Going to NYC in April, suggestions?

The wife and I are going to NYC for a week in the middle of April. We will be staying with my aunt who lives very near Union Square park.

I know there is A TON of stuff to do.

Any suggestions for cool restaurants/bars/etc, places that aren't necessarily on the tour guide sites and the like?

Take the bus. It's gotta be cool.

1st week of April is the Auto Show, From Union Square you can head a short way in any direction and hit something good. I'll put up somethings after work.

Take a brick for self defense.....

Otherwise, might have to defer to those there as to whats open

Stay off the ferry.

I can share something my daughter and I did a few months ago when we went up to hear Mick Taylor play in a small club. If you like being outside, walk across the Brooklyn bridge and have pizza for lunch at Grimaldi's at the foot of the bridge. Get there about 45 minutes before they open for lunch. The bridge will be really crowded, the restaurant, too. Very historic pizza (and bridge.) The Brooklyn Lager beer was good, too. Many low-key hours may be passed wandering around Central Park as well.

P. J. Clarke's on 3rd Ave.

I hang around the NYC Library. Legend says they stand up and roar whenever a virgin walks by.

Foods of NYC tour. Just do it. Great way to see some great landmarks and eat at some of the best restaurants in the city. Wally told me to do this about two years ago and he was spot on.

http://www.foodsofny.com/

My two favotite places to eat in NYC are Capsouto Frere Bistro in Tribeca old school french bistro built in an old spice warehouse by the hudson river. Cafe Espanole in Greenwich village they have the best paella i have ever eaten. You can get it with a whole lobster in it. Enjoy your time there. It is a great place to visit.

Chris

I've been told Katz's deli is amazing. Personally, i'd never set foot on NY soil, except Wally is awesome.

You're going to have to be more specific for me to help :)

Beer snob? Hit Proletariat in the East Village, or go out to Brooklyn and hit Spuyten Duyvil, or Brooklyn Brewery if it's a weekend. Like Belgian beer? You'll want to have beer and fries at Vol de Nuit.

Fine booze hound? The Brandy Library in TriBeCa. There is no substitute. Make a reservation and dress nicely. Your wallet will not be amused, but your taste buds will. If you're open-minded, you can learn a lot from these guys.

Jazz and cocktails? Silver Lining.

Wine? I'm partial to Cucina E Vino Petrarca, mostly because it's in my 'hood. There are others.

Cocktails in an elegant and unusual setting? The Campbell Apartment, if you can find it.

I could go on for hours. You've gotta gimme something to work with: booze preferences, cuisines you enjoy but don't get much at home, cuisines you do get at home, something. Music preferences? Art?

Otherwise: The Highline is touristy, but with good reason. Ramble around Central Park, especially the wilder, upper reaches. See the main attractions, then go north and east until it gets wild(ish). Fun.

Take the ferry from the Financial District to Redhook/Ikea (is it still running after Sandy? Dunno). Great trip, free on the weekends I think. Line is big, moves pretty quick. There's some good stuff in Red Hook, but I don't know much about it, other than one neat "local artist" gallery that may no longer be there due to Sandy damage...

You can have a Shake Shack burger, but it's not really worth the wait, unless you really need to say you've had one. Lines are better in Battery Park City and behind the Museum of Natural History (mostly). For grass-fed beef burgers and no wait, I prefer BRGR. Lots of options though.

Comedy? Hit Upright Citizens Brigade theater, their weekend shows (Your berkeleyed Up Family esp) are hits. Reserve tickets in advance and line up early to get good seats.

Museums are awesome, you should hit at least one, but make sure you're going to like it. Do not attempt to "see it all" and especially do not try to see the entire Met. You'll be miserable. If you do the Met, choose a wing or topic to see and spend most of your time there. I highly recommend attending one of the free docent tours/lectures, especially if you don't know what you want to see. If you hit MoMA (my personal favorite, and you're reminding me I need to renew my membership), contact me, if I'm around and free and have renewed my membership, I can get you in for $5 a head instead of whatever their going rate is. Allot some time to sit in their courtyard, have a beer, and people watch. It's a beautiful thing.

I'm biased against the Gugg. It's an interesting space, but terrible as a museum. IMHO.

See? Still rambling...

Beer snob? Check. Fine booze/classic cocktails? Also interested. I've already told her to be prepared to want to go back, I was there a few years ago, but just do much to see/do I just ended walking around checking stuff out during the day, going out for dinner/drinks with my aunt in the evenings.

We love eating, Indian might be the only thi g the wife wouldn't care for, or just the way out there weird stuff. Foie gras, sushi/sashimi etc we are good for all that.

Pretty sure we are going to make a reservation at Le Bernadin for one evening.

Art, dive bars, I know we can't see it all, but want to see some of the good stuff and not just the touristy stuff.

I just got back from 5 days in Brooklyn, around Cobble Hill where my sister lives. Between Smith and Court streets, I could have easily spent a week just walking up and down eating and drinking without scratching the surface.

We hit the Whitney for a cool pop art exhibit, and to walk around the rich people's neighborhood. I can't go to NYC without going to Rudy's on 42nd to drool over guitars I'll never be able to afford. And we hit Motorino in the village for some entirely righteous Neapolitan pizza. (Paulie Gee's was on my pizza checklist, too, but I didn't make it up to Green Point.)

Funny you mentioned Rudy's, two people have told me to go there. I'll be in the City next month, and a visit is on my to-do list.

You know, for free riding the Staten Island Ferry late at night is cool. It's like the low-buck version of the Circle Line.

For food, you gotta have a White Castle.

David S. Wallens wrote: Funny you mentioned Rudy's, two people have told me to go there. I'll be in the City next month, and a visit is on my to-do list.

I know nothing about guitars, but I walk past this little shop frequently. I've been in exactly once and it was quite interesting. Neat neighborhood, too.

David S. Wallens wrote: You know, for free riding the Staten Island Ferry late at night is cool. It's like the low-buck version of the Circle Line.

Very good idea. IIRC, there's even booze on board!

David S. Wallens wrote: For food, you gotta have a White Castle.

Seriously? No, you go to White Castle only when you've gotten thoroughly E36 M3faced at the hotel bar during a business trip to East Bumbleberkeley. Though the booze has done little to dull the rage you feel towards this stupid job, it has given you a monster appetite and silenced the voice inside you that says that 3am is not a good time to be anywhere near a restaurant where the furniture is stainless steel and bolted to the floor.

THAT is when you go to White Castle.

My favorite restaurant is in NYC: http://www.churrascariaplataforma.com/

The prices are not very GRM-friendly, but it's worth it (and I'm just as cheap as the rest of you). The GRM tip is to go very late for lunch (lunch ends at 4PM, try to sneak in just under the wire). You'll pay the lunch price and get the dinner appetizers (the only difference between lunch and dinner). That'll save you $23 per person...

Deserts are incredible, as well, but I'd just focus on the salad bar and all the meat your can eat (sliced to order, right in front of you). Even if you were a vegetarian, the salad bar is incredible...

Saigon Shack if you like Vietnamese food!

Also McSorleys if you like beer!

I have been to NYC on business a few times over the past year, and the place has really changed. The people are really nice, everything is pretty clean and I always felt safe. I stay in Midtown IIRC. (Not sure, but it's close to the garment district and the Hell's Kitchen apparently and only a few blocks from Times Square) It's really convenient to most things, and the Subway is pretty easy to figure out.

I hit the USS Enterprise Museum. It's cool if you have never been on an Aircraft Carrier before. Lots of helicopters, planes and the Concord is there. The Space Shuttle should be open by now as well.

I visited B&H Photo and Video. If you are an A/V nerd like me, you will love this place and you will spend some $$$.

I walked into Uncle Jack's Steakhouse because it was close to my hotel, and I really liked it. Amazing, NY-style steakhouse. Gallagher's Steak House is another favorite, amazing dry-aged beef. I would say to avoid Ben Bensons because the service is lousy, but they closed this year anyway.

If you're a good looking guy, stay with your wife or keep your arms covered if you don't want any guys whistling at you

I've heard that advice from multiple sources now.

The name of the tour is escaping me but there is a bus tour in one of the open air double decker buses that is really interesting and takes you through a few neighborhoods. One of the highlights was seeing the Dakota apartment building where John Lennon lived near Central Park.

pinchvalve wrote: I visited B&H Photo and Video. If you are an A/V nerd like me, you will love this place and you will spend some $$$.

B&H is a madhouse. A cool one, but a madhouse. Be prepared for lines and rough treatment. Doubly so if you're female. I had a female photo professor in college who refused to do business with them because the same guys who were nice to a guy like me were condescending asses to her.

Be wary of their used department too: anything less than a E (or whatever their highest rating is) may be useless, overpriced junk.

I can get what I need without B&H now, so I do. Used to love 'em when they'd get me 100ft of T-Max overnight for super cheap (before I lived in NYC).

^The wife needs legit Italian food for one, I didn't really eat Italian for years after coming back last time.......thankfully a place opened in Tulsa recently that is run by two brothers from Brooklyn, pretty tasty!

1 week bump!