We are arriving in NYC afternoon March 13th , for three nights any advice for a family (four children18,16,9 & 7) for food and sight seeing.Staying west 32nd street hotel.First visit .Do we take a bus tour or can we walk. Do we go to top of empire state or World trade centre. Do we visit Statue and Ellis or take free ferry. Can we do all this and regular sights of midtown, Central Park and shopping(Macy's & Bloomingdales in Two and a half days.) Food! any good inexpensive places or ideas for the area we are staying. No interest in shows, My wife thinks I am too ambitious and we will be rushing around.

That is quite an agenda if you plan on spending any time at any of these sites. As for the Statue - I recently took the ferry to Staten Island and found it to be plenty. Great view of the Statue, was free and only took an hour. As soon as you get off the ferry at Staten Island, have the kids all together and plan on running over to the ferry that is heading back. It can be done, but requires a quick run.

The ferry is also located near the World Trade Center, so you could do both in the same morning. I'd also check out Little Italy for some great, inexpensive food.

The Empire State Building was an incredibly long line, even late at night.

Museum of Natural History on the upper west side is a good morning: new planetarium (star show is expensive/requires early reservations - I'd just get the open admission), good dinosaur bones.
the Metropolitan for kids: all the medieval armor displays & mummys/egyptian wing.
(both musuems charge only "optional" donations)
between them is the 86th St. crosstown double-length bus, fun(interesting) to see/ride.

I'd pay the overpriced ticket & take the statue of liberty/ellis island ferry ride, even if the line up to the crown is too long; it's fun to walk around the pedestal & see the ellis is. museum.

Empire State bldg. observatory has good city viewing, but it's a tighter space. World trade center will have a line also, but on a weekday sunset (dinnertime) shouldn't be too bad, stay long enough to see the night view w/city lights. I feel it's better organized to handle the lines/people.

have a good time!

P.S. forgot to say: make sure to get that FIRST ferry out to the Statue (7am? - check on-line schedules)!!

You can do it all! Go to up the Empire State building at night since it will be close to your hotel and stays open till approx. 10 or 11:00. I also recommend taking the paid ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and from there it will take you to Ellis Island. I wouldn't count on going all the way up ot the crown unless you're on the first boat out in the morning. However, as stated above, the pedestal level is very nice. After Ellis Island I would highly encourage you to go to the top of World Trade Center. I would also encourage you to take the subway, it's safe, relatively cheap, and quickest method. I did all this in one day (not empire building) and stopped off in China Town for some quick souvenirs. You might want to see about advance tickets for the Conan O'brien show (free) for something to do that night. Yes, I did all this in one day.

Whew, I think I am tired just reading this. Since you have younger children, the double-decker sight seeing tour might be fun for them and will save the 'in-between' walking. I don't think Conan is an option though. Most studios don't allow kids under 18, but you could check on that. Empire State Building at night is less crowded, and there is a Houlihans for quick, cheap eats on the ground level. Virgil's on W. 44th for barbeque is a favorite for families. I agree with the Little Italy suggestion. Fun and good food. If you are not interested in shows, you may want to try a movie at the Ziegfeld or an IMAX at the Museum of Natural History or the Sony Theater. Make sure you let them run around central park for a bit too.

Since you are staying very close to the Empire State Building, you might do that first thing in the morning and then head on downtown to the Wall St. area and see the World Trade Center, walk over to Chinatown for lunch and head down to the South St. Seaport to see the tall ships and learn abit about the city, continue south to Wall St and walk along Wall St. to see some of the most important financial buildings in the world, like the NY Stock Exchange, and see just how small Wall St is, that is always a surprise to visitors. Trinity Church at the head of Wall St has an interesting burial ground (a little history lesson) and walk on down to the Staten Island Ferry, take that over to Staten Island just at dusk, the trip back is breathtaking, with the city lights just comming up and the statue lit up, the kids will love that trip.

For food you are close to the Manhattan Mall, and there is a good food court at the top (some of the stores are closing, and there will be some major rennovation going on there soon)

One of our fav family restaurants is America on 18th St between 5th and Broadway, you can walk it from your hotel and do some siteseeing as you walk down 5th Ave.

You might get a book on NY so the kids get a real feel for the city and maybe write a report on their trip for some extra credit in school.

Have a fun time while you are here.

The double decker bus tour might not be the way to go. Last I checked cost was $38 for two days of touring - more than $200 for the family. Suggest you get around by walking and using public transportation. Purchase an all day unlimited bus and subway pass. Cost is $4 and is good from the time you purchase it until 3am the following morning. I think it is called the Fun Pass and can be purchased at a machine found in most subway stations. With proper planning you could get a lot done in the time you will be in New York. For example on day 1 you indicate you will be arriving in the afternoon. Spend the rest of the day visiting the Empire State, a five minute walk from your hotel. Next go over to Macy's, one block away from Empire State. When you finish there walk up to Times Square - a 10 minute walk. Have dinner in a restaurant in the area and check out the sights. Walk north to around 50th Street and then east to 5th Avenue and then south to the hotel. On 5th you will see St Patrick's Cathedral and Rockerfeller Center YOu don't need the Fun Pass on day 1. DAy 2. Get an early start and visit Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. If you make the first boat out (around 9am) you can be back to Battery Park by 1pm. Walk north to World Trade Center and consider visiting the Observation Deck. Then continue walking north to Chinatown and Little Italy. This should take the better part of the day. BAck to the hotel for a break and then decide how to spend the evening. Day 3 - consider a visit to Natural History Museum, a stroll through
Central Park and then on to the Metropolitan. This should take the better part of the day. History is at 81st and Central Park west; Met is on 80th and 5th Avenun - you go through Central Park to get fron one to the other. Judging distances in New York- 20 blocks going north to south is one mile; walking east west avenue to avenue (ex: 5th to 6th AVenue) is the same as walking three blocks, north to south. On day 1 if you follow the route as suggested you will have walked a total of around 2 1/2 miles.

Thanks for the replies so far. Are the subways easy to use a I have read they can be confusing.

Pick up a subway map and you will find subways relatively easy to use. If you indicate exact location of the hotel and places you want to visit you can get specific instructions on how to get there by subway or bus at this site.

Just can't help but add my two cents that rqf's advice/itinerary is EXCELLENT and I'd follow it to the letter! My family also spent two and a half days in NYC last year and followed generally the same plan. Note how the attractions are generally grouped by area and best time of day to see them. You can't go wrong.

As a New Yorker, I too would endorse rqf's proposed itinerary. It's very complete, but not exhausting. I might offer a slight variation for your first full day: Instead of taking the boat to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, instead you might take the Staten Island ferry across and spend the extra time strolling Little Italy, Chinatown and/or Greenwich Village. While I'm big enthusiast for Ellis Island, doing that and the Statue of Liberty and returning by 1 p.m. makes for a very tight situation, I think. Either way, however, you can't go wrong.

Thanks again you have eased my wifes mind. Any thoughts on Food. Would like to try Traditional American fare hot dogs, burgers (not Mac';s etc) and ribs.
Any ideas.

Two recommendations for ribs:
*Tennessee Mountain on Spring Street in Soho (just south of Greenwich Village)
*Virgil's on West 44th Street, just off Times Square, between 7th and 6th Avenues.

Virgil's is very popular and crowded for lunch and dinner. I believe they take reservations for parties of six or more. Located on W. 44th just east of Broadway. A less expensive place for burgers, ribs, chicken is Dallas BBQ,
W. 43rd just east of Broadway. Both are less than a 15 minute walk from W. 32rd.
Walk along W.32nd to Broadway, make a right and walk straight up Broadway to the forties. Actual distance is about
3/4s of a mile.

You are not too ambitious.

Attention rfq: are you the same rfqel that posts via Deja.com to rec.travel.usa-canada? Have you posted on fodors b4?

Yes. Have been posting at this site since Deja went to Google. Questions are posted on Google but you cannot reply. At least l haven't seen a "reply" button. Incidentally, have found this site to be more active especially with regard to New York questions.

RFQ.
This site has streaks of NYC questions. I am glad you are here; I've read your advice over the years on dejanews and deja.com and thought it was the best of the best. I'm sure others here might agree. Especially airport transfer info.

Great advice. Next worry, can you walk around Chinatown, little Italy after dark say upto 10 o' clock.

P.S. Can you suggest a good family resturant in Chinatown and Little Italy,
Thanks