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Going to New York for a day, what should I do?
- Thread starter BuddyC
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Deleted member 4784
Unconfirmed Member
Go to the Met! I've always wanted to visit the Cloisters. =[
brooklyngooner
Member
New York is a big place, hops. You gotta give us some idea of your likes and dislikes to help narrow it down.
Like: video games, comic books.
Dislike: sports, "went to say i was there" attractions (ex: Statue of Liberty).
I'm staying in Times Square, so the closer, the better, and I've only got Friday evening and part of the afternoon on Saturday to be a gawking tourist. Thinking about hitting the Museum of Art , maybe?
Dislike: sports, "went to say i was there" attractions (ex: Statue of Liberty).
I'm staying in Times Square, so the closer, the better, and I've only got Friday evening and part of the afternoon on Saturday to be a gawking tourist. Thinking about hitting the Museum of Art , maybe?
Forget the MET. Not that it isn't a fabulous museum, but the Frick is much more captivating, personal, and far less crowded/touristy. Best collection of paintings on the island. Of course, check out both if possible.
Also, stay away from the movie theaters around time square unless you enjoy Ghetto-tary free with the purchase of every $11.00 ticket.
If you smoke the hippie lettuce, the Hayden planetarium comes recommended :lol
Also, stay away from the movie theaters around time square unless you enjoy Ghetto-tary free with the purchase of every $11.00 ticket.
If you smoke the hippie lettuce, the Hayden planetarium comes recommended :lol
The Faceless Master
Member
a day? damn! not much time, well, you can go to the world famous toys r us in times square!
Based on your interests, you should probably hit up Chinatown... some people will know better than me where the best arcades/shops are. Toys R Us in Times Square is really cool although touristy, I definitely recommend that. I also really like the Museum of Natural History.
Now you're talking. Toys R Us is a definite, especially since it's within walking distance. I was also hoping to visit the Kid Robot store over on Prince, which is only about 3 miles away from the hotel. But it's the shops and arcades that I really want to hit, though I've no idea where to even begin.djtiesto said:
This place is good but they dont have the 3rd floor anymore
Midtown Comics
http://www.midtowncomics.com/
200 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018 (212) 302-8192
"Spacious and new-looking, it occupies the second and third floors of the building. They have a super collection of current titles and easy-to-access, well-organized back issues. The selection of back issues and trade paperbacks is decent but not spectacular. Also there is a nice gathering of collectibles, t-shirts, and cassettes containing old genre favorites. Some of these TV shows may be hard to obtain elsewhere. The top floor is devoted entirely to toys, collectibles, and magazines, but the best thing about Midtown is that you can easily become a member (your birthday is your membership number) and for every one hundred dollars you spend, you get your next twenty dollars worth of comics free. Perfect for the fanboy who spends a ton on comics. "
Midtown Comics
http://www.midtowncomics.com/
200 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018 (212) 302-8192
"Spacious and new-looking, it occupies the second and third floors of the building. They have a super collection of current titles and easy-to-access, well-organized back issues. The selection of back issues and trade paperbacks is decent but not spectacular. Also there is a nice gathering of collectibles, t-shirts, and cassettes containing old genre favorites. Some of these TV shows may be hard to obtain elsewhere. The top floor is devoted entirely to toys, collectibles, and magazines, but the best thing about Midtown is that you can easily become a member (your birthday is your membership number) and for every one hundred dollars you spend, you get your next twenty dollars worth of comics free. Perfect for the fanboy who spends a ton on comics. "
FortNinety
Member
If you like video games, as djtesto mentioned, the best place to go is Chinatown, for the Chinatown Fair Arcade, located on Mott Street. Its about the closest you'll get to a true, authentic arcade experience in the city. You'll find the city's best fighting game players at that spot.
There's also a few import gaming shops, such as J&R and Penguin Village in the area (both are on Elizabeth Street), but its best not to pay for anything, just make check stuff out and buy the real thing online later. Seriously, the only things to get there are Hong Kong DVDs, and there's plenty of good deals to be found there without much searching. Also, check out the underground mall at Elizabeth St for oodles of cute plushies and assorted knick-knacks, the kind of stuff girls go nuts for (if you wanna get a gift for the gf).
There used to be a good deal of really neat independent game shops in the city, but practically every single one of them has closed down, leaving just EB and Gamestop, and its not like the ones here are going to offer anything you can't get back home (actually, it probably far worse).
You can get to Chinatown by taking any of the "yellow" trains, the N, R, W, and Q, which can be taken at the Time Square subway station.
As for arcades, in Time Square there used to be quite a few "mega-arcades" but they all closed down due to their games being too expensive and overall, unappealing atmosphere (at least to us gamers). The shitty thing is that real deal arcades were all shut down beforehand, since they were seen as a source of delinquents and those new game palaces were viewed as a means to "clean up that scene". But there's still Lazer Park which has a few arcade games in the lobby.
Plus, near Time Square is the new re-christened Nintendo Store, if you're into that sort of thing.
As for comics, you have some decent options...
Forbidden Planet (on 13th and Broadway) - The most famous comic shop in the city is conveniently located near Union Square, which is a major hub for all subways and is downtown, where you're certain to be. They have a really decent selection of stuff.
Jim Hanley's (33rd, btw Broadway and 6th Ave) - My personal fave, they have a huge selection of stuff, from both major publishers and the small press, plus tons of toys and magazines. Do not miss this place.
Midtown Comics (40th St & 7th Ave) - As mentioned by D-X. There's another one near Grand Central and that one is cool too. Again, another big comic shop that has a lot of everything. They have a pretty extensive collection of toys and figures to boot.
As for other stuff, be sure to hit the East Village, in particular St. Mark's Place, which is actually 8th St, between 3rd Ave and Ave A. There's even a decent comic shop, a Kim's Video, which is a fairly decent video stored (they have a great selection of foreign DVDs), and good eats. There's also a game shop called Multimedia, which has an awesome selection of old shit, but its not worth your time; the people are such dicks that its pretty much legendary.
Make sure to go to Toy Tokyo, on 7th St and 2nd Ave. It's like Kid Robot, but they have tons of other, more affordable, cool stuff.
There's also decent bars and restaurants in the West Village, but its a bit pricier and more yuppie-fied. Make sure to go to Kid Robot when your in the area (of course).
And, going heading towards back to Chinatown, be sure to stop by Zakka, a design shop on Grand St. In addition to cool Japanese toys, there's graphic design books and DVDs galore.
Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, PM me.
There's also a few import gaming shops, such as J&R and Penguin Village in the area (both are on Elizabeth Street), but its best not to pay for anything, just make check stuff out and buy the real thing online later. Seriously, the only things to get there are Hong Kong DVDs, and there's plenty of good deals to be found there without much searching. Also, check out the underground mall at Elizabeth St for oodles of cute plushies and assorted knick-knacks, the kind of stuff girls go nuts for (if you wanna get a gift for the gf).
There used to be a good deal of really neat independent game shops in the city, but practically every single one of them has closed down, leaving just EB and Gamestop, and its not like the ones here are going to offer anything you can't get back home (actually, it probably far worse).
You can get to Chinatown by taking any of the "yellow" trains, the N, R, W, and Q, which can be taken at the Time Square subway station.
As for arcades, in Time Square there used to be quite a few "mega-arcades" but they all closed down due to their games being too expensive and overall, unappealing atmosphere (at least to us gamers). The shitty thing is that real deal arcades were all shut down beforehand, since they were seen as a source of delinquents and those new game palaces were viewed as a means to "clean up that scene". But there's still Lazer Park which has a few arcade games in the lobby.
Plus, near Time Square is the new re-christened Nintendo Store, if you're into that sort of thing.
As for comics, you have some decent options...
Forbidden Planet (on 13th and Broadway) - The most famous comic shop in the city is conveniently located near Union Square, which is a major hub for all subways and is downtown, where you're certain to be. They have a really decent selection of stuff.
Jim Hanley's (33rd, btw Broadway and 6th Ave) - My personal fave, they have a huge selection of stuff, from both major publishers and the small press, plus tons of toys and magazines. Do not miss this place.
Midtown Comics (40th St & 7th Ave) - As mentioned by D-X. There's another one near Grand Central and that one is cool too. Again, another big comic shop that has a lot of everything. They have a pretty extensive collection of toys and figures to boot.
As for other stuff, be sure to hit the East Village, in particular St. Mark's Place, which is actually 8th St, between 3rd Ave and Ave A. There's even a decent comic shop, a Kim's Video, which is a fairly decent video stored (they have a great selection of foreign DVDs), and good eats. There's also a game shop called Multimedia, which has an awesome selection of old shit, but its not worth your time; the people are such dicks that its pretty much legendary.
Make sure to go to Toy Tokyo, on 7th St and 2nd Ave. It's like Kid Robot, but they have tons of other, more affordable, cool stuff.
There's also decent bars and restaurants in the West Village, but its a bit pricier and more yuppie-fied. Make sure to go to Kid Robot when your in the area (of course).
And, going heading towards back to Chinatown, be sure to stop by Zakka, a design shop on Grand St. In addition to cool Japanese toys, there's graphic design books and DVDs galore.
Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, PM me.
Whoa. Thanks a lot FortNinety, that helps quite a lot. Now to just figure out the most efficient method to hit most of those comic and toy shops. Some are within walking distance (I'm on 49th), some ...I don't know, I'll have to play around with Rand McNally. Is the Chinatown arcade worth it if I'm not into fighters?
junkwaffle
In Front and Drawing Away
Bring lots and lots of cash.
.... and duck!
.... and duck!
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
BuddyC said:
where you stayin on 49th? we stayed at radio city apartments, N/R/Q/W subway station right outside.. 2 mins to times square, somehow i got very drunk and got LOST in olive garden restaurant (the one under the giant mini ) i had to be escorted back to the hotel
My "what is there to do in New York" thread from a month ago or so:
http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=40184
http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=40184
The Time.julls said:where you stayin on 49th? we stayed at radio city apartments, N/R/Q/W subway station right outside.. 2 mins to times square, somehow i got very drunk and got LOST in olive garden restaurant (the one under the giant mini ) i had to be escorted back to the hotel
FortNinety
Member
BuddyC said:
Hey, I'm more than happy to help!
As for the Chinatown arcade, yeah, if you're not that into fighting games, I'd avoid it. There's a few other noteworthy machines, like a DDR set-up, but most of time, people are standing on it while waiting for their turn at Capcom vs SNK 2.
In my opinion, Chinatown is only worth it if you want to score some good Hong Kong DVDs and cute toys. Otherwise, its a bitch dealing with all the other tourists. Yeah, there's good places to eat there, but all the big name places like Wo-Hops have an hour waiting on a typical Saturday afternoon, and the really good places are hidden in alleyways that are too difficult too difficult to describe (and are too scary for most while folks to venture in).
Since you only have one day, may I suggest the following plan?
- Start your day in Time Square. Hit the Toys R Us, which is 45th-ish and Broadway, first. This is also the optimal time to swing by the Nintendo Store, which is on 49th-ish and 6th Ave.
- If you do go there, be sure to stop by the Japanese bookstore, Kinokunya, which is right next to Rockefeller. They have Japanese game mags and game soundtracks. The folks who work there can help you find anything you want specifically.
- Okay, now go back to Time Square and go south till you hit 7th and 40th for Midtown Comics.
- Afterwards, go south till 32nd St... you'll be right at Penn Station. I guess you could take the train, but its only a one stop distance. Plus you may as well soak up the town on foot. Take a left and go towards the Empire State Building, cuz Jim Hanley's is right next door.
- After that, go back to the Penn Station area to the Manhattan Mall (whihc you might have passed already). Go down to the first basement level where there's a subway entrance. You can take the R train down to 8th Steet downtown.
- Once you get out, you'll find yourself in NYU area. Walk east towards 8th Street and 3rd Ave, which will now be St Marks. Check out St Mark's Comics if you want, but be sure to hit Toy Tokyo.
- After that, just turn back till you hit Broadway and walk south. Again, walking is the real way to go in Manhattan. Once you hit Price Street, which is past Houston Street (hence why the area is called SoHo... this is where the numbered streets end) walk west and go to Kid Robot.
- Afterwards, go back to Broadway, then walk south till you hit Grand. Now walk east till you hit Zakka.
And of course, whatever you do, no matter how much walking you intend on doing, still get a one day unlimited Metrocard!
evil solrac v3.0
Member
*leave this place. there is danger here.*
There are a bunch of otaku related events going on in NYC right now curated by Murakami. If you're into superflat its something you don't want to miss.
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
Rorschach said:
What the!? :lol
I would love to show him around, but I unfortunately have to take an 8 hour test that day.
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