Okay in the future kids and I are wanting to go to NYC

Yes, Serendipity is a well known dessert place (there’s a movie of the same name set there). Another one is Max Brenner’s, a chocolate themed restaurant. It’s right across the street from The Strand bookstore (also in a lot of movies—I think Netflix had a Christmas movie set there) and Forbidden Planet, a comic book store. We have to hit those three every time we’re in town—my kids love the hot chocolate at Max’s.

Pick up a copy of Time Out New York when you arrive. This will give you the list of events in NYC. I would do the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island together. The next day go to the Lower Eastside Tenement House Museum (one of my favorite museums in the world & I’ve literally been to over 1,000 museums). Since you’re on the east side you could then go to Serendipity for their frozen hot chocolate. I think the food there is terrible, but the frozen hot chocolate is big enough to be a meal. It is to die for.

I’d also plan on eating in Chinatown & Little Italy. The Farmers Market at Washington Square is fun & a great place to people watch.

Other places to consider are South Street Seaport, St John the Divine, St Patrick’s, the behind the scenes tour at Radio City Music Hall. If you love Art Deco you’ll love Radio City. There’s more museums than you can see, so take your pick.

Central Park is the obvious choice, but my favorite park is Fort Tryon on the northern tip of Manhattan. There’s a stop on the A train right outside the park. It’s beautiful with paved walking paths, gorgeous views of the Hudson River & George Washington Bridge. The Met has their Renaissance collection at the Cloisters in Fort Tryon. It’s so much nicer than the Met downtown. There’s also a nice restaurant in the park.

While you’re up there, You could walk across the George Washington but I’d do the Brooklyn Bridge instead. Unless you’re a Lin-Manuel Miranda fan. Then do the GWB & eat lunch or dinner in one of the restaurants on 181st street in Washington Heights. His movie “In the Heights” will be out in early June. There are also Hamilton tours if you’re into that.

Consider getting your Broadway tickets at a TKTS booth to get 1/2 price tickets. If you want to see a particular show buy ahead & have a stiff drink or two before you look at the prices. This is NYC so any show you see will have some of the best actors you will ever see.

Hope this helps. Havfred

On my NYC bucket list....

Horse drawn Carriage Ride Central Park
Carousel Horse ride Central Park
World Trade Center Memorial
Dessert at Serendipity
Times Square Statue of Liberty

Side trip to Coney Island 

I am not sure if they still do this, but years ago when we visited the World Trade Center Memorial, I was able to book our tour with someone who had first hand, in person experience with the bombing. Our main tour guide's daughter was working in one of the buildings next to the twin towers when they went down and she talked about that. And then there was a woman who was on her first day as a guide. She didn't say a word through the whole tour until the main guide ask her if she would like to speak. It turns out she was in one of the towers and helped to bring down a man who couldn't manuever the stairs on his own and was honored for her bravery. We were all in shock and it brought everyone to tears. It made the tour so much more personal.

Also I had that most of the good Italian restaurants have left Little Italy and moved to Brooklyn. I would walk across the Brooklyn Bridge too. And I think there is supposed to be a really good pizzeria on the other side.

I agree, and definitely order cheesecake for dessert!  Many flavors, hard to choose - I think the plain NY cheesecake is the best, although the others are very good also!  

We were in NYC several years ago (before Covid) and our hotel was right across the street from Juniors in Manhattan - after tasting Junior's cheesecake, I quit ordering dessert at any other restaurant and picked up cheesecake on our way back into the hotel!  

Because tickets were hard to get for Statue of Liberty tours, we opted to ride the Staten Island ferry to see it. The ferry is free and goes quite near the statue on its route. When we got to Staten Island, we got right back on the ferry and returned to Manhattan. I think it's 30 min each way.

I also recommend watching a YouTube video on how to navigate the subway system. Figuring out "uptown" v. "downtown" before you're standing on a crowded street is really helpful. It's an excellent way to get around the city but as a suburbanite, I was intimidated.

I have too many opinions to put here, but skip Serendipity. It's expensive and a tourist trap and the food isn't good.

Use Today Tix for Broaday tickets - good discounts, good shows. Beg your son to go with you - Broadway is going to need all the support it can get!

I used to visit NY a 3-4 times a year for work. I miss those days. I no longer work for that employer. One of my last trips extended over a weekend and a friend came with me for the weekend portion.

We did a full day tour with On Board Tours. It was a great way to get in a lot of the spots you mentioned and have someone else lead the way. Ours included a visit to the Statue of Liberty and a climb to the top. We had a brief stop at Ellis Island and I wish that portion was longer.

We did the 9-11 Memorial Tour. I highly recommend picking a time when they first open, so you have more space to wander without larger crowds. We went at 11:00 am and I wish we would have done 9:00 am. Some of the exhibits are in smaller "rooms" and it was hard to take them all in shoulder to shoulder. It's super emotional, so we headed to Chelsea market for shopping and lunch after.

Look into the Tenement Museum tours. Like the Memorial, they are down in the Financial District. You could do the Memorial in the morning, grab lunch at Hudson Eats (upscale food court just a couple blocks from the Memorial). Stroll around Brookfield Place and gawk at all the upscale shops. And do a Tenement Museum tour after.

We took in a show each night...love them.

My favorite restaurants that I would visit trip after trip were Boqueria (tapas) and Distilled. For Italian, I liked Crispos. It's been three years since my last trip there...no idea how or if these guys have survived with the Pandemic.

Occasionally on a work trip, if there were folks from out of town, someone would want to go to Little Italy to eat. There was never a New Yorker who wanted to go. I've eaten at three different restaurants there and never been impressed. It is very pretty during the holidays.

Dh took dd for once for a work trip and they ate at Serendipity and Max Brenner's...neither were impressed. I prefer Eileen's Cheesecake to Juniors. Big Gay Ice cream is also one of our favorites and they have a couple locations too.

Yes, and if you stand on a crowded street for even a second to get your bearings, someone is going to yell at you. 😂

But the subway is definitely the way to get around. Uber or a cab will often take much longer.

Just know that hotels have small rooms and are pricey. I have been twice and we stayed in Manhattan both times. Have had friends that stay in Jersey and come in every day. The last trip was my sister, myself and my 2 daughters. We stayed at a Hampton Inn which had 2 queen beds and breakfast buffet and traveled Thur to Mon. One of my DDs had not been, my sister and I had been once and other DD multiple times. Each of us picked an activity that we wanted to do with no whining from the others We filled in the other days from there. We love NYC!!!

We did a Broadway show, Top of the Rock, Harbor Cruise, concert at Radio City Music Hall, Coney Island, Flea market in Brooklyn, Museum of Natural History afterwards we walked into a street market, Macy's shopping,  Mood Fabric Store (they found a Kmart nearby). Times Square walk through at night.  We had also scored tickets to the Jimmy Fallon Show about a week before we went - it took all afternoon, but was so much fun.  

I would probably stay in mid town.
I love walking through the park, exploring it, and then walk along the upper east or west side...seeing all the beautiful fancy buildings, walking along 5th Ave, eating good food, taking a ferry etc. I remember walking from the upper east side down to the statue of liberty and buying food from the vendors (probably a hot dog or pretzel lol) and watching the street performers/acrobats, it took all day and was just such a perfect day.
I personally would *not* stay in Times Square.

edited: eating outside at all the cute restaurants that line the sidewalks and at a cute italian place - plus splurging on a fancy only in NYC price restaurant were highlights. I remember having dinner reservations at some place which was THE place to eat (like 20 years ago lol) and our reservations were for midnight! that same night I actually bumped into Donald Trump as he made his way up to the 'Private room'. 

One of the ferries is free and takes you right by the Statue of Liberty if you don’t feel the need to go up inside.
Maybe it’s the Staten Island Ferry?