Ideas for NYC minivacation

December 9, 2015 5:15 PM

I'm headed to NYC to see Hamilton with my sister, niece and niece's friend at the end of Dec. (to be specific, we will arrive 12/27, see show 12/28 pm, head home 12/29). What cool stuff should we do while there?

My niece (and her bud) are 16, and are interesting nerdy kids whom I like a lot. We will be staying in midtown, but obviously can get around. We are thinking about checking out the shops at Bryant Park. I'm also thinking about hitting a museum: MoMa? the Met? an awesome smaller museum that I don't know about?
My sister suggested Forbidden Planet, as they don't live near interesting comic book stores; we'll probably go there.
I'm open to suggestions! I haven't spent much time in NYC, so please share your wisdom.

posted by maryrussell to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

If your niece and her bud are interesting in a kind of...dark way, they might enjoy the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn. Forbidden Planet is great! MoMa PS 1 is cool too--pretty easy to get to from midtown though it's in Queens. I'll think some more on it, might post again later on.
posted by dysh at 5:50 PM on December 9, 2015

Forbidden Planet is a good choice. Midtown Comics is bigger and their main store is at 40th and 7th Ave. Kinokuniya is a great Japanese bookstore across the street from Bryant Park.

If people are really into Hamilton, his house in Harlem, Hamilton Grange, is operated by the National Park Service and open to the public.
posted by plastic_animals at 6:25 PM on December 9, 2015

Alice's Tea Cup is my absolute favorite place on earth. There are three locations and all have a cute little gift shop and the best red velvet cupcakes EVER. I love it so much. If you like tea and/or baked goods, GO THERE. It's a nice choice for breakfast or brunch, especially on a cold winter day.

(I'm SO jealous that you're going to see Hamilton! Have so much fun! I want so badly to be in the room where it happens but goddamn it, I'm willing to wait for it.)
posted by Aquifer at 6:38 PM on December 9, 2015

Even though you already have tickets, you may still want to check out Ham4Ham!
posted by corb at 6:46 PM on December 9, 2015

Seconding Kinokuniya (make sure you go downstairs!) (and upstairs!) and Midtown Comics, which is close by. My guess is that the Bryant Park shops will be more interesting to adults than to teenagers--but they're right across from Kinokuniya and would be a quick stop.

If they're artsy-nerdy, for a treat take them to the Neue Galerie (and yummy Cafe Sabarsky). It's small but gorgeous & intense with too-pure-for-this-worldness. (Under 12 not admitted.) If not, you can't go wrong with the American Museum of Natural History.
posted by miles per flower at 9:02 PM on December 9, 2015

Depending on weather and your interest in outside things, the Highline, Chelsea Market and new Whitney museum are all pretty close
posted by blueprinter at 10:45 PM on December 9, 2015

if you find yourself with no plans once you get here, check out The Skint. They update every day (but mostly just for that day) and it can give you something spontaneous and fun to do once you are here. Most of the events they post are free or relatively inexpensive. I check it every day, mostly to be jealous of all the great things happening in NYC that I can't attend.
posted by archimago at 5:56 AM on December 10, 2015

I think the Met is ALWAYS worth it! Pretty much every time we go to New York I drag everyone to the Egyptian Wing which has both a tomb and a temple set up in it! Real ones, not reproductions! You can walk through them! The Met is AMAZING, the only problem is that you won't be able to spend as much time there as you'd like (or at least as I spend before everyone sits on benches and refuses to keep looking at canopic jars and sarcophagi with me; there are plenty of other wings besides the Egyptian Wing and they're awesome too I GUESS and seriously, if you can make it work, the Met is super, SUPER worth it).
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:05 AM on December 10, 2015