NEW YORK CITY TIPS #1

If you're going for just the weekend, don't bother trying to see any of the boroughs. Spend all your time in Manhattan. Getting in and out of the city kills precious time.

What somebody loves in New York:

• Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (takes the better part of a day)
• Empire State Building at sunset (get there early; the line for the observation deck starts getting long pretty close to twilight and it goes inside and wraps around a few times; the line forms to go into the 5th Avenue entrance—sometimes if you go through the 34th St. entrance you can cut in line)
• Times Square at night (just wandering through Times Square and going into ESPNZone? or the giant Toys R Us can be a great evening)
• Exploring Grand Central Station (awesome architecture)
• Central Park, sort of (it's so big and diverse that you can't really say you saw it unless you see a lot of it, and that can take awhile)
• Macy's on 34th Street and Broadway (The original "Miracle on 34th St.—just a quick trip through—you won't believe the labyrinth this place is)
• TKTS (they have a booth in Times Square and a little store downtown where they sell tickets to Broadway shows for that day, at really cheap rates, like $30 to $80; you can get pretty decent seats and get to see a Broadway show; you used to have to stand in line a long time at TKTS but nowadays you can just swing by in early evening and either there is no line or the line is moving pretty fast)

What somebody wouldn't recommend:

• Ground Zero (there really isn't anything there to see)
• Going to museums (they are awesome, but on such a quick trip it kills time you could spend doing bigger and better things)
• The Cloisters (cool, too, but too far from the center of the action and it takes too much time)

There are almost too many restaurants to recommend. I will tell you you can get a great pizza in a cool place at John's Pizzeria, on 44th between 7th and 8th St (right in the theater district). Great pizza. Seriously. And the restaurant is in this old converted church. Very cool.

NEW YORK CITY TIPS #2

These are a few of somebody else's favorite places to go in the city:

• Kate's Paperie - 562 Broadway (in Soho)
• The Market NYC - 268 Mulberry (inb/t Houston/Prince) only open on Saturdays from 11-7
• The Bathroom - 94 Charles St. (@ Bleeker)
• ABC Carpet & Home - 888 Broadway
• Zittomers - 969 Madison Ave (inb/t 75th/76th)
• Fresh - 57 Spring (Lafayette/Mulberry)
• Searle - 1124 Madison Ave (@ 84th)
• Find Outlet - 229 Mott St
• Calypso - 280 Mott St
• Pearle River Market - 477 Broadway
• Sohome - 499 Mercer St
• MoMA? - 113 Prince St

• Dos Caminos - 475 Broadway @ Houston (best prickly pear margaritas and awesome guac...
• Magnolia Bakery - 401 Bleeker (best pastries in town. get the cupcake)
• Pastis - ? somewhere in W. Village (the hot spot to eat right now. french food... would be a great place to stop and have lunch)
• Alice's Tea Cup - ? Upper West Side (adorable cafe for afternoon tea and a scone or 4)

NEW YORK CITY TIPS #3

• Midtown is a great place to be because you're near a lot, try to get a place near Central Park--worth it, see a show--worth it.
• Visit Little Italy(Mulberry St) and get a cannoli and Italian ice--worth it, eat at Chinatown, take the subway but not beyond the 80s (gets a little rough)
• GreyLine? tour...OK, not great,
• Statue of Liberty--usually really crowded.
• If you have some time, take the subway/bus/cab to Brooklyn. Great pizza, delis, also great view of Manhattan, esp at night.

Get used to walking, everybody walks.

Oh, and safety shouldn't be an issue. Liz is tough broad, but not once did she ever feel unsafe - even when she unknowingly found herself in the middle of the 'projects' late at night. Reportedly one of the accidental favorite parts of the trip!