I don't know your neighborhood very well, but Ulysses on stone st. is probably the closest thing to your buddies' apartments.

Based on my one trip to NYC, I have something I will suggest AGAINST.

Empire State Building:

Wait 45 minutes in line to see a view that is basically no differenet from every pan shot you've seen watching every show set in New York on TV, but this time there's a french person elbowing you.

some activities grouped together:

1) LES - Go to barrio chino for brunch, good margaritas and chilaquiles. take a tenement museum tour, right down the street. I usually hate tours but this is fast paced, fun and really interesting. Afterwards, head over to il laboratorio del gelato for the best gelato ever.

2) fort greene - go to Tomas Beisl, an austrian pub/restaurant, for some great schnitzel and beer (I like the Jever Dark). Afterwards, walk across the street to BAM Rose cinemas and catch a flick in the really great movie theatre. After that, head to Moe's in fort greene for a drink. this might be my favorite bar in brooklyn.

3) Smith St area - The Grocery is one of the best restaurants in brooklyn, really great food and great outdoor garden if it's summer. after that, go over to The Brooklyn Inn for a beer and ask the bartender about the bar, which was shipped over from germany. there's pool in the back. Before I went to moe's, brooklyn inn was my fav brooklyn bar.

Did you do this during the day? Because I highly recommend the Empire State Building at night. I think it is pretty awesome.

They have great gin drinks at this joint. Great, great drinks.

Happy Ending is indeed fun. Its an old massage joint, obviously. Haven't been there in a while, but its a good time with a very very drunk crowd.

Yeah, during the day.

Maybe I'm just jaded, but views like that are so surreal that they just don't do anything for me beyond what a still image does. I imagine night probably would be a lot more interesting, although is it still filled with tons of annoying tourists.

KRANTZ, danza:

That area is definitely very sparse as far as cool bars go, especially later at night or on weekends. Ulysses is worth going to and when it's nice out that alley is pretty fun. There are a couple of crappy dive bars like John Street Puke Bar (I don't think that is the official name). There's one pub that actually gets a pretty good crowd sorta around the corner from the Club Quarters, it has an Irish pub type name, can't remember it. There are also a few decent bars within a couple of blocks of the WTC site, but yeah most are more like pubs as opposed to really fun bars.

Jeremy's Ale House at the Seaport is good for just drinking tons of beer with your buddies. Dakota Roadhouse is walking distance, that's pretty fun. From there within a few blocks you start to get into the Tribeca bars and there are quite a few that are pretty cool and very fun, with all sorts of different vibes.

I read something in timeout ny recently about the bar fresh salt, near south st seaport. they made it sound fairly cool, might be worth checking out. hell I will meet y'all for a drink there sometime

Tao is over the top on purpose, of course. With a big group you can have a ton of fun. Sushi Samba on Park was right around the corner from me, very solid choice. Blue Smoke is teh suck. Perhaps you'd like Bolo better?
Mike's Due Pizza is one of my favorite corner pizza shops.

Flatiron Lounge is a favorite, and Red Rock West is a fun change of pace, esp if you want to see a biker bar in Manhattan. The lounge right next door at The Park [with roof deck and hot tub] used to be great, still a great place to hang out and drink when it's warm out. [Of course, then one can head over to the Roxy for roller-skating night, just don't bring Tim Hardaway.]

Pravda is pretty cool and has great vodka, obvs. Bitter End. Great jazz and blind piano player at Arthur's. Automatic Slim's has a really great party scene at night. For cheap drunkeness with co-eds, there's Down the Hatch. Mixx, Gaslight, Bowery bar, Beauty Bar, Lansky Lounge [still there?]
Serafina is a good place for moderate Italian and hanging out, a couple different locations. My late night 'unknown' hangout for years was Wetbar at the very well-known W, just not in a prime location. Campbell Apt is a great place to hang out and drink on a date or with friends. You can get fresh seafood downstairs at the Oyster Bar and head up the 'secret' elevator in the SW corner of Grand Central for drinks after.

Arlene's grocery is a good time. Havent' been there in a long while. Veselka is clutch for 4am food. Don't forget about the Odeon, that's open real late as well if you're partying downtown and the food is decent.

I love these threads. My favorite things/places in NYC, in no particular order:

1) The smorgasbord lunch in the café section of Aquavit. It's a plate of all sorts of interesting and inventive preparations of herring and salmon (creamed, pickled, curried) and some cheese, potato and Swedish meatballs.
2) BBQ from Daisy May's. I honestly think DM's holds its own against the best BBQ places around the country, or at least against the restaurants that came to NYC for the annual BBQ fest in Madison Square Park.
3) Kalbi (Korean BBQ marinated rib chunks) at Kang Suh. It's a shame they switched from charcoal to gas (damn lawyers), but they still have the best marinade.
4) Samgyeopsal (Korean BBQ, thick slabs of unseasoned bacon) at Kun Jip.
5) Cucumber martini (mashed cucumber, soju, and sake) at Shebeen. Cool and refreshing.
6) Earl Grey martini (Earl Grey-infused gin) at Pegu Club. Even though it was no longer on the menu when I was last there, they'll still make one for you. In fact, if you just tell your bartenders generally what you like in a drink, they'll make up a drink for you on the spot. And they really know what they're doing.
7) Karaoke at Japas. They have a much better selection of English-language songs than the places in K-town.
8) Pingpong, pool, foosball and piano at Fat Cat. I love that after a game of pingpong you can sit down and tinkle away on their piano. Reminds me of music camp.
9) Crabmeat soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown. Never gets old.
10) Pizza at Lombardi's. There have been endless debates on this topic. There may be better places, but I can walk to Lombardi's, so that's my place.
11) Cuban sandwich at Café Habana. Pretty much perfect.
12) Frisee salad and French onion soup at Balthazar. The frisee salad has a poached egg and lardons (chunks of bacon). When I couldn't get a seat one time, I tried getting the same dishes at Felix. No comparison, Balthazar hands down.
13) Sushi of Gari on the UES. I'm probably going through a phase, but these days I really like this kind of nouveau seasoned sushi with weird sauces and juxtapositions.

I could go on but have a plane to catch.

burning - love your selections 2-4. I'll have to try some of that other stuff on your list.

but i do prefer k-town for karaoke, 'cause hey - i'm korean

Here are my favorites:

Restaurants:
Corner Bistro - Awesome cheap burgers in a great area in the West Village with a cool old school bar.

Itzocan - It is a tiny East Village restaurant, but it is the best Mexican food I have had in NYC.

Union Square Cafe - I have always had a great meal with great service here, and they have done it for a long time there. I think this should be a top choice for anyone new to NYC looking for a top tier meal to use as a benchmark for other fine dining experiences.

Gotham Bar and Grill - For anyone on a budget, or just has time for an awesome lunch, definitely check out their prix fixe 3-course $27 lunch, you will not be disappointed.

Jean Georges - Same deal as Gotham, an amazing lunch for very cheap.

Xunta - My wife and I use to go here once a week for awesome tapas in kind of a dive bar atmosphere. The dates wrapped in bacon and the bbq monkfish are my personal favorites. They have live music and spanish dancers on Thursday nights I think.

Bars - I like sorts dive bars, with good beer selection and a great juke box. All of these bars below fit that description:

7B - East Village

Swift - East Village, no juke box, but usually have a good DJ.

Tile Bar - East Village.

Brooklyn Brewery - Really fun happy hour on Frday and free tours on Saturday that include 2 beers I think. Right near the subway stop in Williamsburg. Which is also close to...
Mug's - Awesome old school bar in Williamsburg.

All,

Floyd on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights is awesome for some late night Bocce Ball with cute underage Pace U chicks (they have dorms near the Clark St station).

Fun fact: Rasputin is owned by some Russian mob type guys that just got busted for cheating a guy out of 70K in a poker game, then breaking some legs.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01242007/new...fanie_cohen.htm

Further fun fact: So is every other Russian club in Brooklyn. But yes, the girls are hot (although Russian girls in the city tend to be gigantic gold diggers...) If you have a Russian friend, get them to take you to one of those types of places at least once - it's a weird experience that's going to be very cool if you've never been to a club of this type. Also, while the service is always terrible, any Russian catering hall/restaurant like 'Putin serves everything on a 4 star menu for 2/3 of the price. Yay for not paying taxes and passing the savings onto the customer.

The Room - I really like this bar (only serve beer and wine) in soho and they have another location in Tribeca that I have never been too, but might be worth checking out.

Anotheroom

Also wanted to add my favorite brunch place:

9th Street Market - The line can get a little long, if it is too long Veselka which has already been mention is very close as a standby, but I think it is worth it. The french toast or the tex-mex scrambled egg nachos are my favorites. They usually have awesome flower displays and some really cool art work as well as a bonus.

Silk Road Palace - Amsterdam between 81 and 82

I wouldnt call this one of my favorite places in NYC, but this is a good spot for anyone who is underaged or looking to get wasted cheaply. They give you free, all you can drink box wine and the Chinese food is cheap and decent. Soemtimes there is a wait but they will give you free box-o while you wait.

I made a really long list, but several have been mentioned so I omitted them. I have a ton of more things to add, so hopefully I'll have time later.


Food

My three favorite steakhouses in the city are Strip House, Peter Luger and Keens. Cannot go wrong with any of the three.

Rocking Horse for slightly upscale and wonderfully tasting Mexican.

Craft is a la carte everything, and you can pick just about anything on the menu and not be disappointed. Also has a very impressive wine list.

Neptune, which I've mentioned before, is my favorite seafood restaurant in the city.

Gramercy Tavern has already been mentioned, but so worth mentioning again. My favorite restaurant.

Two Boots Pizza is a love it or hate it pizza place. I love it. I believe their East Village location shows movies.

San Loco for cheap, delicious Mexican.

Bars

MJ Armstrongs is my standby for watching sports. Great wings.

Union Hall has a lot of space, bocce ball, live music, two floors, an outside garden, and a fun, young crowd.

Jimmy's Corner is an interesting bar. Located in Times Square, it's the complete opposite of touristy. Jimmy, the owner, used to train Ali and was one of his corner men. He's there almost every night and it's a fun place to stop by for a few beers.

Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden is a great place to spend a summer evening. It has probably 50-75 picnic tables outside with a pretty good Eastern European beer selection. My weekly poker game moves here during the summer.

Iridium Jazz Club is meant to be visited on a Monday night, when Les Paul and his trio perform. Something that must be done once.

79th Street Boat Basin is another place to grab a beer in the summer. It's strange, NY is surrounded by water, yet there are very few places to hang out on the water. This is one of the few.

Everything Else

This is just some random stuff I came up with.

Chelsea Market is an amazing place to shop for food. Period.

Strand Books is my favorite bookstore. You'll find a new favorite book everytime you're there.

Smith Street in Brooklyn was already mentioned - one recommendation on that street...

Smith & Vine is a small wine shop, but the owners are passionate about wine and carefully choose their inventory. I've heard they recently moved down the street and now offer a wine bar.

Vintage New York is another favorite wine shop, but for a different reason. They only sell wines produced in NY State. You'd be surprised with some of the good wines offered, especially those from the Finger Lakes Region. I know the Upper West Side location has a tasting bar.

The Central Park Boathouse is a nice place for brunch. Afterwards, take a row boat out on the pond.

Brooklyn Art Museum always has interesting exhibitions. Afterwards, hit up the Botanical Garden and take a stroll through Prospect Park.

Bryant Park offers free movies in the summer, but get there early. The link is to the 2006 schedule to provide an idea of the types of movies shown. Grab a blanket, wine and some friends and it's a good time.

nyc99, nice post w/the links. i don't shop at chelsea mkts because i live on the east side but i'll look into that v. soon.

turnip, fresh salt is pretty good...on the same vein, "salt bar" is also a good place to drink. owners of the restaurant Salt own Salt Bar so at least you know you'll get decent service and food.

Union Square farmers market on Saturdays has tons of fresh produce that's pretty cool if you like to cook.

I've always been unimpressed by Two Boots Pizza. I like the place, but the Pizza is distinctly mediocre.

Much better is Patsy's on the Upper East Side. I also like Johns. The downtown branch in the Village sucks, but the pizza at the branch on 64th and 1st is sublime.

However, my favourite food of all in NYC is the chocolate marble cheesecake at Veniero's. My carry-on luggage on the flight back to the UK will generally consist of a couple of these.

And check out the maple syrup candy from Vermont that they sell here. The ginger flavour is ridiculously good.

I also second the various recommendations for Strand Books. That may be my favourite store in NYC. I'm also a big fan of Paragon Sports for their selection of down coats in the winter. They tend to cost about half the price that they do here in the UK.

Two Boots certainly isn't my favorite, but I mentioned it b/c it's less known than the John's, Patsy's, Grimaldi's, etc. of the city. Their crust is what makes them different, but if you don't like the crust, you don't like the pizza - which is why I think it's a love/hate place.

floyd is very fun, also in the summer "last exit" across the street has a cool patio in the back no one ever goes to. you can even bring stuff to grill.

in addition, chip shop on atlantic is right next to floyd, they will fry anything you bring in (in addition to serving fish and chips).

my favorite fries in the city are pommes frites in the east village. curry mayo is awesome!