo opportunities (depending on the weather) Madame Tussauds (Wax Museum) is an option.
Harlem for lunch at Sylvia's and a quick tour of the Apollo Theater -
Tavern on the Green (don't expect great food) however, the destination is memory making!
There are also "behind the scene tours ie: Madison Square Garden,Radio City Music Hall, NBC Tours, Lincoln Center -
Sounds as if you may just need a brain storm and as Ellenem stated, what you are doing before and after will greatly influence your decision.
Cindy, where are you traveling from?

1. Belvedere Castle in Central Park

2. American Museum of Natural History

3. Brooklyn Bridge

If the weather is bad the Museum of Natural History.

If the weather is good - go to Central Park. You have a choice between the (small) zoo, renting a boat on the lake, renting bikes, etc.

Also, I would definitely bag the ESB and do Top of the Rock instead. Will take much less time and IMHO the views are better.

The group is from rural Eastern Oregon. The morning will be going to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty. I'll have to look some of those places up. Thanks for some great ideas.

Cindy.

And, our next stop is the airport home. :)

I wouldn't put anything else between a visit to Ellis island and the trip to the airport. A visit to Ellis island can take a lot longer than expected. Will you then have to return to your hotel for your luggage?

We always enjoy South St. Sea Port. Good lively area on river with outdoor dining,sometimes street entertainers, great close-up views of the Brooklyn Bridge,good shops and small shopping mall selling souvenirs and gifts, also the tall ships.There are also boat trips and water taxis leaving the pier.
South St. is walking distance from Wall St. and Ground Zero.

A walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (preceded by a walking tour of Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo)is almost always, a success story for friends/relatives who are visiting. I brush up on my history and trivia (the apartment in Prizzi's Honor is right there at the Promenade, the historical signifcance of Brooklyn Bridge)to add to the visual sights. They always love the experience. A visit to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory on a hot summer day (and you can't beat that view of the waterfront and the bridge) is just icing on the cake.

I don't think you will have time for another activity, kids that age will not be ready to leave unless you have already checked out of the hotel and the bags are in the bus or checked at the hotel waiting for pick up, if you are ready to leave the city, I'd agree the South St. Seaport is a really good suggestion, it is walkable from the ferry to Ellis Island.

Walk up Broadway to Wall St and down Wall to Water St. turn left and up a couple of blocks on your right is the Seaport complex. Some shopping there, restaurants several tall ships and usually on a Saturday there are performances anything from music to street performances.

From there walk up Fulton St (which is right in front of you) to Broadway to the subway (if you need to get back uptown)

Have a great time while you are here.

I'm not sure how well these will fit into your schedule but here's a couple of suggestions.

The Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side has a variety of tenement tours and there's one, I think, that's geared to young people. We took a great tour there -- they take you into real tenements, set up as they were in the past. There's an interesting film that runs on a loop (about 20 minutes) and a fun gift shop. The website is http://www.tenement.org/

We took a great 1-hour tour of Central Park through the Central Park Conservancy. It ended up being about 1 1/2 hours and it was beautiful. If you do it, take the tour that starts at the Samuel Morse statue. The link website is www.centralparkny.com.

Finally, there are tours of the big Public Library on 5th Avenue and 42nd at 11 and 2. We missed the tour but it's supposed to be great and the building itself is amazing. The tour information is at http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/tourschedule.cfm

You should realize that doing both the SOL and Ellis Island will take more than just a morning - unless you want to run through Ellis Island - due to the various long lines. You must get your ferry tickets in advance to save time.

Hello,
I've done a lot of trips with students. Just be aware that EVERYTHING takes longer than you've planned.

If the group is checked out of the hotel and the luggage is loaded onto the bus already, then breaking into small groups and shopping/ walking may be the most fun for them. I agree with South Street Seaport idea.

Have you included a museum on your must-see list? Lots of kids don't get to museums unless they go on a trip like this. They also think that riding the subway is really cool-mostly because they've seen it in movies and never had the opportunity to do it at home.

Just keep counting heads and have an amazing time!

What time in the morning are you starting out for SOL/Ellis Island? It takes TIME! It's unlikely you'll be back by noon.

Where is your hotel? How are you getting to the airport?

Tenement Museum is a must ,my teenage niece really enjoyed it,buy tickets online in advance,the Corvino tour has a young actress that is excellent,have fun!

Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. It's unbelievably beautiful, historic, and you get a great view of the city.
Once you're over the bridge, take the group to Grimaldi's pizza - it's an institution and amazing pizza. And then Ice cream Factory on the dock for dessert.