Tweak my NYC itinerary

[Julietandhercat]

Hello, can anyone who has been to NYC or is from there please refine my itinerary? We'll be travelling there in late May.

About us:
Late 30’s, from London, I’m a very light drinker, husband is a non drinker. Eat everything except pork.

1. We enjoy grazing on small eats so that we can experience lots of different flavours and variety. The only real restaurants that we want do are for the classic NYC steak experience, which is a bucket list item for us. Please give us your recommendations for great steak places.
2. Oh, and I also want to go somewhere for happy hour oysters, which I’ve heard are divine. Please feel free to suggest places that do this 😊
3. I also love thrift stores and anything quirky

Friday – stay near hotel, Renaissance Chelsea

• Get to hotel at around 2pm (after an 8 hour flight, having woken up at 6am, so we'll take it easy)
• Freshen up and head out at 3pm-ish
• Walk around, check out shops (buffalo exchange for example)
• Walk to Flatiron building
• Anything cool to eat around the area? Any recommendations for steakhouses? Bucket list item is to eat great steak in NYC. Is Wolfgang Steakhouse Park Avenue decent? Nothing set in stone to do on this afternoon/evening so happy for suggestions, what would you do that we won’t have covered below?

Saturday – Brooklyn

• Take the F line to York Street (Brooklyn).
• Wander around Brooklyn Flea Market
• Wander around Dumbo, photo op at Washington/Front Intersection
• Head to Timeout Market and explore, food and views from rooftop
• Wander through Brooklyn Bridge Park and through promenade
• Explore Brooklyn Heights, through Cobble Hill (Court Street and Smith Street) – any interesting shops/sights/food we should get/do here?
• Either head through Park Slope to Prospect Park OR head to Red Hook area and eat/drink/views at Strong Rope (which would you choose? Or is this whole bullet too ambitious and should we skip back to Brooklyn Bridge from here?)
• Back to Brooklyn Bridge, walk across bridge (iconic NYC bucket list item)
• Head to Pier 11, get Staten Island Ferry return to check out Statue of Liberty from the water (I'd rather do this that fit in Red Hook/Prospect Park above)
• Take South Ferry back to 23rd Street, walk back to hotel
• Either call it a day and relax or chill for a bit and head out again
• Options for going out – City Winery, a comedy club or jazz bar – any suggestions?

Sunday - UWS, Central Park, Met, East River Ferry

• Head to Zabars, pick up some food for a picnic (iconic NYC bucket list item, as strange as it may sound)
• Wander through Farmers market on W 79th St & Columbus Ave, more picnic food
• Check our Grand Bazaar
• Take food loot to Central Park – picnic on Great Lawn
• Find Bow Bridge, then wander to Bethesda, more wandering if we fancy it
• Head to The Met and wander round
• Drinks and views on The Met roof
• Walk to 92nd street, hopefully seeing pretty architecture on the way (any particular street or small food spots, like bagels or slices?), and take ferry to East 34 Street (doing this to get skyline view from the water, have heard it’s good)
• Wander back to hotel, either rest for the night or relax and head out somewhere later
• Late night options: comedy at Village Underground, Jazz at Smalls or Blue Note (any other suggestions?)

Monday – Village/Chelsea/Downtown day

• Walk to Chelsea Market, wander around (any recommendations for small eats?)
• Check out Pier 57 (any recommendations for small eats?)
• Walk to Magnolia bakery, banana pudding
• Check out general Bleecker Street area and side streets (SATC house, Friends house)
• Joes Pizza for a slice
• Mooch up to Washington Square Park, eat the slice on the grass and chill for a bit
• Check out Greenmarket at Union Square (is it worth doing this considering we'll have been to a few markets already in UWS?)
• Walk down to Strand Books
• Head to Yonah Schimmels for knish
• Katz deli for something to share
• Wander through Chinatown, get something small, maybe bubble tea (any small eat recommendations here?)
• If we didn’t get round to Staten Island ferry do it now, otherwise head back to hotel (take the R or W line from Canal Street station to 28 street)
• Chill and either stay in or head out later in the evening
• Any suggestions for what to do later locally?

Tuesday – Midtown day (have a chilled day as we’re flying out in the evening)

• Walk to Grand Central Station, eat at Veselka
• Check out view at SUMMIT
• New York Library and Bryant Park
• Either eat at Los Tacos 1, or head up to Gallaghers for steak (is Gallaghers a better option that Wolfgang Park Lane?)
• What else can we do in the area? Maybe a cool cinema?
• If we have time to kill, get some small eats (any recommendations please? cart food or bagels for example) and chill in Central Park.
• 5pm – get taxi to the airport

Agreed you've got it jam packed to the brim, but you'll get there and see what feels right... To answer your question, near Flatiron - I'd walk to The High line, it's about 15 mins and very nice.

Not a steak house but for small eats Eataly near the Flatiron building is lovely.

3 hours! That's awful. I was flirting with the idea of a ferry around the island but I won't book anything until we're well on our way to the hotel. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the Eataly recommendation, much appreciated 👍

One of the things I most enjoyed in New York was a helicopter tour. Have done it twice on different visits. I think the firm was called Big Apple - they offer various different routes. My favourite was seeing the Statue of Liberty from the air.

@AvocadoSurprise wow thats sounds stunning! I'll have to look into that 😍

Your Sat itinery looks v busy, Brooklyn is a good place to just wander about without a set plan. There are a few thrift stores all within walking distance if you google them.

The High Line is good for a morning or afternoon.

Finally, find time to visit St Patrick's Cathedral, it's very peaceful.

There are a few Wholefood stores which I like for a fresh snack/lunch while on the move.

You'll need another holiday to recover!

@Julietandhercat Sorry, I got that wrong - it was Liberty Helicopter Tours & I think Big Apple was the name of one of the tours we did.

Just because you're not Tour de France grade cyclists, don't discount the idea of biking it for an hour or two. We hired ours close to Central Park so we could cover more ground in the park. You could just walk the bike to the park and then freewheel once you're in.
Would definitely recommend the Tenement Museum. We did it the same day as the Ferry and Ellis Island. It all seemed to go together.

Brooklyn Bridge at dusk is very picturesque - and immensely popular.
Highline was fine for a bit of a stroll but personally I wouldn't set aside too much time for it.

Should be great - enjoy!

Years ago but I loved Ellis Island and learning about the influx of immigrants at the turn of the century.
We also spent a hour or so in the museum that's in the film Night at thr Museum (you could spend all day) and felt quite iconic at the time!

native new yorker and agree with this. The Met roof is lovely .

I agree with the tenement museum 1000% and also think the outmarkets are nothing special, especially since it’s mostly food and you will be eating in restaurants.

Joe's pizza is nice enough but doesn't compare to L'Industrie. Given the choice, I'd always opt for the latter over the former. There's one in Brooklyn and another in the West Village, about 10 mins walk from Washington Square Park.

We did this with Liberty and it was incredible. I sat in the front with the pilot ...he took us down to Coney Island. Very expensive but a great experience.

@polkadotgirl I hear that! When we get back I'm planning on having a good foot soak and vegging out on the sofa 😂

Thanks for the tip on just wandering around Brooklyn, we'll do that.

@Crankyaboutfood good to hear about the Met roof, we'll definitely spend some time up there.

Are there any other rooftops that you enjoy as a native?

@mikart @AvocadoSurprise I'll check the prices and see if we can swing it. I saw some tiktok of people doing it, views look insane 😍

I’ll second the horrendous wait times at passport control. We waited in line for two hours. It was awful.

@hopeishere oh no! We're planning on taking only hand luggage so at least when immigration is done we can be on our way.

Passport control takes so long that any hold baggage will be waiting for you once you're done anyway!

You can get lucky (I’ve had an empty C&I once or twice) but at the moment that’s not very likely…

https://www.striphouse.com/
I’ve eaten here a few times.

would second 9/11 memorial and third MoMa. Guggenheim is a stunning building. I love just walking around Soho. Enjoy!

Oh, sure, if you've never had a knish, Yonah Schimmel is the place to try. Russ & Daughters is a fun place that is particularly known for fish-things (e.g. smoked salmon), but all kind of other things, too, like candy. I sometimes buy glaceed apricots there. (Coincidentally, I'm re-reading the fun novel "Tepper's Not Going Out" which features Russ & Daughters.) They also have a cafe, but I haven't eaten there.

I previously mentioned that NYC has tons of "Best" lists, and that includes lists of best bagels. I basically haven't been dining out since covid, so I'm not sure I can be any help about favorites, but I'll give it some thought. I'm big on Chinatown, but my adored dumpling place was overrun by tourists posting on Yelp, and in the restaurant's struggle to keep up, they cut some corners, were caught by some contemptible Yelper, and closed down.

If you added up all the restaurants in NYC, I'm sure that the overwhelming majority would be "foreign" food, but the one type you might be curious about, which I don't see on your list, would be southern food. Or, now that I think about it, barbecue.

Since you mentioned the Met, I will in turn mention two things in particular. I really love the Temple of Dendur - and I suppose everyone does, and it's always crowded. But there is one wonderful niche in the Met which everyone has forgotten about. It's called the Lehman Wing. It's amazing, and it's always empty.

And I hope you don't mind my saying, I've never figured out why people want to go to parks in NYC. If you're just some tiny American farm town, okay. But there are such wonderful parks and gardens in Europe, it doesn't seem worth it in NYC.

Impressive agenda but some 'big hitters' not mentioned? I've been twice and loved it. I enjoyed a walk down Fifth Avenue/Madison Avenue. I went into Trump Tower (I can't stand the orange buffoon) but it was interesting to see how much one man loves himself! There was a camera crew outside and I nearly hung around but didn't, and apparently I missed the Great One. Not that I had any wish to see him, but it would have been a tale to bring home.

We were advised to go to the top of the Rockefeller centre after dark as your view would encompass the Empire State building. Unfortunately, it was closed when we went.

I know you are just taking hand luggage (impressive lol!) but aren't you going to do any shopping? I love Macy's best though Bloomingdale's is worth a visit too. And aren't you going to Times Square? It's busy and crazy and I definitely don't love it but it's worth a wander. You might like Century 21 or TJ Maxx - I didn't make it to either so I can't comment. There's two huge shopping outlets as well. I went to Woodbury Common my first time but deliberately avoided them last time!!

We found there was a lot of walking (maybe it was just our tour company!) to get to a bus that took us to the Staten Island ferry. I was mesmerised by Lady Liberty and we were fortunate to see her on a lovely sunny day. The trip on the Hudson is a delight and you see so many monuments from out on the water including the 9/11 memorial. I want to go there on my next visit!

I don't remember half of the places we ate in but we did eat in our hotel (Fitzpatrick's) a couple of evenings as my DH was there on business and it was only me who was there for pleasure!

I really enjoyed the hop on hop off bus tour because it gave me an overview of all the sights, like Wall Street and its bull, and all the districts, so that I knew where I wanted to go back to.

I know it's a bit of a cliche but Starbucks has an amazing Roasterie near the Empire State Building. It's over several floors and it has a bar! I collect Starbucks mugs and was delighted to buy the ESB one as a memento.

Oh and if you have room in your luggage (tbh I'd buy a case and check it on!) there is the fabulous Bath and Body Works store on Madison Avenue who do the most amazing smelling candles, and body products.

There's so much to see and do that you will never accomplish it in one trip, or two or probably even three or more! Enjoy! I want to go back!

Oh yes to Bath and Body Works! They usually have a massive sale the last weekend in May/first weekend in June. In fact, I timed my trip last year so that we wouldnt miss it!

Take a suitcase OP, or buy one when you're there!

@MsAmerica thanks for the info on Russ & Daughters - I've added it to the itinerary.

I didn't really think about Southern Food or barbecue, although I'm not opposed to I. We went to New Orleans last year so I got my fill of lots of different southerny type foods that were on my list, and we're not done with the South so that sort of why I guess it didn't occur to me for NYC. I'd love to drive through the south at some point.

On the park front, I've added Central Park as everyone says it's a must do, and for our first visit it makes sense. It's also in between Zabars, which I really want to visit, and The Met, so it just fits in nicely to that day. We might not do more than picnic in it and then wander through The Met, or we might explore some more.