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[pwhodges]

I'll be in New York with my wife (and at times my son) for a week from Thursday; briefly (it's only a week) what do I need to know/see/experience/miss?  Our base is a hotel just by the Carnegie Hall.

[Lines]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park. Those were my two favorite things.

[Ptommydski]

Got your ESTA?

With the near miss bombing in NY, they will be really tight on security.

[pwhodges]

You mean the Visa Waiver?  Yes - though my son says it makes little difference.

[Ptommydski]

Here is the official ESTA site. For about 90% of people they won't even ask for it. Unfortunately on occasion they decide you actually do need it after all and I've known people rejected for not applying. It's happened to some of my colleagues. I always get it because it's not worth the risk. Especially when they've raised the security level.

[Metope]

The Cloisters is pretty great, it's a museum devoted to medieval European art and architecture at the top of Manhattan. It's basically a giant building put together by a bunch of smaller cloister parts from different places in the medieval Europe, sounds weird but it works remarkably well as a whole. The collection of art is just amazing as well, they have a treasury filled with small icons, jewelry and a whole bunch of various religious items that are just breathtaking to look at. The whole thing is a project by Rockefeller who not only donated a whole bunch of items (including the cloister buildings themselves, which he got shipped from Europe), but he also bought up the entire property and all properties surrounding it, so that you wouldn't be able to see any of the Manhattan skyscrapers from anywhere in the Cloister area. I was there in winter which was amazing enough, but I can imagine it's even prettier now that it's spring and everything is in bloom. Oh, and the cloister itself has an awesome courtyard filled with all kinds of herbs that medieval monks and nuns used to grow, if you're interested in that.

The Frick Collection is also amazing, and you can't really miss the Whitney Biennial.

[Metope]

Oh, and the Cloisters is also a branch of the Metropolitan, so if you go to the Cloisters the day after the Met (or the other way around) the ticket from the previous day is still valid!

[Ballard]

Throw in the Guggenheim and you've covered essential art.

Enter Central Park at Columbus Circle (59th st. and Broadway) and take a walk through it on a sunny day. The effect is beautiful.

Don't go to Times Square unless giant billboards really get you hot. It's a dirty, flashy tourist trap with no redeemable qualities.

If you tell me what kind of food you like, I can recommend you some killer restaurants/cafes/dives.

[Metope]

Throw in the Guggenheim and you've covered essential art.

Not yet, no one's mentioned MoMA.

Visit MoMA.

[Katherine]

Bring a raincoat.  It is supposed to rain Saturday.

[jhocking]

I preferred sitting in the garden next to the Natural History Museum rather than hanging out in Central Park, mostly because then you get to wander around the Upper West side. Also, Sarabeth's was just a couple blocks directly west of the museum, and that's my favorite breakfast place in NYC.

[Ballard]

Favorite breakfast/brunch spot has to be Bubby's in TriBeCa.

You can smell the bacon from a block away.

[Lines]

Throw in the Guggenheim and you've covered essential art.

Not yet, no one's mentioned MoMA.

Visit MoMA.

MoMA was pretty sweet. And sometimes it's free! The line was long, but it was worth the wait. Also I think the Guggenheim has times when it was free, too.

And just because it was a Thing to do, I went to Times Square one night just to see it. My favorite part was the giant ferris wheel in Toys R Us. That's my whole opinion on Times Square. (Basically hey, it's a lot of lights! But the ferris wheel was way more awesome to look at.)

[Ballard]

Imagine the loglo in Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk sprawl. Now imagine it half as cool.

You no longer have to visit Times Square.

[pwhodges]

If you tell me what kind of food you like, I can recommend you some killer restaurants/cafes/dives.

I like just about anything; but I have to restrict myself a bit these days, so I avoid things that are too heavily meat-based, like burgers etc.  I'm partial to all sorts of fish - though I react to some shellfish, sadly.  Western Chinese food is often too salty; and has never approached the food we had in rural China, anyway.  My wife has to avoid food that is too strongly spicey, so we prefer, say, Thai to Indian, and probably avoid Mexican.

[Boro_Bandito]

just compromise and go to Max Brenner's and eat more chocolate than you should.