In case you get stir crazy: a few of our favorite holiday break NYC adventures
No one loves the holiday season more than us, but after the family-feasts-and-presents part of the next couple of weeks are done, it feels like there's still lots and lots of time to fill, especially if you have children. The good news: you live in New York City, where there's always a million ways to have fun, including these few ideas that have amused and entertained and satisfied us and ours over years. Remember, though, that EVERYBODY in town is on vacation, AND the city is flooded with tourists. Expect lines and crowds and sell outs everywhere you go.
Lower East Side: Well-done history, excellently-done food
For something with a little educational value, go on one of the terrific tours of old New York at The Lower East Side's Tenement Museum. Located on historic Orchard Street, the Museum is a meticulously recreated early-20th-century tenement that shows you what life was like for the millions of immigrants who passed through this vibrant, teeming neighborhood. We've taken the Confino Family Living History tour a couple of times with our children over the years-it's the one in which "costumed interpreter" Victoria Confino, Sephardic Jewish teenage immigrant, shows you around her apartment, circa 1916--and both times were impressed and delighted by Victoria and the incredible details of her cramped-but-clean home.
Afterwards, there are lots of great places to grab a quick bite in the area, of course, from Katz's traditional Jewish deli, to the ramen shop Noodle Bar, to Tiny's Giant for excellent, inexpensive hot sandwiches, to Schiller's Liquor Bar, home of our favorite New York City version of our favorite dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding. And with kids or without, no trip to the neighborhood is complete without a visit to Economy Candy, packed floor to ceiling with sweet treats, and specializing in hard-to-find "nostalgic" candies like Razzles, Black Jack gum, Pop Rocks, Zotz, Mallo Cups and Sky Bars.
Midtown: Heights and sights (and, of course, food)
It's likely to be cold, and even more likely to be crowded, but if you've never been to the Top of the Rock, the big, three-tiered observation deck 71 stories above Rockefeller Center, maybe this is the time to take in its spectacular views. To the north you can see Central Park and all of those magnificent old buildings marching up either side, and the southern exposure offers a peerless "eye-to-eye" perspective of the Empire State Building, as well as the rest of lower Manhattan. Also of note: the Chrysler Building, up close and personal.
If you want to get some lunch or a snack, skip all of the tourist traps in the area and walk on over to Ninth Avenue, where there are at least a dozen good, cheap places to eat between 44th and 59th Street. With kids, or a crowd, we like Empanada Mama, Philly Slim's Cheesesteaks, El Centro, Nizza, Vnyl, and Eatery, but there's definitely plenty to choose from here.
And if you haven't seen the tasteful and pretty Holiday Under the Stars lights and music "show" hanging from the ceiling at the Time Warner Center, it's worth popping by, if it's after 5:00, and you're in the neighborhood.
Union Square: Dinner (or lunch) and a movie
There are more than 35 movie screens within a few blocks of Union Square, from the huge, recently renovated Regal (showing Avatar in 3D, by the way, which we saw last night, and were blown away... what an amazing spectacle of a movie) to the creaky but great old art-house theater, Cinema Village, which has now been around for 46 years! Among their current offerings: The Maid, from Chile, which features one of our favorite performances of the year, Catalina Saavedra's subtle but enormously affecting turn in the title role.
For the eating part of your outing, well... there are literally dozens of good choices. Piola, from Italy by way of Brazil, has great pizzas in lots of varieties (we're partial to the Rio de Janeiro, with chicken and catupiry cheese) and is loud and perfect for a crowd. The Smith has a crowd-pleasing menu as well, including one of the best shareable starters in town, the Hot Potato Chips with blue cheese "fondue". Da Andrea has good, cheap pasta. Mark Burger has excellent sliders. And what the Cambodian sandwich spot Num Pang lacks in ambiance, it more than makes up for with its bold, beautifully balanced flavors. We've eaten the entire menu here at this point, and have loved everything.
Places to play, indoors and out
The temperature may be freezing (or below), but we still need to get outside occasionally and, you know, do something. More often than not, that "something" is ice skating, one of the best ways to blow off some wintertime steam here in New York City. For Waterside residents, the clear choice for skating is the (indoor!) Skyrink at Chelsea Piers, just a M23 bus ride away. Though it's usually tough to get any ice time here because of hockey leagues and figure skating school, during the holidays there will be General Skating every afternoon from 12:00 until at least 5:00. And there are, of course, plenty of other ways to get physical at Chelsea Piers sports complex, including batting cages, bowling, a wintertime driving range, rock climbing... the list goes on and on.
For a more magical New York City skating experience, we like the Pond at Bryant Park. So, too, does everyone else, and the lines here have gotten so long that the once-entirely-free rink is now selling $19 "fast passes" that allow you walk right in. True, the price includes skate rental (normally $12), but still, we're just going to get there early and enjoy a truly free skate in one of our favorite settings. Afterwards: hot chocolate and cookies in the new, heated, outdoor "spa".
Posted at 10:56PM Dec 23, 2009 by Scott in Events |