Help me design NYC trip with 15yr old son

[Anonymous]

Broadway Museum (Manhattan) and Museum of the Moving Image (Queens). Little Italy and Chinatown for food. Ferry to Ellis Island. If he has any interest in college hunting, Columbia/NYU/Fordham.

[Anonymous]

Central Park

Museum of Natural History

Broadway Show (Back to the Future or Michael Jackson maybe)

Walking/eating/shopping in Times Square

Food Tour (donut tour?)

[Anonymous]

Little island for photo ops

[Anonymous]

Circle Line Tour - 2 hours at sunset, Ellis Island, Top of the Rock, check and see what's going on at MSG (Madison Square Garden), Radio City Music Hall, Harry Potter the Exhibition is in town until the end of October. Museum of Natural History, Intrepid Museum, Bronx Zoo Treetop Adventure, Yankee Stadium Tour. My DD and I stayed at the Hyatt Centric Times Square and it was a great location. We were 1/2 a block away from everything. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

All of these are great suggestions, just be prepared to do a lot of walking!

[Anonymous]

So many great ideas! I'd lean toward trimming a day or two, though. There is a LOT to do, but you can also pack a LOT into a single day. I'd stay for maybe three nights.

Food tours, for sure, Broadway show, High Line. I can spend hours in Central Park, skating if you guys like that, but also just walking.

I rarely stay in hotels because I have family there, but one that I like is the Beacon on the Upper West Side. That neighborhood is more residential/less touristy ... I love it, though not everyone does.

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone! These are all FANTASTIC suggestions. We ended up booking a 7 day trip based on flight availability. Possible we will hop on train and see another of the cities on the Acela line for a day or two, but so far my kid is thrilled with the idea of spending the whole week in NY. We booked a tiny hotel room so we will definitely have to be out and about for pretty much all of our waking hours as hanging out in the hotel room won't be terribly appealing!

Absolutely love and appreciate all the advice. Thank you!!!

[Anonymous]

Definitely visit the Cloisters if he likes outdoor stuff/nice views.

Be aware that you need advance reservations to visit Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, natural history museum, and probably more.

[Anonymous]

This is a great thread! Thank you for all of the ideas…for myself! 😂😂😂

[Anonymous]

If you're Harry Potter fans, check out the Broadway show. It used to be in 2 parts (literally 2 separate shows) but I see that post covid it's been compressed to one - but still a whopping 3.5 hours long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the Chelsea Market.

Yes Chelsea Market before or after a High Line walk (but don't go on the weekend after 10 AM or weekday on a nice afternoon) is a good idea. Cool space and lots of good food options. Miznon is fantastic for a quick good lunch or dinner.

If you go to Miznon get the whole roasted cauliflower. Went to NYC last fall and ate out at a ton of fancy restaurants, nothing compared to having that cauliflower at Chelsea Market, I still dream about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the Chelsea Market.

Yes Chelsea Market before or after a High Line walk (but don't go on the weekend after 10 AM or weekday on a nice afternoon) is a good idea. Cool space and lots of good food options. Miznon is fantastic for a quick good lunch or dinner.

If you go to Miznon get the whole roasted cauliflower. Went to NYC last fall and ate out at a ton of fancy restaurants, nothing compared to having that cauliflower at Chelsea Market, I still dream about it.

Indeed, I had it at their Paris location after stumbling on to it in 2017- the line for the famous falafel place was too long, and that ended up being my gain as Miznon was incredible (and I tried the falafel place later and it was good but not as good as Miznon). Have had the cauliflower 3 times now and yes it's the best- had no idea it could taste like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 15 yo son and would make my 15 yo do the planning. Definitely get tix to a show.

I think this will be fun, but: you might shorten the trip and tack on another northeast location because that’s a long time in NYC. It’s a lot of walking and $$$$ and….in August the city will probably be hot and smelly. Garbage on the sidewalk, no a/c on the subway, little shops that aren’t effectively air-conditioned. It can be a little like going back in time. Also, this year we have the bonus of poor air quality/haze. Maybe it will clear by August—who knows.

Maybe you shouldn't comment if you haven't been to NYC in the past 20 years. Subways in NYC definitely have AC.

My 12 year old and I were there for 5 days in June, when it was in the 90s. (5 days was a perfect amount, fyi) The subway cars are air conditioned, but the stations are not. We definitely sweated waiting for trains, but we were on busy routes so usually didn't have to wait for long. I hate the heat, and it was manageable.

Definitely have your 15 year old do a lot of the planning.

OP, since your DS wants to see the important sites, spend a day at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I noticed on the ferries that most people skipped Ellis Island, but it's fascinating. (And the gift shop is great!) This is a great excursion on a hot day because you're on the water, with a breeze, and you're out of the city. It's relaxing and not tons of walking. Also, the views from the islands and the ferry are amazing. I also recommend the Tenement Museum, which pairs well with SoL and EI. They have theme-specific walking tours of the neighborhood to learn more about the waves of immigration in the Lower East Side. They used to have a food tour-- so you get to visit various ethnic restaurants.

For more views, go to the top of WTC, Empire State Building, or Rockefeller Ctr. Pick whichever one fits geographically with your itinerary or can piggy back onto another activity, like NBC tour, 9/11, etc. The 9/11 museum may not be that interesting to him, since he's young, but the memorial fountains on the footprint of the towers is really powerful.

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. There are also some great gallery exhibits in Brooklyn. I couldn't talk my daughter into going-- not her thing-- but I had a list of cool things I had researched for our trip. We did a ghost tour of Greenwich Village. You can google and find all kinds of different walking tours all over NYC. I've done them in many different cities with my children, and they have all been fantastic. You can find a tour on basically any topic of interest, and it's a great way to experience a particular neighborhood.

I would get tickets to a show. There is a last minute/same day discount ticket booth in Times Square that might be a good option if there isn't a specific show you really want to see. We went to the Twice concert at MetLife Stadium, which was the impetus for the trip, and it was amazing. You might want to check out if there are any big shows or events that you might not be able to see in MN.

I know you said you're a type A personality, but I would encourage you to just make a loose itinerary with a few things that you book ahead to give your trip some structure, then leave the rest of the time to decide on the fly. Research ahead of time the places, exhibits, etc. that you're interested in, and then see what works when you're there. The weather and your energy levels will vary unpredictably, and if your DS is like my daughter, she will see things and cry out, "I want to do THAT!"