I find I’m always giving the same advice. For awhile now I’ve been thinking about making a personalized NYC visitor guide. Why not collect my recommendations on the internet so I don’t have to repeat myself?!

This is definitely a list in progress. More food, drink, locations and directions to come!

NYC Must-Dos if you have only One Day

• Top of the Rock – Skip the Empire State Building and go to 30 Rock instead. The views are just as good and there are fewer tourists to block them.
• Circle Line Tour – Totally worth the wait, and enduring the screaming children. It’s the perfect way to see the whole city while sitting down.
• Battery Park and WTC – Take a walk around the construction pit and stop in at the temporary museum. Pop into Trinity Church to see the memorials to the workers. I cry every time I go in! Afterward, grab a coffee and walk down to Battery Park. If you wander to the East you’ll catch a view of Wall Street. Skip the expensive and time-consuming trip out to Liberty Island and check out the views from the park. Save your money for food!
• Momofuku – Head to any of the members of this restaurant family for dinner or dessert.
• Death & Co., Raine’s Law Room, or Elizabeth – Depending on where you end up, these are all good choices for fancy, old fashioned cocktails to end your day.

If you have Two or Three Days…

• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge – From Brooklyn to Manhattan for the best views
• Central Park – Good any time of year. I love to walk around and get a little lost.
• Museums:
• MoMA – Clearly you must go here if you care about art/design/architecture. At all.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art – My best advice is to set a cap on your visit time. Don’t try to see it all in one day; it’s just not going to happen! I get super tired after about 2 hours here, but if you go in the summer make sure to hit the rooftop gallery.
• SoHo for shopping – You’ll probably want to go to Broadway to see all the big name stores, but you should also walk off the beaten path. The best shops are on the little streets and it’s fun to wander around and poke into the little boutiques.
• Go to a Broadway show – Buy tickets the day of the show at the tkts booth in Times Square. You’ll get to see a show, and knock out the whole “I went to Times Square!” bit in one shot.
• Eat… anywhere – There are too many great restaurants to name them all here. General rule of thumb is to avoid anything that is a chain, has photos of the food on the menu, or where you see other tourists. If you find yourself around Times Square, head over to 9th Avenue for good eating.

If you have longer…

• Flushing, Queens – Go hungry, leave stuffed! Take the 7 train to the end of the line and eat at a dim sum spot with great soup dumplings. Finish up with bubble tea so you can digest everything on the long trip back into the city.
• Coney Island – Ride the Cyclone! Just do it! Then eat a Nathan’s hot dog and walk down the boardwalk to enjoy the beach. (But please, don’t use the beach. It’s gross.)
• The Cloisters – It’s a helluva long subway ride, but when you get up to this extension of the Met you’ll be thankful. It’s so nature-y and pretty, and the Medieval artwork is great. Enjoy the park and the views of the Hudson.
• Governor’s Island – Unlike Coney Island, this is actually an island. Take the ferry from the Staten Island Ferry terminal. There’s biking, trails, interactive art installations and a water taxi beach.

Williamsburg-specific (aka, if you’re staying with me!)

• Eat:
  • Pies n’ Thighs – Southern comfort food. Totally amazing and fatty.
  • La Superior – After you’ve run out of money eating everywhere else, you go here. Mexican small plates with small prices.
  • Egg (go on a weekday or before 10 on a Saturday to avoid an enormous wait)
• Drink:
  • Radegast Beer Hall – Huge community tables, giant beers, and German food.
  • Larry Lawrence – Also known as the “hidden bar.” You walk down a long corridor to get to a cavernous room with a see-through patio and cozy, wooden booths.
• Dance:
  • Bembe – Cuban and afro-beat music, and plenty of people who know how to dance to it.