If you're a first-time visitor and you'd like a blueprint with which to begin planning your time, consider the following game plan.
Day 1-- Start your day off just like the city itself did: At Manhattan's southern tip, New York's oldest and most historic precincts. Leave early to catch the morning's first ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This will occupy your morning.
Once you're back on the mainland, if you didn't arrange for tickets before you left home, pop over to the new downtown TKTS booth at Bowling Green Park (the line is usually shorter here than it is at the Times Sq. location) to pick up some discounted tickets for a Broadway or Off-Broadway show (something's always available for the evening or for tomorrow afternoon if you prefer a matinee).
By then, you're sure to need lunch, if you haven't succumbed to your hunger already. If you're in the mood for a leisurely meal, consider dining at the Fraunces Tavern Museum, just like George Washington did way back in 1783. (If a sit-down lunch is a more involved endeavor than you'd like, the gourmet cafeteria Mangia is a great place to rub elbows with Wall Street bulls and bears.)
Afterwards, you might want to visit the Wall of Heroes surrounding Ground Zero. You can also pay your respects to the victims of the World Trade Center attack in beautiful waterfront Battery Park, where the bronze sphere that once stood on the World Trade Center plaza between the Twin Towers now stands, bearing its war wounds, as a temporary memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack until a permanent one can be erected.
Or hop the subway over to Brooklyn (the A/C line will whisk you from Lower Manhattan over to the High St. stop in minutes) and stroll back to the 212 area code over the gloriously Gothic Brooklyn Bridge, which offers my favorite view of the Manhattan skyline.
Or, if you prefer, use the time to enjoy one of Lower Manhattan's many historic or cultural attractions, such as the insightful and moving Museum of Jewish Heritage -- a Living Memorial to the Holocaust; surprisingly diminutive Wall Street; or the National Museum of the American Indian, housed in the stunning, Cass Gilbert-designed 1907 beaux arts U.S. Customs House, which is worth a visit for the architecture alone.
Head back to your hotel to freshen up so you can enjoy a leisurely dinner at one of the city's hundreds of fantastic restaurants, see a Broadway show, or stop at a club for some dancing or just to listen to some jazz.
Day 2-- Spend the bulk of your day at one of the big museums: Either the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the American Museum of Natural History. Both of these museums can easily fill a week of browsing, so you might want to begin with a Highlights Tour. Don't miss the terrific, Harrison Ford-narrated Space Show at the Natural History Museum's Rose Center for Earth and Space.
After you've had enough of the museum (you'll give out before you exhaust these collections), head into bucolic Central Park to see some of its many highlights; both museums sit right on its fringe.You've worked up a big appetite with all that walking so again plan for another special dinner followed by the nightlife of your choice; the options are limitless.
Day 3-- Start your morning with the 3-hour Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise, which circumnavigates Manhattan and offers a fascinating perspective on the island. Spend the afternoon exploring one or two of the city's downtown neighborhoods -- perhaps the cast-iron canyons of SoHo (bring your credit card, shoppers!), the winding 19th-century streets of Greenwich Village, or exotic Chinatown. Walk the prime thoroughfares, poke your head into shops, or park yourself at a street-side cafe and just watch the world go by. If you prefer to have a knowledgeable guide as you explore, schedule a guided walking tour.
Stay downtown for the evening, catching dinner in a stylish (or authentically old-world) restaurant and following up with a trip to a cutting-edge dance club, or a hipper-than-thou cocktail lounge. Or, if you've had enough of downtown, head back to your hotel and freshen up, then head uptown for dinner; maybe some down-home cooking in Harlem and some jazz at Smoke.
Day 4-- Head to Rockefeller Center early to start your day with Matt and Katie outside the Today studio or to score standby tickets for Conan O'Brien's late-night talkfest. Then make your way to the Empire State Building to see the view from the 86th-floor observation deck of New York's tallest building and ultimate landmark skyscraper.
Once you're done, head to Grand Central Terminal (the walk is a pleasant one on a nice day) to admire that marvelous beaux arts monument to modern transportation and have lunch. You can cut into a prime cut of beef at Michael Jordan's-The Steak House; enjoy first-rate seafood at the legendary, old-world Oyster Bar & Restaurant; or plunder the terrific subterranean food concourse, with both sit-down and casual, find-a-table options.
Spend the afternoon browsing one or two of the Big Apple's brilliant smaller museums -- maybe the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, the Frick Collection, or the Whitney. Or, if you prefer, use the afternoon to exercise your credit line and shop!
Enjoy another evening at the theater, or catch a performance at Lincoln Center or one of the city's other terrific performing-arts institutions; the Brooklyn Academy of Music makes an excellent choice for those looking for a left-of-center cultural experience. Or, if it's a lovely summer evening, consider catching a baseball game; either the Yankees or the Mets are likely to be in residence (sometimes both), and seats, though no longer cheap, aren't usually hard to score.
Day 5-- Use the morning to explore one of the major attractions you've missed thus far. If you spent day 2 at the Met, spend today at the American Museum of Natural History. Or go see Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Guggenheim Museum. Tour the nerve center of international relations, the United Nations. Or, if you haven't seen Central Park yet, go now; you cannot leave New York without visiting it.
After lunch, take stock: What haven't you done yet that you don't want to miss? What did you do that you want to do more of? Perhaps a bit more shopping, or a visit to a museum that focuses on your interests, such as the International Center of Photography, the American Craft Museum, Museum of Television & Radio, or the new, titillating Museum of Sex. You're becoming a pro at exploring the city by now, so take the bull by the horns and make the most of your afternoon.
In the evening, celebrate the end of a great vacation with some live music. A night of jazz at the legendary Village Vanguard or some reggae or samba at S.O.B'S, makes a very festive close, as does a night of laughs at one of the city's legendary comedy clubs, such as Carolines or the Comedy Cellar. Or, for the ultimate in New York elegance, dress to the nines and opt for a night of champagne and cabaret at the venerable Cafe Carlyle or Oak Room, or a newer landmark-in-the-making, Feinstein's at the Regency.
If you're the party type instead, don your glad rags and dance the night away at one of the city's outrageous club scenes: Centro-Fly is techno-chic; Vinyl is a pretension-free zone; Latin lovers can kick up their heels at zesty Suba; while baby boomers might shake their groove thangs at Decade. No matter what you choose, make it a New York night to remember!
