enjoylife

I am taking my 17 year old nephew to New York for 4 days. I thought I would get tickets for Rent at TKTs once we get there. Any other suggestions for shows or other evening activities? Also, any suggestions for fun restaurants?

Thanks!

Oh, roundtrip LAX to JFK is currently $198 on Americawest!

LPOWMACBACK

We took our 17 year old nephew and 16 year old son to see The Producers and Little Shop of Horrors... both were fantastic... the kids loved them both! As for restaurants, Mars has a fun atmosphere as does Jeckyl and Hydes

emd

We had such a gross experience at Mars. The service was nonexistent, it is loud and lots of little kids sreaming (and you are underground in a somewhat darkened area w/them), food inedible, soap in my martini glass (it literally bubbled) and no one cared or did anything to correct any of it. I would never go back there and my pre-early teen kids hated it too due to the above. At age 17, I think your nephew would be old enough to enjoy a more NY experience for dinner, and skip the kiddie stuff. My kids like the outdoor patios in Little Italy in nice weather. I know, it isn't the best Italian food in NY, but they like the way the streets are closed to drivers and the dining is outside, like Europe. We went to the backyard patio at Nico's in May and it was a hit, but you can eat in front outdoors in all those places and people watch.
What kind of food does he like/dislike?

MFNYC

You can also get advanced sale discounted tickets to Rent on playvill.com, theatermania.com, broadwayoffers.com and hitshowclub.com.

What kind of food does he like to eat? I agree that the food in these times sq area theme restaurants tends not to be all that good, and they also are lound and noisy (lost of younger kid birthday party crowds). I would think a 17 year old would like to eat in a more youthful, trendy neighborhood like the village area or the upper west side. St. Marks place (E. VIllage) is a great area to stroll around. There are all kinds of very good restaurants, most very reasonable as well. There are also many places in the Greenwich Village area and Washington Sq Park is always entertaining just to stroll through. It's also NYU neighborhood so lots of young people around.

The Chinatown/Little Italy areas are also great for walking around and having a bite to eat.

bugswife1

Do you want to be the coolest aunt ever? Most 17 year old boys that i know like to be active during the day.

Call in advance and get him a trapeze lesson at Chelsea Piers. He will talk about it forever. It is right on the waterfront with excellent views of the Statue of Liberty too. And, it is perfectly safe (harness, net, etc.)
You could easily add that in to a day downtown (chinatown, little italy, wall street, etc.)

Rent bikes in central park and do the 'loop'. Make sure he sees Strawberry Fields.

Food? Ruby Foo in the theater district or ESPN sports restaurant. Both are casual. Two Boots Pizza and Juniors Cheesecake at the lower level of Grand Central.

Theater: Rocky Horror, Rent, or P.Diddy in Raisin in the Sun.

Other stuff: If Yankees are home, take him to a game. You can take the subway back and forth, or the ferry up the east river (www.nywaterways.com).

I love being the cool aunt!

acwsf

For off Broadway shows that a 17 year old would definitely like, I recommend Blue Man Group: Tubes (playing near Astor Place) and De La Guarda www.delaguarda.com, which plays right off of Union Square. De La Guarda is an Argentinean group whose whole performance is done hanging from harnesses attached to the ceiling. The audience stands the whole time and show happens above them. It is a very energetic and interesting show.

I would also recommend taking your nephew downtown to SoHo, around NYU, and Chinatown. It's much more interesting for a teenager down there I think. Better shopping too!

atilla

Another suggestion for activities is the Intrepid Air Sea Space Museum. It is a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River that has been converted into a museum. There are various fighter planes on the deck that can be seen up close.

There is also a submarine and one of the British Concordes there. Very interesting for anyone to see but especially I would think for a 17 year old boy. Do a Google search for Intrepid, they have a great website.