It's fine to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance. the Ellis Island Immigration Museum is filled with many dozens of fascinating exhibits about immigrants from all parts of the world, how they got to NYC, how they lived here and what they contributed to the city and the country. to understand any of this (and our immigrant past is a huge part of who we are - esp NYC with immigrants from more than 110 countries) you will need at least a couple of hours in the museum. About a thousand times more worthwhile than an M&Ms store or Mme Tussauds.

Days 2 & 5 are still very busy. They would require about 10 hours. Are you willing to do that?

Nelson, Aduchamp1, yellowpellican, nytraveler, Austin - thanks.

Here I am again.
Researched more and made many changes in programming.
I bought tickets to the Ballet on Friday.
I removed the Tenement Museum for incompatibility of time.
I would like to visit the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island, but do not know if I will be able.
The ride through the boroughs and "people watching" I'll try to fit when running the programation.

Guys, Some more tips?

Below I put the new version of the schedule with some time details. Thanks.

NY Day 1 (mon)
- Arrive at JFK @ 6am
- Administrative Tasks (draw money, 7 day metrocard, T-mobile Data Plan, some supplies)
- Checkin at Sheraton Brooklyn @ 3pm
- Times Square @ Night
NY Day 2 (tue)
- Century 21 (Brooklyn Store) @ 10am - 8pm
- Broadway (Rock of Ages) @ 7pm
NY Day 3 (wed)
- Brooklyn Heights Promenade (Bridge Park) @ Early morning
- Walk across Brooklyn Bridge
- NY City Hall Park
- St. Paul's Chapel
- Tribute WTC Visitor Center @ 10am - 6pm
- Trinity Church
- Wall Street
- South Street Seaport (Pier 17) @ late afternoon
- Broadway (The Phantom of the Opera) @ 8pm
NY Day 4 (thu)
- Staten Island Ferry Roundtrip @ Early morning
- Battery Park
- Charging Bull
- Grand Central
- New York Public Library @ 10am - 6pm
- Discovery Times Square Harry Potter The Exhibition @ 10am - 7pm
NY Day 5 (fri)
- Cathedral of St. John the Divine @ early morning
- American Museum of Natural History @ 10am - 5:45pm
- American Ballet Theatre/Metropolitan Opera (Cinderella) @ 7:30pm
NY Day 6 (sat)
- Central Park @ Morning - midafternoon
- Metropolitan Museum of Art @ 9:30am - 9pm
NY Day 7 (sun)
- Brooklyn Tabernacle @ 9am
- Museum of Modern Art MoMA @ 10:30am - 5:30pm
- Saint Patrick's Cathedral @ 4:30pm (organ) 5:30pm (mass)
- Top of the Rock Observation Deck @ late afternoon, sunset
- Fifth Avenue
- Empire State Building @ night
NY Day 8 (mon)
- Chelsea Market @ 7am - 10pm
- High Line Park @ 7am - 10pm
- B&H Photo-Video @ 9am - 7pm
- Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise @ 7pm
NY Day 9 (tue)
- Hotel Checkout @ 10am
- Penn Station
- Train to Boston, MA @ 12:30pm

Well - I am GLAD you are not bike riding in Central Park. Hopefully you will see lots of things by accident or on purpose between Century 21 Brooklyn and that Broadway show.

thestarryeye.typepad.com/explorenyc

(maybe tenement museum and LES on the Monday - leave your purchases in the hotel!)

My wander in the East Village alphabet city and LES

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...d-present.html

I don't see the need to do both the TOTR and the Empire State Building. I would just do the TOTR - you get a great view of the ESB from there and there are less lines.

On Day Two I would go to the Century in Manhattan. Once you are done, there are many things to do, see, and ecplore. And it is probably easier than getting to the one 86th Street in Brooklyn. There is little else to see there except see where John Travolta sold paint In Saturday Night Fever.
I strongly advise against going to the Brooklyn store.

The most time the High Line will take is 2 hours and Chelsea Market, even if you eat there, will take no more than 2 hours.

And as SueNY indicated there are many nieghborhoods worth exploring on foot and you have not dedicated at time to that.

On Sat you cannot spend 12 hours in the Met and also in Central Park. that is a perfect day to explore the upper west side. Depending on the wether see some of Central Park in the morning or afternoon and the other part of the day in the Met. Then spend the evening on the upper west side. There are many dozens of sidewalk cafes on Columbus, Amsterdam or Broadway and this is a wonderful mid/upscale residential area to explore. Tell us what types of food you are interested in (yo can find almost anything) and people will make recos for places to eat. Then afterward stroll up and down Broadway window shopping. Consider visiting the Barnes & Noble - open until midnight - and checking out some of the other shops.

If you have time before dinner - while it is still light spend a few minutes looking at the beautiful mansions on Riverside Drive, as well as Riverside Park and the view of NJ across the Hudson. (Central Park West is lined with multi-million dollar co-ops, while the mansions on Riverside Drive are either broken into apartments - usually one per floor - or still privately owned - again multi-million dollars each.)

One caution on the UWS -- beware the battalions of baby strollers and the legions of mindless lemmings walking around with their noses glued to their smart phones. They do not see you.

Hello ZiDenis,
My husband n I did this trip for our honeymoon and I have great memories (we are from CA). Your itinerary looks great to me, especially if you can approach it as a 'loose plan' and are willing to 'scrap' a whole day if your new wife would like to browse through shops or take a nap. You will enjoy each other and NY so much more if rested and flexible.
Good luck and have a great time!

I'll have to disagree with nytraveler. Maybe you can't spend 12 hours at the Met and Central Park, but 10 hours in that combination sounds like a great day (assuming, of course, the weather cooperates for the time in Central Park).
However, if you do this, it's important that you start off the day at the museum when it opens at 9:30, spend the morning there, have lunch and then do a relaxing exploration of Central Park. It's important that you schedule it this way, since the museum gets more crowded as the day progresses, and the afternoon crowds can indeed be overwhelming.

If you stroll up to the Met through the Park early in the morning, dogs are allowed off leash until 9 so the scene on the Great Lawn is hilarious. Owners know each other's dogs but they don't know each other's names.

I didn;t mean they couldn;t spend 2 huors between the 2 but that they couldn;t spend 12 hours in the Met - or they would end up with museum brain freeze. If they mix with a tour of central park and take the opportunity to see a nearby neighborhood the day would be much more enjoyable.

@SyeNYC - I'll try to fit LES between the C21 and the Broadway Show.

@tchoiniere - A night view of the city was recommended to me in the ESB. But my priority is the view of TOTR.

@Aduchamp1 - I prefer the C21 Brooklyn because I will stay there. The metro transportation is convenient. Anyway, I will return to the hotel to make purchases. I read that the C21 of Manhathan is crowded.

@nytraveler - I'll try to visit the UWS and UES on day 5 and/or day 6. I do not want to stay 12 hours at the Met, the time listed is the working hours of that day.

@Fra_Diavolo - hehehe. Thanks for the warning.

@DiMuro - I certainly will take the plan as a "loose plan". I just do not want to waste time thinking what to do. I want to have everything in the head to optimize the time to the maximum.

@HowardR - Thanks for the tip. I try to go early to the Met.

Thank you all.

Again, I made several changes to the schedule with the intention of optimizing the time.

Also, I added other attractions - marked with (***) - which I'll just take a fast look and some photos IF TIME PERMIT.

I created maps (one for each day) on Google Maps in order to identify routes and areas explored.

Below is the new schedule.

----------------


NY Day 1 (mon) ** FIRST DAY ** MAP: http://goo.gl/wIzh3
- Arrive at JFK (AA Terminal 8) @ 6am
- Administrative Tasks (draw money, 7 day metrocard, T-mobile Data Plan, some supplies)
- Checkin at Sheraton Brooklyn @ 3pm
- Times Square @ Night

NY Day 2 (tue) ** SHOPPING / TIMES SQUARE ** MAP: http://goo.gl/D8Urk
- Century 21 (Brooklyn Store) @ 10am - 8pm
- Broadway (Rock of Ages) @ 7pm

NY Day 3 (wed) ** MIDTOWN / TIMES SQUARE ** MAP: http://goo.gl/2FcvW
- Grand Central
- Chrysler Building (***)
- New York Public Library @ 10am - 6pm
- Broadway (The Phantom of the Opera) @ 2pm
- Discovery Times Square Harry Potter The Exhibition @ 10am - 7pm
- Toys R Us & Babies R Us Expres (optional)
- Bubba Gump Shrimp Co (***)
- Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum (optional) @ 10am - 8pm
- Macy's Herald Square (***) @ 10am - 9:30pm
- Empire State Building @ night

NY Day 4 (thu) ** BROOKLYN HEIGHTS / FINANCIAL DISTRICT ** MAP: http://goo.gl/AP0rK
- Staten Island Ferry Roundtrip @ Early morning
- Battery Park (***)
- Charging Bull (***)
- Wall Street (***)
- New York Stock Exchange (***)
- Trinity Church
- Tribute WTC Visitor Center @ 10am - 6pm
- Federal Reserv Bank (***)
- South Street Seaport (Pier 17)
- Bodies...The Exhibition (optional) @ 10am - 6pm
- St. Paul's Chapel
- Woolworth Building (***)
- NY City Hall Park (***)
- NY City Store (***)
- Walk across Brooklyn Bridge
- Brooklyn Heights Promenade (Bridge Park) @ Night

NY Day 5 (fri) ** UPPER WEST SIDE ** MAP: http://goo.gl/SkU21
- Columbia University (***) @ early morning
- Cathedral of St. John the Divine
- American Museum of Natural History @ 10am - 5:45pm
- American Ballet Theatre/Metropolitan Opera (Cinderella) @ 7:30pm
- Dakota Apartment Building (***)
- Shops At Columbus Circle Management (***)

NY Day 6 (sat) ** CENTRAL PARK ** MAP: http://goo.gl/31QRf
- Central Park @ Morning - midafternoon
- Metropolitan Museum of Art @ 9:30am - 9pm
- The Plaza (***)
- FAO Schwarz (***)
- Apple Store Fifth Avenue

NY Day 7 (sun) ** BROOKLYN / MIDTOWN ** MAP: http://goo.gl/q35mw
- Brooklyn Tabernacle @ 9am
- Love Sculpture (***)
- Museum of Modern Art - MoMA @ 10:30am - 5:30pm
- Saint Patrick's Cathedral @ 4:30pm (organ) 5:30pm (mass)
- Top of the Rock Observation Deck @ late afternoon, sunset

NY Day 8 (mon) **MEATPACK / CHELSEA ** MAP: http://goo.gl/dqtU3
- Chelsea Market @ 7am - 10pm
- High Line Park @ 7am - 10pm
- B&H Photo-Video @ 9am - 7pm
- Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise @ 7pm

NY Day 9 (tue) ** LAST DAY ** MAP: http://goo.gl/AGCFo
- Hotel Checkout @ 10am
- Penn Station
- Train to Boston, MA @ 12:30pm

I still don't understand day 2. Am hoping you will find Cent 21 Brooklyn or wherever you are going to shop in Brooklyn, bring your stuff back to your hotel and then spend the rest of the day meandering to your Theatre and just exploring whatever pleases you that is not listed in the rest of your exhausting schedule.

I live on UWS, and I do not understand its attraction to tourists. The area around Lincoln Center makes more sense to me. It is both residential as well as major restaurant, sights (Lincoln Center) and near Central Park. Central Park West around Museum Natural History interesting. But UWS Broadway 70's and 80's...good place to live, but most interesting if you want to count the number of twins in double strollers and kids on Razors.

Bubba Gump is less than mediocre. And Tuesday is just a waste of a day in the middle of otherwise overstuffed schedule.

One thing we've done that we loved is the food tour of Greenwich Village. It's a beautiful area and so great to get out and walk around the neighborhood - lots of great little charming restaurant and bakery stops. I would highly recommend it if you get the chance.


http://www.foodsofny.com/greenwichvillage.php

<<<good place to live, but most interesting if you want to count the number of twins in double strollers and kids on Razors>>>

We most often stay on the UWS when we are in Manhattan because we have good friends who live there. I love it there, and although it wouldn't be no. 1 on my list for tourists, I would definitely recommend it to tourists who want to "see how the natives live".

i have taken the circle line cruise numerous times and i think they give a great overview of the city.for this reason i would try to go as early in the week as possible.