Cost guide: free · $ inexpensive · $$ moderate · $$$$ splurge
Things I like to do in NYC.
Financial District / Lower Manhattan
All these activities are a short walk from one another. You can visit all of them in a morning or afternoon. Anchor your visit with Mercer Labs, as you my have to commit to a specific time.
9/11 Memorial (free)
Two reflecting pools sit in the footprints of the original Twin Towers, with the names of the victims inscribed in bronze around their edges. The outdoor memorial plaza is free to visit, while the adjoining 9/11 Museum requires a ticket.
911memorial.org
Trinity Church and Hamilton’s Grave (free)
This historic Episcopal church stands at the head of Wall Street. Alexander Hamilton is buried in its churchyard, near his wife Eliza.
trinitywallstreet.org
New York Stock Exchange (free)
The exchange’s columned façade on Wall Street is one of the most photographed buildings in the city. The trading floor isn’t open to the public, so plan on seeing it from the street.
nyse.com
Fearless Girl (free)
Kristen Visbal’s bronze statue of a defiant young girl first appeared across from Charging Bull in 2017. She now stands on Broad Street facing the New York Stock Exchange.
State Street: Fearless Girl
Charging Bull (free)
Arturo Di Modica created this bronze bull after the 1987 stock market crash and left it outside the stock exchange without permission in 1989. It now stands at Bowling Green, and there’s usually a line of people waiting for a photo.
arturodimodica.com
Mercer Labs ($$)
This museum of art and technology at 21 Dey Street fills fifteen rooms with immersive light, sound, and interactive installations. A fun, surreal visual experience. It’s a short walk from the 9/11 Memorial.
mercerlabs.com
Trams, Trains and Boats
NYC Ferry from Wall St to 90th St ($)
For the price of a subway ride, the ferry carries you up the East River from Pier 11 at Wall Street to East 90th Street. You get skyline views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens along the way.
ferry.nyc
Circle Line Cruises ($$)
Circle Line runs narrated sightseeing cruises from Pier 83 on the West Side, including trips around all of Manhattan. Several routes pass close by the Statue of Liberty.
circleline.com
Day Trip 1: Train Ride along the Hudson from Penn Station to Hyde Park ($$)
Amtrak trains run up the east bank of the Hudson River, with beautiful views of the river and the Palisades. Get off at Poughkeepsie for a short ride to Hyde Park, home of FDR’s Springwood estate and Presidential Library.
amtrak.com · FDR Home (National Park Service)
Day Trip 2: Take the Subway to Coney Island ($)
For the price of a subway fare, the D, F, N, or Q train takes you all the way to the end of the line at Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, about an hour from Midtown. Stroll the boardwalk and beach, then ride the Wonder Wheel (1920) and the wooden Cyclone roller coaster (1927), two classics that still thrill. Luna Park’s rides and the boardwalk are liveliest from spring through early fall, while the New York Aquarium is next door year-round. The original Nathan’s Famous is here too, but see our note in the Food section.
lunaparknyc.com · coneyisland.com
Visit Roosevelt Island by Tram ($)
The Roosevelt Island Tramway, an aerial gondola that has been gliding over the East River since 1976, leaves from Second Avenue at 59th Street and costs just a subway fare. The ride takes only a few minutes, but the views alongside the Queensboro Bridge and down the Manhattan skyline are spectacular. On the island, walk south to Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park, Louis Kahn’s serene granite memorial at the island’s tip, which makes a nice bookend to the Hyde Park trip. Along the way you’ll pass the Gothic ruins of the old Smallpox Hospital and the Cornell Tech campus. For a different route back, take the F train or the NYC Ferry. Tucker Balch lived on this island for 5 years in the building formerly housing the New York City insane asylum.
Roosevelt Island (RIOC) · fdr4freedoms.org
Midtown
Grand Central Terminal (free)
This Beaux-Arts landmark is a working rail station and an architectural showpiece. Look up at the celestial ceiling in the Main Concourse, then find the Whispering Gallery outside the Oyster Bar.
grandcentralterminal.com
Times Square
The neon heart of the theater district is busy at all hours. It’s at its most dazzling after dark, when the giant screens light up the whole intersection.
timessquarenyc.org
The Diamond District
West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues is lined with thousands of independent jewelers and diamond dealers. Even if you’re just browsing, the street-level bustle is a slice of old New York commerce. For a taste of the district’s frantic energy before you go, watch the Safdie brothers’ 2019 thriller Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler as a fast-talking 47th Street jeweler with a gambling problem.
diamonddistrict.org
Top of the Rock
The observation deck atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza offers open-air views in every direction. Its best feature is that the Empire State Building and Central Park are both in your view. Tucker says that it is better to look AT the Empire State building from Top of the Rock than the other way around.
rockefellercenter.com
NBC Studios Tour
This guided tour of 30 Rockefeller Plaza goes behind the scenes at the home of shows like Saturday Night Live, NBC Nightly News, Jimmy Fallon. Book ahead, since tours often sell out.
thetouratnbcstudios.com
Central Park
Strawberry Fields (free)
This quiet corner of Central Park is a memorial to John Lennon, centered on the black-and-white “Imagine” mosaic. Enter at West 72nd Street, across from the Dakota, where Lennon lived.
centralparknyc.org
Vistas
Top of the Rock ($$)
The observation deck atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza offers open-air views in every direction. Its best feature is that the Empire State Building and Central Park are both in your view. Go around sunset to see the city in daylight and then watch it light up.
rockefellercenter.com
Entertainment
See a Broadway Musical ($$$$)
Nothing else quite matches a live show in one of the historic theaters around Times Square. For discounted same-day seats, try the TKTS booth in Duffy Square.
broadway.org
NBC Studios Tour ($$)
This guided tour of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Comcast Building, goes behind the scenes at NBC’s longtime home, where shows like Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show are made. Book ahead, since tours often sell out. The tour starts and ends at The Shop at NBC Studios, where you can pose at the TODAY desk and pick up merchandise from current hits and classics like The Office and Seinfeld.
thetouratnbcstudios.com
Food
The top restaurants in NYC are expensive. Here are some good ones that are cheap to moderately priced:
The Oyster Bar ($$)
Grand Central’s Oyster Bar has served seafood since 1913, under its famous vaulted tile ceiling on the station’s lower level. It’s a remarkable setting with great and not too expensive food. Tucker recommends the clam chowder and the various forms of fried seafood. Save money by buying several appetizers to share.
oysterbarny.com
Gray’s Papaya ($)
This no-frills counter at Broadway and 72nd Street serves some of the city’s best hot dogs, washed down with a papaya drink. It’s a few blocks from Strawberry Fields, so the two make an easy pair.
grayspapaya.nyc
Hot Dog King ($)
In Tucker’s opinion, these are the best hot dogs in the world (after chili dogs at the Varsity in Atlanta). Dan Rossi’s carts have held court outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street for years. Get yours with spicy brown mustard, sauerkraut, and onions.
Hot Dog King’s Extraordinary Story
Nathan’s
Only listed here so you won’t be tempted. Tucker says to skip Nathan’s. Hot Dog King and Gray’s Papaya are better.
Zabar’s ($$)
This Upper West Side food emporium at Broadway and 80th Street began in 1934 as a smoked-fish counter and now fills nearly the entire block. It’s crowded, noisy, and wonderful, with aisles of coffee, olives, prepared foods, and fresh-baked rugelach, plus kitchenware upstairs. The cheese counter is enormous, ranging from familiar favorites to new artisanal cheeses, and the staff will often offer you a taste. The real draw is the appetizing counter, where skilled slicers hand-cut smoked salmon paper-thin to order: classic Nova, Scotch-cured, double-smoked, and salty belly lox, along with sable and whitefish. Pick up a bagel and some lox for a picnic, since it’s just a few blocks from the Museum of Natural History and Central Park.
zabars.com
Katz’s Delicatessen ($$)
Open on East Houston Street since 1888, Katz’s is the classic New York Jewish deli, famous for hand-carved pastrami piled high on rye. Hold on to the ticket you’re handed at the door, since you’ll need it to pay on the way out. Yes, this is where Meg Ryan filmed the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally.
katzsdelicatessen.com
Russ & Daughters ($$)
Joel Russ started out selling herring from a pushcart, and the family has run this Lower East Side “appetizing” shop since 1914, at 179 East Houston Street since 1920. Take a number and order a bagel with lox and cream cheese, or try the smoked fish, caviar, and babka. For a sit-down meal, the Russ & Daughters Cafe is a couple of blocks away at 127 Orchard Street. Katz’s is just down the block, so you can do both.
russanddaughters.com
Skirt Steak ($$)
Chef Laurent Tourondel, founder of the BLT restaurants, does just one thing here: a fixed-price meal of prime skirt steak with béarnaise, a green salad, and unlimited hand-cut fries. Save room for the dessert cart. It’s at Sixth Avenue and 29th Street in Chelsea, close to Penn Station, and it’s walk-in only except for parties of seven or more.
skirtsteaknyc.com
Museums
NYC hosts some of the most iconic museums in the world. If you are a student, bring your ID because they all have student discounts. Here’s Tucker’s list:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ($$)
The Met on Fifth Avenue is one of the world’s great museums, covering 5,000 years of art from Egyptian temples to European masters and American period rooms. Adult admission is $30 for out-of-state visitors, while New York State residents can pay what they wish. Tucker’s favorites: The impressionists’ galleries, and the musical instruments section which includes Ringo Starr’s iconic drums. Afterward, grab lunch from the Hot Dog King’s cart out front. Also visit the art for sale outside on the sidewalk.
metmuseum.org
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) ($$)
MoMA, on West 53rd Street in Midtown, holds landmark works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Warhol, and many others, alongside design, film, and photography galleries. Don’t miss the MoMA Design Store. You don’t need a museum ticket to visit it, and there are two locations: one across the street at 44 West 53rd Street, and a second in SoHo at 81 Spring Street, which reopened in 2025 after a full redesign.
moma.org · MoMA Design Stores
American Museum of Natural History ($$)
Across Central Park West from the park at 79th Street, this museum is famous for its dinosaur halls, the giant blue whale in the Hall of Ocean Life, and the Hayden Planetarium in the Rose Center. It’s a short walk from Strawberry Fields and Gray’s Papaya, so the three make an easy Upper West Side afternoon.
amnh.org
Shopping
Walk South on Fifth Avenue (free to browse)
Start at the gilded statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman in Grand Army Plaza, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street by the southeast corner of Central Park. Across the avenue is the glass cube of Apple Fifth Avenue, and on the west side is the department store Bergdorf Goodman. At 57th Street you’ll find Tiffany & Co.’s renovated flagship, “The Landmark,” and Louis Vuitton’s old flagship wrapped in a tower of giant monogrammed trunks while it is rebuilt. LV’s five-story temporary store, with its own café and chocolate shop, is just around the corner at 6 East 57th Street. Continue past Cartier’s mansion at 52nd Street to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Saks Fifth Avenue, across from Rockefeller Center. Duck into Rockefeller Center for FAO Schwarz, with its toy soldiers and the giant floor piano from the movie Big, and then finish at the New York Public Library’s stone lions at 42nd Street.
rockefellercenter.com · faoschwarz.com
FAO Schwarz (free to enter)
America’s oldest toy store left its longtime Fifth Avenue home in 2015 and reopened in 2018 at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, on 49th Street. Toy soldiers greet you at the door, and inside are the famous clock tower and the giant floor piano you can dance on, like Tom Hanks in Big. It’s a delight for kids and grown-ups alike.
faoschwarz.com
Nintendo NY (free to enter)
Nintendo’s two-level flagship store sits at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, on 48th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. You can try the newest Switch games on demo stations, shop exclusive merchandise featuring Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon, and browse a display of Nintendo consoles through the years.
nintendo.com
MoMA Design Stores (free to enter)
You don’t need a museum ticket to shop at either MoMA Design Store. The Midtown store is directly across the street from the museum at 44 West 53rd Street, just off Fifth Avenue, so it fits easily into your Fifth Avenue walk. The SoHo store at 81 Spring Street reopened in 2025 after a top-to-bottom redesign. Both are full of clever, beautifully designed gifts, from housewares and lighting to toys, books, and stationery.
store.moma.org
The Met Store and the Natural History Museum Shops
Vendors sell their own art outside the Met on the sidewalk (no entry fee). The Met’s main store sits just off the Great Hall and is packed with jewelry, prints, books, and home décor inspired by the collection. The American Museum of Natural History has a three-level main Museum Shop, plus a Planetarium Shop full of meteorites, gems, and space gifts. These shops are inside the museums, so you may have to pay the entrance fee to reach them. Both museums also sell online.
store.metmuseum.org · AMNH Shops
The Shop at NBC Studios
Inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Comcast Building, this store is stocked with merchandise from Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, and classics like The Office, Friends, and Seinfeld. It’s also where the NBC Studios Tour starts and ends.
thetouratnbcstudios.com
JPMorganChase Shop at 270 Park Avenue
JPMorganChase’s new 60-story global headquarters opened in October 2025 on the block between Park and Madison Avenues and 47th and 48th Streets, a short walk north of Grand Central. Inside is a company shop selling JPMorganChase-branded gear. The building itself is not fully open to the public, so you may need to go with someone who works there.
jpmorganchase.com
