Hey there, fellow TA%26#39;s! I%26#39;m really excited -- one of my friends I made on a previous trip to Hungary is coming to visit the US for the first time next month! He%26#39;s traveling with his boss, and one more friend, and I want to make sure they have a great time. They%26#39;re starting in NYC (and flying back out of here), and will be here at least 4 days before taking off to see other cities (Boston, DC, Chicago). I already have my hands full trying to figure out something for the inauguration for them, but I never thought I%26#39;d get stumped thinking of what to show them in NYC!
Actually, I%26#39;ve got a fair number of things already picked out. My friend is a fashionista in the extreme, so we%26#39;ll be making all the relevant trips to the shopping meccas (woodbury, c21, soho, 5th ave). I%26#39;ve got nightlife covered (how do you think I met him? ;-)). Also have some of the basic tourist things down:
SI Ferry (statue of liberty)
Brooklyn Bridge
Grimaldi%26#39;s pizza
Ground Zero (from my office on the 31st floor overlooking it)
MoMA
Metropolitan Museum
Broadway Show
Times Square
Hoboken riverwalk (brunch, view of the city)
SoHo shopping
Bryant Park/NYPL
So, my fellow TA%26#39;s... what am I missing? What are some other ';fundamentals'; my young, fashionable, Hungarian friend (and his friends) might enjoy seeing? I%26#39;d specifically like some advice on:
-Best Chinatown dim sum (if we don%26#39;t do dim sum, I have my restaurants, but just in case).
-TOTR or ESB? I think they might have their hearts set on the ESB, but what is the case to be made for TOTR?
-What%26#39;s *THE* best way to visit Central Park? What do visitors find most ';iconic'; in the winter? My usual route is columbus circle-bethesda fountain-strawberry fields - exit.
-I%26#39;m picking them up at JFK and driving them in... any good ideas to include on a short ';driving'; tour? I usually do Tribororo to FDR, down to the battery, up the west side to about 59th and then down broadway and 7th... Any ideas for inclusions/improvements?
Advice -- Help me show my foreign friends a great time!you know the Loehmanns on 7th Ave and 17th men%26#39;s dept? its pretty decent compared to the other discounters - targeted to all the fashionable men in the neighborhood. There are also a few good small men%26#39;s boutiques on the side streets between 7th and 8th.
my regular dim sum is HSF - its still packed with mostly Chinese people but small enough that the carts come before the food gets cold. And they have smaller tables if you dont want to share with strangers. If its packed, I just go to NY Noodletown down the block for shrimp dumplings in soup, baby pig over rice, or salt baked shrimp.
also, I%26#39;m not sure how it is for men, but Armitage Ave in Chicago is THE shopping street!
Advice -- Help me show my foreign friends a great time!How about a little Hungary in NYC.
http://magyarhaz.org/index.php?%26amp;menuid=10
Don%26#39;t forget an evening in Greenwich Village. Lots of great restaurants to choose from. Otto, Bar Pitti, lots of trendy new Asian places. 8th Street now features Bagel Buffet, Gray%26#39;s Papaya, Insomnia Cookies, 8th Street Wine Cellars (at 28 West 8th Street) and Gizzi%26#39;s Coffee. Everybody I%26#39;ve personally introduced to 8th Street Wine Cellars has returned, it is such a charming place and very New York City. This will also put you in the heart of the NYU campus.
I am a big fan of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and exploring the Brooklyn neighborhoods including Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. Great restaurants from Smith St. and Court St. to Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, the real New York City.
I love walking into Central Park from Central Park South (59th) and meandering up to Wollman Rink. Then up to Bethesda Fountain and over to Central Park West near the Museum of Natural History.
You might also consider the following four places for breakfast. Clinton St. Baking Company, Friend of A Farmer, Amy Ruth%26#39;s (love it) and Central Cafe (Pershing Square).
If you have time for dinner in Flushing I always enjoy taking people out to Flushing when time permits.
My favorite drive in from JFK is the Belt Parkway to one of the lower Manhattan bridges, it is a little out of the way but it affords a nice view.
Chinatown Brasserie in Little Italy is great for stylish dim sum and Little Italy is a typical place most tourists want to see. For a more traditional Chinatown spot, Jing Fong is supposed to be good. If you go to Chinatown for dim sum, go early in the day. Most start serving it around 10-10:30 and that%26#39;s when it%26#39;s freshest.
I think the 59th st. bridge or as FFMiles says, one of the downtown bridges like the Williamsburgh are more exciting as a way into Manhattan. What time of day are they arriving? Where are you headed in Manhattan?
I think you%26#39;ve got loads planned for just 4 days.
MoreFFmiles, I completely agree with your driving route suggestion. Most visitors are so eager to get into town, that they miss out on some of the great views getting in. Anyone arriving at night, especially on a clear one, with a little time to spare, would have a great scenic entry driving the Belt into the Battery Tunnel or over the Brooklyn Bridge. To see the Parachute, Verrazano, Statue of Liberty and the Skyline is fabulous. Great idea !!
Everything you have planned sounds great, but I personally got serious goosebumps, almost like a deja vu, walking into Grand Central Station. Amazing!
Isn%26#39;t it funny how weird it is when we actually become the tour guides? Panic sets in!!
I think the list and suggestions are great. Def add Grand Central (when you got to Bryant Park/NYPL) and the Village (tour of Christopher Street, the library/ex-prison, Sheridan Square.)
Since you work downtown and are taking the SI Ferry, I%26#39;d add some NYC historical sites, like Customs House exterior, Cunard Building exterior, the charging bull, Trinity Church, Wall Street, Federal Hall, St. Paul%26#39;s Chapel, etc.
I%26#39;d also add Barney%26#39;s and Barney%26#39;s COOP to your list. If they want to see more luxury items, go to Madison Avenue.
From JFK, depending on time of day, since you%26#39;re going to take a toll bridge anyway, take the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. You can%26#39;t beat that skyline view before you go down into it.
Another great view is on the Kosciusko Bridge on the BQE, but I%26#39;m not sure how to fit that into your drive, unless you take the WillyB into Manhattan, but that might not make sense for your purposes.
(BTW, nycdave, I sent you a PM. Did you get it? Check your junk mail.)
Thanks for the advice and suggestions, everyone! Now I%26#39;m putting together a list of websites he should check out and/or have handy before his trip. I figure it%26#39;s important to cover some of the basics, like transportation (hopstop and mta.info), weather, emergency, and cell phones. If anyone has any other ideas let me know.
Also, if anyone wants to check it out, I made this interactive googlemap for my friend... obviously not even close to including everything I might, but a good start, no?
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms? ie=UTF8%26amp;hl=en%26amp;msa=0%26amp;msid=107450663830734080507.00045ef7bacbe0ca2fd3e%26amp;ll=40.761569,- 73.964172%26amp;spn=0.001046,0.001717%26amp;t=h%26amp;z=19
(might need to delete the spaces in there i put in to avoid the 140-character cutoff)
Comments always welcome and appreciated :-)
btw qb, yes I just did... so sorry, things have been chaos for me the past few weeks...
Very impressive map Dave. I was informed this morning, fyi, that HSF has closed. ;(
No comments:
Post a Comment