nycguy
nycguy

3 Must Visits in NYC

For any traveler to NYC, here are 3 places that I recommend visiting...

1. John's Pizzeria:
278 Bleecker St (Between Jones St and Morton St)

One of the original NYC pizzeria's serving coal fired pizza. You will see photos of celebs pasted to the front window, not surprising given the decliousness of this pizza.
2. McSorley's Ale House:
15 East 7th Street (Just off 3rd Ave)

Some say it's the oldest bar in the world, maybe not but it's definitely the oldest bar in New York. Complete with sawdust floors and serving old favorites like ham and cheese sandwiches, this bar is worth the trip. Be warned, they only serve two types of beer - light and dark!
3. Top Of The Rock:
30 Rockefeller Plaza (at 5th Ave and 49th St)

Might be a little touristy, but the top of the rock offers amazing views of the big city and lets you see first hand how big it really is.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
My top 3 NYC destinations.

1) Central Park - a little slice of woodland in the middle of the city, with monuments like the Alice statue, wonderful meadows, the Zoo, and more
2) The Museum Mile - some of the best museums in the world - all within a 20-block radius of each other
3) Battery Park - for a view of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and a completely different "NYC" to what you'd experience uptown
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
I guess I'd have to say:
1. Cafe Habana -- such a New York restaurant to me
2. Perry Street
3. 5th Ave walking down from Central Park. If you've never been to New York, it's exactly like you would have imagined it.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens are amazing - especially when the cherry blossoms are in full effect!
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
My three:

Times Square at night-- trite, but a classic
DUMBO waterfront--looking out at Manhattan
DimSum in Chinatown
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
Mine would be:

1. 5th Avenue
2. Katz's Deli
3. A night at The Apollo
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
My list would include

1. Union Square and the stores that surround it

2. The East Village for its myriad restaurants,bars and dessert shops

3. The West Village for it quaint ambiance and many stylish stores and restaurants.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
Like Uraniumfish I would Chinatown as well to my list and of course neighboring Soho which has the eternal hipness factor.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
Okay:

1. Central Park - probably the only place in Manhattan where you can get away with just strolling along
2. Washington Square/East Village - my first NYC home was here, it's close to my heart and historically rich, too!
3. Downtown Financial District - lots of tourist sites for the history buff or any future financial gurus
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Oh, @uptowngirl - those are three great neighborhoods/areas! I recommend all three HIGHLY!
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
1. Rockefeller Center
2. The Met!
3. Fifth Ave shopping district - followed by a Central Park visit
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
My three are as follows;

1. Times Square - especially at night (love the lights and glitter)
2. Central Park
3. The Science Museum
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Which Science museum is this, @hhusted? Natural History? I really love that museum - loved the Dinosaurs and Planetarium and early mankind display as a kid
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBk a shopping trip/ walk down fifth avenue is totally recommended!
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist Is that where they have the life size model of the blue whale? I'm a fan.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Right?! It's been too long since I did such a thing.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I was at Times Square this week and really enjoyed it! To my surprise. I made it a point after running my errand there to actually do a touristy lunch experience and walk around a bit, gawking. How I hate Times square and the crowded madness, but once in a while it can be a fun experience!
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish True, it can be an enjoyable place, but not if you're in a hurry and have things to do!
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I have a cousin who loves to stay in one of the many Times Square hotels when she visits NYC.. so when she is here I have no option but to head out to Times Square to see her though I am often at a loss as to where to take her out to dinner as the restaurants in the neighborhood are so blah! so we always somehow land up at Sosa Borella's in the nearby theater district rather than wandering around in Times Square looking for some decent eats.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I really love how the sidewalks sparkle there. I haven't been there in years, literally, but I can see how people find it exciting (even if it can feel like torture most of the time :).

@uptowngirl How much does that hotel set your cousin back, do you know? Does the amount of tourism in the area keep the rates competitive or are they just crazy expensive?
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
@Everybody Times Square is so much safer now than it was when I was a teenager. So you'll see teenage kids going in and out of the MacDonalds and the Starbucks, being loud and teenager-like, and it feels like one big mall over there. That's definitely not what it was years ago, though.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@DBlack so what was it like? was it dark and grimy with all sorts of undesirables lurking about .. do tell...
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Yes, it was dangerous, the scenes you saw were mostly pretty shady. There used to be a lot of prostitution around and you saw all the types associated with that: pimps, druggies, various scam artists. It was a grimy place. The kind of place your parents warned you never to go to with scary stories of what might happen if you did.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@DBlack have always read it was so until Giuliani's time .. I first set my eyes on Times Square in the late 1990's and I guess it was all cleaned up by then. Remember going to see a movie at the theater under the Virgin Store where I also bought a Gypsy Kings CD.. of course the store is long gone now...
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK I think she uses Hiltonhonors or even Priceline for her deals.. but I think she pays around $200 a night.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Ajadedidealist: You asked: "Which Science museum is this, @hhusted? Natural History?" My answer is yes.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Priceline is great when it comes to hotels - you get to pick how many stars you want your hotel to have, what neighborhood you want it to be in, and how much you want to pay. Of course, you don't get to actually select which hotel you stay in, but what's the difference among four star hotels, really? (Besides how much you pay for internet, I suppose.)

@DBlack It's a whole other world up there nowadays. Indeed, the first time I laid eyes on Time Square in real life - in 2000 - I too went to the Virgin Store, and the MTV store as well. It was a regular shopping mall by then.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
I have to be in Times Square almost everyday and I have to say it's hell. Not like hell, but actually hell. . . especially in this weather.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@JenMac But why Times Square more than any other patch of overheated concrete in NYC? Everywhere else it's just as hot, but just not with a MacDonald's on every corner.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
When I was a kid - I love love LOVED Time Square - used to insist that my mother (a born and bred New Yorker) and I walk there all the time! I think she was a little embarrassed at my touristic enthusiasm
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
@JenMac Poor you!

@everyone I guess the New York tourist has no choice but to visit Times Square, but I can surely live without going.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
There's surprisingly much less "bright lights, big city" feel there than I would have expected, what shocks most is the presence of McDonalds on literally every corner. If tourists are the implied patrons, then why don't they just stay home in Kansas or wherever they're from? I mean, what's the use of coming to a place as cosmopolitan as NYC and eating processed burgers? Okay, @JenMac on second thought I see exactly why it's hell.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
With the exception of getting tea in order to use their free wifi at a train station, I have never willingly eaten McDonalds food. I was fed some burgers from Mickey D's at summer camp a couple of times, and got vomiting-sick each time! I don't trust the place
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist I was recently caught up without an umbrella in a black warning tropical thunderstorm and had no choice but to duck into a Mickey D's.. have never eaten at one in the US but on that awful night I had to eat there and tried to eat the healthiest choice on the menu -the grilled chicken burger.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@ajadeidealist, uptowngirl I'm so glad others share my distaste for McD's. And for the record I HATE how they market to children with they happy meal crap. I've known parents at their wits' end having their 4 year olds begging to go to McD's to eat because all they want is to get the toys.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I know exactly what you mean.. I have a nine year old nephew who was similarly addicted to Mickey Ds.. was chatting to him over skype the other day and he informed me that he hasnt eaten there for over two years now..was so happy to hear that...
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
I used to love McDonalds. When I was little, it was the happy meals. When I got older, it was the hangovers that brought me there. Now, I want to vomit just walking past one.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@JenMac, uptowngirl So shameless that the McD's empire is built on the hopes and dreams of little children. Glad people outgrow that crap, at least.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I am pretty against marketing to children on any level - the sugary breakfast cereals and all of that - and @everyone I don't like McDonald's either. And that place smells awful to me. I don't know what the smell is... but it's not appetizing.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@BroadwayBk The smell of vomit of people walking past?
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I think it is their garbage. McDonald's fast food does not take well to deterioration.
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
Hate the big M too. Even though there are a ton of them in the city, they're the kind of place you associate with strip mall aesthetics and NJ, not with a cosmopolitan city like NY.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@DBlack I don't think I associate McDonald's with any place, not having been to many places that lack for McDonald's.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
I think the smell is the frying of half animal parts -- seeing as they use chickens that have never seen light or walked in their entire lives and are wading through feces and pumped full of drugs.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBk I totally abhor the marketing of sugary cereals to young kids. I wish we could just wish away all those fruit loops and coco pops..
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@uptowngirl We almost can...with our spending power.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
I haven't bought any cereal that wasn't Kashi in some years and it looks like I haven't done away with any of those sugary cereals just yet...
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