New York with young teens - Must Do's please!

[DorcasS]

We will be going end of August next year. My children (boys) will then be aged 12 and 14. Going for one week. Staying in Times Square area.

Currently on the list are:

Central Park
Statue of Liberty
Museum of Natural History

Considering also ....

Rockefeller Centre?
Broadway show?

Where else MUST we go?

Ellis Island
Guggenheim
Wander aimlessly around Greenwich Village
USS Intrepid
South Street Seaport
lie in the shade in Central park
have a coffee in the middle of Times Square and watch the world RUSH by
Empire State after dark

We preferred the free ferry to Staten Island instead of the paid one to Liberty Island. We got a better view. I loved Ellis island though.

I agree with a later trip up the Empire State, we got there for twilight. It was really busy so we walked up part of the way which was tiring but I'm really glad we did it.

Have you looked at Big Apple Greeters? There wasn't one available when we went, but it looks like a fun program.

Oh and we went letter boxing and found some neat places.

Get the New York Pass, you pay an up front fee & then they post it to you along with the accompanying guide book, this entitles you to 'free' entry (prepaid) to all the places in the guide book & is well worth the money if you use it a lot. Over 50 places to go to, Google New York Pass & you'll come up with the website. There are often adverts on various sites offering a discounted rate for buying which makes it even better value.

USS Intrepid is indeed awesome

The Metropolitan museum of modern art is also worth a visit

The Lower East Side Tenement museum is well worth a visit. You get a guided tour of reconstructed tenement buildings and see how the early immigrants lived.

Ellen Stardust - a 50's style burger joint with singing waiters/waitresses (they suddenly burst into song!)
The whispering arches in Grand Central (also the Oyster Bar)
Shopping at Macys, Levis store and definitely Abercrombie & Fitch (Tiffanys for you!)
Radio City (we were there at Christmas though so not sure what shows are on in the summer - ditto skating in central park)
Free Staten island ferry
Get the subway to Brooklyn, there is a fab Pizzaria under the bridge called Grimaldis then walk back to Manhattan over the bridge.
If money allows a helicopter ride.
And definitely Ground Zero.
Lordy I wish I was going again!!

Ellens stardust diner is a must

I would love to take my boys when I go again and on the list would be:
Rockerfeller centre day
Empire state night
Ground Zero
Waldorf Astoria
Central Park
The bus tour 2 day pass ( you hop on and off?
Statten Island Ferry
Brooklyn
Times Square at night
Flatiron district
Broadway show

next time I'm over I plant to walk the High Line Park
it opened the week after I was last there