We are planning our first trip to New York City in October (married couple, mid 30’s, no kids).
We are looking for suggestions regarding our itinerary. We plan to buy Citypasses and metrocards.

Day 1 Thurs:
Arrive at Laguardia airport at 9AM and take taxi to hotel near Times Square. We need ideas for a quick lunch. Then visit Rockfeller Plaza, Grand Central Station, St Pat’s Cathedral, Macy’s and Chrysler bldg. Take a twilight Harbor Cruise and visit Times Square at night.

Day 2 Fri:
Visit Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty at 9AM. Battery park, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Ground zero, St Paul’s chapel, South Seaport, Woolworth building, NY stock exchange

Day 3 Sat:
Visit Empire State bldg at 9:30AM, United Nations (both are fairly close to the hotel).
Intrepid, SOHO, Greenwich village, Washington square park, NYU and Little Italy. Take the Roosevelt island tram at sunset if time allows.

Day 4 Sun:

An early breakfast
Central Park early (about 9AM) with some shopping.
Cloisters, St John’s Cathedral, Columbia U, Grant’s tomb.
Late lunch or snack at Serendipity
Zabars

Day 5 Monday:

NY public library, Natural History Museum, Riverside Park.
Leave for airport about 2:30 PM

Questions:

What attractions are very crowded and should be done early to avoid long lines?

Are there attractions that are now closed or have limited access due to security issues?

Does anyone have info about the new Irish potato famine memorial? I think it’s near the WTC site.

Any suggestions for good breakfast, lunch or dinner that would fit into our schedule? We would like to go to a NY deli, pizza, bagels, good desserts, Italian.

Our flight leaves at 5:30 PM on Monday. Is three hours enough time to get to LGA and through security?

Thanks for your help!

Statue of Liberty and the United Nations are CLOSED to the public....for security reasons.

UN IS o[pen for tours (took guests afew weeks ago). Just expect the usual security.
Statue of Liberty is closed, but you can still take the boat there, see the museum at the base, and then continue on the boat to Ellis Island. If that doesn't intererest you, just take the free Staten Island Ferry to have a waterside view of the statue and the Twin Tower-less skyline.

It's true, you can't go inside the Statue of Liberty. But you can still go to the island to see it up close, see the outdoor exhibits, gift shop, info center and talk with the rangers and get a tour with them.

Sounds like a pretty good first trip, but I don't see the Met museum anywhere. It is a must-do, high above the Natural History museum. I would go Friday evening, since it won't be too busy. Then have dinner at an Upper East side restuarant. I really like Mangiarini for post-Met eating. Reservations are a must.

The Statue of Liberty, the UN and the stock exchange are all closed to visitors. You can go to the island, but you cannot go up the statue into the torch anymore. Personally, I would skip it and just take the ferry to Eliis Island. That should give you a nice look.

I would move Zabars to Monday and get some picnic goodies to eat in Riverside. Zabars is insane on the weekends.

South street seaport is just okay. If you have J Crew, Abercrombie and Godiva at home I don't think it would be very impressive. It's a super touristy outdoor mall, with very little character.

I really doubt that you will be able to see all of downtown on Staurday, unless you plan on jogging all day. I would start with brunch downtown somewhere, either dim sum in Chinatown or continental in the Village, and wander from there. Most likely you will see shops you want to pop in, parks you might want to stop in, have a nice lunch or dinner(or both).

Macys is a little out of the way for Thursday, maybe put it with the Empire State bldg, or don't even bother(my vote) since it is just a large, overcrowded big-box retailer. If you want real NY shopping, hit Bloomies or Saks, much closer to your other Thurs activities.

What's your budget for dinner? Before anyone can give good advice, they will need to know that. Also, check out Zagats.com. You can search based on price, location, cuisine, etc. Don't bother with Italial in Little Italy--they are all mediocre tourist traps. I really enjoyed Beppo, they make their own Tuscan-style sausages.

Three hours should be plenty to get to LGA since it is mid-day. You might even get on an earlier flight if coming from somewhere major, like Chicago. Have a great trip.

Sounds like you are going to have a great time. This time of year the weather is warm and it should be easy to walk everywhere.

Your schedule for Thursday and Friday sound great but you might rethink your Saturday since alot of the sites are uptown and downtown, you will be spending alot of time traveling. I think I would move your trip to the Empire State Building to Thursday night and the cruise to Sat night. The lines on a Saturday at the EMpire State will be VERY long.

I would also recommend the Met Museum for Sat and you could have a nice brunch in the area.

Sat night you might want to do Lincoln Center, there should be a nice choice of concerts or other performances there.

You might try the Carnegie Deli for a late lunch the sandwiches are so big it would be a good lunch/dinner option.

Have a great time while you are here.

tweedy

Sorry, I forgot to add that our budget for meals was below $35 each, excluding drinks.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

Katie - The Irish Hunger Memorial is on the corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue which is in Battery Park City a bit north of the WTC site so you should be able to fit it in on Day 2.

Mara: thanks for the info. I saw a story about it on TV but couldn't remember where it was located. It looks very interesting.

Because of the budget crunch, I believe that the NY Public Library will be closed on Mondays.

ttt

Howard is correct that due to budget cuts, the Main branch of the NY public library will be closed Mondays for the time being. According to the library's website, the situation will be reevaluated for October, so check back if it's important to you.

Does amyone know if the New York Exchange is open for public tours? The website has no info.

You might organize the Sunday schedule as follows. Start the day at the Cloisters. Then visit in this order Grant's Tomb. Columbia and ST. Johns. Have a late lunch at Artie's Deli, 82nd and Broadway, and then do Central Park and the shopping,

Friday -- After Ellis Island visit the Stock Exchange, Ground Zero, St Paul's, and Woolworth Building in this order. THen visit the South Street SEaport followed by the Brooklyn Bridge.

Hello,We’ve revised our itinerary based on all the helpful suggestions we’ve received. Thanks to everyone for their help!

Day 1 Thurs:Arrive at Laguardia airport at 9AM and take taxi to hotel near Times Square. Then visit Rockfeller Plaza, Grand Central Station, St Pat’s Cathedral, NY public library, Bloomingdale’s and Chrysler bldg. Macy’s (if time permits) then visit Empire state bldg at sunset and Times Square at night.

Day 2 Fri:Visit Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty at 9AM. Battery park. Stock exchange (?? Open to public for viewing), Ground zero, St Paul’s chapel, Irish Hunger Memorial, Woolworth building, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Met Museum in evening followed by a nice dinner.

Day 3 Sat: SOHO, Greenwich village, Washington square park, NYU and Little Italy. Twilight harbor cruise.Day 4

Sun: Cloisters, Grant’s tomb, Columbia U, St John’s then deli/takeout for lunch at Central Park followed by some shopping, snack at Serendipity. Time permitting, Roosevelt Island Tram to take pictures.

Day 5 Monday:Intrepid (What’s the best way to get there and would this fit better on a different time??), Zabars and Riverside Park for picnic lunch. Leave for airport about 2:30 PM.

We planned to take a taxi to and from the airport (two people). I read the fare is about $30 plus tolls. Is there a better way, other than the public bus, to save money?

Thanks for your help! Katie

I just wanted to make a few suggestions:
Day 1: I'm not sure where you hotel is, but I would visit the sites in this order- NY library, walk up 5th avenue to Rockefeller Center, go to Saks (right accross the street from Rockefeller and thus more convenient than Bloomies, St Pat's (also right across the street, and if you want to go to Bloomingale's, continue up fifth and go accross at 57th or 59th to lexington. Then, after Bloomindale's, take the lexington avenue subway down to 42nd which will put you in Grand Central Station. Then you can visit the Chrysler Bldg and then onto to Macy's or Empire State if you wish.

For Day 3, I would probably sleep in a bit, just because those places are much better to visit in the afternoon or evening.
First breakfast/brunch at Zoe or Cupping Room Cafe. Shop around SOHO, maybe visit Canal St if you're interested. Then go north to West Village (cross Houston)- once you hit bleecker, take it all the way Christopher Street. You can come back on 8th Street to visit Wash Sq Park (which is basically in the certer of the campus). Then continue east to Greenwich Village. You should definitely visit St Mark's place. There are many restaurants in the area that would be excellent for dinner. However, I wouldn't go to Little Italy if I were you. It's about a block long and there is not much to see.

As for getting to the Intrepid - you did not mention exactly where you were staying, but the best way is probably just the crosstown bus on 42nd street (M42). Check out www.mta.nyc.ny.us.com for transit info and maps.

I hope that was helpful. Sorry for the spelling errors and run-on sentences.

Currently we have a reservation for
Portland Square Hotel on 47th, but will probably try Priceline for something a little nicer at about the same price.

Katie

The Stock Exchange is closed to visitors.

Michelle: Thank you. I guess I will cross the stock exchange off my list. I don't if it's worth going there just to look at the outside.

Katie

Sounds fun. The only thing I suggest is stay flexible. On our trip in May the weather was beautiful 2 days and horrible 2 days. Be sure you do the boat rides and the Empire State Building on clear days. The day we went to Ellis Island you couldn't even see the city!