Another suggestion for younger folks: MoMA has an affiliated gallery called MoMA PS1 in Long Island City that it pretty cool on Saturday in the summer. It's an old public school that has been converted into a gallery. On Saturdays in the summer they run an event called "Warm Up" which is basically a small outdoor concert full of under-30s (and the occasional person like me that's clinging desperately to fleeting memories of being an under-30). Highly recommend for people looking to do something that's fun an not cheesy-touristy.

Also don't get put off by the middle-of-nowhere location - it's the first stop on the E or F train after you leave Manhattan and is just a short walk from the subway station, so it's not a long trip out into the Burroughs.

I always run down the park from 14th to Battery Park and it is one of my favorite parts of the city.

Found this earlier in the thread, but any other suggestions for Thai food? Staying down in Battery Park, but anywhere is fine, wife and I are just getting into Thai food and want to try somewhere in NYC.

Someone should compile all these tips so I don't have to wade through 14 pages.

Don't know of anything in Tribeca but if you're willing to do a short trip up to the Village there's a good place called Morakote Siam around Bleecker/Carmine.

Wondee Siam. By far the best Thai in NY. Make sure you don't go to Wondee Siam II though. They are a few block away from each other in midtown.

Saw "catch me if you can" on Broadway recently..worth checking out imo

Vouch. Tons of people blading, biking, jogging, walking dogs, etc. Great eye candy.

Forgot to say -- finally saw 2010 Tony winner Memphis - absolutely loved it, maybe my 2nd/3rd favorite musical I've seen on Broadway after Chicago and Gypsy [out of a few dozen]. Perfect for teens thru 40s.

Great music, funny, good dancing, great story, the works. What Broadway should always be.

I am going to be going to NYC with a buddy to visit a friend doing his master's at Columbia and I had a couple of questions.

I am sure that Google will give me a comprehensive overview but I was wondering if EDF had any personal favorite bars/lounges for reasonable mature college students. I guess what I mean is bars or clubs that are half decent but nothing that requires a $1000 suit or a party of 30 girls to get in.

Also, I was wondering if anyone knew when the Watch The Throne pop up store in SoHo is still up and if it will still be open on Friday.
http://gossiponthis.com/2011/08/16/j...new-york-city/

I appreciate the insight.

What type of place are you looking for?

Apart from a handful of the douchiest places, getting past the velvet ropes at most isn't going to be THAT big a deal, especially if you're willing to get there on the early side (i.e. before ~11).

All bar advice should be as specific as possible for what you'd like. Any type of place you want is available in NYC, so be specific, it makes recommendations a lot easier.

Exactly 328 square feet, and no red chairs.

Subway Inn then.

Fair enough, I just wanted to see if anybody had any preliminary personal recommendations that I could look up to gain some quick insight.

As far as being more specific into what I'm looking for, I was thinking along the lines of a lounge/bar type place. By that I mean that dance floor is not the whole club and there is music but it's not an all out club if you follow me. Optimally there are places to sit (are there places where you can do this and not have to buy bottles?) and people are sitting or standing around talking in parts of the venue. Possibly there are multiple floors to accommodate this. Something decently classy (dress clothes or blazer etc) with I guess a mid twenties clientele (In Toronto the drinking age is 19 so I don't know how they separate clubs by age groups in NYC). Also anything with a patio/rooftop would be pretty great.

Lastly, I guess I could use a reasonable priced $20-$30 dinner place in Little Italy.

Thanks for the info.

Not really my type of place, but my guess is your best bet would be a downtown hotel lounge/bar. There are a number of them, and they have many of the things you're looking for.

Beauty & Essex?

I hear the food there is good too. No patio/roof top

The Beer Garden at the Standard has a good patio and lots of seating.

Because of New York's somewhat archaic licensing laws, which date to the Prohibition era, this type of place pretty much doesn't exist. To allow dancing, you need a cabaret license, which is pretty tough to get. "Community boards" have vast influence over the process and most of them are packed with longtime residents who are hostile to nightlife.

There are currently fewer than 100 cabaret licenses in Manhattan, including strip clubs and big dance clubs. In fact if you're at a bar and start dancing, you might find a bouncer telling to stop, as it would be a reason for their liquor license to be suspended or revoked.

If you want a good Italian meal, go anywhere other than Little Italy.

Also even if you're just having pizza it's going to be very tough to eat Italian in NYC on that budget.

Thanks for the info guys. I had a feeling that things would be a bit different in new york as I figured that there wouldn't be the same flexibility that we have n downtown Toronto. I'll check out some places and let you guys know how it went.

Fair enough, the only reason I wanted to go there was because my friend had been there over a year and still hadn't gone to little Italy (I am Italian and I take this as disrespect lol). I really just wanted to go and see the area and maybe grab an espresso. I guess the food probably won't be so great for me as I eat it all the time.

Lastly, does anyone know if the Kanye/Jay-Z pop up show in Soho is still open?

Little Italy sucks, but this place is nearby and actually fits your budget:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bianca-restaurant-new-york

If all you want to do is "be in little Italy," then yeah, sit at a sidewalk table, have a drink and do a little people watching. There's excellent Italian food in New York, it just isn't there. Little Italy restaurants are kind of a standing joke among people who actually live in the city.

Torrisi Italian Specialities is great and right there, but beyond your budget. If you're willing to go up to $50 before drinks/tax/tip it's totally worth it. Or go at lunch for a world-class chicken parm sandwich.

Otherwise if you want Italian in that price range, your best bet is to take advantage of the Neapolitan pizza moment NY is having and go to Keste, Motorino or Roberta's, or spend a bit more and check out the retro-Italian-American at one of the Frankie's restaurants. Roberta's and one of the Frankie's are in Brooklyn, but not *that* far out (~15-20 minutes from Union Square, which is about what you'd spend going to Little Italy from there) and more "restaurant-like" than Keste and Motorino, which are straight pizzerias.

Go to Malatesta in the West Village. The pasta is fabulous -- if they have the spinach gnocchi in the gorgonzola sauce, someone should order it. You can skip the polpette -- they are a bit underseasoned and it's a very small order.

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'm definitely gonna check out Torrisi for lunch one of the days and then maybe grab dinner at one of the other spots. Other then the impending rain for the weekend it should be good times.

Looks like we are hitting up Cielo for one of the nights, any experiences with the place?

I realize that this is definitely an "all out club" but I previously just asking for another guy that is gonna be there. I definitely want the true NYC clubbing to 4am experience at least one of the nights.