The Met is awesome. Do not go if your feet are already sore (good luck with this; wear very very comfortable shoes in NYC). MoMa is a must. NYC parks are out of this world. Central Park / Strawberry Fields. Many others. High Line I loved, although my wife was, "Meh." But few people are "meh" on it. Liberty and Ellis Islands to me are musts. We were lucky to stay with my cousin for three days in Queens. She lives right next to the 7 line. It's an "El" (elevated) there and quite soon dips under the East River, deep underground. You're at Grand Central Station before you know it. Lots of food options there. Right next to the Chrysler Building. Those hop-on hop-off buses in NYC are good because you see a lot of things you otherwise have no time for. Um, boat ride around Manhattan? Maybe at night but I'd say skip. My wife used the time for a nap. Chinatown and Little Italy face each other across some avenue or another. Good food. Finally had some coffee like I enjoyed living in Italy. People say skip Empire State Building but it's too iconic and we really enjoyed it. Top of the Rock might be slightly better with views of the Empire State Building one way and Central Park the other, but I loved both. 9/11 Memorial if you can make it there. So much to do. Coney Island? Skip. Brooklyn Heights and Brooklyn Promenade / Bridge. Joe Coffee for both the coffee and the pastries. Katz for the pastrami sandwich. You cannot swing a dead cat without hitting something cool to do in NYC.
I enjoyed biking through NYC using the Citi bikes. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but it's definitely a new experience and something I enjoyed. Maybe since I was doing it for fun and didn't have to do it every day.
Food and parks mostly. The responses on here have been fantastic, almost overwhelming. I've put together a good itinerary based on the CF recommendations, now looking to plan out our meal stops.
So, given your preferences, you have many parks to visit. Central Park is #1 (although I haven't been there this time of year). Liberty Island. Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Hills on Governors Island (you can catch a ferry from Lower Manhattan or from Brooklyn). Food choices? Myriad. Again, Katz, Chinatown. Something quick and decent for lunch with an eye toward something better at dinner, Grand Central. Hell, gyros from street vendors are messy and delicious. Note: Gold Bond (in the deodorant-looking form). I found out in NYC the hard way, a lot of walking = inner thigh rash. Doesn't happen to everybody, but buy and apply before leaving for the day, just in case.
Here are my personal favorites for food. I was only there for a summer internship, so I'll let everyone else fill in the blanks with the upscale places. Pizza: Cheap slice: Joe's Pizza in West Village Juliana's in Brooklyn (in DUMBO near the Bridge) is my all-time favorite Totonno's (Coney Island is a hike but so good) Other recommendations: Taim West Village - falafel Mamoun's West Village - falafel Los Tacos No 1 - Chelsea/multiple; if you need a Mexican fix Joe's Shanghai - Chinatown Han Dynasty - Upper West/multiple; Sichuan
Bumping this thread to say thanks to everybody that offered me advice and recommendations. We just got back from our trip last night and we really packed in a lot in 4 days. We made sure to hit a lot of the suggestions I received in this thread. - Times Square - Rockefeller Center - Central Park - Hudson Yards - High Line - Chelsea Market - Broadway Show (Mean Girls, although I think I would've enjoyed Beetlejuice more) - One World Observatory - Madison Square Park - Washington Square Arch - Flatiron Building (scaffolding - a tourists nightmare) - 9/11 Memorial - Brooklyn Bridge - Chinatown - Staten Island Ferry (AMAZING view of Manhattan at night and the Statue of Liberty! This was one hell of a suggestion I received on here) - Empire State Building - Watched the Marathon runners and checked out the Plaza Hotel - St. Patrick's Cathedral - Lego and M&M Store We didn't really care to check out the restaurant scene that much, mostly quick bites so we could be on our way - Bleecker Street Pizza, Essa-Bagel, Kellogg's Cereal Bar, Eataly in Madison Square Park, Excellent Dumpling House (Houston Chinatown spots have way better offerings than this spot IMO), Juniors, Sbarro (J/K!), hot dog carts were legit, hot nuts. Only bad thing was our hotel, Hotel Pennsylvania, this was Coming to America apartment bad, "it's a real "s***hole" bad, disgusting. I shouldve done a better job researching that part of it, luckily we were only there to sleep, and we were so worn out by the end of the night it really didn't matter. Overall though hell of a trip. Clutchfans community really helped me organize an epic NYC experience with my wife. Thanks lads.
Hotel Pennsylvania in the news: https://nypost.com/2019/11/11/gloomy-hotel-pennsylvania-isnt-getting-replaced-any-time-soon/
