Big Applesauce
For surreallifehero. Here are my suggestions, mostly in Manhattan. I don't know much about cheap and/or hip things going on or whatever, but I hope this is helpful. I'm also sorry I don't know much about cool, unique places, but I'm still a tourist there, if a very frequent one. Feel free to pick and choose what's the most interesting to you. And I would be free to/love to go/see any of these with you, so let me know. ;) Good luck! And, since I realized from this, I actually don't know much about New York/I forget everything really quickly, this website will be your best friend: http://nymag.com/
EXPLORE
- Grand Central Station Its a gorgeous area and a lovely cross between a mall and train station. Sadly you'll miss the annual Christmas craft fair, however, many of the permanent shops can be enjoyable to browse as well. The food court here is excellent; my personal favorite is Two Boots pizza, Cajun-Italian cuisine.
The website provides an, in my opinion, excellent suggestion of a walking tour, but there are also detailed audio tours for less than ten dollars.
- The Public Library A famous landmark, with it's distinctive lion guardians, this is a couple blocks from GCT and right behind is scenic Bryant Park (although, I think do the season the events will be limited). The library is a great place full of all any sort of knowledge you could ever think of: from the Indiana censuses to Japanese prints to historic Bibles to an encyclopedia of famous Scotsman. Sometimes has temporary exhibits and tours are free.
- Wall Street You can probably guess why.
- The Strand I know you like books and they have a huge collection of cheap ones, if you're looking to pick up something interesting. If you want to buy books at full price, I'd reccomend the Union Square Barnes and Noble, because it is HUGE, has a lot of good areas for sitting and a cool cafe and is positioned right off of one of the greatest hubs of activity in the city.
- Forbidden Planet I know it's a chain store, but it's like geek heaven and there's bound to be lots of Doctor Who stuff, even if a lot would be only to look at. Right around the corner from the Strand.
-Chinatown Always culturally fascinating and really cool place to stroll, specifically Canal Street. Importantly it's LARGE and almost eats up little Italy (although I think Japan is, like, a block). If you want more specific on what to look at/where to go I can email my Aunt who teaches Chinese and Chinese history at New York University.
- Battery Park Great views of the harbor and if you want to do an anthropological study. Usually are a lot of tourists and the paraphenalia vendors that follow them as this is the spot where the ferry takes off to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island which are both good sees, but if you don't want to pay to do that you can still see them from afar. There are usually caricature artists and street performers too, but there numbers might dwindle with the cold, so no promises.
- Chelsea Market FOOD!
- Central Park Including from all the huge borders and glacial striations this is a great place to walk around (or bike or roller skate . . .) and there'll probably be some cool street musicians and there are lots of statues (my personal favorite is the huge, bronze illustration of Alice in Wonderland). Other nice spots wihtin are Belvedere Castle, Turtle Pond, the bandstand and the Lake, as well as the spots of lots of famous movie scenes.
- The High Line An old, refurbished railway line, now a long walkway above the city it is best experienced in summer, but the views still remain. Also, notable for ending near the edge of the chic meatpacking district, which is close to Soho.
- To sum it up, just WALK A LOT and you'll find lots of cool things.
MUSEUMS You'd have to explore the websites to see if they have current exhibits you're interested in, tours and when special presentations might be, but these are the ones I like/frequent the most, in no particular order.
9/11 Memorial (free, ticket reservation required)
New York Transit Museum ($7) - Trains, lots and lots of trains.
Natural History Museum ($19 + special exhibit/show prices) - My absolute favorite, but it might jsut be childhood nostalgia kicking in from before I cared about art. Probably has more rocks than central park in several geology exhibits, as well as halls devoted to dinosaurs, wildlife dioramas, human evolution and the Hayden Planetarium. And those are just the permanent exhibits!
Museum of the City of New York ($10) and New York Historical Society ($15) - Separate museums which present the history of New York, on various topics. MCNY is cheaper, because it is smaller and offers less. Good for if you want to be in smaller galleries, with only a couple other visitors.
Guggenheim Museum ($10) - Usually has one temporary exhibit by a single artist. The unique Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, however, is also a big draw.
Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Cloisters ($25 joint ticket and includes special exhibitions) My second favorite, probably because of all the history you learn here too. There are statues, paintings and ephemera from Ancient Egypt (pyramid replicas) to the English Middle Ages (suits of armor and carriages) to Renaissance Italy as well as art from India, Africa, Japan, Americas, Middle East and China. The Cloisters and Gardens are in a different location and are a serene collection of medieval art and architecture.
Museum of Modern Art ($25 at door, $22.50 online) They have EVERY type of thing. I don't know much about Modern Art, so I can't really describe it, but there's always something interesting to look at here.
Museum of the Moving Image ($12) My third favorite, only because I just discovered it a couple years ago and haven't been going near biannually for my whole life, as I do the other two. Great fun, all about movies and tv: editing, camerawork, music, modeling, as well as many artifacts and has a lot of hands on activities. It also has free tours and demonstrations on the weekends.
Bronx Zoo ($15) Like the AMNH, holds a special place in my heart for all the times I've visited this awesome place in my childhood. It doesn't really count as a museum, so I didn't order it in my favorites, but it definitely deserves a mention. It is the largest zoo in the nation over 4,000 animals in recreations of all the earth's biomes.
There are, of course, a plethora of other and some smaller art museums/galleries and any ethnic group/demographic you can think of has their own center or museum as well.
There is also lots of beautiful places of worship to explore for tradition and architecture, the most famous of which is St. Patrick's Cathedral (for it's architec, but if you ever wanted to see/experience other worship experiences or appreciate some awesome architecture you can find a place to do so in New York.
OTHER NOTES:
- If you are willing to put in the line standing in Times Square TKTS booth is a service which can offer day of Broadway/Off-Broadway tickets up to 50% off.
- A lot of independent film houses show movies other than the usual mainstream fare, which you could browse their showing lists to see if anything suits you. My personal favorite is the on the larger side Walter Reade Theater, right across from the Metropolitan Opera house.
- For a lot of the museums, if you have a school ID, you might qualify for a downgraded student ticket (usually around five dollars less).