Not obvious NYC must see or do places

Firstly I must say how great this forum is and for those of you who%26#39;s name%26#39;s I see consistently popping up offering help and advice Thank You...

I think most people know the main attractions in NY, but if you could name one or two things that are not so obvious (whether it be somewhere to eat, something to see, something to do etc) to get a real feel for NYC what would it be?

Also could you recommend a memorable (for a 16 year old) place to take her for a birthday meal?

Thanks

Not obvious NYC must see or do places

Some ';secret'; places:

the cloisters (Part of the met museum, way uptown, mideval art center) Also the roof garden at the Met Musuem (Warm months only).

St. Marks Place in the east village for it%26#39;s mix of shops and tatoo parlors (not suggesting the 16YO get one, but it%26#39;s fun to look).

There is an automat called BAM also on st marks (Automats were the original ';fast food'; places, put your coins in, open the door, take your food).

Not obvious NYC must see or do places

Ooh good idea Shopaholics. I hope you get lots of replies so I can nick some for our visit!!

shopaholicsx2 ~

I was in NYC twice with my 16 year old last year and we are heading back again in April along with my 14 year old neice. We loved St Marks - she also liked the Union Square area which isn%26#39;t to far from St Marks if I remember correctly.

The places that she liked to shop was in Union Square - Diesel, AE, DSW Shoes, Felines - we also like Loehmanns which is on 7th and 16th - she bought an ESPRIT Bikini for $20.00.

We found that we really like the out of the way places as it is just a different part of the city than all the touristy places that we have been to several times ~ we still enjoy going up 5th Avenue but we really like exploring the other areas.

This trip we are going to do a show and she would like to explore the Garment/Fashion district which I need to start getting things together.

For restuarants - we are going to try Juniors for dessert and then I think we will just wing it! We ate at a Mexican rest. in ST Marks that my nephew had ownership in but is no longer involved in.

Also try to get to Dylan%26#39;s candy Bar it is on 60th and 3rd. Great treats and make sure that you look at the steps going downstairs with all the candy. My daughter loved this place!!

Have fun.

The Panorama in Queens.

It is a scale model of NYC featuring every single building in the city. (As I like saying...Every. Single. Freakin%26#39;. Building.) Tiny airplanes fly out of the tiny La Guardia airport and the lights dim for nighttime views.

This is one of my favorite things about NYC, and a must for repeat visitors.

';The Panorama occupies 9,335 square feet. It includes miniature cars, boats and an airplane landing at and taking off from La Guardia Airport. There are more than 895,000 individual wooden or plastic buildings on the model; 25,000 were custom-made to approximate major landmarks such as skyscrapers, colleges, museums and major churches.';

Plus, you%26#39;ll get to ride the #7 train, which has nice views of the

skyline and residential parts of Queens. Here are some pics:

queensmuseum.org/education/鈥ano-sum.html

Here%26#39;s what it looks like if you could stand in it:

www.queensmuseum.org/information/mission.htm

Here are two posts with lots and lots of sub-posts with great ideas for repeat visitors, and lots of info about ';the real New York';.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k72495-N鈥?/a> Off_the_beaten_track-

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k783996-鈥?/a> The_Boroughs-

The panorama sounds perfect for my husband. Never heard of it before- I love TA!

Walking across Brooklyn Bridge.

Fantastic views of the NY skyline.

Not mentioned in a lot of guidebooks.

An oft overlooked place is the Tenament Museum. They%26#39;ve found an old tenament building that had been abandoned since the 30s and turned it into a series of tenament apartments showing how immigrant families would have lived at different times in the building%26#39;s history. Each apartment tells the story of one family. They actually went back and found the decendants of people living in those apartments and found out what they were like, and reconstructed each apartment exactly as it was. I found it fascinating.

Depending on waht time of year you are visiting;

Rent a row boat in Central Park (my favorite summertime thing to do).

Cherry Blossom Festival in Brooklyn Botanical Garden (usually late April)

Bronx Zoo (anytime of year)

Trip out to the Hamptons (summertime)

Rockerfeller estate up on the Hudson

Cold Spring on the Hudson (to see the autumn leaves)

Iceskating in Wollman Rink /Central Park (winter)