My younger two really liked the movie Kate and Leopold. It would be fun to see the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park after watching this movie. Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman.

For your teen girl, The Young Unicorns--takes place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and all over New York City. By Madeleine L'Engle.

Too young for your kids, but Magic Treehouse "Blizzard of the New Moon" takes place all over New York City, ending at The Cloisters.

5alive - <i>The Young Unicorns</i> was a favorite of mine as a kid. It was one of the fictionalized accounts that informed my impression of the city when I first moved here! Now my niece is onto it too.

It sounds like you had a good trip! Looking forward to that trip report. :)


oregonmom - Another book suggestion is <i>From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler</i>, which takes place in the Met Museum. It too very much formed my impressions of NYC at a young age!

It's not highly publicized, but it's "pay what you wish" every day for the Met, general admission at the Natural History Museum (AMNH), and for the Brooklyn Museum. Of course, admissions help fund a lot of what each museum does, so it's best to pay as much as you can - but at $20/pp for adults for the two Manhattan museums, it can start to cost a lot for a family!

I mention the Brooklyn Museum because it's adjacent to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and a decent option in the area if there's a show that interests you. The landscaped area in front is nice, with some intermittent-programmed fountains kids can play in. I wouldn't make the museum a priority, though. ;)

Oh, and the suggestion to go to the Met roof garden is a good one. There's a waist-high wall around the whole thing so you can't see directly down, but the view across the tree tops of Central Park is really nice.

Another place for a view of CP is from the upper floors of the Time Warner Center. You might not be eating at one of their fancy restaurants, but can nonetheless take in the view from large windows in the shopping "mall" on the second floor. (That second floor is also good to know there's a good bathroom there! And Whole Foods in the lower level has a lot of prepared foods in addition to the supermarket.) I think you'll become very familiar with TWC since it's the closest subway to your hotel...

Pizza for the 4 of us here in Oregon is about $25.00 not including drinks or salads. Our favorite Italian here is approx $12 each for the entree but it is a huge portion of lasagna that could be shared. My younger daughter and I often do share a meal. Husband and older girl get their own. I would consider $30 each a splurge. We occasionally have wine out but more usually beer, mixed drinks very rarely. We are good with eating very casually most of the time. Would consider Whole Foods perfectly fine for a lunch or breakfast. We mostly want to eat bagels, cheesecake and asian as we look around!!! Especially cheesecake!! Pizza by the slice is great. Will probably buy some dry snacks for the room and for the backpack as the 10 year old is a constant grazer and never wants to be with out something. And of course she is a bean pole and 5 feet tall!! If only we could all eat like that! We also like Mexican food, diner, whatever. We're not very picky. For Italian we all like pasta dishes with marinara or pesto. Nothing like clams in the shell. We are not vegetarian. Willing to pay $10 for dessert. Also just as happy with ice cream/gelato. Just want to have fun ambling around and not have to stress over where to eat. I'm sure you pass 100 places a day that would be fine. But I don't want to take them anywhere that is a dump, or unsafe obviously or hideously overpriced for the quality/quantity of food. (saw a post on here about crime scene tape??) Museum cafe is fine, too. We're not planning to shop especially just see what we come across. Since my older girl is into all things Oriental/Asian she wants to see and eat in chinatown and pick up things for herself and friend. That will be fun for all of us.

One thing about new York (outside of Chinatown where i haven't spent much time) is that if a place looks and smells good, it is good/decent. It's one of the only places I've found that to be true.
So if you see a pizza place and it looks and smells appetizing, it'll be fine. menus are posted outside for regular restaurants, inside on a board for pizza etc.
Not much Mexican in New York at all and what there is is not great.
The Whole Foods' can be JAMMED and noisy so I wouldn't stop there unless it's just for a muffin or something
I understand your questions but once oyu get to NY, you'll be amazed at the scale - you will see there is everything on almost every block, so except for a special meal, there's no reason to pre-select any casual meals.

There's actually a lot of great Mexican food in NYC, but it's not in the typical tourist areas, except perhaps for Rosa Mexicano near Columbus Circle (which is good, by the way). We have some really great upscale Mexican restaurants. I love El Paso, which I ate at on Friday night (104th/Lexington). I also really love La Palapa on St. Mark's Place in the East Village. I've heard very good things about Toloache in Hell's Kitchen. And there are some others. We don't have much Tex-Mex here, so don't think you'll find that very many places, but there are some good spots anyway.

OK La Palapa. But I did not like Rosa Mexicano at all. I guess my larger point is, with all the great food in NY, I wouldn't go out of my way and look for Mexican. It's not a specialty of NY.

I love Chinatown but kids we have taken there find it hot, smelly, dirty, crowded and really uninteresting.
Street stalls selling fish and vegetables...just what a 10 year old wants to see.

Your hotel is 10 blocks to Rockefeller Center ...
If you want burgers, perhaps Bill's Bar & Burgers at W51 St and 5th Avenue. then walk to times square and take the subway to the ferry... there is a schedule for the ferry.. it takes 20 minutes to cross to staten island you have to get off and get on the return ferry .. and you can take a subway back uptown to your hotel. its nice to see the skyline with the lights sparkling.


There are lots of small restaurants on 9th Avenue...Uncle Nick's for Greek food/fish/salads the portions are large and the prices are reasonable.
if you are in the theater district, then for breakfast or lunch..majestic deli at 50th and 7th.. seating upstairs or downstairs.. will run about $10 pp
Peter and the Starcatcher.. a very funny enjoyable play with some music that a 10 year old and adults can both enjoy. Check Broadwaybox.com for discounted tickets.
Met Museum: children are free, adults can pay what they wish, open late on friday and sat nights.. I find the cafe overpriced but you can bring in a sandwich for go out New Amity Diner on Madison and 84th Street. a NY Greek coffee shop that will have something for everyone and you can return to the museum .. just keep your buttons.
if you want tickets to a popular show you may not find it at the tickets booths most shows are 40% off, plus a service charge but you can purchase in advance on the downtown and brooklyn sites.

lots of places to eat in chinatown..and its not expensive, and kids always seem to like the stores that sell all those chinese souvenirs

Brooklyn Museum and gardens are next to each other both are large enough.. and if you want to walk across the bridge take the subway to the bridge its a really long way from the brooklyn museum

walk the highline.. its free.. and you get a view of the river.. there are seating areas and a place to get your feet wet too kids love it.

have fun and make sure you bring your walking shoes/sneakers !