Okay, we've been working on our basic itinerary for NYC (first visit for me, 3rd for him).
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- Arrive Friday, December 5, at 9 a.m.(2+ hour flight from Atlanta).
Cab to hotel (near Empire State Bldg.)

- Leave bags at hotel and start walking up 5th Avenue, looking at Christmas decorations.

- Walk through Times Square and then explore Rockefeller Center.

- Tickets to Top of the Rock at 5 p.m. (hopefully will see sunset)

- Radio City Musical Hall Christmas Show - 7 p.m.

- Then walk back to hotel.
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Saturday, December 6

- 9:00 ferry to Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty (3 to 5 hours)(either cab or subway to Battery Park, not sure)

- Walk to World Trade Center site

- Sports Museum of America (maybe, depending on time and more info)

- Brooklyn Bridge (maybe, depending on time)

- Bryant Park Christmas Market (which is near our hotel) - open until 9 on Saturday.
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Sunday, December 7

- NYC Public Library

- Grand Central Station

- M.O.M.A.

- Central Park

- Walk back to hotel, get bags, cab to airport (flight at 9 p.m.)
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Does this look doable? We want to be able to wander around, looking at the Christmas decorations, so we're very flexible with our schedule.

The only things we are scheduling ahead of time are Top of the Rock, Radio City Music Hall, and ferry to Ellis Island.

Thanks for all the advice and tips on this and the other threads I've started. We really appreciate it!

Oh, and we'll also try to see Macy's, too. It's right near our hotel.

Bryant Park is right next to the library , so you should try to combine those.

By 5 PM it will be dark out, so you won't see the sunset. If you're going to walk back to the hotel, you might want to start your outing by taking a cab or subway north to 59th and walking southward on 5th towards Rockefeller Center.

Thanks, Anonymous.

We originally were going to see Bryant Park on Sunday (after NYC Library), but it doesn't open until 10:00 a.m., and we usually get a much earlier start than that, so that is why we moved it.

Thanks for the tip about taking a cab to 59th. We'll check that out.

You might consider an all day bus/subway pass for Saturday. It is about $7.50 per person and is so convenient. Purchase at any subway stop. Visitors centers have free bus/subway schedules. I use the one at 7th Ave and 47th St. The subway is quick but the bus lets you take in the scene, plus it gives you a chance to catch your breath. Have fun.

If you intend to visit the inside of the NY Public Library at Fifth and 42nd, I believe on Sundays it's only open in the afternoon:

http://www.nypl.org/hours/index.cfm?Trg=6

Again, on Sunday I'd start north at Central Park and work your way south to MOMA, Grand Central, NYPL, hotel. If your hotel is near the Empire State Building, it is easy to catch the N, R, or W subway at 6th Ave and 34th St and take it uptown to 5th Ave and 59th, the southern corner of Central Park.

I'd not do Statue of Liberty in addition to Ellis Island. I am not a big fan of walking the Brooklyn Bridge especially at that time of year (cold, damp) and would spend the time exploring other neighborhoods in lower Manhattan (Greenwich Village/Little Italy/Chinatown)
Lower East Side Tenement Museum is fascinating but I don't think you would have enough time.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions!

If we take the subway from the hotel to the ferry, it looks like (according to hopstop.com) that we take the R train and get off at Whitehall St. - South Ferry; correct?

To get from the World Trade Center area to Brooklyn Bridge, we take the A train and get off at High St. - Brooklyn Bridge; correct?

To get from Brooklyn Bridge to Bryant Park, we take the F train and get off at 42 Street - Bryant Park.

This all looks very easy -- I hope it's as easy at it looks.

>>If we take the subway from the hotel to the ferry, it looks like (according to hopstop.com) that we take the R train and get off at Whitehall St. - South Ferry; correct?<

Yes. Then you'll have to walk a bit thru Battery Park to the ferry boarding area.

>>To get from the World Trade Center area to Brooklyn Bridge, we take the A train and get off at High St. - Brooklyn Bridge; correct?<<
No A train at WTC station. Walk a few blocks east to the Fulton St stop to get the A train.

>>To get from Brooklyn Bridge to Bryant Park, we take the F train and get off at 42 Street - Bryant Park.<<

It seems like you plan to take the A train to the Brooklyn side and walk back across toward Manhattan. F train does not stop near the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side. To reach Bryant Park from the Manhattan side of the bridge, I'd take the R or W from City Hall to Times Square and walk one block east to Bryant Park.

ellenem, thanks for that clarification! The directions from hopstop showed how to get to Brooklyn Bridge, but I didn't realize that it was taking us to the Brooklyn side of the bridge, so we couldn't find the streets, but now I understand.

Do you think it's a good idea to walk from the Brooklyn side to the Manhattan side of the bridge? It sounds fun, but I'm not sure of the distance and safety factors. Thanks!

5 p.m. will be too late for you to catch the sunset from the Top of the Rock. Today, nearly 3 weeks before your trip, it's already dark by that hour in New York.

From your itinerary and probable timing, seems like you'd have the perfect late-afternoon/sunset walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Perfectly safe at that time. Plan on 30-40 minutes to cross the actual bridge, never mind taking the subway to Brooklyn. Actual bridge is just over a mile long, but part of the way you will be walking up hil and stopping to take photos.

Most would say that if you plan to walk the full bridge, you should walks toward Manhattan for the best views.

The bridge actually passes over a good bit of solid land before crossing the river. The access point on the bridge on the Manhattan side is just opposite City Hall at Centre St/Park Row.

If you don't plan to walk all the way across, then you can just walk the few blocks--forget the subway--from the WTC to City Hall and walk part way onto the bridge from the Manhattan side.

That information is so helpful! I really appreciate it.

I guess we'll just decide at the time whether we want to walk the whole bridge or just part of it; it will probably depend on time of day and how tired we are.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help.

guess we'll just decide at the time whether we want to walk the whole bridge or just part of it; it will probably depend on time of day and how tired we are.

There isn't really any point in walking "part of it". Once you've walked any of it, it's just as easy to continue to the other end as it is to turn around an go back to where you started. We did it last Thanksgiving weekend - actually we walked from Manhattan to Brooklyn, had at late lunch at Grimaldi's, wandered around DUMBO a little, got hot chocoloate (to die for) and boxed chocolates at Jacques Torres and took the subway back to Manhattan. We grew up in NY and have been back many times, but had never done this before and it was definitely fun.

The point of only walking part of it is to not walk all the way across and deal with getting back from Brooklyn. Some people walk out only as far as the first towers--that's far enough for them. Some only walk to the middle. For some there's a subway station right at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side that might be more convenient than the options on the Brooklyn side. Any number of reasons . . .