So, i'm visiting New York next week for the first time in my life. Anybody with some great tips on what to do around there (apart from the usual suspects)?
Anybody who wanna go and have a drink? :d

SpcMs said:

Don't go to Flatbush, Brooklyn.

NWF said:

I'll try to remember that :d

No, but seriously, if you're interested in the arts and culture and stuff, go to Greenwich Village. It's located in Downtown Manhattan, stretching from Spring St. to 14th St. Also across the way, there is the East Village. See, Greewich Village is where you'll see the artists and college students and gays. New York University is located in the heart of it over on Bleecker St. Now, the East Village is probably where you'll find more artists as well as musicians, and writers, and actors, and punks and new wavers. It's also a place where you could find a lot of second hand record stores to get hard to find records. Also located in the heart of East Village is Cooper Union Univeristy which is an art college, so you'll see a lot of college students and stuff around.

You can go to like Times Square and stuff like that, but to me it's just so overrated. The streets are dirty and overcrowded and very fast-paced. So 42nd street and that scene would not be my first choice to visit.

You can always go downtown.. try to stay clear of midtown.. too overcrowded and touristy.. and over priced.. actually all of manhattan is overpriced.. Union square is my favorite place downtown.. also astor place.. Since i live uptown, I am favorable to their too!
Try citysearch.com, plug in NY city and you can search for cheap eats, good sites and restaurants and places to see... Have a great time!

Where are the record shops? (Thinking of taking a trip there myself)

KAMILLE said:

Well you have Virgin Records in Union square.. down on 14th street

Tower Records on 68th I beleive near Lincoln Center (where i saw prince a couple years ago Live)..

Use the citysearch guide I gave spcms... its a good tool guide!

KAMILLE said:

Regular record shops are everywhere. Disc O Rama is good for popular music at low prices. They're on Christopher street, between 6th and 7th. If you want bootleg and rare CD shops, go to Revolution Records on Thompson St. (near 3rd or 4th street) and Revolver Records on 8th between 5th and 6th.

EvilWhiteMale said:

No, no no, SpcMs. Them places EWM mentioned had some good stuff, but the shops themselves look old and decrepit. Go to Generation Records on Thompson St. instead, right across from NYU. Also, go to Rock in Your Head. I forgot that address. Also, Bleecker Bob's on Bleecker St. has a great selection of records. But I personally think that the staff are dicks and the records are too pricey. But that's just me.

Also, you could go to Virgin Megastore on Union Square as well as Tower Records on 68th & Broadway. Across the street from Tower is the Barnes & Noble books, music, & cafe store.

SpcMs said:

i fly in on thursday..im up for a drink..who else?

So i guess the first thing i'll have to do is ... learn the different districts and how the street and avenue system works :d
It's a bitch, i'll have xams till next friday and i'm leaving saturday morning like very early.
Luckily the gf arranged some things already, and so far this is the list:
NBA (yay!)
Broadway (not so yay! but should b nice)
NYSE
Seton Hall
UN
Columbia University

Oh and thnx a lot so far for all the music store references, i'll make sure to print those out, cause i won't have the time to go looking for them out of the blue
[This message was edited Sat Jan 24 18:54:23 PST 2004 by SpcMs]

Ring up Choc!

SpcMs said:

Sure, fly me out there from Melbourne and I'll gladly have a drink with you.

* It's probably not a great idea in the winter, but Washington Square Park, on the edge of NYU's cmapus is an amazing, free place to just sit and watch people for hours. You can really catch the vibe of New York there.

* If you're adventurous enough to do something you might never have imagined you'd do, there's a really funny (and almost scary) gay leather bar called The Lure in the Chelsea district. Guys walk around in harnesses, police or biker uniforms, etc. I once saw an elderly man walk in the joint in a 3-piece suit and strip down to absolutely nothing but a red jockstrap -- no lie! Whatever your sexual orientation, watching guys there is a really memorable sociological experience. If you go, there's a dress code, so wear jeans, boots, a black leather jacket or something -- a "tough guy/biker" look. I guarantee you'll leave with some great stories... and it's totally safe.

My favorite NYC wrecka stows are the cheepie used shops on St. Marks - Sounds always has everything I want whenever I visit, and usually for under ten bucks a pop. Go on down St. Marks a bit, and then you have Mondo Kims, which has a nice eclectic selection and a huge stock of yet MORE used CDs! Their new stuff can be ridiculously pricey, but they have some good deals on used CDs. Also, Mondo Kim's has a great DVD section upstairs.

THEN, walk over a couple of blocks to Lafayette and 4th St. and ya got my favorite stop for weird music - OTHER MUSIC. It's always hit-or-miss here - either they have something amazing that I didn't know existed, or everything is so obtuse that I wind up getting a nosebleed and needing to leave. But it's always an experience.

Tower Records is across the street from Other Music, but big whoop. By the time you're done w/ the St. Marks wrecka stows, you'll have already found anything you'd want at Tower for half the price anyway.