NYC long weekend - must sees
 

I am visiting NYC this fall with a group of 6 friends. We will arrive on a Thursday and some will leave on Monday. Others will leave on Wednesday. We are putting together a list of things that we would like to do and see when we are there. Glancing at our list, I think that some of the things could be grouped so that it might be more doable than it looks at first glance.

Am. Museum of Nat'l History
Broadway Musical
Brooklyn Bridge
Central Park
Empire State Building
FAO Schwarz
“Good Morning America” type shows
5th Ave.
Ground Zero
Guggenheim Museum
Lincoln Center
NY Public Library
Rockefeller Center
Statue of Liberty
6th Ave. Flea Market (Saturdays)
Tiffany's
Times Square
Union Station

tour ideas:
Walking tour - realnewyorktours.com
NBC tour
Movie tour – www.screentours.com.
Central Park walking tour

Can someone give me advice on what we could group together? We know that this might be too much to do in one trip, but it's our starting point.

Any suggestions or comments are welcome.

Several good things to do on your list. Your best bet for doing groupings that make sense would be to dig up a guidebook map for the city and see what's near each other.

Frommer's website has such maps from their books online.

Sounds like you are going to have a very busy weekend. First thing I'd recommend is that you get a book or two on NYC so you have some ideas of where things are located and decide what is on your priority list and secondary list.

You are right that alot of the tourist sites are pretty close to each other, within walking distance like the ESB and the Public library. Also lots of shopping inbetween in that area.

Also use this site as a good research tool, NYC has been tagged over and over and over, so there is already lots of good info here.

If you want to see a particular show one of the more popular, get tickets in advance from ticketmaster.com. The really popular shows will NOT have discount tickets. If you just want to see a great show and get discounted tickets try the TKTS.org website just before you get here, so you can see what shows are available for discounted tickets. The TKTS booth at the South St. Seaport will also save you ALOT of time, go down, get the tickets (almost no lines there and it opens at 10am) and then head up to Chinatown for Dim Sum.

Most the Museums you mentioned are on the upper east side and several are within walking distance liket the Guggenheim and the Met. That area of the city on 5th Ave is often referred to as Museum Mile or Museum Row. Check the Met website so you have some ideas of what you want to see, as seeing the whole museum will take weeks if not months.

Hope this helps and have a great time while you are here.

I would include The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMa for sure.Do "Top of the Rock" if you do the NBC Studio Tour as it's in the same building.
I only go to the Museum of Natural History when I have kids along.
DimSum in Chinatown.

Am Mus. of Nat. Hist. /Central Park
but if you're interested in art, the Met is a MUST and more important than the Guggenheim. Met & Guggenheim are not far from each other on the east side of the park while AMNH is on the west side of the park.

NY Public Library/Today Show/Fifth Ave/Rockefeller Center/Top of the Rock/FAO Schwarz/Tiffany's/Morning Show

Good Morning American/Times Square/Broadway Musical

Statue of Liberty/Ground Zero

6th ave flea market (not what it once was)/Empire State

We don't have a Union station. Perhaps you mean Grand Central Station?

You might want to consider an overview tour like kingofnyc.com

A couple of suggestions

Agree that not everyone has to do everything with everybody. This includes restaurants and rest periods

Decide how to split the money. There is always one person who drinks more than the others and orders every course on the menu.

I assume you mean Union Square not Union Station, since NY does not have one. That should be visited on Friday and Staurday when the farmner's market is in full swing.

Otherwise try to avoid the most popular places on the weekend.

Here is your list, with areas/a few suggestions added:

Am. Museum of Nat'l History - Upper West Side
Broadway Musical - Midtown west
Brooklyn Bridge - Downtown
Central Park - Uptown
Empire State Building - Midtown
FAO Schwarz - Midtown
“Good Morning America” type shows - depends. The Today show crowd is in Rockefeller Plaza - midtown.
5th Ave. - A long, long street. Shopping mostly mid-town.
Ground Zero - downtown
Guggenheim Museum - midtown
Lincoln Center - upper west side
NY Public Library - midtown
Rockefeller Center - midtown
Statue of Liberty - downtown
6th Ave. Flea Market (Saturdays)- not sure where this is
Tiffany's - midtown (but close to Central Park)
Times Square - midtown west
Union Station - I'm sure you mean Grand Central - midtown.

Hope this helps with your initial grouping of sites. One more opinion -- unless someone is a huge SNL fan, the NBC tour is not that interesting.

I forgot to mention that the flea markets on 6th are gone, replaced by shinning condo and large apartment buildings. There are still 2 operating off 6th, "The Garage" W 24th between 6th and 7th, 2 large floors of a garage, alot of vendors but not alot of bargins anymore. The other is off 6th in a parking lot at 25th, again, lots of "stuff".

THere's also one in Chelsea, I think off Columbus at a public school, on 76th, some really good vendors there.

And of course every weekend from April to November we have STREET FAIRS, on Saturday and Sunday somewhere in Manhattan, check the www.clearviewfestival.com website for location and Mardi Gras Festivals (not sure of the website) for details.

Two of my favorites:

The Frick Collection
http://www.frick.org/

The Cloisters (The Met)
http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/the_cloisters


Enjoy your visit!

Here are two of my favorites:

The Frick Collection
http://www.frick.org/
midtown

The Cloisters
http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/the_cloisters
uptown

Enjoy your visit!


R @ Edgartown, MA
http://www.freewebs.com/katamadelight

OOPS, my apologies for duplicate comments!

You have enough places listed to last a week. And while grouping things together will save time - you still can;t do the Met (which is a MUST SEE) in an hour - or any of the other major museums. (Suggest you go to the websites and decide which parts of the museums you want to see - you can do a couple of departments in a 2/3 hour visit - and may want to divide into groups based on your favorites.)

I would swap Top of the Rock for the ESB, which will save you hours in waiting time.

For the Statue of Liberty you need to buy ferry and statue tickets at least several weeks in advance. And assuming you do the Ellis island Immigration Museum (same ferry) they will take a minimum of 6 hours. If you are willing to do a fairly near view of the statue (versus actually visiting Liberty island and climbing - IF you can get tickets) you can take the free Staten Island ferry - and also have a great view of the Manhattan skyline on the way back. the ferry runs every 15 or 20 minutes 24/7. (The statue is a great sight - but not sure if it's worth so much time if you only have a weekend.)

Sorry - the NBC tour gets mixed reviews at best and IMHO isn;t worth your very limited time.

For a show go to broadwaybox.com now to see which shows you can get discounts for and use the code to go to the regular online seller. Will give you a better choice of seats and you won;t have to waste time here standing online at TKTS.

Arranged in relatively geographic order from south to north:
-
Statue of Liberty
Brooklyn Bridge
World Trade Center site (Ground Zero is an awful term to use)
-
Fifth Ave. (begins in Greenwich Village just south of 8th St and extends 100 blocks to Harlem)
-
Union Square, near 14th St (if that's what you meant)
-
6th Ave. Flea Market (in the west 20s)
-
Empire State Building (Fifth Ave at 34th)
NY Public Library (Fifth Ave at 42nd)
Grand Central Station (Park Ave at 42nd) (if that's what you meant)
Times Square (7th Ave bet 42nd and 47th)
Broadway Musical (Times Square)
ABC: Good Morning America (Times Square)
Rockefeller Center (Fifth Ave at 50th)
NBC: Today Show (Rockefeller Center)
Tiffany's (Fifth Ave at 57th)
FAO Schwarz (Fifth Ave at 58th)
CBS: Morning Show (Next to FAO)
-
Central Park (begins at 59th between Fifth and Eighth Avenues-extends north for 2.5 miles to 110th)
Guggenheim Museum (Fifth Ave at 89th-east of Central Park)
Lincoln Center (west of Central Park near 66th)
Am. Museum of Nat'l History (west of Central Park near 79th)
-
As you can see, many of your sights of interest are along Fifth Avenue. The section of Fifth Avenue most visitors care to see extends from 34th to 59th streets—the main shopping area. Many museums are located north of 59th along a residential section of the avenue.

As others have said, get a map and plot these points. then make your plan.

While the Guggenheim Museum may be an interesting architectural sight, it's collection is limited and the main exhibition area features changing exhibits. Before I paid the pricey entrance fee, I would check its website to verify the particular modern art on display was some I cared to see.

Oh wow - you guys are the best. Thanks for all the tips and advice.

I think I should put up a spotting map and mark everything.

Thanks for the tips on where things are and other things we might not have thought of. Also the tips on Broadway tickets.

You can buy discounted tickets to some shows in advance. Broadwaybox.com in the left column is one place. YOu'll also find them on playbill.com if you register for free. 6 together might be tough. You should consider splitting up to see if seats are better. Do you know what show(s) you want to see?

We haven't discussed shows yet. I got some ideas from watching the Emmys and thought I might later search the threads here. I wouldn't care if we all sat together. I suppose we might end up picking different shows.

Why is "Ground Zero" an awful term to use, ellenem? I really am curious about that.

Fodors uses it in their online review...

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...ew-459085.html

Locals don't use it - since many of us either lost someone or have a friend or neighbor (or more than 1) who lost someone. Ground zero makes it sound like part of some war game or something. Much better to say WTC site.

And just because the Fodor's book says it - that doesn't mean its right.

Just realize that you didn't mention a hotel - as in the area you will be staying in. If you don;;t have one yet that's the first thing I would work on - since you're headed into high season and prices will only rise as you get closer.

Why is "Ground Zero" an awful term to use, ellenem? I really am curious about that.
_________________________

Obviously I am not Ellebem, but I also hate the term but never bring it up any more.

As someone who saw the second plane hit the Trade Center, whose office building was engulfed in debris and humans remains twice, and had to leave the office as late as November because of the toxins in the air, I have an emotional reaction to it.

Ground Zero originally meant the bombing of Nagasaki. Now Ground Zero is used for all sorts of catastrophes it is akin to adding "gate" to every scandal.

It has detached from the World Trade Center and it does not accord the respect for the people who died and the destuction of the building. It was not a generic event, it was a specific event.

Thank you for explaining that Ground Zero is not an appropriate term to use. I'm not sure that it is appropriate to even put the site on a list of tourist attractions. I apologize for doing it.

We haven't picked a hotel yet. I have another subject line discussing that. We started working seriously on that task this past weekend. I got some serious sticker shock when we started pricing them. We may go with a VRBO. Unfortunately, the one that was recommended on the other thread was already taken, but we are looking at others.

It's not unusual or unfeeling to want to visit the WTC site. I find it difficult to understand since there's nothing really there but a construction site--if you hadn't seen it before it would be difficult to imagine it after. (NYers still see the hole in the sky every day.) I suppose it's like visiting a battlefield or historic location famous for something that happened many years ago.

I encourage you to make this visit if you feel the desire to do so. I think the best view of the site is from the top of the steps in the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center across West Street. Be sure to visit St Paul's Chapel to get a better idea of September 2001 in NYC.

Yes, fall is an expensive time to visit New York City. Good luck finding a place for your large group.

If you check out some of the threads about subletting and apt in NY you will see why many say it's not a good idea - many are scams (Craig's list etc) and they are illegal under NYC law.

Not sure of your price range - but the Newton on the upper west side recently had some budget rooms available.

You are getting great advice here. Hopefully, you got ideas for shows from the Tonys and not the Emmys.

Why I don't like the term (actually why I hate the term) Ground Zero.

In all fairness, it was a good term on Sept 12th. We felt as if we were hit by a bomb. It is an engineering term. A building is built up and down from Ground Zero. Most important, it was only 3 syllables and we didn't have time for more than 3 syllables in the media.

The problem? It memorializes the event without acknowledging the history or future of the site or all the support we received from the world after the event.

thestarryeye.typepad.com/explorenyc

>Hopefully, you got ideas for shows from the Tonys and not the Emmys.

LOL - when I typed Emmys, it didn't sound quite right. I almost erased it, but then I went with it rather than checking. I need to learn not to do that.

Am. Museum of Nat'l History
--been there a few times. last time saw the space show. got bored. not the best one. actually, the whole place just bored me. ho hum. DO NOT see the butterflys, it's a rip off.

Brooklyn Bridge
--how about a view of it from the Manhattan Bridge instead? then walk into China Town&Little Italy.

Central Park
--a must see. say hi to Gary the mayor of Strawberry Fields.
ask him when Yoko Ono comes out for a visit.

Ground Zero
--small museum just opened.

6th Ave. Flea Market (Saturdays)
--how about Union Sqr.Farmer's Market on Fridays?

Union Station
--the one in L.A. is a classic.

Get a copy of ACCESS NY guide book. They are the best for figuring out what is near what. The book is laid out in "areas" -street by street. So instead of all the restaurants in one chapter for instance, they are placed in walking order in their respective geographic areas. The same with sights, hotels, shopping, etc, etc. This way its quite easy to plan a day on the UWS or in SOHO or the Village -- or anywhere.

I suggest you begin by taking your list and attaching a time frame to each activity. Even if its just a guess. How many hours for a particular museum, etc. Factor in travel time from place to place, dining, changing clothes, etc. You will then begin to build a workable schedule and quickly see if you have too many things on the list. Good luck and enjoy.

I'll put in a good word for the American Museum of Natural History. The place is huge, and I was really impressed with both the size and depth of its collection -- especially with the fossils. The only other museum of its type that rivals it, to my way of thinking, is the one at the Smithsonian, with the Field Museum in Chicago respectably in 3rd place and Harvard's Museum of Natural History worth a visit as well.

I can perhaps understand not liking this kind of museum, but of its type, it's arguably the best there is.

For walking tours, try Big Onion tours. http://www.bigonion.com/

Before you schedule one of the art museums, check the schedules for special exhibitions. Don't overlook the Brooklyn Art Museum and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

I advise people to skip the Statue of Liberty and go to Ellis Island instead. The boat stops both places so you can get a close-up view of the SoL.

For Sunday lunch, go to the Red Hook ballfields and sample the ethnic food from the vendors there. Alternatively, take one of the gospel brunch tours in Harlem.

Walk Broadway from the bull sculpture up to Lincoln Center.

As far as a hotel, if you are not going to spend much time in your rooms, amenities don't matter much. Pick one that is close to a major subway station and be sure to get an unlimited ride pass for the week.

While you are on the subway, stop at the 14th St station on the 8th Ave subway and see the permanent sculpture installation by Tom Otterness. http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/artwork_show?21

Wholeheartedly agree with my fellow New Yorkers with respect to the term "Ground Zero". Please (please, please) use WTC Site. If you ask a NYer how to get to "Ground Zero", he or she will obviously know but may not respond to you very warmly and will likely correct in a less than amiable way.

I went for the first time Memorial Day w/e which was fleet week so that was cool. We got the NYC Pass (http://www.newyorkpass.com/) 3 days for $135. It’s a long list of things included. Whether of not it was worth it is a tossup. You try to cram so much in to make it worth it, it ends up very rushed but as a first time intro to the city it was cool did things I wouldn't usually do if I was faced with the admission price (e.g. Madame Toussauds $30). We stayed Upper West Side hostel (http://nychostels.com/) not sure what kind of classy you're going for but the beds and rooms were clean, you share a bathroom, but they do have small private rooms, full sized bed, even a TV, for $50 a night with TravelZoo discount. started writing more and got to be long so check out my blog... http://rebeccacalkins.tumblr.com/

Good list. Also consider the following:
- Staten Island Ferry (Free ride); opportunity to see the skyline of NYC and NJ. Lower Manhattan.
- Visit Little Italy, Chinatown, and Battery Park. All are pretty much in the same vicinity. Lower Manhattan.
- While crossing the Brooklyn Bridge; stop in DUMBO area for ice cream or pizza.
- Dining: Try Katz Deli, Junior's (in Grand Central Station), and an authentic meal in Chinatown or Little Italy.
- Consider using the subway system although,this will require reviewing activities to group within the same location.
-Consider ordering maps and literature from your local automobile clubs like AAA. You can also google for this type of information which is sent from NYC vendors usually for free. These maps are helps to show you street name, special interest locations, and coupons/specials.

I'm bookmarking this thread! Wonderful ideas. I will be there in August and found this planning info very helpful. Thanks all.

I'd give a lot of time to the Metropolitan Museum and remember it has a cafeteria and some small cafes, so you can have a break. I highly recommend the exhibition on the roof called Big Bamboo. It is an amazing experience.

If you want to see it, you get a ticket beforehand for a scheduled tour. Go get your ticket FIRST as soon as you get to museum. Ideally, go to the museum at opening time and get the tickets, which may be for a later time than morning or afternoon. YOU MUST HAVE CLOSED SHOES to go to it. But the climbing isn't scary or dangerous.

Museum of Modern Art is free starting at 4 on Fridays. Worth going to for the building alone, and the cafe.

Wonderful ideas. Thanks for everyone's help. I'll post up when we start planning out our days.

Don't know if this has been suggested but Watson Adventures does scavenger hunts, where teams are given a list of questions and clues to where the answers are found. There are hunts at the Met, the Museum of Natural History and "Gangs of New York" in Chinatown and Little Italy. It's a fun way to explore the museums or the City with your friends. My team happened to win (t-shirts and bragging rights). www.watsonadventures.com.

Enjoy your weekend.

What a great idea, chad. I get emails about the scavenger hunts as I'd like to do one in Chicago someday. I wouldn't have thought about doing one on this trip if you hadn't mentioned it. It would be a great thing to do on my birthday.