Well depending on when they came that might not be the area for you to visit.

I have ancestors from Ireland - and they lived on 103rd St - and those from Czechooslovakia lived in Yorkville - an area of people from Germany and various parts of central europe - in the 80s on the far east side.

Not to say that immigrants from those countries did not end up on the lower east side - but there were a lot of other places for them to go. (Brownstone and railroad flat buildings were built as far up as the 90's and 100's in the 1880s and 1890s.)

My Czech grandparents who arrived in NYC about 1905 both settled in Yorkville as nytraveler describes. Their older siblings who came in the late 1880s lived in what is now the East Village. Since I now live in the East Village, it is an odd 100-year circle.

There are a number of places better pizza than John's among them Keste

I completely understand your choice to save the Met and other museums for another, longer stay. We, too, love to walk in a city, see its architecture, parks, window shop, etc.

Your plan sounds wonderful to me. If you want a restaurant in the Village, I know of one, but I need to look up its name.

Here are my notes on restaurants from our visit in Oct 2006:

"Our first dinner was excellent: at Palma, 28 Cornelia Street, 212 691 2223, www.PalmaNYC.com. (I think we were still in Greenwich?) A friend who lives in Greenwich recommended it. We were able to get a table, because it was early that evening. It's a very low-key elegant place, in a contemporary and minimalist style-- if that makes sense. We had a very nice dinner there.

On Sunday, in the early evening, we enjoyed an appetizer and wine at the Knickerbocker Bar and Grill, 33 University Place, at 9th and University, 212 228 8490. We would have stayed for dinner, as the menu looked great and the atmosphere was cozy, but we weren't hungry yet. Very nice place.

Another Fodorite gave me the very good advice to look for little restaurants in the Time Square area, by walking a few blocks west from the Marriott there. It was great advice, as there are restaurants in every doorway, and each looked great. We chose Danny's Grand Sea Palace, www.dannysgsp.com, at 346-348 West 46th Street, 212 265 8130. It was pretty good, not great, but fine."

NYTraveler & Ellenem - I know for certain my grandparents did not settle in that area, however, it makes my great interest in these 2 heritages none the less. When I go to Ireland to visit, I will not just visit the town in which my grandfather's family resided, rather I plan to visit many other areas as well. Hope this makes sense, but I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks for all the great ideas! Brooklyn/Brooklyn bridge - wow! That would be fantastic. After speaking last night to a friend who just returned from NYC, I am almost considering skipping the financial center and the WTC memorial on this trip. From an architectural standpoint, my husband said that the Guggeheim Museum would be one of his points of interest, but that is far away from anything else I was planning to do. I'll have to ponder that. From a museum perspective, this doesn't appear to have the best reviews.

Well, back to the drawing board. You all are such a tremendous help!

The Guggenheim is really close to the Met Museum (on museum mile). From a museum/curatorial perspective, its worthiness completely depends on which temporary exhibition is on display. <i>From an architectural perspective</i>, it's worth it to go up there and walk inside the lobby (no fee for doing so) to see the inside of the spiral. And since you expressed an interest in walking through Central Park, it can be easily combined with that - just make sure you go at a time when the museum has opened its doors! (Depending on how much time you have, you could take transit up there and then walk back to midtown.)

If you want to see a tiny slice of Brooklyn, you might follow JADSJBD's recommendation: ideally, you could take the subway to Brooklyn Heights to see a bit of "brownstone Brookyn" and the promenade, walk towards the waterfront and get a bite to eat while admiring the views of Manhattan from Empire State/Fulton Ferry State Park, then walk over the bridge. In addition to famous Grimaldi's (where the line is always way too long), you could try a nice meal at Superfine, Asian fusion at Rice, bagels at La Bagel Delight, or grab take away from some of the markets like Forage or even Bridge Deli. Jacques Torres chocolate for ice cream and not-to-miss chocolate treats for your walk back! Once back on the Manhattan side, you'll be on the edge of the financial district - only about 3 blocks to St. Pauls and one more to the edge of the WTC site.

Or, if you turn right on Centre Street, and again in Worth, you'll find yourself at the base of Chinatown.

Ok, how about something like this:

Friday: My plane arrives at LGA @ 11am so I figure it will be around 2 that will will officially begin our day. We are staying at the Comfort Inn @ 129 W 46th St. I know it isn't fancy but we do not plan to be in our room much at all!

So, start at 2 & do a quick stop at the library, Chrysler building then up to St Patrick's Cathedral. We then would want to head north. We want to the Guggenheim (outside only) & the Met museum. We also want to spend some time in the Upper West side of town & just get lost in the streets. Maybe see the Dakota building and & some of the places where You've Got Mail was filmed, unless there are other locations you would recommend. We could just end our evening there & head back to our hotel.

On Saturday: Get up early & head to Brooklyn. Walk the bridge back. See St Paul's. Go to the Tenement Museum then hit Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo then the Village.

Sunday: Early bike ride through Central Park.

If we have time on one of the evenings we might try to go to the Rockefeller Center since it appears to be very close to our hotel & is open late.

Is the above too much? Thanks for all your help!!

Knowing your hotel location helps a lot! :)

Friday, this would be less zig-zagging:
1) St. Pats first - you'll walk thru Rock Center to get there - then down to the NYPL, and across to Chrysler Building.
2) Cross the street into Grand Central and take the subway uptown to the Gugg and the Met. (If you're going to see the outside of the Gugg, you really should just step inside! It will only take a minute.)
3) Walk across Central Park to the UWS for your wandering.

Oh, and as for places to get a snack, either look for the kiosks in Bryant Park behind the library, or choose from the many offerings inside Grand Central (both on the dining concourse and elsewhere). Once you get to the UES, there's pretty slim pickings in the vicinity of the museums...

<<<Once you get to the UES, there's pretty slim pickings in the vicinity of the museums...>>>

True! (but there's a Pio Pio on 1st Avenue in the 90s :-) )

A Pio Pio up there? And so close to the Guggenheim?? Ooh, I'm in heaven ~ thanks sf7307!!

1st Ave. is "so close to the Guggenheim"??? Not in my book.

mkm99, I meant to say before that IMO your plan sounds like a good one!

Here's a bit of info on the area immediately around your hotel (I used to work 1 block away):

- On 46th Street, one block east of the Comfort Inn is considered Little Brasil, with a number of Brazilian restaurants. Two blocks west of the Comfort Inn (also on 46th Street) is considered Restaurant Row. This is where PeaceOut mentioned a restaurant. The nice thing is that there are lots to choose from; however, IMO you can find better food along 9th Ave in Hell's Kitchen (everything from Thai to burgers).

- For coffee in the morning, there is a Starbucks just west of 6th Ave on 47th Street, where there is a passageway that cuts through from 46th Street. Walk a few steps farther though and go to the Financier patisserie in the similar passageway between 47th and 48th Streets. Also on that block of 47th between 6th & Times Square, you'll find a good greasy-spoon diner and a decent deli grocery.

- If you have the opportunity, detour a bit for your breakfast to Amy's Bread on 9th Ave between 46th & 47th Streets. Really yummy baked goods, breads, sandwiches, cupcakes... (even if the staff always seems a bit out of it!).

mclaurie, when it's Pio Pio, yes :)

(Besides, it's all relative - I inevitably go to Lex or 3rd up there to eat, so "only" two more {avenue} blocks is "close" LOL.)

On day 2, I am thinking about doing the WTC & SoHo/Village in the morning/afternoon then heading to Brooklyn for the late afternoon/evening. I am thinking I would really want to be strolling the Brooklyn Promenade after dark then head back to Manhattan. Thoughts?

What would be the easiest/best way to get from the Greenwich Village area to Brooklyn? Thanks for your help!

Just saw where you're staying, and 2-3 doors West of you is Havana Central, a Cuban restaurant that usually has a band, and great mojitos! There are several in the city, but this one reminds me of Ricky's place in I Love Lucy shows. Just a thought since it's right outside your door!

To be honest, I'm not so sure about doing the Promenade after dark. (Being a long-time NYer, I mostly tend to avoid park areas after dark, unless for some kind of group activity. I never thought about it before, but I guess I put the Promenade into the "park" category!) It's quite nice at sunset though, and there are plenty of good restaurants for an early dinner in DUMBO, if that appeals.

My best advice re: the subway is to use hopstop.com. It's a great resource for NYC public transit, taking into account scheduled construction, traffic, etc. when you plug in specific dates/times. (Of course, there's probably not construction data this far out, but go ahead and play around with it.)

Generally speaking, the 2/3 will get you to Brooklyn Heights; the A/C will take you to the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge (between Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO); the F will take you to DUMBO. All of these areas are the first or second stop in Brooklyn for each of these lines. In Manhattan - again very generally speaking - the A/C runs along 8th Ave; the 2/3 along 7th Ave; the F along 6th Ave.

Thanks ggreen for your words of caution. I didn't even think about that. Maybe we should stick with the oringal plan of going to Brooklyn first, then head to WTC/SoHo/Village area. Otherwise, it might be after dark when we are leaving Brooklyn & I don't want to be pressured with time. Maybe we'll have a chance to grab a mojito at Havana Central before heading back to our hotel ;)

I'm doing some research to decide what all we want to see while in Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO. I'm sure I will have a few more questions.

We're completed committed now ... just bought our plane tickets this morning!

You all are so helpful. I cannot thank you enough!! If you ever plan a trip to East Texas, I'll return the favor ;)