Manhattan: best places

[pastwatcher]

I know Manhattan+Queens is a notionally HUGE concept and trying to do this will break your head. But I'm soliciting suggestions anyway: what are some places that I should experience with a friend? Usually when I'm in NYC I do different things every 3-4 hours; this time, I'm spending a whole Friday with one friend most of you don't know (Lily, from Uchoir) to have either adventures or quiet comfort.

If you want to consider this a meme: name your /absolute favorite/ places in New York City (ahem, Manhattan for me) in the categories "go every time", "area to frequently explore", and "everyone must go here sometime". Thanks lowellboyslash for the sexy description; I am looking forward to my own visit. I think autumn suits New York, because the brusque cold rush of wind, and the brilliant interest of different falling leaves, are like the purposeful no-nonsense people with so many things to be and to do.

Places I try to go every time:
Central Park, any part (going! There will be leaves!)
Alice's Tea Cup

Areas I frequent:
Union Square
Columbus Circle

Others must go at least once:
The Strand
The public library with the lions
The Natural History museum
A real Broadway show, such as "In the Heights"

Also I want apple cider...gaah I want unpasteurized apple cider that is NOT too sweet. You can get it anywhere in the mid-Atlantic and New England, but not here.

Comments

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

All my "go every time"s are in Brooklyn, I'm afraid, it being my ancestral home. But:

"area to frequently explore": If you have a good stretch of time, it's fun to start walking Broadway way down at the tip of the island and see how far you get. I tended to get distracted and stop sometime around Central Park, but you go through all sorts of interesting places on the way.

"everyone must go here sometime": The Cloisters (http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/the_cloisters)! All the way up at the top of Manhattan, but totally worth the trip, especially in the fall-- cuz it's not just the art (they have the unicorn tapestries!), it's the walk to the art through a park overlooking the river and the great huge boulders and trees, and it's lovely.

[pastwatcher]

Ooh, the Cloisters. That is a place I must go, I think.