NYC Itinerary
 

So I will be traveling to New York City with a friend in early November. We both love history, art, and books, so making an itinerary wasn't hard. We were just worried that perhaps we may be dong too much. We will be arriving around 6 at night on a Friday and leaving Sunday afternoon/night. Our itinerary is as follows:

Friday:
Morgan Library after we arrive

Saturday:
NYPL Main
Argosy Bookstore
Cleopatra’s Needle
Crawford Doyle Booksellers
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sunday:
MoMA
Books of Wonder
The Strand Bookstore
Gramercy neighbourhood

Is there anything here that isn't good? Are we missing anything major? Is the itinerary too much? Does the fair amount of walking involved make sense for the climate in early November? We'll be staying with a friend who lives near Cornell Medical School, he says in Lenox Hill.

I guess it depends on what kind of art you prefer. If it were me, I'd go to the Frick on Saturday instead of the New York Public Library. That will put all your activities squarely on the Upper East Side. Start early, and you can have a nice lunch up there at Le Paris. Or visit the Met Breuer instead of the Frick for a modern art fix. It's included in the same-day Met admission fee.

On Sunday, I'd start at the New York Public Library and would likely skip MOMA in lieu of something downtown, closer to Gramercy (though in truth there's nothing much to see there other than the park, which you can't enter). The Morgan Library would be ideal actually.

Then you'd need something to do on Friday evening. The New-York Historical Society on the Upper West Side is open until 8 on Fridays, so perhaps that might be a nice change.

Having said all this, I'm sure you expect MOMA to be a highlight. It is a wonderful museum, but too crowded. It's also open late (and free) on Fridays. But the lines can be tremendously long.

The Morgan is open to 9pm on Fridays. Depending on your arrival...bus, train or plane you may be fine with this. and its not far presumably from where you are staying.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is open late on Saturdays, so you can start downtown and work your way uptown. You can see Cleopatra's Needle from inside or outside of the Met.
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For Sunday, depending on your departure time and how much time you would spend at MOMA, you may be able to go to the museum and downtown to the Strand.

Check opening time for all places, so that you can maximize your time. MOMA opens at 10:30am. the strand opens at 11 am on Sundays

If you decide to forego MoMA on Sunday morning, I like the NY Museum of Art and Design, at Columbus Circle. And if you end up there on Sunday then you can go to brunch at Roberts on the top floor, with a great view over Central Park, nice live music, lovely atmosphere, and good food. Call exactly 30 days before your date when reservations open up and make reservations for a window table.

Thanks, everyone. I have been to the Frick Collection twice before and my friend has went many times over so we decided to skip it. Thank you for the advice on eateries as well, we will definitely take that into account closer to the date.

The Schwarzman Building (NYPL at 42nd and Fifth) is not open on Sundays, so if the OP hopes to see the inside, they will need to visit on Saturday.

Near Gramercy Park, the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace is set to reopen next week after being closed for renovations. It is a reconstruction of the original home but gives a great idea of life in New York at that time. It has a small museum/library of Roosevelt papers, books, and artifacts.

@ellenem That's a good point about the NYPL and something I really hadn't considered, but of course it makes sense. It's an important building but still a New York City library.

I don't think we will have a problem with the Schwarzman Building as we are visiting it Saturday. Am I correct in saying that it has exhibits of some sort and is a pretty library inside?

Interesting, so @ellenem is wrong. The Schwartzman Building is NOT closed on Sunday (it's open in the afternoon) but rather on Monday all day. I'm the one who had recommended you go to the library on Sunday rather than Saturday, so I'll stick to my original recommendation. It is a beautiful building, and you're very lucky because the main reading room is reopening tomorrow after a major renovation, so you'll be able to see it. There are also exhibits, including one on Alexander Hamilton. If you have time, I'd recommend a tour so you make the most of your time; they are offered twice a day on weekdays, once on Sundays.

@doug_stallings I was planning on attending the tour on Saturday, the one at 11. I'm pretty sure the library's website says that it offers it on Saturday, not just weekdays.

I guess I looked at the wrong site that listed the library as closed on Sundays. Glad the main reading room is reopening--it is one of NYC's most magnificent spaces.

Doug was suggesting that you might switch the library to Sunday to match better with the rest of your itinerary for Sunday. However, if it doesn't open until 1PM, that might affect your plans. For a tour, looks like Saturday is your only option.

https://www.nypl.org/events/tours/schwarzman

We recently stayed on upper east side near Cornell Med, Lenox Hill.. We had a wonderful dinner at Chat Noir on E.66th(Lex/Madison). Another favorite is Bella Blu on Lexington(70/71.)

@HappyTrvlr OK, thank you. We will check them out. Do you know if they do breakfast or lunch?

@Jessi19 we want to to walk around New York because though we have been there before, it was for isolated tasks and clubs, as in going only to the Frick for an exhibition or to see a Broadway show, so seeing it altogether (at least some of Manhattan) will be nice. We weren't planning on leaving Manhattan, specifically upper East Side and some neighbourhoods a little farther South. Neither of us are big shoppers or partiers so the limo may not be the best option as we plan to be at some sights (the Met comes to mind) for a while, so the limo would be paid to standby. I don't think that we will be walking very far, with the exception of course being Gramercy, so the leg pain should be manageable. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Jessi registered just to post this thinly-veiled advertisement and has been triangled.

Books of Wonder is my favorite children's/preteen/YA bookstore. That's the only place I go for books for my 4 preteen & teen nieces and nephews, and always get something for myself as a treat. :-)

sometimes the staff know what they're talking about for recommendations and sometimes not, and sometimes they really push their own love of fantasy/dystopian YA (I had to return some books once when I got home and realized it was all exactly wrong for the kids I was buying for) but there are real gems in there if you take the time to read jackets.

@hikrchick My friend loves children's books and YA/middle grade, so he badgered me into going there. It's nice to know that he isn't wrong. I hope to find some good stuff.