Ok~it was in Woodstock but that is NY. It was a mid August night. We were sitting on the front porch of an old farm house. You could hear both the cicaidas and the foxes. We had some very cold budweisers and a cheese pizza with extra garlic.

Now as a kid and I wish I could find something like this for the children in my life..every year my grandmother would take me to the first show of the morning (christmas show) at Radio City. We'd then walk around NY..and eat lunch at the automat. I loved it!

Enya, it was indeed a gracious apology. As the person who voiced the initial criticism of your comment, I am delighted that your remarks were indeed not intended the way they initially appeared. I thank you.

I just thought of another one which is kind of funny and a little gross. One year on Valentine's day, I went out with another friend of mine who was single. We went to eat at the French Roast Cafe and the bartender send over a red rose for each of us. That was nice but here's the funny part...

We went on to drink at the Red Lion on Bleecker Street. I made the mistake of trying to keep up with my friend and I ended up getting sick (this has never happened to me before or since). Feeling that awful sensation coming on, I threw some bills down on the bar and ran out the door and unloaded on the corner. The funny part? A very helpful homeless guy with a limp and a huge bag over his shoulder approached me offering some napkins. Then my friend came out with napkins and dealt with the homeless guy (he was very nice but I couldn't deal with him at that moment. I ended up taking the subway home to Queens because I didn't feel up to giving directions to a cabbie, and I knew no one would yell at me if I lost it again on the subway (although I didn't.)

I'm from Hong Kong and plan to stay at NY for a few days this Dec, after a ski trip at Vermont. The reason I visited the site was trying to look for more info re accommodation. Incidentally clicked into the forum and delightfully got into this thread. I spent the last hour reviewing every single response. It's amazing. Almost like watching a movie, or many short dramas to be exact. Thanks for starting the thread and it seemingly contributes much more to my trip than telling where can I find a budget hotel.

Enya, may I add my voice to those who are thanking you for your response? It has definitely cleared the air. There's a good atmosphere here when we can repair misunderstandings so quickly and pleasantly.

The holidays are one of the best times to visit New York for the "quintessential NY experience." We went one time during the week after Christmas and stayed at the Mariott Marquis in one of the rooms overlooking Time Square for New Years eve. We did it up ... saw a musical and a play (we even saw Dick Clark in the audience who was there for Times Sq NY eve), Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, the Rockefellar Center tree ... NY is a great destination over the holidays.

One more wonderful NY experience from me! Taking the Staten Island ferry and climbing inside the Statue of Liberty (absolutely boneshaking scary spiral staircase--best feeling of fear I ever paid for, better than any rollercoaster ride!) and later, going to Ellis Island and seeing the names of my grandparents, immigrants in the 1920s, etched on the low wall outside.

Most poignant? The photos of my two children and husband on the ferry deck, with the Twin Towers standing tall in the background.

Planning to see the taping of the Today show, waking up late and missing it, and seeing Ann Curry browse through books at the flagship Barnes & Noble store a couple of hours later.

Okay, maybe it's not "quintessential", but indicative that anything's possible in NYC.

Just reading this thread happily during lunch. It seems I waited half my life to finally get to NY, having had two planned excursions canceled. Last year, my wife and daughter went along with me for a fabulous week. And what do you know but I am getting to return again for business (along with three days of vacation) in a couple of weeks. My daughter fell in love with NY; she is a real traveler. My quintessential moment so far came when talking to her about the upcoming trip. I told her I plan to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge this time, and she said she wanted to go along. I said, "but what will you do while I am in my class (going for a seminar)?" She replied "I'll be at the bridge." She is only 4 1/2. I will also always remember heading from Penn Station to our hotel through thick traffic and her responding to a car cutting in front of us by saying "what an idiot!" We told her she would fit right in.

I already have great opera tickets, plenty of film and plans to create many more memories soon (I will miss my daughter tremenously [and 2-month old son] when I pass the ferris wheel at Toys R Us and the Lion King marquis at the New Amsterdam Theater.

I've been born and raised here so I have too many memories to list, but here are a few...

1. Going for the first time to Windows on The World to see a swing band perform. It was our first "fancy and posh" experience and that memory of the view will forever be etched in my mind.

2. Going to Canal St. when I was about 8 with my grandmother and buying something in all the shops. (My crafty grandmother would buy all these cheap trinkets and such wholesale, then resell them to the neighborhood kids for about $1 a piece!)

3. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with my brother, and some of his friends on a 4th of Juky about 15 years ago. I had my first taste of Jolt Cola. Was hyper for about than an hour, then crashed and burned and fell asleep in the car.

4. Walking down by Times Square and seeing a guy dressed in a complete Leprachaun outfit....and it wasn't Halloween or St. Patrick's Day, and there was no film crew. He did, however look very drunk at 3pm in the afternoon. I thought Only In NY would I see something like this.....LOL

Hi Dan! Good to see you here
Glad you will be back in the big city soon.
I will have plenty of Quintessential NY stories by the end of this apartment hunt!

This is fun to read about - thanks, Scarlett!

Reading all of your stories reminds me of my only NYC experience. My sister and I went in Feb 1999 as chaperones with my daughter's high school dance team. There were more chaperone's than students so we ended up on our own for most of the trip and the whole trip was Quintessential New York!

The museums - Met, MoMa, Frick
The Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
The ride to the top and the view from the top of the Twin Towers
Beauty and the Beast
The subway (it was so scary to me because I am one of those people who can't find my way out of a wet paper sack)
Tavern on the Green
Walking, walking, walking everywhere
The tiny restaurants
FAO Schwartz (sp?)
Taxi cabs and drivers

The things that surprised me -
So many people were nice (expected less)
We expected to be cold (we're from south Texas). The weather was cold but the buildings were so overheated we just about died
All the buildings that appeared to be vacant
Central Park being so big

It was just a great experience. We crammed alot into a few short days and I would love to go back. My daughters were just talking last night and saying we need to plan a trip!

I always include a few hours browsing in the shops of Greenwich Village everytime I'm in New York; a few years ago on a saturday morning, we spotted Timothy Robbins rollerblading and carrying a hockey stick, he looked like a kid going to join his friends for a street hockey game.

Just being in New York and walking around is a quintessential experience; I never tire of it. A few weeks ago, it was unexpectedly warm in New York and we walked for hours on madison avenue, my daughter and I; then we stopped at a small bar for a drink.
Once we decided to get back to our Union Square hotel and started to look for a cab, we realized how far we had walked.....

I forgot about my early morning experience in Union Square; my flight from Mtl got in at 8 a.m., so by 9:15 I was checked in and wandered off to get a coffee; I was astounded at how beautiful the farmer's market is across from hotel W; I sipped my coffee while strolling through the stalls, then I walked a few more streets and came across the dismantling of a taping of Sex in the City episode; all I got to see was the director chairs they were folding up, too bad I did not get there sooner....

What a neat thread! We have been to New York only once so far, and are born and bread Virginians, too. ( hi Misha!) I had a hard time narrowing down all of our memories to try to come up with the most quintessential experience for our small town family, but I think these two will fit the bill. The first was the look on my kids' faces when we got into our first taxi after arriving at Penn Station and seeing the sheer excitement/fear of going so fast and so close to all of the other cars! The grip my 12 year old son had on my arm was like one on a rollercoaster! Secondly, the look on their faces (OK I am into my kids!) when they saw the processional of all of the actors at the opening scene of The Lion King on Broadway. I will never forget it. We love your city and cannot wait to come back at Christmas time. My daughter brings up New York about once a week- it is beautiful, she says and I agree.

Living and working here adds up to everyday being the quintessential experience. However, several come to mind -
Back in the 80s, on a packed rush hour E train pulling into 34th St (Penn Station). The Knicks had just lost in the finals to ??????. The conductor coming on and saying 'next stop 34th St., Penn Station, and Madison Square Garden - home of the almost champion NY Knicks'.
The Naked Cowboy - only in NY
The fun and camraderie of total strangers during the blackout of 03
Lastly, my best friend got married last year at Tavern on the Green. We were all staying at the NY Hilton. After the wedding was over, we all hopped cabs to get back to the Hilton. When my friend and new husband still in full wedding attire got out of the cab at the Hilton, all these people started to clap and 3 girls asked to have their picture taken with them.

So many great experiences-

Visiting from Minnesota with my parents as a kid and ice skating at Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
Staying up all night and bar hopping with my brother and his friends as a college student. Minnesota bars all closed at 1 AM.
Drinking champagne on the Staten Island Ferry on our honeymoon.
Visiting the Degas exhibit at the Met on a beautiful November day, then walking down to the Plaza to the Oak Bar as dusk was falling.
Arriving a few months after 9/11 and touched by all the New Yorkers who thanked us for coming.
I'm tearing up just thinking of all these great times. Thanks Scarlett!

What lovely lovely stories, heartwarming and full of fun ideas for those of us who live here or visit!
Someone recently criticised me for posting "silly" threads on Fodors.
If this is silly, I like it

My mom taking me every Saturday for 3 years when I was a little girl to my dance classes at June Taylor's Dancing School on West 56th Street and Broadway. From there we walked across the street and one block down to if I remember correctly, Bickford's Coffee Shop where I dined on my usual tuna on white toast dripping in mayonnaise, a side of chips, and a glass of milk. Mom never allowed her children to drink soda. After that we hit the bookstores on 57th Street and she always bought me a new Nancy Drew book. I sure wish I had saved those. I guess my best memories are with my mom because she's gone now. I also remember her taking me to the Paris Theater to see Divorce Italian Style with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastrioanni. Actually, I saw quite a few foreign movies there with her when I was a little girl. Needless to say, it made me a very quirky, kooky kid.