Yep, NYC is unlike any where else. You could do something different there everyday for your whole life if you wanted to.
Ridiculously expensive for everything, in Manhatten especially. So, whatever you're planning to spend, triple it just to be safe.
I'm a geek, so my favourite part of New York was UN headquarters and the Guggenheim. I have a buddy who lives there and he let me in on a little secret; the Met and the Museum of Natural History on West 81st St. do not have admission prices they are
suggested. He paid 15 cents, and being the big-spender that I am, paid $1.
Give yourself plenty of extra time to just walk around midtown/times square and Central Park (this place was a mind-######. It's enormous and in the middle of bustling Manhatten, incredible).
Stay out of the Bronx (exception: Yankee Stadium), and if you are flying in/out from LaGuardia that should be the only reason why you are in Queens. Brooklyn can be scary in parts - but Coney Island/boardwalk are a nice escape from the city (plus a few times when it was raining in Manhatten, we took a subway to the beach and it was sunny). There is a free fairy to Staten Island a few blocks away from ground zero/NYSE, you can get a nice view of the Statue of Liberty but either than that, Staten Island is like the Edmonton of NYC
.
For absolutely no reason whatsoever, do not go north of 100th Street after dark. My friend and I wanted to checkout the Apollo in Harlem... scariest thing I've ever done.
Monk's cafe on Seinfeld was cool to visit (although in real life it's called Joe's Diner), as was the soup nazi.
Broadway tickets are flippin' expensive, but there are a few places to get cheaper tix. I got a ticket to Rent for $20 (originally $70) because a tour-guide had too many for his group about 10 minutes before show-time. There is a place in time-square where you can get discounted tix.
Before you go, check out when t.v. shows are being filmed and what you have to do to get tix. I wanted to see SNL, but you have to apply for tix months before, Letterman is pretty easy to get into, John Stewart etc.
My favourite tourist attraction was the Empire State Building, it costs about $20 to go up to the top, but you get a view of everything. It was cool to go in the late afternoon/early evening because I got to see what everything looked like during the day, and at night.
The first couple of days I was there I spent in the subway. I showed up at Yankee stadium during the fifth inning! For the most part, people help you get to where you're going if you ask them - I found that New Yorkers weren't nearly as bad as the rap people give them. Don't be afraid to approach them. But, with the Subway comes... get ready for it... THE RATS!!!!
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!
shivers....
The first time I saw a rat (and it was the size of a skunk) I let out this loud girly shriek, and it was a pretty tell-tale sign I was a tourist. I eventually got used to it, but then on my last day there, one actually made it up onto the platform! I thought I was going to puke...
You gotta check out SOHO, NOHO, Grenwich Village, the East Village, West Village, Alphabet city... la vie boheme!
I go on forever on what there is to do in NYC. The place is amazing and you will have a great time!