Need Some Help Here....NYC!

[boomersooner28]

August will be my 10th Wedding Anniversary. I would like to take her to New York City for a few days. Neither of us has been and she has been wanting to go.

Where should we stay?
What should we do?
Where should we eat on the evening of our anniversary?

Should I find airfare/hotel separate or use an online site such as expedia? Should I involve a travel agent?

TIA!

[olevetonahill]

Wheres NYC Poke when we need him ?

[boomersooner28]

Prolly drinkin and celebrating after actually winning a basketball game!

[Soonerus]

Eventi Kempton, Plays and Museums and I would highly recommend River Cafe n Brooklyn...beautiful view back of lower Manhattan and Statue of Liberty...

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Broadway Plays are top of the agenda.

For first time, stay in the Times Square area.

Explore chowhound.com for restaurants. A million choices.

[KantoSooner]

If it's still open, the Mayflower in Chinatown for dim sun.

[boomersooner28]

Thanks all...this is going to be fun to plan.

[Taxman71]

I did this same trip for my 10th anniversary a while back and here's what we did:
-Booked everything on Expedia, cheapest price
-Stayed at Waldorf Astoria (HQ of the King of Zamunda!), but would probably stay closer to Times Square or Central Park since you wind up walking there everyday at least once anyway. You can always visit/walk through any hotels you want.
-Taxi (or walk) across Brooklyn Bridge, eat pizza at Grimaldi's then walk back to Manhattan across the bridge, really cool. We did this after the Liberty Island ferry ride...you walk through the financial district on your way.
-Liberty Island/Ellis Island ferry....go early as possible due to long line, lots of security and heat. If you want to go in the Statute of Liberty, make reservations before your trip.
-Apply for tickets to David Letterman (on his website) now. They will call you to answer a trivia question and give you free tickets, one of the coolest few hours we spent on our trip.
-Take subway to Yankee Stadium for a game.
-Eat pizza at Lombardi's in Little Italy (allegedly the first US pizza place), it's not far from SoHo and Canal Street.
-Let wife shop in SoHo and Canal St while you go explore Madison Square Garden and surrounding area.
-Saw a couple Broadway shows.
-Go for a run (or stroll) through Central Park and stop off at Strawberry Fields on the West side across the street from the Dakota where John Lennon was shot. We ate at Tavern on the Green, but it is closed down now I believe.
-As for meals, we would find places during the day on our journeys and come back at night to dine. Everything in Times Square was overpriced and mostly underwhelming, while a block or two away meals were local joints and normal prices. Ates lots of Grey's Papaya hot dogs for lunches on the go. We did share a $25 sandwich at Carnegi Deli at 3:00 a.m. with about 5 lbs. of pastrami on it.
-NYC Poke can give an updated list on ToDos and restaurants.

[KantoSooner]

Don't know about recent, but the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station (mezzanine level) was always a great place. And you could get oysters that aren't always available in Gulf Coast oriented raw bars.

[BajaOklahoma]

Put HopStop on you phone for updates on the subway station closings.
We divided Manhattan into upper, middle and lower. Do one area a day, saves wasted time on the subway. Then go back to the areas you liked.
There is a discount coupon book you can buy - didn't see it until the last day, so I have no idea if it is worth it or what the restrictions are.
You can get a lot of tickets online - save money and bypass a line. Especially for the Empire State Building - gorgeous at night.
We saw the Rangers play the Yankees, sat in the bleachers with the "bums." Yet we won't drive 45 minutes to see the Rangers play at home. lol
If you want to climb the Statue of Liberty, make reservations now. They only let so many climb everyday and there is usually a 3 month lag in reservations.
The Staten Island Ferry is free. No much is free, so do it.

[SoonerAtKU]

http://www.hkhotels.com/

The Hotel Giraffe is right across the street from our branch office in NY, on Park Avenue South and 26th St. I was set to stay there the last time I went until our travel booker got word of a much cheaper deal at a much less interesting hotel. Bummer, but the next time I go back, I'm going to stay at one of these four hotels. The Elysee is supposedly extremely romantic, and would be a hell of a choice for an anniversary. I'd like to try the Library, myself.

For food, my favorite restaurant closed, but you can also go to Blue Smoke BBQ for really great food and good jazz upstairs. The recipes are based off of a perennial champion pitmaster from here in St. Louis. I don't know from fine dining, as I'm not all that fine.

[MsProudSooner]

Go here for great information about visiting NYC: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g60763-i5-New_York_City_New_York.html (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g60763-i5-New_York_City_New_York.html)

If you have time, the Hop On, Hop Off bus tours are a good way to get a good overview of the city. We took one evening tour to Brooklyn. We spent about 30 minutes at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. If you want to get good pictures of the NYC skyline at night, you have to have a decent camera and a tripod.

The Discount TKTS booth is a great way to save money on tickets to a Broadway Show. We visited in late July about 4 years ago and some of the shows were closing. I think the new season starts in the fall.

There are several passes you can buy that include tickets to multiple attractions and allow you to skip lines. Here's a link to an overview of the available passes: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60763-c140362/New-York-City:New-York:Attraction.Passes.An.Analysis.html

If you go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, be aware that you can go up on the roof and have a wonderful fiew of Central Park and the skyline.

[Viking Kitten]

Times Square. Ick. Yes you have to see it once, but you don't need to hang around. Spend time in Central Park instead. Make sure and go to Serendipity 3 on the upper east side for lunch one day. You'll need a reservation. http://www.serendipity3.com (http://www.serendipity3.com/). If you have kids, go next door to Dylan's Candy Bar and get presents for them there. Broadway show and a Yankees game are great ideas. "Chicago" and "Wicked" are a couple of my favorites.

Oh, and if you go to the observation deck at the Empire State Building, try to go around twilight so you get the day AND night view. This is well worth your time. If you want to save a lot of time (and money) skip the trip to Liberty Island and just take a jaunt on the Staten Island Ferry instead. It goes right by the Statue of Liberty. You will only enjoy the Ellis Island trip if you're a history buff. MoMA is my personal favorite art museum, depends on what kind of art you like though. It she likes to shop, be sure and check our Bergdorfs.

[olevetonahill]

Aint Been to NYC since 68. Hoping to never go again

[TUSooner]

I took my wife to New York, but it didn't turn out like I had hoped: She insisted on coming back home with me.

Babump-crash.

[BajaOklahoma]

We went to the MMA just to see Washington Crossing the Delaware - and that area is being remodeled. :(
But go the hot dog stand out front of the MMA - it is the most expensive spot to put a stand in NYC. And the hot dogs were good.

Wear comfortable shoes or you will look like a tourist. Carry a bottle of water with you and drink a lot. And they sell water everywhere.

[GDC]

Ditch her and check out some of the asian massage parlors.

[Mississippi Sooner]

I can't believe no one's mentioned Hunt's Point. Now, that is the real New York City.

[Chuck Bao]

It is ugly. It is dirty. It is expensive. And, the people are rude. What'd I miss.

[olevetonahill]

It is ugly. It is dirty. It is expensive. And, the people are rude. What'd I miss.

They have BIG ****IN RATS ?

[Chuck Bao]

They have BIG ****IN RATS ?

Do they ask for tips too? Sheesh.

[olevetonahill]

Do they ask for tips too? Sheesh.

Just the tips of yer Fingers an toes.

[StoopTroup]

F the Yankees!

GO CARDS!

[yermom]

i was just there in November. while it was cool, i don't think i could live there. getting anywhere is too much of a hassle. $30 a night to park somewhere? ugh. having a car is a little nuts there, and i really like cars. my gf's brother's 5th floor walk-up apartment was a bit hard to imagine dealing with every day as well

lots of cool stuff to see and do though. i had a blast.

i'd make a shortish list of things you really want to do and find out how hard they are to get into, or how long they take before you get there, and not over-plan.

half of the coolness there is getting around and seeing things on your way to other stuff, for me anyway...

[boomersooner28]

Thanks for all the info peeps!