New Yorky Things

[Squiggy]

I'll be spending a long birthday weekend with the fiancee in New York next weekend and have a question for our resident assho- I mean... New Yorkers.

What are things that I should do? I'm not talking about the touristy crap. What are the hidden gems that you're willing to share?

 

[thestrangequark]

Romantic and not too touristy:


- High Line, a disused el line converted to a park gives a unique, even for NYC, juxtaposition of the urban and nature.
-Walk the bridges. I'd recommend Brooklyn (though it can be a little touristy) or Williamsburg bridge. The Williamsburg bridge is less touristy, though with less history, but has great views of Manhattan and Brooklyn and some really wonderful graffiti along the way.
-Want to see the Statue of Liberty? Skip the expensive tourist boat and take the Staten Island Ferry. You won't have to pay, and you get really close.
-Explore the boroughs. Try the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn for awesome eats and shopping. Other great shopping can be found in the East Village and Alphabet City, I'd recommend wandering the side streets between 3rd Ave and Avenue B, 6th through 11th streets have great boutiques and unique finds.
-Eats? For the real Village Experience try the Yaffa Cafe (St Marks btwn 1st and A). The decor looks like a drag queen exploded inside and all the waiters and waitresses are sexy and rude. Another great place for restaurants is the West village south of Washington Sq. Park. You can find all the best hole in the wall cuisine. And speaking of pizza (speaking of food in NY is always speaking of pizza), people like to say Ray's is New York's best. They're lying. Any number of pizzerias in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens will get you a better slice. Avoid Little Italy for food. The restaurants there aren't that great and it's not worth all the tourists. Black Betty's is one of my fave brooklyn spots for food, amazing hummus!
-Parties. If you're looking for a place to dance, again, don't forget the other boroughs. You'll find a lot of cheaper, cooler, more easy going venues in Queens and Brooklyn.
-Nerd? Check out Forbidden Planet, a great comic book store on 13th and Broadway, conveniently for us nerdy types it is directly across from the Strand, the second best bookstore after Powell's in Portland, Oregon.
-Arty? There is just as much incredible art on the streets of NYC as in the museums. Check around neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens to see the vibrant street art of New York.

Finally, the best way to experience NYC is just walk it. Anywhere you go you'll be close to food, drugstores, anything you need, so just get up and go!

 

[SmoothieX]

I grew up in a suburb of NYC and went to college in the 5 boroughs...spent a lot of time there growing up. In no particular order.

The Hayden Planetarium and Museum of Natural History are amazing and adjacent to each other. Even better since recent renovations.

The Cloisters is a Medieval art museum and gardens on the very northwest tip of Manhattan.

My Mom has a really green thumb, so we went to the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx a lot. Just don't sniff too closely or you'll sneeze for 3 days straight like I did.

The Staten Island ferry at night is awesome.

Have a few beers at McSoreley's, then walk past the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges for lunch at the Great NY Noodletown in Chinatown, then cross Canal St for dessert in Little Italy or ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.

 

[SmoothieX]

-Nerd? Check out Forbidden Planet, a great comic book store on 13th and Broadway, conveniently for us nerdy types it is directly across from the Strand, the second best bookstore after Powell's in Portland, Oregon.

Know much about Portland tsq? I'm moving there this spring.

 

[doubleohfive]

-Walk the bridges. I'd recommend Brooklyn (though it can be a little touristy)

And sexy. Or creepy. Depending on who you ask.

or Williamsburg bridge. The Williamsburg bridge is less touristy, though with less history, but has great views of Manhattan and Brooklyn and some really wonderful graffiti along the way.

...also, cloudy, with a chance of kissing Frenchmen.

 

[StolenThunder]

I thought the United Nations building gave a pretty good, and underused, tour. One of the highlights when I was in New York for the first time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Hayden Planetarium and Museum of Natural History are amazing and adjacent to each other. Even better since recent renovations.

This is true. The space show at the plane'arium is usually pretty good. And it's fun just to walk around the museum complex as well.

High Line, a disused el line converted to a park gives a unique, even for NYC, juxtaposition of the urban and nature.

Also this. Gives a very nice perspective from that far up. Just don't do it in the pouring rain like I did last time.

Warning though if you are thinking bars: Don't go to Hogs & Heifers. Just don't even think about it. True, the girls behind the counter are cute (if you've seen Coyote Ugly you'll know) but generally the place is a fucking dump. And it's about the size of a broom closet as well. There's much, much better places elsewhere. Just don't ask me where they are.

 

[SmoothieX]

The space show at the plane'arium is usually pretty good.

I see what you did there.

 

[sojourner]

Don't forget to attend a mugging! While not as common as portrayed on TV, they are quintessential New York.

 

[thestrangequark]

Don't forget to attend a mugging! While not as common as portrayed on TV, they are quintessential New York.

For classic muggings in their natural setting, try beautiful Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn or exotic Hunts Point, in the Bronx!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Also check this place out (don't know what's playing there at this time):

 

[thestrangequark]

-Nerd? Check out Forbidden Planet, a great comic book store on 13th and Broadway, conveniently for us nerdy types it is directly across from the Strand, the second best bookstore after Powell's in Portland, Oregon.

Know much about Portland tsq? I'm moving there this spring.

I've grew up in Seattle and visited Portland several times growing up. The joke goes: What's the difference between Seattle and Portland? Portland has more Californians.

Anyway, Portland is generally a beautiful small city. It's very bicycle friendly, so if you're a cyclist you'll be happy, though this also means there are continuing feuds between self-righteous cyclists who don't obey rules of the road, and self-righteous motorists who somehow manage to forget that the two tons of metal and gasoline they can run at up to 100mph may be just a tad more deadly than someone pedaling a Schwinn.
There are also a lot of hippies there, and there's a large homeless population (Portland is famous for taking good care of their homeless, and good on them, too).
The riverside walk is a nice place to exercise, chill, Powell's is THE COOLEST BOOKSTORE in the United States, and as I recall there are a lot of fabulous restaurants, including great variety and quality when it comes to vegan and vegetarian cuisine -- if you're into that sort of thing. If you have more questions, I can ask my sister, she lived there for two years. I only visited.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This reminds me of a hilarious quote I just saw on one of my favorite sites, overheardinnewyork.com...

Because my brain is programed to run New Yorker 10.0 and yours is Californian 4.20. Similar operating systems, only we get stuff done on time, don't wear sandals to work, and are frankly just slightly superior to everybody.

 

[SmoothieX]

There are also a lot of hippies there, and there's a large homeless population (Portland is famous for taking good care of their homeless, and good on them, too).

Oh, sort of a West Coast Vermont then. (I lived in VT for a few years.)

I'm just fired up to get away from the sprawl of the Boston area. It's a couple hours in any direction to anything resembling nature.

When your marriage to someone was sparked by a common love of the outdoors, and you own two large dogs, a trail or two wouldn't hurt.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Well, not as snobby as Vermont. Seattle is more of a West Coast Vermont, I'd say. I don't recall the residents of Portland having quite so large sticks up their asses. I'm of the opinion that the beaches of the Pacific Northwest are the most beautiful in the world. If you're into nature, you couldn't have chosen a better place to go. Rocky, wild coastlines on one side, and amazing mountains on the other, all amidst some of the oldest and most beautiful evergreen forests in the world. From my sister's apartment in Portland, on very clear days, you could even see Mount Tahoma/Rainier! I'd recommend taking highway 101 and checking out the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula at some point!