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So I'm going to be in NYC with my mom for a week.
For my mom's 80'th birthday we're spending a week in the place she grew up: New York City. We're going to spend some time wandering her old neighborhood and seeing how it's changed, and we'll do some of the touristy stuff since I haven't been to NYC since I was a kid. We have general plans about where we'll be, but a lot of open time to do whatever strikes us as cool.
Tildestrians, is there anything you think really shouldn't be missed? We're going to Coney Island and the Museum of Natural History for sure, but if there's anything you think is amazing I'd love to hear about it.
I prefer the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Natural History Museum. Fewer kids. ;-) The Museum of Modern Art is cool too, as is the Brooklyn Museum, or the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.
Everyone has their opinions about pizza, but you can't go wrong with a slice from Joe's on Carmine Street. It's the ideal example of a basic, cheap New York slice. Everyone love's Di Fara's in Brooklyn. And I see long lines outside of Prince Street Pizza in Soho every damned day (although I haven't been in there yet so I can't vouch for it).
If you want awesome Italian food go up to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. If you want awesome Indian food go to the Curry Hill neighborhood in Manhattan (Lexington Avenue between 24th and 29th Streets). For Chinese food you can go to Chinatown in Manhattan, Sunset Park in Brooklyn, or take the 7 train out to Flushing in Queens - you'll have many options in any case. For Korean you want the Koreatown area on 32nd Street between Madison and 6th. For the best damned pastrami you've ever had in your life you can go to Katz's Deli (really expensive) or 2nd Avenue Deli (slightly less expensive but still expensive by most standards). For burgers you want The Burger Joint which is tucked inside of the Parker Meridian hotel on 56th Street. If you want to try Georgian dumplings check out Old Tiblisi Garden in the West Village.
Following up on @Parliament's comment, Veniero's is another great dessert place, a classic. Magnolia Bakery is more recent vintage but also great.
The September 11th memorial and museum is a big tourist attraction. Not something I would ever do (too soon, you know?) but if you want to get close up to where all that happened you can head down there. There's much more to see within a short walk from there - One World Trade Center observation deck, Wall Street, Federal Hall, South Street Seaport and Battery Park. And of course you can take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, or just do a round trip on the Staten Island Ferry (it's free).
If Governor's Island is still open when you get here that could be a really nice way to spend a couple of hours. The whole island was a military base that was closed to the public till a few years ago. There's an old fort there and tons of abandoned buildings. Great place to just wander around if the weather is nice. You can take a ferry there till October 31st.
There is still a small area in downtown Manhattan with some buildings dating from Revolutionary War era. You can have dinner and drinks at Fraunces Tavern, which is supposedly Manhattan's oldest surviving building. There's a cool museum there too.
AVOID Times Square. It's unbelievably crowded and has nothing to offer but chain stores and scam artists.
If you want some music recommendations let me know which dates you'll be in town for and I'll try to figure out what's happening. Who knows, maybe I'll even have a gig.
Wow, thank you for the detailed info. I'll have to see about getting to some of those restaurants.
As far as dates, I'm actually hopping on the plane in a couple hours, so I'll be there from Sunday morning until Saturday night. It's not a great span of time to catch shows, but if you've got some recommendations I'm always down for live music, though I'm more of a live band in small venue kind of guy.
To be honest, I don't see any shows in the next week that are really jumping out at me. But if you want to just drop into a small local club, try Rockwood Music Hall (many different styles - they have three stages - stage 1 has like seven bands each night and no cover), or the 55 Bar (jazz and blues). Enjoy your stay!
Cool, thank you for looking. 55 Bar sounds just up our alley, and we'll be sure to go.
Nothing of substance that I can add (it's been a good few years since I lived nearby!), but I wanted to wholeheartedly second your recommendation for The Met - one of my absolute favourite museums anywhere in the world.
Since it's a special occasion you might consider the brunch buffet at the Rainbow Room. It's expensive but quite an experience.
I just looked at their website because it's been 20 years since I had been there and found it had been closed but also that it is reopening October 5th
The article you linked is from 2014, so I think it's been reopen for a few years now.
You're right, now that I looked around a bit more I think they may have discontinued the brunch entirely. OP is best served calling them to find out the situation.
That place is beautiful, thank you for the recommendation.
Ohhhhh boy. She's gonna need like grief counseling if she's from Manhattan south of 120th street or Brooklyn...
Jokes aside, I've heard amazing things about the Tenement Museum.
You might also check out Prospect Park. I biked around it last time I was in the city and it's a gorgeous place for a picnic lunch weather providing.
Nah, she's from Cypress Hill in Brooklyn, and we've spent the day wandering around. It's being an interesting experience. She hasn't really been back here since she moved out of her parents' apartment in '56, and so she talks with this combination of nostalgia and disconnect. The feel is about the same, though the demographics seem to have changed from WASP immigrants to mostly Latino and Black immigrants. The tenement she grew up in is still there, her school, her church, On the other hand, gone are the German butchers and Jewish delis and Italian pizza places of her childhood, replaced with other people selling other things.
It's not that the new things are wrong, but it reinforces how much no one can ever really go home again. Home is in your heart and your memories, not the uncaring and ever-changing streets of the city.
I'll definitely check out the Tenement Museum; from my mom I get stories about the rats and cockroaches, the poor conditions and the poor neighborhood, but it might be nice to get some outside context for her experience.
Propsect Park is on the list, though I'm beginning to be a bit overawed by the scale of things. I'm from the SF Bay Area, which, yeah, is pretty big, but the scale of NYC is monstrous. Everything is so big and so far away, and there's no way to see even a little slice of it in a week. I think I could spend a year here and never see even 10% of the interesting things.
Can’t help but mention dessert: Big Gay Ice Cream and Levain Bakery. When I visit a city, I always leave full.
Wow, those both look amazing. I'll make sure to check them out.