NYC weekend with teen daughter
 

Traveling with my 15 year old daughter for the first time to NYC. Wicked is on the agenda ... what other must-do's will she enjoy?

Well - all of the regular attractions:

Top of the Rock (better than ESB)
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Central Park (if weather is good)
The Met (go to the web site to see what departments will interest you - perhaps Costume Institute, Temple of Dendur, Impressionists?)
Shopping (H&M, Strawberry, Century 21 if you want to go for that $ - even discounted)

Strongly suggest you sepnd one evening in one of the real neighborhoods (upper west side, lower east side, SoHo) for dinner, a stroll, cafe sitting with a drink (if weather allows) and shopping (all have some places open late - often to midnight).

If you tell us what her interests are we can reco other special activities.

Also for shopping, stroll down Broadway in Soho. My kids like Bloomies and Yellow Rat B*stard.

When will you be in NY?

Depends on your daughter, but my 15 year old (at the time) loved shopping in SoHo and Macy's. Times Square in the evening was a kick. Going out to eat, NY pizza, Lion King. She enjoyed the Circle Line tour of Manhattan and the Empire State Bldg.

My daughter fell in love with NYC (we have been twice) and now wants to go to college there.

Would she enjoy going to tea? You could spend a few hours at some place like the St. Regis or Lady Mendl's Tea Salon at the Inn at Irving Place.

Altar Boyz is an off Broadway Show that's been wildly popular, esp. with teen girls (cute boy band story). You can generally find discounted tix with a code from broadwaybox.com

The Tenement Museum is very popular and should be booked in advance.
http://www.tenement.org/

Some sort of overall bus tour might be a good idea to hit the highlights. If you don't want to do the hop on/off, kingofnyc.com and nypartyshuttle.com are good options. One of the many eating tours might be fun. http://foodsofnyc.com/and bigonion.com are just 2 cos. that do them.

Pearl River Mart is a store that's popular with teens.

We're coming over President's Day weekend ... She loves clothes, singing, dancing ... has fashion design aspirations... would love to fine tune trip to her likes.

Pearl River Mart for teens? Really? Don't get me wrong. I love PRM. I was just there before Christmas to buy those cute little change purses with the little fish on the back. What do they have for teens? Maybe I missed something.

I know teens LOVE H/M. I was walking to Ferragamo on 5th when these teen girls stopped me and asked where they could find "cheaper" clothes. I directed them to H/M. Later, they saw me across the street and yelled, "Thank you," and held up all their H/M bags!

Bloomingdale's is too expensive for teens. (Bloomingdale's is getting too expensive for Thin.) I am shocked at their prices. SHOCKED!

Well, if Wicked is on the agenda, I hope you have your tickets already.

I think Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald guy is a fantastic dessert place, just south of the very hip Union Square Park. And, take them to brunch at Pastis. Very NY.

Skating at the Wohlman Rink in CP, etc.

If she has Fashion Aspirations, perhaps a visit to Parsons or FIT is in order. They may have things going on over the weekend. Check out their websites.

If she's interestede in fashion definitely go to the web sites of Parsons and FIT to see wht sort of activities/displays they may have open to the public. Also - the Costume Institute at the Met would be a must.

If she's seriously interested in Dance I would do Chicago or Chorus Line versus Lion King (she's really too old for that anyway) to see some very high quality dance in different styles. Also check out the Lincoln Center web site - both to see if they have have programs you might be interesed in - but also many rehearsals are open to the public for almost nothing - and they also give back stage tours.

We do have Wicked tickets, so that is set. I appreciate all the great ideas so far ... I'm busy checking out web sites ... I love the suggestions for the different shops to check out ... I'm so done with the same old teen chains...

And I'm getting hungry looking at all the eatery suggestions ... wish we had longer than a weekend!

If she's into fashion go up to the Met to see the Nan Kempner American Chic exhibit - it's fabulous!

Click here to go directly to the Met's website that describes it: http://tinyurl.com/yd4kge

Perhaps she might enjoy seeing some of the more famous film locations? Does she have any favorite movies or TV shows filmed in New York?

This site is really detailed:
http://www.newyorkinthemovies.com/movie.php?movieID=119

You could also try one of the On Location tours:
http://www.sceneontv.com/

If she has any favorites (perhaps Devil Wears Prada, Friends, etc.) you can also Google the specific filming sites.

if she has any interest in Juicy Couture a brand new shop opened up in the West village at Bleecker and either charles or perry. I took my 12 year old niece there last week and i though she was going to fall down and worship the altar of juicy. instead her mother's credit card worshipped at the juicy altar. the juicy store was the high light of her trip to new york.

If she was into Project Runway, Emmett McCarthy (who was one of the designers on Season 2) has a store on Elizabeth Street in Nolita. Exact address on http://www.emmettmccarthy.com. After that, you can stroll around the area which has fantastic clothing shops.