I always like to do at least one out of the ordinary tourist sight when I'm on vacation. Some of my most memorable have been underneath St. Peter's in Rome and a tour of the Paris sewers. So what is the "coolest" odd place to visit or tour to take in New York City?

Here's a group that specializes in just that.

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/tours.html

Attend a session of night court at the Criminal Courts building on Centre Street in downtown Manhattan.

Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. From April - October (I think) you can get a guided tour from a guy named Jeff Richman. I've done 2 myself. Spring (when it's blooming) and fall (leaf peeping) are the best times go. Seems like every famous/infamous New Yorker from 19th/early 20th century was buried here. Leonard Bernstein, Boss Tweed, Horace Greely are some of the ones I remember. I would highly recommend.

Go meet the "mole people". Your experience in Paris might pay off.

The coolest place I can think of is the meat dept at Fairway. :-"

http://www.fairwaymarket.com/index.cfm?Area=ColdRoom

Anonymous, that is a "cool" site, but since they haven't done a tour in 7 months, it's hardly a dependable resource!

Not that unusual, but I think the tenement museum tour (through a couple of old rooming houses in the lower East Side) is very interesting.

Watson Adventures' various scavenger hunts always put in very cool places that you wouldn't ordinarily see.

www.watsonadventures.com

It's not odd and I don't know what your definition is of cool, but if the Criminal Courts (think NYPD Blue) and the other suggestions don't appeal, what about a church service with choir in Harlem? You can do this on your own on a Sunday morning and the music is fabulous. Dim sum in Chinatown is pretty cool, too, if you have never done this.

In NYC, New York Public Library. Not that odd, but very interesting and huge.