Top 5 NYC

The good thing about living in NYC is that I don't have to worry about going to the 'top 10 must see attractions' in a day. I can take my time working through them and discover a bunch of other interesting things along the way. I realize that some of my friends do not have this luxury so I listed some of my favorites below. Instead of thinking too hard about this, I wrote down a bunch of ideas and then picked my top 5 from the list. For a future project, I may consider a mapped out route, a photo postcard collection, and an audio walking tour. Although getting lost is half the fun so maybe I won't do any of the above. If the weather is good, I would suggest wandering/exploring downtown NYC (unnumbered streets). Leave yelp and google maps behind and see where you end up with.

My top 5 as of 8/11/2014 (in no particular order):

-Walk down west side hudson river parks and pier / walk through park along east river. NYC has beautiful waterfronts and many access points. I personally like the east side since there are several bridges in view.

-NY Public Library (the one with lions) at Bryant park. Good for architecture, reading, and interesting exhibits.

-Mets game or stadium tour at Citifield. I personally love the stadium and encourage everyone to check out Shea bridge and the museum with shiny world series trophies and Mets history. Oh and the food and game atmosphere are great too.

-Metropolitan museum of art. Donate a couple of dollars (all admission prices are suggested, not mandatory), get a badge/sticker, and wander around this maze / art haven. My favorite areas of the Met are the American Wing open courtyard and the armor room.

-Central Park Bethesda fountain / conservatory garden / any walking tour given by the Central Park conservancy. I'm sure central park is on everyone's list and it is great for all seasons. 

Pic below shows bridges on the east side. If you look north of seaport, you will see the Brooklyn bridge, the Manhattan bridge, and the Williamsburg bridge. if you look south (not in picture), you will see the Verrazano. 

Rough brainstorm list below, loosely categorized.

//food and drink 

People watching at R&R coffee

Jack's Stir Brew at the south st seaport / take your coffee to go and enjoy the waterfront view!

Cornelia cafe for food and/or show

Italian bakeries - Bruno or Ferrara

Japanese food / sake near St Marks / Yakitori / omonomiyaki stand, tea house, soba, odecibel bar

Zabars bagel and lox

Shake shack burger and shake / or just go to the shorter line for custard

//outdoor active stuff

Walking around LES / finding good eats / beer/ concerts

Juggling in Bryant Park

Central Park Bethesda fountain / conservatory garden / walking tour

Union Sq green market / farmer's market

Governors island / biking / view of skyline

Brooklyn botanical garden

Mets game at Citifield / Shea bridge

Brooklyn Promenade 

People watching in Washington Square, Union Square, and on the 6 train.

Walking down piers on west side / park on east river

//Books and arts

Strand Book store 

Forbidden Planet comic store

NY Public Library - Bryant park

NY transit store and exhibition in Grand Central and main transit museum in Brooklyn

Neue Galerie and book store - featuring German and other languages

Moma Gallery and store

Metropolitan museum of art

Moon and street lights (black/white night photos work everywhere in NYC)