Does anyone think my New York itinerary is missing anything?

[ineedamoreadultieradult]

New York Trip with DH and DS's 10 and 7 I'm just over a month and I've had the time over Christmas to come up with an itinerary. Can anyone spot any problems with it such as 'must do' things missed or any things in there that are a waste of money.

Day 1: arrive at approx 9am having left UK at 6am so find hotel (near Time Square) to drop bags off then explore Time Square, 5th Avenue area including M&M world, Macy's etc check in at 3pm dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner then have a relaxing evening in the hotel and an early ish night
Day 2: Central Park, Central Park Zoo and Ice skating at the Woolman rink
Day 3: Natural History Museum and Rousevelt Tram
Day 4: One world observatory, 9/11 memorial (not the museum), Staten Island Ferry, Sea Glass carousel then walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to watch Basketball at the Barclays Centre.
Day 5: The Highline, Trump Tower and anything else we ran out of time to do on the other days or things we want to go back to etc
Day 6: check out and fly home

Going to go against opinion here and say that if I could only do one tall building I wouldn’t do Empire State but would do Top of the Rock or One World. The problem with the Empire State is that you can’t see the Empire State from it and it’s such an iconic part of the skyline. I would do it just as dusk is beginning to fall and the lights are coming on.

I did Top of the Rock when I went and the views were incredible. You get to see the Empire State which you obviously don’t get if you go up there. I went there just before sunset and got day, sunset and night photos in the space of an hour.

Bubba Gumps better food and service than Ellen Stardust - mediocre food and very poor service when we went.

Depending on age of kids, 9/11 museum great for 12+, just the memorial for primary age.

We’ve done Empire State twice but have been told Top of the Rock is better.

Allow a LOT of time for the Nat Hist Museum. It is huge. Mummy exhibition costs extra (if it’s still there).

We did a sort of food/art/architecture NYC. First night ordered our for pizza from Ray’s. Afterward we made sure to hit a couple of iconic delis and went to Zabar’s almost daily to save $ - they have fabulous take out, breads, cheeses, smoked fish, juices. We ate at a great cheap Italian place in Little Italy. We ate (and thought they were like rocks) the pretzels in Central Park.

Went to the Met and the Guggenheim. Took the ferry and walked around Soho and Central Park (we were there in the summer). Went to the Natural History Museum for my 11 year old.

It’s a fantastic city - I hope I can go again one day.

DO THE EMPIRE STATE
Just do it.
You'll never regret it.
Especially at sunset as the lights are coming on.

High Line - too ferkin cold and nothing to see
Bridget - ditto
Trump Tower - walk past and maybe look into the foyer but 5 minutes tops.

Indoor stuff : Natural History Museum, MoMath, Barnes and Noble, Guggenheim.

I loathe Macy's and with the exchange rate there are no "bargains" in New York.

But NYC is COLD at the moment. You want to do indoor stuff.

I went to the 9/11 museum a couple of weeks ago and there is no way I would take children to it. It is amazingly well done but so so so emotional and sad. Even the bits that weren’t roped off as particularly awful were very intense. I would really avoid it with kids.

Not rtft, but Juniors dinner for cheesecake (two very neat Times Square) yes to Broadway play of some sort.
Radio city music hall if the rockettes are dansing.
If interested in history check out which museums are more focused on the topic; First Nations have a museum, also Black History museum.
United Nations???

Of One World, TOTR and Empire State I would say TOTR every time. You have to prebook admission times which means no queuing and the views are better than the Empire State because you get the Empire State in it and a clear shot of Central Park. Agree with a PPs that you should go up just before sunset then you can see the light changing, the sun setting and the lights coming on.

Well I enjoyed the Guggenheim, Old Navy and Footlocker.
Would advise against Chinatown on a night, I was scared and I lived in some bad area's here.

Macy's is just like a House of Fraser - nothing exciting.

Do ESB first thing of 2nd day. The jet lag helps you here as you'll be awake from 4 am.

I'd definitely go to Katz's deli. And get pizza at Joe's Pizza. We went without realising it was famous.

Get off at Staten Island and walk to the main street for pizza. Think we went to this one? It felt really New York and the place the kids still talk about most.

The Empire State Building used to have some marvellous mosaics in the foyer of the 7 Wonders of the world.

Same basis: the roof of Grand Central.

If you are at the Natural History them Strawberry Fields is in the Park opposite the Dakota.

Agree about the Highline. Everything will be dead.

If your kids have micro scooters then collapse them and put them in the suitcases, scooting in Central Park is ace.

If you do go over to Brooklyn you'll get the best view of the Manhattan skyline from there.

Cheeseislife, great point about the South Street Seaport being an easier location for TKST show tickets, which reminds me that it's a great place to take younger kids too:

Things to do at South Street Seaport

ineedamoreadultieradult, see the link above. There's a great playground and other kid friendly activities there, and you can try that TKTS booth at the same visit.

I agree Macy's is like House of Fraser: unless you are looking for something specific you know you can get there, I would skip Macy's. Esp with kids. It is just a sprawling department store.

I would also skip Ellen's Stardust Diner unless you are big musical fans. The food is very touristy and I would want to make every meal count in NYC. But I am not a fan of musicals so possibly ignore me.

Make jet lag work in your favour: you will be up with the lark on day 2, so head out and go straight down to the Staten Island Ferry. It is a commuter line, so starts running far earlier than tourist boat trips. Do the ferry first when everything else is closed to maximize your time.

I would give the Zoo a swerve, too. It is the kind of place that - if you live in NYC - is great for kids but objectively it is not a great zoo. London Zoo knocks spots off it, for example.

I would add the Whitney Museum which is fabulous and right next to the High Line, so you can see it from true Museum if not walk along it!

Russ and Daughters for bagels is a must, Lombardi's for pizza, Grand Central for oysters. All iconic.

my DC were this age exactly when we went to NYC over the summer. Agree you will need to account for horrific immigration queues plus jetlag on day one, so I'd definitely take it easy.

I've just asked the DC what their best bits of the trip were, and they both agreed it was the Empire State Building, and John's Pizza. You can make the jet lag work in your favour as you'll probably all be up at the crack of dawn on day 2, which allows you to get up the Empire State with no queues.

They also really seemed to enjoyed Intrepid Air Sea and Space Museum. I personally love Ellis Island, the Met, and MOMA, but they're not really that child-orientated.

TBH my kids always like the bus and the subway :
Cloisters at the very top of Manhattan is a long bus ride but you really get to see the whole diversity of the city (free entry with an MMA ticket)

I'd skip Trump Tower; my top tips are Radio City Music Hall and Ellis Island

TheTurnOfTheScrew, brilliant point about

The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

My kids loved it, especially touring the submarine. It's great fun for kids that age. Lovely views there too.

911 museum good but Ellis Island brilliant you can see Statue of Liberty fantastic trip over and the museum is all about the settlers and slavery so is very interesting plus there is lots to see around the Island

Definitely the Met, Guggenheim, Museum of Modern Art.

Go to Juliana's for pizza (just over the Brooklyn Bridge). Highly rate Top of the Rock, my favourite part of NY was seeing a show on Broadway and going to see The Script at Radio City.

I would plan both indoor and outdoor activities. You may be lucky with the weather but it's more likely it will be quite cold. I would also not be too tied to an itinerary. Stay flexible and choose activities based on factors like weather, tiredness, jet lag, etc.

How about the Metropolitan Museum? You could prep the kids by having them read (or reading to them) the wonderful book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Your 10-year-old is at a perfect age to read it and your 7-year-old would probably enjoy it as a read-aloud book.

I would avoid any of the chain restaurants. They are fine but not really a New York experience. I love authentic NY delis and the great restaurants in Chinatown.

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time!

We also loved the Staten Island Ferry and The Intrepid.

Macy’s was dull. Exactly like a House of Fraser.

We liked the bus tours but it was very much dependent on the guide. We had one awful one but in the main they were great.

YY to Trump Tower if it's open. It's free to go in and just ride up and down the escalators. The walls have waterfalls and golden glass mirrors, very bling in a Saddam Hussain kind of way. We went in the spring and Teen DD thought it was a hoot. We didn't stop there for a coffee, not wanting to spend any money there.

Are your kids into Hamilton the musical at all? If so then the Alexander Hamilton United States Customs house is worth popping in. They have the armoured rooms where they kept the currency. Nearer Time Square somewhere, the Hamilton musical gift shop is nice if they want a tshirt and have spending money.

The Charging Bull statue and the fearless girl facing him down are worth a walk past if you are over at Wall Street and it's not freezing but don't make a special trip.

I thought the delis were expensive for breakfast but a bagel and a coffee at a bagel house was good value once we'd worked out what schmear was! We had lovely Japanese and Mexican food too.

Wear trainers or very comfy and warm shoes. So much walking. It's loud (sirens, car horns and people all day and all night), busy, grimy (especially the subway) but great fun. We felt like we were on the set of Ghostbusters all the time. Watch out on the pedestrian crossings as even when the man is green vehicles can turn into the road and surprise you

Also agree with PP about being prepared for immigration. We had to press our fingers on a fingerprint pad which was sticky/dirty. I don't usually use hand gel but wished I'd had some.

We had to take off shoes and belts to walk through security but then staff were shouting to collect bags and walk over to benches to dress so we had to shuffle along in socks clutching all our stuff. Not the end of the world but better to expect it. Try to go through all gates, security, checks Adult-child-child-adult so that you can't be separated from a child if there is a glitch.

Enjoy!