If you're looking for the best restaurants in NYC and quintessential tree lined streets, SoHo and the West Village are where you want to be. If you happen to be staying at one of our hotel blocks - these areas are located just a short walk away! If you like stand up comedy, we recommend catching a show at the Comedy Cellar while you’re in town. It’s not uncommon for big names like Seinfeld, Chappelle, Amy Schumer (and others!) to pop in unannounced. Reserve your seats ahead of time - we like the MacDougal Street location. A favorite bar of Sarah's in West Village is Marie's Crisis. It's a small piano bar that plays strictly Broadway Showtunes! Drinks are cheap (to NYC standards) and it's cash only. To name all of our bars and restaurants in the area would be tough - there are just so many! We’re confident you will find a great place to settle in for a meal by just walking around. SoHo offers some great shopping as well!
This is where we live and met! The East Village is a fun and lively area for dive bars and great casual food, including many vegan options. There are tons of fun bars with live music and laid back vibes. Similar to West Village, there are so many great restaurants and bars in the area we love that listing them all would be impossible, but to name a few.. The best dive bar in the city (and where we met!!) is Doc Holiday’s located on Avenue A near 9th St. Hermana on E 13th St. is a tequila bar that has live jazz every night and it's some of the best we've ever heard!
Just east of South of East Village and East of Soho is the Lower East Side, which has plenty of things to see and do! Katz Deli located on the corner of Houston & Ludlow St is a NYC institution. If you like pastrami it's a must try if you're visiting the city, but be ready for potential long lines on the weekends. Not far from Katz's is the Tenement Museum. If you have the time and an interest in history, we'd recommend checking it out. The Tenement Museum is located in a preserved 1863 tenement building. The museum brings to life the stories of the immigrants that lived in these buildings in the lower east side in the 19th & 20th Century. One of our most favorite activities in the city is just walking around Little Italy and Chinatown. Take a walk down Mulberry Street to see the heart of Little Italy. Chinatown expands a bit further across LES - we recommend checking out some of the small side streets like Doyers St & Pell St.
The Upper East Side has some of the best museums in the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), the Guggenheim, the Jewish Museum and more! If you like art museums and have already checked out the major stops, we’d recommend visiting the Neue Galerie, located on Fifth Ave & E 86th St. Currently on exhibit are some significant works by Gustav Klimt including Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, the focus of the movie Woman in Gold.
Central Park and the Upper West Side are some of the most beautiful parts of NYC! We recommend renting bikes or just walking through park and exploring. There's a ton to explore in the park a few of our favorite spots are - the Bethesda Terrace & Fountain, Belvedere Castle, the Jackie O Water Reservoir, and Strawberry Fields (John Lennon Memorial). In the Upper West Side, just across from the park is the Museum of Natural History. Reservations in advanced are required for timed entry admission so you will need to plan ahead and reserve your tickets on the museum's site - amnh.org .
A popular activity for both tourists and locals, is to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge from the city. If you cross over into Brooklyn, consider grabbing some pizza at Grimaldis or Julianas - but be prepared there may be long lines, especially if the weather is great! Brooklyn Bridge Park is just next to the bridge and provides a beautiful view of the city and is a great place for a picnic. If you're with kids, stop by Jane's Carousel in Dumbo, which is just in between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and is another spot for spectacular city views.
Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line is a car-free walkway with gardens, art and architecture. It starts in Chelsea and goes through the Meatpacking District and ends (or begins depending on which direction you're coming from!) at Hudson Yards. Some of our favorite things to check out along the way: - Chelsea Market - Whitney Museum of Art - Little Island - The Standard Biergarten - Hudson Yards Another thing to check out in Chelsea if you're a fan of contemporary art, is the Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure exhibition taking place at the Starrett-Lehigh Building. The exhibition is going on now through the end of October and features hundreds of pieces of Basquiat art, many of which have never been seen before.
Grand Central is by far the most beautiful train station in the City and is a popular tourist destination - we would recommend going outside of commuting hours to avoid major crowds. Bonus: grab a drink at The Campbell Bar located in Grand Central. The bar is often known as the 'Campbell Apartment' and was once the private office of a wealthy Financier in the 1920s. From Grand Central it's an easy walk over to Rockefeller Center where you can enjoy 5th Ave. shopping and some historic theater landmarks.