1
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
1
Pier 86
Explore history, science and service at the Intrepid Museum. Walk the decks of the legendary aircraft carrier Intrepid, a National Historic Landmark, and see 28 aircraft, including the world’s fastest military jet. Get an up-close look at the space shuttle Enterprise and British Airways Concorde, and enter Growler, the only guided missile submarine open to the public. The Museum also features the Exploreum, a fully interactive exhibit space where you can climb into a real Bell 47 helicopter and land a space shuttle.
2
American Museum of Natural History
2
200 Central Park West
The American Museum of Natural History is a New York icon. Packed with exhibitions representing people and animals throughout the ages, the museum also has a planetarium and a digital 3D and 2D theater, as well as special visiting exhibitions and plenty of places to eat and shop. The dinosaur wing is a must-see, and if you have time, lie down under the life-size model of a blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.
3
Hotel Beacon
3
2130 Broadway
Located on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the Hotel Beacon offers oversized guest rooms and suites, each featuring a fully equipped kitchenette. The location offers tree-lined streets and landmark buildings and is within walking distance to the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center and Central Park. Features include free WiFi access in all guest rooms, business center and in-house restaurant.
4
Carmine's - Upper West Side
4
2450 Broadway
About as old-school Italian as it gets, the legendary family-style Southern Italian Carmine’s delivers everything but the red-checkered tablecloth. Sopranos fans will feel comfortable in both the Times Square and Upper West Side locations, where the portions are absurdly generous, bottles of Chianti abound and the river flows with red sauce.
5
Central Park Zoo
5
830 Fifth Ave. (southeast corner of Central Park)
Animal lovers of all ages won’t want to miss the Central Park Zoo. A pioneer in re-creating natural habitats in urban environments, the zoo is home to some favorite species such as sea lions, brown bears, snow monkeys, snow leopards and red pandas. If you’re bringing along little ones, don’t forget to visit the Tisch Children’s Zoo, where they can feed and pet friendly live animals or play (and learn) in a variety of simulated animal eggs, shells and habitats. The zoo also offers outdoor and tented event space for private functions.
6
Loeb Central Park Boathouse
6
Central Park
Nestled in the park, right on the lake, is the Central Park Boathouse, an iconic and elegant restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating, and different menus (in different price ranges) for each seating area. After you eat, rent a bike or a rowboat to experience Central Park further, or take a gondola ride—but be sure to make reservations ahead of time.
7
RedFarm - Upper West Side
7
2170 Broadway
Chinese food maven Ed Schoenfeld and dim sum master chef Joe Ng duplicated their West Village hit with this lively Upper West Side location. It's always fun to go here with a group, which allows you to sample even more of the delicious dishes, among them Katz's pastrami egg rolls, Benton's bacon and egg fried rice and fat grilled shrimp with watercress sauce. Innovative recipes and farmers' market sourcing for seasonal vegetable dishes are RedFarm priorities, elevating it in more ways than geography from the typical Chinatown experience.
8
Fairway Market–Upper West Side
8
2131 Broadway
Fairway Market is a large supermarket with various locations providing a variety of organic goods. Delivery and catering services are also available.
9
Shake Shack—Upper West Side
9
366 Columbus Ave.
Just follow the juicy burger drippings from Madison Square Park up to Columbus and 77th and you’ll find the second NYC home of Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack. Not to be outdone by its Gramercy counterpart—where regulars have been known to queue up for hours just to get their fix—the Upper West Side joint serves up classic Americana treats like floats, dogs, fries and, yes, ShackBurgers that would make the gang from Happy Days beg for more. And in honor of its new Uptown digs, this Shack has some special menu items up its sleeve—like the Upper West Slide (an addictive vanilla-strawberry-banana-shortbread concoction) and the Natural History “Crunch-stellation” (a chocolate tidbit-infused black-and-white malt). We can’t promise there won’t be a line out the door, but this one’s so easy on the wallet—and tasty—you won’t mind the wait. Seasonal beer and great-value wine are also on the menu. The Madison Square Park location is temporarily closed through mid-2015 for renovations.
10
Vessel
10
20 Hudson Yards
This architectural marvel and interactive experience comes to NYC’s Hudson Yards courtesy of designer Thomas Heatherwick. The monument is comprised of 154 intricately interconnected flights of stairs, forming a cylindrical or vessel-type structure from the outside, partially inspired by ancient Indian stepwells. Inside, visitors will be able to climb nearly 2,500 stairs and stand on 80 landings to garner different viewpoints of the City via this immense piece of artwork.