Things to do while you’re here:

Walking and Riding Activities

Our favorite tourist activity (and honestly, we never bore of it ourselves) is to RIDE THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY. It’s free. You get a free boat ride with glorious views of the downtown skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and the harbor, and perhaps best of all, you can both buy and drink beer onboard the ferry (although the beer isn't free, sorry.).

On your way to the ferry, WALK THE HUDSON RIVER GREENWAY PATH. From Greenwich Village, walk all the way west to the river, and walk south to Battery Park and the ferry. You’ll pass (no joke) a trapeze school, a Zen garden, mini-golf, batting cages, a skate park, a dog run, and a neverending stream of sweaty exercising New Yorkers.

RIDE THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND TRAMWAY at night. . Pick up the tram at 60^th Street and 2^nd Avenue and ride in the only cable car in North America over the busy avenues of Manhattan and the East River. You will need to get out and pay again for the return trip ($2.00 each way

Pick any neighborhood in the city and WALK AROUND. Some suggestions (from South to North): Wall Street, Chinatown, Lower East Side, SoHo, West Village, East Village, Midtown, Central Park, Harlem and on and on and on).

If you’re interested in history, or learning about New York, BIG ONION WALKING TOURS leads interesting tours of NYC sights and neighborhoods.

Walk the BROOKLYN BRIDGE. On the Brooklyn side, there’s Grimaldi’s pizza, and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory on the street that runs down under the bridge.

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. I’d recommend going during the middle of the day during the week. I wouldn’t suggest going other times because of the line (though I haven’t tried going at night) It’s too long of a wait otherwise.

 

Dining

(Check out menus and find addresses for Manhattan Restaurants at www.menupages.com or in Zagats Guide (www.zagat.com)  or at http://newyork.citysearch.com/ Get subway directions to Queens restaurants at www.hopstop.com). 

For the more dedicated and adventurous foodies, use Chowhound to find out of the way and out of the ordinary deliciousness.

Dining in Queens

Jackson Diner (Jackson Heights, Queens)

37-47 74^th Street between Roosevelt Avenue and 37^th Road

Although many will argue it, this remains our top recommendation for Indian food because it’s delicious and the neighborhood is interesting. Check out the Patel Brothers Grocery next door while you're in the nabe.

 

Taste Good (Elmhurst, Queens)

82-18 45^th Avenue,

A wonderful choice if you’re interested in traveling to an outer borough for some awesome food. Malaysian cooking. Some of our favorite dishes are the seafood options with “golden aromatic sauce”. Also located at 53 Bayard Street in Chinatown, though I haven’t been to this location.

Sapori D’Ischia (Woodside, Queens)

55-15 37^th Avenue at 56^th Street

You will wonder where I’m taking you when you arrive in this quiet warehouse neighborhood, but you’ll feel right at home when you arrive at this Southern Italian restaurant. Great cooking and great service. (Spendy)

Dosa Hutt (Flushing)

45-63 Bowne near 45^th Avenue

Absolutely delicious dosas and other snacks at this tiny storefront snack bar. Not convenient to anything, we usually ride our bikes from our apartment in Queens. Next door to a stone-carved Hindu temple.

Dining in Brooklyn

Di Fara’s Pizza (Midwood, Brooklyn)

1424 Avenue J between 14^th and 15^th Streets

Sure, there are plenty of great pizza places in New York. Get a slice anywhere and you’ll have a great snack. But if you want to make a pizza pilgrimage, Di Fara’s has the best pizza we’ve ever eaten. And this from a pair who searched high and low for the best pizza in Naples itself, the very birthplace of pizza, and has eaten at almost every pizzeria worth mentioning in NYC. Di Fara’s stands alone. Try the special pie (sausage, onions, peppers and mushrooms), try the square pie (a ridiculously delicious, thick-crust, Sicilian style pie) or try anything. It’s all delicious.

Understand this. You will wait for an hour or two for your pizza. Seriously. An hour or two. There is no service to speak of. The place is dump. It’s a long way out in Brooklyn. If these things will bother you, you must wait until you have mustered the patience and calm necessary for this undertaking. But if you can muster the calm, here’s what you will experience.

You will arrive to find a disorganized cluster of locals around the counter. There’s no obvious line, there’s no way to know who’s waiting for what. Don’t worry about it. Find somewhere to stand and stand there. Try to work your way to the counter. Be friendly, be patient, be polite. Eventually, an old man behind the counter with blackened fingers (from handling hot pizzas) will take your order. He’ll write it on the back of a paper plate. He won’t say anything to you again for an hour or more. In the meantime, wait and watch. Watch as he artfully assembles pie after pie. He hand grates three kinds of cheese fresh for each pie. He assembles the pizza, drizzles it with olive oil from a metal can straight out of the Wizard of Oz. He pulls a blisteringly hot pizza from the oven, lays on the counter in front of twenty or more drooling customers. He hand grates some parmesan and tosses it on the pie. He grabs some fresh basil from his windowsill and chops it onto the pie. He mutters “special pie” and someone, somehow knows it’s their turn. They eat (or more often, take it to go).

This process repeats indefinitely, making you hungrier each time until your pie is finally, finally, finally ready. 

It will be worth it.

P.S. If you stay away from the primo dinner hours (Fri-Sun 6:00 PM or later), you’ll have shorter waits. If you go during prime dinnertime hour, don’t be surprised if you wait well over two hours.

Manhattan

Thiru’s Dosa Cart (Greenwich Village)

Washington Square Park

If you like dosas, this is the place (in Manhattan anyway). Be prepared to wait 30-45 minutes during the weekday lunch rush. Off-times there shouldn’t be a wait.

Tomoe Sushi (East Village)

If you’re willing to wait in line (or get there before 6 pm), visit this outstanding and reasonably priced sushi restaurant. For our money (and Tomoe's gotten plenty of it) this is as good as any (including Nobu) Sushi place in NYC.

Shake Shack, Madison Square Park (Flatiron)

You can’t beat eating a burger and fries and sipping a shake outdoors in this little jewel of a park.

Chola (Midtown East)

I appreciate the variety and care taken with the numerous regional Indian dishes. There are also loads of Indian restaurants in Murray Hill and on 6^th Street in the East Village but this is my Manhattan favorite.

Vatan (Murray Hill)

This is a wonderfully goofy restaurant as far as the décor goes (I won’t spoil it for you). If you’re in the mood for a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet, check it out. Reservations a must.

Hangawi (Flatiron)

Delicious and healthy Korean fare and a wonderfully soothing atmosphere that's like visiting a temple. Caveat: to some, the dishes lean toward the bland side of healthy cooking, but vegans and vegetarians and those seeking inner calm will appreciate this restaurant. Don't miss the ginger tea, seriously. 

Pearl Oyster Bar (West Village)

Like a Maine crab shack. Fried oysters and lobster rolls.

Blue Ribbon Bistro (not Blue Ribbon Sushi, Soho)

97 Sullivan between Prince and Spring

Excellent American fare and oyster bar. A bit spendy and crowded, but everything is top-notch. (Expensive)

Bakeries/Cafes/Dessert

Sullivan Street Bakery (Soho)

73 Sullivan Street between Spring and Broome or 543 W 47^th Between 10^th and 11^th Avenues

The best bread anywhere. Also great Italian-style pizza and desserts. If you go there, do yourself this favor. Ask how long before the next Pizza Bianca comes out (it should never be more than 10-15 minutes). Get a piece (only $1) fresh from the oven and send us a thank you note later.

Ceci Cela (Soho)

55 Spring Street between Lafayette and Mulberry

Wonderful French bakery and incredible chocolate croissants. Fruit tarts are also extraordinary.

Kee’s Chocolates (Soho)

80 Thompson Street

The finest and most interesting chocolates I’ve ever eaten. Wonderful owner as well.

Il Laboratorio de Gelato (Lower East Side)

95 Orchard between Broome and Delancy

A supplier of gelato to the cities finest restaurants, this place offers delicious and unusual gelatos and sorbets. (Right next door to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, which is a pretty interesting way to spend an hour if that sounds appealing).

Shopping

Broadway in Soho.Be sure to check out the wonderful Chinese clothing and housewares store, Pearl River, on Broadway between Broom and Grand.

5^th Avenue and/or Madison below Central Park (59th Street)

For most of us, an area for window-shopping and a chance to visit Tiffany’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Henri Bendel, and Takashimaya on your way to Rockefeller Center. If you make it to Takashiyama, check out the tea salon in the basement for a rest and some fantastic teas. Watch the price tag, though.

Bookstores

The Strand (Greenwich Village)

828 Broadway at 12^th Street

This world-renowned, jam-packed, new and used bookstore is a must see.

Books of Wonder

18 W 18^th Street (Union Square area)

The premiere children’s book shop, now connected to the Cupcake Café. These cupcakes are prettier than they are tasty, but they're VERY pretty. Fantastic children's book and cupcakes, it's hard to do much better than that.

St. Mark’s Bookshop (East Village)

31 3^rd Avenue

The intellectual’s bookstore. Philosophy, fiction, cultural theory, small-press and alternative magazines.

Museums

MOMA

New building. A fabulous museum for Modern Art.

Guggenheim

A stroll down this museum's curving gallery walkway is always a pleasure.

Theatre

Check out the listings at HERE Arts Center or PS 122 and see if they appeal. Both venues present low-cost, cutting-edge theatre. Hit or miss, but the hits can be fantastic and cheap.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (better known as BAM) hosts some of the most consistently amazing performers from around the world. You'll probably need to buy tix in advance, but certainly worth checking out what's playing while you're in town. Caution, there's no good meals to be had nearby, but you can find lots of good eating in the East Village, just a quick subway ride from BAM.

There is also a tickets line for discounted Broadway shows in Midtown. See www.tdf.org for information. A local secret, there’s a special line for non-musicals. If you want to see a non-musical that’s available through TDF, ask where the non-musical ticket line is. You'll wait less than five minutes (as opposed to several hours for a musical).

Drinking and Dancing

You’d think we were 90 years old or something from the way we lack info for this category, so we’re just  going to point you to the two arbiters of cool for the NYC social scene, Time Out New York and Flavorpill.

Our favorite spot to spend a very happy hour, however, is Rosa Mexicano (61 Columbus Avenue at 62^nd Street, 1063 First Avenue at 58^th Street). Great guacamole and absolutely delicious (and debilitating) pomegranate margaritas. Try not to gasp audibly when you get a bill for well over $100 for drinks and guacamole for four people.