(no subject)

[oakenguy]

So, my well-travelled friends: what are fun things to do during the day in NYC? Deb and I will be there Sunday, Monday and the first part of Tuesday, and so far we have huge blocks of time that're just "wander 'til we find something".

Comments

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

There's a great deal of joy that can be found in doing just that. Any clue as to where you'll be, as far as neighborhoods go?

Re:

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Our base of operations will be the Herald Square Hotel, on West 31st St., a couple blocks from Madison Square Garden...I think this is considered Midtown?

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, that's a section of the city best known for commerce, rather than cool things. If it's open again -- I don't know for sure -- you're only a few blocks from the Empire State Building. The view from the top is really gorgeous. (Touristy? Yeah-huh. But that just means that few "real New Yorkers" have actually done it.)

[callunav.livejournal.com]

The sccience museum is pretty damned cool. I forget what it's called. HC? Akycha?

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

The American Natural History Museum (http://www.amnh.org/)

They still have the butterfly display that we went to -- go, go, GO, if you have a chance. The vivarium is about 80 degrees F, so you'll want to find lockers for your coats or something. Wear a bright red or yellow shirt. The butterflies actually come and land on you sometimes.

[prettydaisies.livejournal.com]

i used to be a volunteer in that vivarium. :)

it is hot. HOT. when they say it's hot, they're not kidding. our shifts as volunteers were 3 hours long. i used to layer clothes in the winter so that i could strip to a tank top for the duration of my shift. check your coat at the coat check, it's what they'll tell you to do, anyway. unless you really want to carry your coat in a 90 degree room for 1/2 hour or so.

it is very cool, but it gets *very* crowded, esp. on the weekends. if you go, go early in the day. fewer ppl in general, and way fewer screaming children. if you can, order your tix in advance (the exhibit requires a separate fee), and ask for a morning slot. the bestest time is friday night, but i dunno if you'll be there then.

the butterflies to land on ppl, but it really doesn't matter what you wear. we've had ppl in all black end up with two owl butterflies stuck to their butt. the owls and the blue morphos were the biggest butterflies in the exhibit when i worked there, although they may have added other big ones by now. the owls were the most likely to land on ppl, and they're really big.

the butterflies are most attracted to the lights, which you'll notice right away. they have feathers on sticks to keep them from the lights, since they become like little opium dens, and the butterflies can fry their wings from extended exposure.

be sure to check out the pupa case, since butterflies do emerge on occassion from the live pupa. if you go really late in the day, you may catch the exhibit assistants bringing down butterflies from the lab upstairs, which is actually a pretty cool site.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yeah, when we were there (in, ack, 2001?) an owl butterfly decided that it Very Much Liked this one woman. Unfortunately, the volunteer who was nearby was terrified of the owls, so the woman was stuck with this gigantic butterfly on her hand. I can't remember who relieved her of this burden -- Akycha or CallunaV -- but once freed, the woman fled like the wind. And so did the volunteer. I can't remember if the butterfly took off on its own, or if we found a non-phobic volunteer to lure it off with citrus fruit.

mmmm... butterfly citrus fruit

[prettydaisies.livejournal.com]

one of the unfortunate tasks of the exhibit assistants (who got paid to work there, as opposed to volunteers) was to set out and throw away the fruit they leave for the butterflies to snack on. there's a sugar water mixture in the hanging feeding stations, but in the foliage there's usually a clear plate of fruit.

thing about that fruit: the butterflies like it a little squishy. which means it's kinda fermenting and stuff as it sits out there, and they love it, those lushies!

however, fermented fruit is yucky handle. it was even worse for the EAs when they had to clean out the fruit, cuz by then they were really stinky. yuck.

[snowwand.livejournal.com]

You could always catch a show...there is a kiosk in nyc (forget where) that is like bostix. My aunt and I got great seats for Jekyl and Hyde for 30 bucks.

Also, last time we were there (a loong time ago) they had a J&K theme restaurant. You can also explore central park during the day, they have alice in wonderland statues.

Try this site: http://gonyc.about.com/mbody.htm

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

1. TKTS. It's on 47th and Broadway, IIRC.
2. Jekyll & Hyde isn't connected to the musical, but it is a spectacle -- one of those "theme restaurants" that were New York's answer to theme parks in the mid-90s. Don't know if it's still open or not.

Feeding

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

In terms of food, I believe that the place we went to dinner was the Dervish Turkish Restaurant, 146 West 47th Street near the Theater District. We ate the most amazing food until we were about to pop, I had several glasses of wine, Akycha and CallunaV had several glasses of some nifty beverages they'd gotten, and we were constantly attended by at least three waitresses, who never let our glasses or plates get empty. All for less than $90 for the three of us! I hope it's still the same place and just as good. FYI, the telephone number, in case you want to make reservations, is 212-997-0070.

[prettydaisies.livejournal.com]

hmmm. let's see.

if you're looking for really late night food, take the N/R to astor place and walk east to the east village to a place called yaffa. they have good food and are open 24 hours. and the east village is fun for walking around in general. lot's of eccentric little stores and stuff. there's even a crazy thrift store over that way that's fun, but i can't remember what it's called.

if you want good kielbasa and pierogis, look for a place called kiev, which is right near astor place somewhere. they should be done with the rennovations by now. you can get a big dinner plate of kielbasa, pierogies, kasha, and other delights with coffee and bread for something like $8 or $9.

tom's diner is always fun if you're in the columbia u area uptown (1/9 to columbia), famous from suzanne vega's song. ask for the broadway milkshake, which is a local secret not on the menu, which contains coffee ice cream. their gravy fries are quite tasty, tho it's not what you'd think of as traditional gravy.

i'm not sure if anything blooming yet, but you can check out the garden in central park. i can't remember what it's called, but it's up near el museo del barrio, which is cheap and has a nifty exhibit on taino art from puerto rico.

if you're willing to take a hike way up, you can go to the cloisters, or even higher up, you can go to the new york botanical garden (it's off the subway, waaaaay up).

i think saturdays there's still a market in union sq, if you like walking around markets.

oooh, good corned beef and matzo ball soup can be found at eisenberg's on broadway(?) near 18th st. they aren't open late, and the matzo ball soup runs out about mid day.

for shits and giggles you can walk around the west village, but there's not much of interest there.

if you go to chinatown for food, a cheap, nummy and fast place that's open late is excellent dumpling house (yep, that's the real name), right on canal st. i can't remember the cross street, but if you walk east you'll see it, it's not that far from the N/R stop.

we'll see if i think of anything else...

[aquagirl.livejournal.com]

i'm always a big fan of chinatown, you can get anything and everything there; especially really great (& cheap) vietnamese food. if you have time to kill, the staten island ferry is free and offers a great view of the statue of liberty. otherwise, i say just walk around and soak it up. there's always something, somewhere (especially lower manhatten).