NYC w/ teens -various questions
 

My husband and I are taking our teen daughters to NYC to see a play the first weekend in Dec. We are going to take them to see Blue Man Group but here are some questions:
1. Suite recommendations in Midtown East - 2 rooms or something that would give us(and them some privacy)
2. Shopping areas that teens would like
3. Restaurant recommendations that would be good and fun and not bankrupt us.
4. Museums that would not bore them
thanks!
leah

I'll tackle the museum question and recommend the Metropolitan. There is so much to choose from at the largest museum in the U.S., surely they can find some things of interest.
As for restaurants, what type(s) of food? Also be more specific with a price range.

Sorry - more specific info about meal budgets...I guess in the range of $20-$30PP w/o drinks for dinner.

I have to disagree about the museum. Unless they're interested in art - which I'm guessing they're not - I think the Met is the classic museum that bores kids. True, there is art from every period there, but it is huge and will be an endless experience. I would suggest the Guggenheim or the soon to be reopened MoMA - modern art is a little more "fun", the buildings themselves are more interesting, and are much smaller. Also consider the museum of natural history/planterium.

For shopping, SoHo is best for chain/designer type stores that are trendy and the East Village has interesting/different stores. Canal Street has a bunch of cheap stuff, knockoffs, etc.

The Metropolitan Museum boring? You've got to be kidding! I guess we just travel in different worlds when it comes to kids!
However, I will agree that the American Museum of Natural History--especially the planetarium--almost might be of interest.

PS: Now that you've given us a price range, there are still hundreds to choose from, how about giving us the type(s) of food you'd prefer?

something we couldn't get in Asheville, NC...no chains, ethnic would be good...want to have them experience as much new/different as possible

Shop chinatown for all the knockoffs.(Prada bag/Kate Spade, etcc) Have dinner in Little Italy. (They are near each other. We stayed one year in a hotel called the Kimberly. It was a one-bedroom suite. It had a bedroom with King bed and a pull out sofa in living room. There was also a kitchette. It was within walking distance of the Radio City area. We found it clean and comfortable.(We were in NY for a business function and were put in this hotel as the overflow. Since we had taken our kids, the accomodations were better for us. It was like an apartment made into a hotel room.)
I would see the Radio City show because it is so nice even for teens. I would walk around Rockefeller Center and window shop the big department stores. Have a pizza. The pizza in NY is the best in the world. The Museum of Natural History is great. I would take them to the Planetarium part. I would not spend a lot of time in Museums. I think teens would rather walk around and feel the vibe of NY. Take a carraige ride around Central Park, See ground zero and shop, see shows, and have dinner in a nice restaurant and splurge. Have fun!

1.Hotels

>affiniahotels.com - a chain of all suite hotels. Their one bedrooms might have 2 queen beds in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room for 2. In order to have privacy, the girls would have to share the sofa bed. They do have 2 bedroom suites but you'd have to phone for info. Another poster has mentioned their 2 bedrooms are pricier than 2 one bedrooms. On lastminutetravel.com there has been a price of $149 for the Beekman Towers hotel (part of Affinia). That would be very good value.

>A better idea (if you don't mind them staying alone together) is to bid on Priceline for 2 rooms at the same hotel. Otherwise, you need a 2 bedroom suite or connecting rooms.

>Check the San Carlos and the Kimberly 2 more all suite hotels on the east side. They may have 2 bedroom suites.

>There is a Best Western Hospitality hotel in the east 40s or 50s that has 2 bedroom suites but I don't think it's very nice.

>The Salisbury Hotel is on west 57th and has 2 bedrooms but don't know how nice they are, probably ok.

BTW, all these suite hotels have kitchens in the rooms.

2.Shopping -there are tons of previous threads on this subject. Try a search of shopping with teens in nyc.

3.Lots of ethnic places. Menupages.com is a website that lists almost every rest. in NYC and you can search by cuisine, by neighborhood etc. It might be best to select a hotel and then get suggestions in that neighborhood. In the theater district, Ruby Foos (Jap/Chinese), John's Pizzeria, Becos (Italian), Joe Allen's (burgers) are some of the popular, moderate priced places.

4. If they're into clothes and fashion, you might check F.I.T. (fashion institute of technology) and Pratt Institute websites to see if there are any shows on-sometimes student shows, sometimes good fashion. Also, at the Met Museum, there is always a costume exhibit on. Don't know if the current exhibit will still be on or something new. The Cooper Hewitt on 92 st (10 blocks north of the Met) is a design museum and sometimes has fun things. There is also a museum of broadcasting and/or the moving image. What do they like?

There's a museum for everyone in NYC! Try the Museum of Television and Radio at 25 W 52.

http://www.mtr.org/

For shopping, I agree that Chinatown/Soho is ideal. If you're from a part of the US that doesn't yet have H&M stores, be sure to go to BOTH of the Soho branches and to the various charming places around them like Kate's Paperie and that store that I can't remember the name of, it has a big yellow rat outside, across from one of the H&Ms. (There are 6 H&Ms in NYC, 2 more around 34th St (fashion district), home store on 5th Ave and one uptown.) And don't miss "Evolution" store at 120 Spring St and Chinese stuff at Pearl River Mart.

For a meal in Soho, we enjoyed the Manhatan Bistro at 129 Spring Street.

For a budget suite hotel with full ktichens, try the Murray Hill East suites at 149 E 39th St.

Dear Leah,
New York is a teen's dream! There is so much to do that they love!
Go see Golda's Balcony.
Go see Little Shop of Horrors, or Frogs My teen 17 year old twin boys enjoyed all of these plays. You can get 1/2 price tickets at the TKTS booth at 46th street or (even better because fewer peop[le know about it: the TKTS booth at the South Street seaport.. The seaport is a nice area to visit too.

The best area for teens: Greenwich Village--lots of cute stores, big stores and cute guys who go to NYU. Lots of sweet cafes (more reasonable than in the Times Square area)
My sons enjoy SOHO (area South of Houston with very trendy shops and nice cafes. Spring street has many galleries with wacky art (great to comment upon) and cafes and boutiques)
Rice to Riches on Spring street (?) is a futuristic rice pudding bar and my guys loved it. See it and you'll see what I mean. Plasma screen TVs on the walls with videos about each flavor, wild bowls and spoons (you can take home)

Food: Chinatown is the best and truly cheapest. Mott street is just lined with restaurants. I usually go into the ones that are Zagat rated or Gourmet rated. You really can't go wrong in Chinatown!. Save room for dessert and then walk uptown to Little Italy for a great dessert in an italian cafe.

Museums: ICP - international Center for Photography- great exhibits.
Metropolitain Museum--beautiful cafe overlooking the park and invariably interesting exhibits from Egyptian to French Louis XIV furniture. Small doses do best (ie: 1 1/2 hours at the most) There is a fashion section (in the basement)
We live in NYC so I can't give you any info on lodgings. But, there are Bed and breakfasts in NYC. Just google B& B NYC and see what you come up with--I've seen upper eastside B&B in very elegant addresses and they might very well be competitive with hotels.
I realize I could write forever. Guidebooks will help. The New Yorker magazine has listings and good reviews of museums, galleries and plays.
Enjoy the best city in the world!

You've gotten so much good advice, all I have to offer is one paltry tip: try to plan your visit to the Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History (assuming you make one, and you should)to occur after dark. This shouldn't be too hard to do in December...the dome, encased in a gigantic translucent cube, is a sight to see in daylight, but truly spectacular when it's all aglow. Enjoy your trip!

Great recommendations so far. My daughters loved eating in Little Italy and Chinatown. Greenwich Village and Soho were fun to walk through and look at the shops but they really liked shopping at H&M as previous posters mentioned. I liked shopping at H&M because the prices are very reasonable!

I would agree a little bit about teenagers being bored with museums. Especially in NYC they want to be out on the streets taking in the sights. We did go to the Metropolitan Museum one afternoon and stayed a little longer than we might have because it was cold and rainy outside. My daughters enjoyed it for a while but after 2 hours they were ready to leave. I think 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a museum for teenagers is more than enough.

Have lots of fun. I know they will enjoy themselves.

I was a chaperone on my eighth grader's
field trip to the Museum of Natural History. Most of the kids were bored out of their minds! They liked the dinosaurs for about 10 minutes, but other than that they could not wait to leave. Granted, we did not do the Planetarium. You know your kids and their interests. I would think lots of teens would rather do more 'street' things in NYC. Seeing where they tape TRL for MTV may excite them more than dinosaur bones!

I think chicsophisticate gave some great advice on neighborhoods to go to.

Enjoy!

Well, you only have a weekend and between the play and I assume seeing the Rockefeller Center/St Pats and other 5th Ave areas, you might have time for:

1. The Tenement Museum is a very interesting museum offering a guided tour of a tenement house "restored" to its early 19th century condition. You can reserve tickets for a tour which is great as you will be there on a busy weekend. If it is not too cold, consider the walking tour they offer as well. Take a look at http://www.tenement.org/. The lower east side abuts China Town, Little Italy, Soho, etc and is good for exploring, shopping and restaurants.

2. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
2 East 91st Street
ndm.si.edu

This is uptown off Fifth Ave and not far from the Met. It is a small museum the has unusual rather advent garde exhibits. You can usually see the entire exhibit in about an hour.

3. The Forbes Museum on Fifth Ave at 12th Street is small and has some great collections, including Faberge eggs and a toy collection. They are open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.. Admission is free. I could not find a website.

4. Other museums to consider which are smaller than the Met and perhaps more "doable" for an hour or two:

Whitney Museum
945 Madison Ave.
(at 75th Street)
New York, New York 10021
(212) 570-3676
Website www.whitney.org

The Whitney also has an offshoot in the Philip Morris building at 120 Park Ave. (@ 42nd St.)where they have smaller special exhibits which you can see in an hour or less. They also have lunch time tours which might be a nice option.

American Craft Museum
40 W 53rd St.
New York City, NY 10019
(212) 956-3535
americancraftmuseum.org

The Frick
1 E. 70th St.
btw Madison & 5th Ave
New York, NY 10021-4967
Phone: (212) 288-0700
Fax: (212) 628-4417
Website www.frick.org

6. I also like the International Photography Museum mentioned above:
ICP Midtown
1133 Ave of the Americas
(at 43rd Street)
New York, NY 10036
(212) 768-4682
Website at www.icp.org

7. While not a museum, a Circle Line or NY Waterway boat trip around Manhattan would be fun, esp around dusk as the lights are coming up, and there are enclosed cabins which are good for the winter. Take a look at http://www.circleline42.com/index.ihtml and www.nywaterway.com

8. Try to avoid the Natural History Museum, the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum, etc on weekends, as they are jammed and doubly so in the winter when there are few outdoor activities for kids. I don?t believe you can reserve tickets in advance for the Natural History or other museums, but check the websites. You can reserve tickets for the shows at the Hayden Planetarium (which is part of the Natural History Museum), which are very good. If you go to a museum on a weekend, either get there very early or consider going as late as possible, as people from outside Manhattan begin to depart by 3-4 pm or so (never tried this way, but look at websites to see when the last admission is and maybe try for that.) The website for the American Museum of Natural History is http://www.amnh.org/. Website for the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum is http://www.intrepidmuseum.com/

I used to recommend the Gorham Hotel on West 55th Street which has been renovated and is now named The Blakely. You can't beat the location because you can walk to most major attractions within minutes. I know you will be here in December but if you are bundled up it's doable and a lot of fun. Check out their website because I don't know their rates now. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting will be on Tuesday, November 30th this year which means you will be here to see it lit up. Of course I don't know your daugthers interests but a suggestion at holiday time would be The Nutcracker Ballet performed at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center. The Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall receives mixed reviews on this board but I would recommend it to out of towners for a once in a life time experience. The ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center will be open from 8:30AM until midnight for 90 minute sessions. It's less expensive on weekdays but you can expect long lines at peak times. On weekdays it's $8.50 for adults and $7.00 for 12 and under. Weekends it's $11.00 for adults and $7.50 for 12 and under. Skate rental is $6.00. Wollman Rink in Central Park is a lot of fun too and less expensive. The store windows on 5th Avenue are dressed up for the holidays and they're almost always more spectacular than the year before. I think Little Shop of Horrors closed the weekend after I saw it on August 14th. I don't want to offend anyone here but while Tovah Feldshuh's performance in Golda is excellent and the show has received rave reviews I think unless your daughters are extremely interested in a one woman show about her life and politics in the Middle East it may not be what they are looking for in a show. My restaurant recommendations are not gourmet in the least, but you did ask for fun and moderate so I suggest Ellen's Stardust Diner on 51st and Broadway. It's a sort of 50's style diner with singing and dancing waiters and waitresses. It's not a place for deep conversation because it it is loud but you can get a decent burger and fries. It's also open for breakfast. Try Serendipity on East 60th for outrageous desserts. Many movies have filmed there.

I forgot to mention H&M on 5th Avenue or 34th Street for shopping for teenage girls. Let me emphasize that H&M and stores such as Conway (on 34th Street) do not sell high quality merchandise but if the girls are on a budget they can find designer lookalike fashions and accessories. Some of my nieces have walked away with bags of merchandise for little money and it satisfied them because they only wear the items for a season or two.

Thanks to Merilee about the tip about the Blakely(used to be Gorham). I reserved a suite there for the 4 of us. Rooms look nicer and larger than almost anything else I have seen and w/ daybed + rollaway (which the hotel assured me I could get) we should be fine. Works better price-wise than 2 rooms at most of the other places!

Thanks to all of you for your great advice and ideas. I've got the air fare and the hotel all set. I ended up booking at Murray Hill East Suites rather than Blakely - you'll see my venting thread about how they screwed up. Will be getting tx for Blue Man Group and other than that I am going to keep it simple and let the girls (and weather) decide the rest of our activities. Will definitely print this out though for a reference tool!

I live in the suburbs. I agree that the museum of natural history is tough on teens. The planetariium could be more interesting depending on the interests.

So imho,
Ellis Island is very very cool even for teens....especially if you ever had any immigrant relatives...but even if you dont. Ellis Island was recently re modernized so it is very up to date, computers everywhere...shows how it was for immigrants floating in from europe in 1800s. very cool. Also, because u get there via the ferry from battery park, you float by statue of liberty / a beautiful sight to see i think u can also get out there and go into her if u choose. (which wasn't for me!)
it will be a chilly ride over, but the ferry is heated on the inside.
i have other ideas too, let me know.
vicki