Customer Reviews

The Best Things to Do in New York City: 1001 Ideas

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I've lived in Gotham for several years, this book helped me to fall head over heels in love with the city again. After reading "The Best Things to Do in New York: 1,001 Ideas," I decided to take the authors' advice and give New York City every spare moment I had left in my very busy schedule. In 2007, I'm going to tour the tombstones at Trinity Church, take a 3-hour Circle Line cruise, record a story in Grand Central Station, drink afternoon tea at the Waldorf-Astoria, buy lunch at Zabar's and picnic in Riverside Park, take in a comedy show at Caroline's and walk through several neighborhoods just to revel in their historical and architectural treasures.

This is a top rate guide to Gotham, one that's ideal for tourists, transplants or natives. Pick it up and I guarantee you'll be scheduling dozens of new adventures on your calendar as well.

Do you marvel at how sometimes, a complete foreigner knows more about your city than you ever cared to know? I have lived on the outskirts of Manhattan for my entire life: Brooklyn, Queens, and mostly Long Island. However, I made many frequent forays into Manhattan on the weekends, and I considered myself not the complete tyro regarding the nooks, crannies, and interesting activities that 'The City' had to offer. This book was recommended to me by a Russian immigrant, who had come to New York 10 years prior. I often marveled at all the interesting places she went, and how she knew so many good places to eat. It turns out that this is the secret! Although some of the 1001 ideas are very touristy, the vast majority are applicable to even native New Yorkers. So far I've had free hot dogs with my pints of red beer, had the strongest shots I've ever had (watermelon-flavored too!), spent more on one meal than I usually spend in one month, and I plan on doing so much more. This book doesn't only give you interesting things to do and see, it also stokes your curiosity to discover things on your own. I'm not a great reviewer, but I want to get across the point that I did thoroughly enjoy this book, and I plan on checking off the vast majority of things listed!

This book has some very interesting information about New York City and all the attractions and experiences one can have during a short or extended visit. However, it is definitely a book to obtain several days or weeks prior to making your journey. Unlike a travel guide book, which tends to be designed for quick referencing or thumbing through for the specific information you want, the particular organization of this book is not amenable to a "quick review". The reviews are concise and well written, but to really get the most from this book, I would recommend taking your time and absorbing the content before making out a specific itinerary for your visit. I emphasize this because I waited until the last minute to order this book. After seeing what interesting things I could have planned, but did not because I was too rushed to give this book the attention it deserved before hopping on a plane, I later had some regrets about not getting this text sooner. Now I have some great info for my next visit, but this is definitely a book to peruse while having a cup of coffee in the advance planning stages of your trip. Used in this manner, I would highly recommend it. It is much less useful to take with you around the city for planning activities on the fly. Get the good stuff out of this book before you go, and then use your travel guide to help you make those reservations and get to the points of interest. I will be using this approach prior to my next NYC excursion.

This book is right, the things to do in New York are endless. My family and I have made many trips to New York, everytime we go we find something new to do. I enjoyed taking my daughter to see the Rockettes at Christmas time and then taking her on a carriage ride. Last Thanksgiving we went to see the Macy's Day Parade and it was incredible. Always something exciting to do in the Big Apple. Read the book and then take your family on a new adventure!!

Billy Wannyn

Having lived in Manhattan for a few months now, I foolishly thought that I had seen all that deserves seeing. Bored, I picked up this book and found so many new places to explore that I hadn't heard of before. Every time I open this book, I seem to fall on a page I haven't read before - The Best Things to Do in New York doesn't focus on the main touristy attractions, like going to the Statue of Liberty or Empire State Building - it's much more specific, and brings out tidbits of New York Culture, which I find refreshing and delightful.

For instance, since buying this book, I've made sure to visit City Bakery in February to experience its different flavor of hot chocolate every day of the month, to compare pizza slices from the 'Eating and Drinking' section's "Slices of New York" list, visited a number of movie sites (there's a list), "engaged in a legendary NY food war" (I compared pastrami sandwiches from Katz and Carnegie Deli), saw the narrowest house in the city, found the Bela Bartok plaque in midtown, and finally learned what the number counter in Union Square is (it's called Metronome and tells the time to the second).

Still, I've barely touched upon the other ideas in the book - though there are no pictures, each idea is dressed with a story or explanation, often funny, but always helpful, with appropriate website and contact information, and subway directions. The authors also really cover the gamut of New Yorkers - every chapter is helpfully sub-categorized -- in particular, the food chapter names some of the city's most authentic international restaurants by cuisine, (of all price ranges), by New York tradition (donuts, pizza, hot dogs, sandwiches, etc.), and by price range.

A great resource - only wish I'd bought it when I first moved here!

I purchased this book for a friend who has a daughter going to school in NYC. She and her husband were visiting their daughter quite often and I thought this book would help them discover fun things to do in the city. Their reviews have been great and this book has been a real resource. I would purchase again for travelers to NYC.

This is a pretty good book, even for long time New Yorkers. The one issue I have with it is that it is very heavy on the restaurants. If that is what you like, then definitely enjoy. If you're interested in filling in the space in between, there are lots of good ideas, but not nearly as many as the title would imply.

Still, it's not a bad purchase, and if you're getting it as a gift or for something to stir the pot of ideas, it would be one to consider. There are potentially a few others that are better if you are into more active adventures, or if you are willing to travel around the greater NYC area.

I bought this for my sister based 100% on these reviews. She loved the book and is very excited to start trying some of these activities. She lives in Queens but works in the city and is always looking for new things to do...this book helps her take advantage of all NYC has to offer.

This is one of the best guide of NYC that I ever used. If you plan to visit NYC, you have to buy it. You can find good restaurants, great tips and a lot of unique and uncrowded places to visit.

I spent a week and a half in NYC last Thanksgiving visiting my sister. Since a lot of my exploring was on my own while she worked, this was a great way to plan out my days. I went through prior to my trip and flagged all of the things I wanted to see and do while I was there and by the end of my trip I had almost all of them checked off my tourist list. The only thing that would have been nice would be to make the book a pocket/tote size for carrying around more easily. I carried it with me the entire trip. The best part, was seeing that my sister (a New Yorker for over a year now) has a copy as well!