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Amy's NYC Things to Do

Amy from MA

Its so heartening to hear of people planning to visit New York sometime. We go there several times a year to visit family, and try to enjoy the city in between family commitments. Here's a short list of websites of NY museums and attractions. I'm going to start with Uptown, and will get to Downtown another day. This listing is only a tiny fraction of the great things to do in New York. David, I'm sure you have lots to add to this!

In General - Walk around, and explore!

Get a Metro Card (at subway entrances there are machines) and take the buses and subways. Taxis can be fine, although the NY taxi drivers can rival the Italians.

NY Transit info - maps, etc. www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/subway/

Links for General Tourism Information

www.nyctourism.com: NYC Tourism

www.allny.com/tours.html: All NY- all sorts of listings- theatre, events, music, shopping, restaurants, etc.

www.nyc.worldweb.com: NYC Web Travel Guide- Lots of Links

Uptown Things to Do

Central Park: www.centralparknyc.org
These days its beautifully maintained, safe, and a lovely way to experience New York life. Playgrounds, people-watching, running/biking/rollerblading, two zoos, rock climbing, statue spotting, etc. My kids always beg to rent one of the radio-controlled boats at the model boat pond at East 74th. ($10 per hour, the rental guy generally arrives after 11). Lots of walks, tours and special events- check out the website for details.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: www.metmuseum.org
Huge collections. Don't expect to get through it in one day. My kids particularly enjoy the Egyptian rooms (Temple of Dendur alone is worth the trip), armor exhibits, and the period rooms in the American Decorative Arts collection (Don't miss the Frank Lloyd Wright living room and the Tiffany glass). The African art, Islamic art, European collections also incredible.

Museum of Natural History: www.amnh.org
Dinosour rooms, outstanding; and the new Planetarium is wonderful! Get your Planetarium tickets ahead of time to avoid the weekend lines. There are many, many restaurants in the area if you want to avoid the meseum cafes.

The Jewish Museum: www.thejewishmuseum.org
Beautiful collections of artifacts and exhibits on culture, traditions and daily life from ancient times through the present. Really, really special place.

Guggenheim Museum: www.guggenheim.org/new_york_index.html
My kids call it the Giant Ramp. Changing exhibits of modern art inside an astonishing Frank Lloyd Wright building.

The Cloisters: www.metmuseum.org/collections/department.asp?dep=7
The building itself was constructed from parts of medieval cloisters, and contains some of the best european medieval pieces (including Unicorn tapestries)from the Met's collections. Way uptown in Fort Tryon Park. Take the A train, or the M-4 bus.

Museum of Modern Art: www.moma.org

The American Craft Museum: www.fieldtrip.com/ny/29563535.htm
One of my favorites. Not really suitable for young kids. Across the street from MOMA.

Cooper-Hewitt Museum of American Design: www.si.edu/ndm/
Part of the Smithsoniun. Small, lovely place a block from the Guggenheim and Jewish Museum.

Folk Art Museum: www.folkartmuseum.org
Right across from Lincoln Center.

Whitney Museum: www.whitney.org

The Intrepid: www.intrepidmuseum.org
Go aboard. Little boy heaven.

Children's Museum of Manhattan: www.cmom.org
Super, interactive exhibits for kids under 10.

Sony Wonder Technology Lab: www.sonywondertechlab.com
A great rainy day place for older kids. Interactive exhibits about technology. Get a reservation, or go early in the day to get tickets.

Lincoln Center: www.lincolncenter.org
Tickets generally need to be booked in advance. Click on "event calendar" to see what's up.

Brooklyn Things to Do

Brooklyn Bird Club: www.brooklynbirdclub.org
Janet, a regular on our message board, runs this birding web site. Go birding in Brooklyn!

Music - Blues

These are the bigger clubs that often have Blues performers. I've seen BB King at Blue Note. Also regular Blues nights at the smaller clubs. You can check the Village Voice newspaper listings. There are several excellent local radio stations that have Blues segments and list who's playing where - the Columbia University station, and also a public radio station in Newark.

Blue Note, 131 West 3rd Street, (212) 475-8592

Fat Tuesday's, 190 Third Avenue, (212) 533-7902

Knitting Factory, 47 East Houston Street, (212) 219-3055

Village Vanguard, 178 7th Avenue (@ 11th Street), (212) 255-4037

Check these out:

www.nybluessociety.org

members.macconnect.com/users/e/edwick/nyc_blues_dates.html