Tentative New York Itinerary?
 

Hi Everyone!
My best friend and I have 9 full days in New York over the Labour Day weekend - but let's not kid ourselves, 5 of 'em will mostly be involving shopping, shopping, and more shopping!

We have however, allotted 3-4 days for tourist-y things and must dos, and they are as follows:

SUNDAY:
-brunch at Balthazar's (reservations made already)
-Greenwich Village
-Times Square/Midtown-ish (not sure what else to do, but figured we'll explore this area)

MONDAY (Labour Day):
-MoMA; opens at 10:30am (possible smaller lineup - but it's a holiday so i'm unsure???)
-Serendipity
-3:00pm Sex and the City Bus Tour
-Central Park
-Empire State Building (watch sunset)

TUESDAY:
-walk Brooklyn bridge (back to Manhattan)
-Chinatown
-Little Italy (have dinner there)

Wednesday is still undetermined so I think we'll make it a bit of a free day for things we didn't get a chance to do (or rather, stores we have to go back to!). I'm wondering about possibly swapping Monday's schedule to Wednesday b/c MoMA might not be as busy on a weekday? (they are closed Tuesdays).

We want to experience New York City while in New York without feeling too rushed or like we're hardcore tourists so we hope to just pick random restaurants, or places to go see within all these neighbourhoods, unless otherwise scheduled (i.e. ESB and MoMA).

What do you guys think???

If you're brunching at Balthazar, I would skip Times Square on Sunday and stick around Soho a bit, then head to NoLita--you said shopping, right? :-) then up to the Village. Nolita is east from the restaurant and you'll find tons of trendy shops and boutiques. (Unless you already had that area in one of your shopping itineraries). Times Square doesn't offer much except ogling the billboards and street vendors selling overpriced junk to tourists, unless you're heading to the theater. Also, there isn't much of Little Italy left anymore. A couple of blocks, just south of NoLiTa. And the restaurants there might disappoint. Better off eating in Chinatown

ttt

Most museums are closed on Monday and I'm pretty sure MoMA is; I'd double check that.

Also, Serendipity will have a two hour wait if you do not get there by 11AM for lunch.

If MoMA isn't closed, I would go there, take my time then walk over to the Boat House in Central Park for lunch. I'd do a long lunch then head down to your SATC tour.

As far as the SATC tour, I'd skip that and pick another tour. You can easily watch a few episodes, write down a few of their tragically hip locales, visit them, stop by Manolo Blahnik on West 54th and you've saved yourself the cost of the tour.

I agree with budzilla to skip Times Square on the Sunday. There's plenty to see in the village, Nolita and Soho.

As to the museum, the Met is staying open on holiday Mondays so maybe MOMA is too but double check.

Didn't expect to be, but was soooo awed by Ellis Island. Took audio tour. We took boat to Statue of Liberty but skipped the tour because we stayed so long at Ellis Island. Unfortunately, you need to get to the ticket place early early early. Enjoy New York!

MOMA is open Mondays and closed on Tuesdays.

PS: mclaurie is correct about the Met. It will be open on Labor Day.

ps-Does MOMA have "Free Fridays"??? If so, that will free up more shopping money!

Thank you for the responses!

Yes, you will see several areas unmentioned because we will be in those neighbourhoods obsessively during our "shopping" days. i.e. NoLita and SoHo, Midtown/Lower East Side (?) (Bergdorf and Bloomingdale's etc)

Great! looks like we'll enjoy an afternoon in the village on Sunday and maybe just pass through Times Square to see the billboards and such but we'll know not to expect too much.

I have confirmed with MoMA that they are infact open. Do you guys think it'll be busy because it's Labour Day??

GoTravel, thanks for the advice on Serendipity! I should have known it would be busy so I'm on it to make reservations today. I am going to try and make 1:00pm reservations which will give us about 2 hours for MoMA (doable?).

If Little Italy isn't much of a walk, do you suppose we could do the Brooklyn Bridge, go through Chinatown and Little Italy - and still be able to go through Tribeca all in the same day (or will our shopping excursions take us through here anyways?).

You guys are fabulous. Thanks again!

I have no idea why Serendipity is such a hit, the food is just ok and the atmosphere is cutesy. There are so many other GREAT restaurants in the city, and there is ALWAYS a line. Since you are only here a few days, I would not bother with it.

I would suggest getting a Zagat Guide, since you are going to be all over the city, you might want to have a good reference with you.

There's a fairly new DSW and Filene's Basement at 14th St and Union Square, in the old Bradley's building.

Have a great time while you are here.

wantsomesun, i didn't actually want to have lunch at serendipity but apparently you can't make reservations just for dessert. so without the hassle of a lineup, i figured we'll have a few small things and go for the frozen hot chocolate - that's the only thing we really want to go there for! :)

thanks for the shopping tips around union square, we'll be sure to check it out!

<<If Little Italy isn't much of a walk, do you suppose we could do the Brooklyn Bridge, go through Chinatown and Little Italy - and still be able to go through Tribeca all in the same day (or will our shopping excursions take us through here anyways?).>>

You will pass through Tribeca on your way up to Chinatown. What are you looking for there? Tribeca is architecturally interesting (mainly the western part) and has a few funky furniture & home design stores and scattered good restaurants. It's one of my favorite areas of the city.

Italy is TWO blocks long, which means it will only take 2 minutes to walk through! Expect to be hounded by maitre d's from the various restaurants, trying to get you to come inside. Besides restaruants there are a couple of shops that sell cheese & other Italian specialties to take home.

I do the Bklyn Bridge/Tribeca/Chinatown/Soho walk almost every weekend. It's not a long distance at all.

Hi, You should go to times square and hit the TKTS booth and get 1/2 price theatre tickets for that day.

To answer an earlier question, MOMA is free on Fridays after 5 p.m.

And to answer another question, MOMA should not be that busy on Labor Day, when New York City, in general, is not that busy.

I don't really understand Suzanne's post about "You'll walk thru tribeca on your way to Chinatown" - if you're coming off the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, Tribeca is directly west of the bridge, past City Hall - Chinatown is north and east of the BB.
Directly off the bridge you can go straight and hit Tribeca (the TRIangle BElow CAnal Street) or make a right turn and walk up to Chinatown.A look at a map would be a good idea, to plot out your day - it's all doable, as long as you wear comfortable shoes and drink plenty of water.
Labor Day is a great weekend to be here - the island is deserted in several neighborhoods- the upper east side and Tribeca, especially. But Labor Day evening - it's almost fun to sit outside on the stoop and watch all the people returning from vacation, gamely fighting for a parking space so they can unpack the car!

The best view of Manhatten is from the circle line cruise around the island. it's relaxing and you really see the island. If you have anice day go upt to the Cloisters, it's not religious.

Thank you everyone for their inputs! I am very excited to finally visit New York City.

I have become more and more familiar with the layout of Manhattan so I'm pleased that our tentative itinerary will work. These days, I think I look more at this Adobe New York Map I have on my desktop than I do work! :)

See you all in the Big Apple!

One more comment about Serendipity. It's fun and an "institution" and I do understand that everyone should go there at least once (especially if you have kids) but if the line is too long, or you are strapped for time, I agree that the food and desserts are not that great, given the explosion of chocolate and dessert chefs in the last decade. Better to skip going there on Labor Day and instead tack it on your Bloomingdale's/Bergdorf's spree, since it's right around the corner from Bloomie's. Then you could walk up Lex or Madison and do more shopping --jeez, can you tell my favorites pastimes are shopping and chocolate? :-) If you want to taste an ethereal frozen hot chocolate, try (among others) Jacques Torres (either in Brooklyn or in the West Village) or City Bakery near Union Square. Way better than Serendipity.