Globe Traveling New Yorker's Guide to New York City
Being from New York I often get asked about what to do there. So I thought this could be a good introduction for myself. Here is some advice from a local. Enjoy.
Most tourist sites in New York are worth going to at least once in your life.
Go to the Empire State Building but try to go during an off hour maybe in the morning and definitely during the week. It will get huge lines and couldtake you hours.
Central park is literally one of my favorite tourist sites. Go there often. Strawberry Fields is nice. If its cold enough go ice skating.
The highline park is another newer park. That is really nice and artsy and has some great sculptures.
Don't waste the opportunity to go to all the great museums that New York has. Some examples that I would strongly recommend, really musts Moma, the Met, the Guggenheim and the Natural History Museum. There are a ton of other great museums to the point where you could spend weeks going to them. I recommend going to first Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum. It's a free party the first Saturday of the month.
Also you must go to a broadway show. Some of the shows that are outn ow that I recommend: Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Fiddler on The Roof, Phantom of the Opera and Kinky Boots. But you must not pay full price for a ticket. There are so many different ways to get discount tickets it is not worth it. For example tkts, playbill.com, or literally go to like any travel place and you can find coupons. Seriously most shows you can pay like 50% of the price easily. Or you can try for rush tickets. Depending on the show you want to see they have a policy about showing up on the day of the show and getting unsold or returned tickets. You can often get tickets for like $25. Also Wednesday afternoons (matinees) are a good day to see shows and it is usually somewhat cheaper.
Cross the Brooklyn Bridge it is gorgeous.
In my opinion I think going to the Statue of Liberty is a waste. For a long time now they have restricted how for up you can go and really if you can't go to the top there's no point in going. For free you can hop on the Staten Island Ferry which will take you right by the statue and get most of the pictures of the statue you would want anyway.
Times Square is another must at least once. It's a lot nicer now that they have shut down some of the streets and made it pedestrian only area. I don't like it as much anymore since it is extremely touristy but is worth itonce. And is where most of the Broadway shows are so you should end up there anyways.
Top 10 restaurants you absolutely must go to while in NY
Di Fara's 1424 Avenue J Brooklyn www.difara.com/ Best pizza in the city
Wogies 39 Greenwich Avenue Manhattan www.wogies.com Best cheesesteaks in the city
Vanessa's Dumpling house 118 Eldridge St Manhattan Great Dim Sum
La Caridad 2199 Broadway Manhattan Cuban Chinese food I have been going since I was 1
The Indian Restaurants on 1st avenue between 5th and 6th streets in Manhattan just go to that street and you will know the restaurants I am talking about
Grey's Papaya various locations around manhattan classic new york institution great hot dogs
Tom's Diner 782 Washington Avenue Brooklyn A diner so good a songwas written about it
Go to Sunset park in brooklyn and eat authentic mexican food take the N or R train to any stop between I think it is 36th and 60th street walk to 5th ave and there are many great restaurants.
Go to Flushing in Queens and eat various authentic asian cuisines. There are multiple asian neighborhoods in New York but I would say that this one of the most authentic. Take the 7 train to the last stop. It isespecially good for Korean food.
You must eat a Bagel. There are many great places. One of my favorites is bagelsmith 189 Bedford Ave Brooklyn
10 favorite nightlife things in NYC. Be aware I tend to like more of an underground scene but there is literally everything going on in NYC and every neighborhood has its own thing going on. I encourage you to explore a bit. Anyways, here are my suggestions:
Go to a lot of concerts while you are in New York. They are much cheaper there and famous people play much more frequently. The last time I was in the states I think I went to about 20 in 4 months. When I was living in the US I was going to about 50 a year. Let me know your exact dates you will be there again and I will look at the concerts that are playing while you are there and make suggestions of what you should see.
Just so you know some of the big venues are Madison Square Garden, Terminal 5, Hammerstein Ballroom, Beacon Theater, The Apollo, Irving Plaza, Williamsburgh Hall of Music, Highline Ballroom
Webster Hall 125 E 11th St Manhattan www.websterhall.com/ A great club style place. Somewhat similar to a place like the edge. Bigger Djs are often there.
La Poisson Rouge manhattan 158 Bleecker Street lepoissonrouge.com/
one of my favorite places to go for really great more underground Djs andlive shows.Bembe 81 South 6th Street Brooklyn www.bembe.us One of my favorite bars in the city. Has a tropical latin theme. From Thursday to Sunday the place is a giant gyrating mess of a mass. Lot of fun.
The Frying Pan 205 12th Avenue Brooklyn www.fryingpan.com/ One the coolest bars in the city. It's a pier that goes in the hudson river and has a sunken ship docked on it that you can go into. Used to have parties there
but now has more of a lounge feel.Irish Haven 5721 4th Avenue Brooklyn If you ever want to keep drinking after last call this is the afterhours bar. The peak hours are at 5 am. Was also in the movie the departed, which is cool. Is a Irish pub
Water Taxi Beach various locations It might be out of season but at the water taxi beaches there is usually a bar and sometimes they throw parties on the weekend. The ones in the outer boroughs have a beautiful view of the skyline.
9.Cumba Melo/ Junxio You need to look up the date and location This is a party my friend throws happens a couple times a month often at bembe. Has a mix of latin and tropical electronic music. Always a fun party
- Turntables on the Hudson turntablesonthehudson.com/ One of the parties I have been going to for probably close to 8 years. It's an absolutely favorite of mine. Lots of afrobeat and latin house type music. Usually has live instruments accompanying DJs
I just thought of three bonus places
Fat Cat 75 Christopher Street Manhattan www.fatcatmusic.org an amazing jazz club that also has bar games like pool and ping pong. really cheap and great. strongly recommended
The Rose 345 Grand St Brooklyn liveatrose.com/ A really cool place with a loungish feel. has rotating live musicians. has a jazzy jammy feel to the music
Barbes 376 9th St brooklyn barbesbrooklyn.com/ A great little bar. Has live music from all over the world. I love this band that plays like argentinian music usually on Mondays