This is our plan so far, does it look feasible, it's 5 days in December. Have I grouped things in ways that they make sense as far as geographically? Give me your advice, thoughts, etc.

Tuesday - December 3, 2002
Arrive 12:20 P.M.
Take the SuperShuttle www.supershuttle.com to the hotel
Arrive at hotel at 1:30 or 2 P.M.
Lunch: Gray’s Papaya Hotdogs (72nd and Broadway)
Wander around Times Square
Dinner: Angelo’s Pizza 117 W. 57th St.or Patsy’s Pizzeria, both near the hotel

Wednesday - December 4, 2002
Breakfast: Norma’s
WTC area
NYSE
Wall Street
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
Shopping: Flying A, Stella Dallas, Fresh, Generation Records, Kiehl’s, etc.
Lunch: Katz’s Deli
Brooklyn Bridge
Hotel (clean-up)
Dinner: Erminia Italian Restaurant (250 E. 83rd St.)
Rockefeller Center Tree

Thursday - December 5, 2002
Breakfast:
NY Public Library
Grand Central Station
Lunch: Soup Kitchen International
Central Park
Museum of Modern Art or Metropolitan Art Museum—Other museums in the area
Hotel (clean-up)
Dinner: Molyvo’s
Christmas Carol at 7:30 pm – Madison Sq. Garden

Friday - December 6, 2002
Breakfast:
Little Italy
Chinatown
Pearl River Mart
Lunch
Upright Citizen’s Brigade
Dinner: Kum Gang Sun
Hotel (clean-up)
CBGB
Arlene Grocery

Saturday – December 7, 2002
Brunch: Blue Water Grill
NBC Experience and Studio Tour
what else???

Go home early Sunday.

Both the Statue of Liberty and the NYSE are closed to visitors. MOMA is being renovated so they have relocated to Long Island City in Queens.

With an itinerary like that, you're going to need another vacation to recover!

I heard that the Statue of Liberty was closed, but I though we could still go look at it up close, if not inside, maybe not. I'll scratch the NYSE.

Alot of these places we want to see, but don't plan on spending too much time exploring them. It's our first trip and I want to pack as much in as possible.

You can take a sightseeing cruise around manhattan and see Statue of Liberty. Just ask if you will see Statue of Libery first.

Also, did you know Statue of Liberty is really in NJ? (4th grade history told me this and I admit I did not do my homework, so don't blast me on this)

Looks like a fantastic trip. Have fun!

Your Wednesday morning looks a little jam-packed. As for the Statue of Liberty, you can go to Liberty Island but not into the statue itself. I recommend taking the Staten Island Ferry -- it's free, it's fun, and you'll get a great view of lower Manhattan, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, etc.

I'd move the Empire State Building visit to Thursday morning. Go there first, then walk the eight blocks to the library. It would also fit well into your Saturday plans, which seem pretty open.

The Museum of Modern Art has temporarily relocated to Queens (not that there's anything wrong with that, but...). You might want to stick with the Met or go to the Whitney.

Soup Kitchen is as fantastic as you've heard, but it's just a storefront. If it's a warm day you could eat your lunch in Central Park.

Enjoy your trip and please post a report when you get back!

Tues Dec. 3 - You don't say where your hotel is, but if it is not on the Upper West Side, do you have any special reason for Gray's Papaya on 72nd? Hot dog/papaya shops are all over town and you might be able to find one closer to your hotel and there are definitely ones that are closer to Times Square.

Wed Dec 4 - That will be the night that the tree in Rockefeller Center is lit. I would avoid that area until at least the next day, unless you are planning on attending the massively crowded event.

Taking your itinerary day by day:
Tuesday:
I don't know if it's really worth a trek up Gray's Papaya for lunch, considering that you're not doing anything else in the area.
Wednesday:
There is absolutely no way you can cover all that ground in the morning, even with the Stock Exchange closed. You're lucky if you could do it all in a day! Also, in terms of location, you should do the Brooklyn Bridge right after the Statue of Liberty. Otherwise, you're going uptown then back downtown.
Further, you might consider taking the Staten Island Ferry instead of the boat to the Statue of Liberty, especially since you can't go up the Statue anyway. The ferry is free.
Are you sure the tree in Rockefeller Center will be lit then?
Thursday:
As previously mentioned, Museum of Modern Art is undergoing renovations. To do justice to the Metropolitan Museum, plan on spending a minimum of 2-3 hours there.
Since you are going to see A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden that night, it would make more sense to have dinner at Kum Gang San at it is within walking distance of the show. You could go to Molyvo's the following night.
Friday:
Since I don't know a lot of the places you mention, I've no comments here. What is CBGB?
Saturday:
How about taking in a matinee on Broadway?

Thanks for the advice and the heads up on closures.

I put that Gray's Papaya because I think it's near my hotel The Wellington. It could be any of them tho, maybe we'll spot one closer to Times Square. SZ ([email protected])
I moved the Empire St. Bldg. to Thurs.

Amy, your hotel is a good 3/4 of mile from 72nd Street. To give you an idea of distances, 20 north/south blocks equal one mile.

The Wellington Hotel is on West 57th...a lot closer to the pizza place you mentioned than to Gray's Papaya. You might just want to grab a slice for lunch there on Tuesday instead. Papaya is GOOD, not fabulous. It's maily famous b/c it's cheap.

Do Times Square at night instead, when it's all lit up...it's MUCH more interesting and impressive than during the day.

Wednesday's itinerary: The Empire State Building just doesn't "fit" with all your other daytime activities, which are way downtown (though I don't know about the shopping).

Thursday looks good, but I don't believe there are places to sit in Soup Kitchen. And MoMA has been moved to Queens. The Whitney Museum (75th and Madison?) would be a nice alternative, as it is close to the Metropolitan Museum.

Friday looks good. I don't know where Kum Gang Sun is, but if it's in Chinatown, why not go there for lunch, rather than after Upright Citizen's, which is in the W 20s.

Saturday: Blue Water Grill will put you right smack in Union Square...an area that's not on your itinerary at all. Neither is the Village or SoHo. Walk down University Place or Broadway or some other street...you go through these intersting neighborhoods. Just hope it isn't too cold out!

Saturday

If you are arriving at LGA take a taxi to the hotel rather than the super Shuttle - it is faster and probably a dollar or two cheaper. Do the Empire State on the day you visit the library and GR. Central. Frankly, not worth the walk from hotel to Gray's unless you go to the one on 8th Avenue around 40th ST. Take the Staten Island ferry to view the Statue. Also start the day with the ferry and then start working your way uptown. I could never understand paying $6 or more for soup served in a cardboard container and not having a place to sit down to enjoy the soup. THe soup can't be that good - the power of TV at work.

Amy do a search for NY itinerary-many threads are available. I've top a recent thread for you.

Thanks Jerry. Now that the search function is back up, I'll do that

Amy, enjoy your trip. THe topped thread was Itinerary for October in New YOrk

Hi Amy, sounds like a good itinerary. There's a Gray's hot dog spot in the Village on 8th Street & 6th Avenue. For the very best hot dog, try F&B in Chelsea on 23rd St. between 7th & 8th Ave. Terrific dogs.

My suggestion is to get yourself an unlimited Metro card - there's a $4 fun card that's good for one day and a $17 card that's good for a week. This will let you zip all over the place and you'll also be discovering other spots that aren't on your itinerary.

hi amy,

since you'll be around the financial district, i would definitely recommend that you to stop by the nyc police museum. they have assembled an excellent new exhibit that runs through early january 2003 which highlights the events of sept. 11.

additionally, their other displays about police history and work are also very well thought-out.

although the actual building is fairly unremarkable from the outside, the effort they put into making the exhibits is impressive. (there's even a full-size replica of a jail cell.) i was going to just pass by the museum like i do every day on my way to the ferry, but was extremely glad that i actually stopped in. ya never know what gems you'll find in nyc.

if you have younger children, you should use your judgement as whether or not to bring them.

although the museum is free, i would suggest a donation to help support them and the city.

the website is:
http://www.nycpolicemuseum.org/

Amy: I hope you have a TON of energy, otherwise you're going to be exhausted. Last time I was there, I would only do ONE major thing a day. For example, one whole was sent aside for the museum of art, another day for Chinatown and Little Italy, and so on.

Besides being exhausted, when you take in so many things so fast, when you look back at your vacation the memories of these places are all going to blur into one another. Another pitfall with your plan is that you have everything, including where you eat, planned out to a T. What about some flexiblity in your schedule in case you pass a place for say, dinner, that you'd rather try instead?

Good luck, and with your itinerary, wear excellent walking shoes.

I would suggest getting a map of the city so you understand what the distances are between things you want to see and do.

Also you might target areas of the city to see each day, like the Wall St. area one day, Chinatown up though the Village another day. This way you spend more time seeing and less time traveling from downtown to uptown to downtown,,,,lol. Also the buses are a great way to see the city slower but a great view.

The State of Liberty shines the best in the evening and since you are here just a few days, the easiest way to see it might be on the Staten Island Ferry. If you get on around sunset, the trip back with the lights on in the city is breathtaking.

I would also get a restaurant guide so you have more choices of places to go if you need a break from site seeing.

There is a Hallmark store in the bottom of the EMpire State Building so you might stop in a buy a holiday item to bring home, say a tree trim to bring back memories of your trip.

Have a great time while you are here.

tweedy

These itinerary threads are stupid, annoying, and a waste of time. Relax and enjoy NYC -- you can presumably return if you don't see *everything*.

Please ignore "frequent visitor." I think the way you're making plans is -- for one thing -- the way you enjoy doing it, which is what matters, and in addition a real traveler's way of planning a good visit. You're thinking of what you'd like to do and asking for help from people who might be able to help.

I actually find your itinerary one of the more researched and thought-out ones I've seen, not that I object to non-researched plans. You just need some help with the geography of the city.

If you enjoy shopping and can handle shoopping in a warrior mode, I suggest a visit to Century 21 when you go to the Wall Street / WTC area. It's the queen of designer discount shopping as well as a good place to get more normal things (a pocketbook, a nice sweater, underwear, brand name good cosmetics) at a discount.

Don't go there on a weekend unless you really like a scuffle.