Fun Advice for a 50th Birthday Staycation in NYC in April?
March 2, 2018 3:35 PM   Subscribe

I'm turning 50 on April 25th, and am turning to the Mefiverse for great advice on how to have a killer staycation in NYC (I live in NJ) to celebrate.

This would be for the weekend of 4/28-4/29, and what I'm looking for are:

1. Favorite romantic hotels you've stayed in (or fantasize about staying in),
2. Restaurants you love,
3. Spa recommendations,
4. Favorite personal spots/events/ what-have-yous.

Assume I know my way around Manhattan, etc. and have a passing familiarity with the neighborhoods and how to get around by subway, rail, etc.

To make this less of an enormous task:
1. I've been to the Frick, Nat Hist, City, Met museums.
2. I love live theater, but not Broadway shows
3. Love Italian food, oysters, and whiskey.
4. Love to dance to swing, contra, Irish, electronic music.
5. I'm a total clotheshorse, so men's clothing shop rec's are most welcome.
posted by Lipstick Thespian to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (10 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: The King Spa in Palisades Park is amazing!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:10 PM on March 2, 2018


Best answer: Aire in soho is great. Not quite a spa but a very beautiful, cavernous bathhouse. it is completely candlelit and has several different pools (a super bubbly one, a freezing cold one, a salty one, a hot hot hot one, etc). You can splurge and do things like a 4-handed massage and a red wine bath
posted by neematoad at 4:46 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Bowie exhibit

Le Bernadin is exactly how it's portrayed in Treme.

I liked Gramercy Tavern but I was distracted by reading about the cretin who faked his death on mefi.

The Gramercy park hotel.
posted by brujita at 6:08 PM on March 2, 2018


Best answer: Go to the 50th floor of as many buildings as possible
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:11 PM on March 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


Emapanda mama, good sangria lots of tradtional or weird empandas =c)
Rag Tag Theater off broadway
posted by pyro979 at 6:28 PM on March 2, 2018


oh, and touristy, but still awesome - Top of the Rock
posted by pyro979 at 6:31 PM on March 2, 2018


My favorite "secret" gardens are Wave Hill in Riverdale and Untermyer in Yonkers. Both easy to reach from Manhattan, the former doable by mass transit (free bus from the end of the 1 train), the latter better accessed by car.

If you need to grab a quick bite in midtown, you could do worse than E-mo Kimbab, on East 32nd in K-Town. Korean style sushi rolls made in a tiny family joint scarcely big enough to reach from the door to the counter.

Uptown there's a great beer and German food place called Bier International on Frederick Douglass Avenue. If it's chilly, have a pint (or more) and an appetizer of sausage on pretzel roll. It can be very loud, so sit outside if at all possible.

It's been years since I was in Flushing, but I'm sure there are some amazing Chinese places under the radar. Watch a Mets game while you're there if they are in town. I really like Citi Field way better than Shea (heresy, burn the witch!).

If you want pizza, I am a new fan of Williamsburg Pizza at Allen and Broome on the Lower East Side. It's not crowded like the more well known touristy pizza places (Lombardi's, et al). While you're down there, check out the Tenement Museum.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:08 PM on March 2, 2018


Good casual lunches: Bobwhite Counter for fried chicken, David Chang’s Fuji for spicy chicken sandwich, Superiority Burger for an amazing non-meat burger experience, all in East Village
posted by sestaaak at 9:12 PM on March 2, 2018


Best answer: Not in Manhattan, but right across the bridge and easily accessible by pretty much every subway line: Grand Army Bar. Excellent cocktail program which changes with the seasons (right now they're doing a fairytale-inspired series; previous installments involved Gilmore Girls and death metal) and well-shucked oysters with a variety of house-made mignonette tinctures served in little eyedroppers so you feel like a scientist. (Also the bread and butter, simple as it sounds, is sublime.) If you decide to continue your Brooklyn detour, you're not far from Park Slope for some window-shopping (the people at Goorin Bros are charming and extremely accommodating if trying on a bunch of hats sounds fun), or perhaps a trip to the Botanic Garden -- you may be there in time to catch the cherry blossoms, depending on weather. I haven't been, but there's a new Italian place near there which is apparently quite good.

If you'd prefer to stay in Manhattan, the Raines Law Room might be nice for a cocktail, and it's not too far from the Daryl Roth Theatre, which is currently running an interesting looking show: In And Of Itself.

If you want to be extremely fancy, there's an NYC incarnation of the famed Chicago institution The Aviary, which is hellaciously expensive but could be appropriate for a milestone birthday treat.
posted by halation at 10:34 AM on March 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Oh and: as for a place to stay, you might have fun at The Ace, if your version of 'romantic' embraces the slightly offbeat.
posted by halation at 10:48 AM on March 3, 2018


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