New York, NY

NYC List: Shopping, daytime activities, and restaurants, bars and clubs

Shopping:
SoHo: This downtown area is great for shopping—lots of fun, interesting boutiques (and increasingly high-end chain stores as well), but definitely a little pricier. They have really fun outdoor stands though, as well as great restaurants, bars, etc, so even if you’re not looking to spend a ton of money it’s still fun to spend a day walking around there. An area I’d hone in on is Prince St and Spring St between Broadway and West Broadway, there are great shops there. A couple blocks east is Elizabeth St, which is known for its up and coming boutiques. Olive and Bette’s is a fun store, and I love Balthazar or Mercer Kitchen for lunch.

Department Stores: Not sure how familiar you are with NYC department stores, but Bloomingdale’s (as I mentioned the other day) is right at the 59th St stop on the 4 5 6 Subway line, and downstairs at Bloomingdales is a little café called 40 Carrots with the BEST (and first, I think) frozen yogurt. Bendel’s, Bergdorf and Barney’s are all great, but also really expensive if you’re not shopping with your mother, haha. Barney’s has Barney’s Co-Op on the top floor, which has more affordable chic clothing for young people.

Forever 21: As I mentioned the other day, cheap fun going out (and daytime) clothes, right in Union Square.

I also really like Intermix and Big Drop, two mid-sized boutiques with multiple locations around Manhattan.

The Parks:
Central Park: Really huge (it has a zoo in it), I’d recommend going on a weekend during the day as it gets sketchy at night. One Saturday last summer, a friend and I laid out on the grass near the Boathouse restaurant, and then walked over there for a late lunch and a glass of wine, it was really fun and beautiful! This is the view from the restaurant: (they have an outdoor bar too which is fun)

Washington Square Park: is very close to where you live, I’m sure you can find it easily on a map. It’s cute and small and would be really fun for a picnic. There is a Dean and Deluca nearby (delicious gourmet foods store, kind of like a smaller Whole Foods—which, btw, if you haven’t been to the Whole Foods in Union Sq yet you have to check it out!). A gourmet wine and cheese picnic (or whatever else) with a set of playing cards is a really fun thing to do! This could be lunch or dinner since it stays light for a while, but a warning that the park does get sketchy after dark!

Gramercy Park: It's the only park that requires a key for entry. Yet staying in Ian Schrager's Gramercy Park Hotel--or knowing someone with a residence on the Park--can gain you access to this haven of pristine serenity.

Fun, interesting things to do (that aren't restaurants or bars):
Concert cruises: This is what I ended up doing on Sunday night when I stayed longer…it was REALLY FUN! It’s a really cool, hipster crowd, and they are 3 hour boat cruises around Manhattan. I’m from the area but was still astounded by the beauty…plus, they offer food, a cash bar, and an opening band and main band with dancing, etc. I think tix are like $25 each.
http://ticketweb.com/snl/Search.action?query=rocks%2Boff%2Bconcert%2Bcruise&search=basic&beginmonth=06&beginday=30&beginyear=2008&genre=&submit=Search ; http://rocksoff.com/concertcruise.html

South Street Seaport: Kind of touristy but that’s ok…it’s fun to walk around, poke your head into the shops there and eat along the water. It’s in the Financial District/Wall St. area, so also fun to explore a different part of the city. Speaking of which…one of my favorite happy hour places is called Ulysses, it’s on 93 Pearl St. and has a really fun outdoor area (I took this pic there last summer)

Chelsea Piers: Great fun, pretty much any activity you can think of is at Chelsea Piers. I’ve just been bowling there, but I’d def check out the website and you can see what else they have. http://www.chelseapiers.com/

Wine tasting: also a really fun thing to do any time of day or night, here's a website with a list of wine bars downtown you may want to try. http://www.thrillist.com/archives/2006/06/instore_wine_tasting_tour_tribeca.html
I've been to one that sells only local wines, which is cool b/c how often do you drink upstate NY wines? It's either Chambers St. Wines or Tribeca Wines, can't remember sry!
Note: If and when you go winetasting in the soho/tribeca area, there are a
bunch of cool art galleries that might be fun to poke your head into. I would just google it and see what you come up with.

Theater: You could get last-minute tix to see a Broadway show! Those are always fun, and you can go during the day or at night. Broadway.com I think? I haven’t seen many that are currently on Broadway, but Wicked, Jersey Boys, Rent, Mamma Mia, and Boeing Boeing are all great.


Restaurants, bars and clubs:
Tasti D-Lite and PinkBerry: Really fun flavors, low calorie frozen yogurt

Whole Foods and Dean and Deluca: My favorite gourmet grocery stores—kind of pricey, but worth the occasional splurge. Most Whole Foods stores now have dining areas—I love going for a casual meal there, even alone.

Bubby's: one of my fave brunch places, it's in Tribeca (i.e. not too far from you i dont think), celebs always go there but it's super down-home with delish food. My mom often goes there for lunch cuz its right near Citigroup.

Shake Shack: Outdoors so it’s only open certain times throughout the year. Owned by famed restaurateur Danny Meyer, delicious, gourmet and innovative hamburgers and the like.
Blue Water Grill: Great restaurant right in Union Square, a little nicer and it’s really nice to sit outside there for lunch or dinner.

SushiSamba: Brazilian/Japanese fusion sushi, really fun scene and bar area!

Son Cubano is really fun on Friday and Saturday nights, when they clear away the tables post-dinner for salsa dancing--it's a happening bar scene in the Meatpacking district and lots of fun! It might be fun to go to dinner somewhere in the area first, and then go to Son Cubano for post-dinner dancing/getting wastey, etc. Good dinner options are Pastis, Spice Market (Thai/French), or Ono (Japanese). Also in that area, assuming you dont want to go to the 9459347593423 nightclubs there, Hotel Gansevoort has a really nice rooftop bar, although it is strict on IDs.

As far as other restaurants go: BLT Steak is amazing. If you want cheap and easy, this place called Asia Pub is perfect, with their $5, really strong drinks (great for them), and cheap but good AZN food. the address is 35 Cooper Sq., it's near Bowery Hotel, Butter, B-Bar--so lots of great post-dinner options.
--As far as places in the village, The Spotted Pig is really cool, innovative, and really close by (http://thespottedpig.com/), and La Foccaccia is in a gorgeous, romantic setting (its address is 51 Bank St).

230 5th: really fun rooftop bar, the biggest in Manhattan. Also strict on IDs though, unfortunately. It's a few blocks above union square.
Cabana at the Maritime Hotel: Another great rooftop bar, indoor/outdoor. http://nymag.com/listings/bar/cabana_at_the_maritime_hotel/

Le Souk: One of my fave places in Manhattan—it’s low key (i.e. no annoying line to get in, not snobby) but awesomely fun and not dive bar/grimy. It basically has everything—dinner, hukah, bar, club, plus belly dancers, haha. It's in alphabet city: 47 Ave B.
Other ideas: You could go to a comedy club (Caroline's is very well-known) or a jazz club, just to do something different. Danny Meyer (famous restaurateur) has this restaurant called Blue Smoke w/ a jazz club downstairs, i've never been (so don't take my word for it) but have always wanted to go! http://www.bluesmoke.com/ btw the restaurant itself is southern bbq style.