Barking at shovels

Have a great time!

A few words of advice --

Don't rely on a commuter near the subway for your car. That's not something I recall seeing a lot of near subway stations. I believe that the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North have them, but do you really want to park your car so far away? Honestly, Manhattan has such an extensive public transportation system that it's best experienced sans car. You might want to look into the Chinatown bus, Amtrak, or the Limoliner to get there. (Of course, Thanksgiving travel is itself a pain at times.)

If you're into history, I would suggest a visit to the New-York Historical Society or the Museum of the City of New York. Either one will have fascinating exhibits drawn from the city's history.

If you like bookstores, check out the Strand on 12th and Broadway. Also, Coliseum Books, now on 42nd St I believe, is an excellent place for browsing.

You could always go to the top of the Empire State Building. On a clear day the view is fantastic, and even on a cloudy day it's still impressive.

Big Onion Tours run some neat historical walking tours of the city. If you can get down a little earlier, on Friday they're having their Annual Post-Thanksgiving Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour. But on Saturday they're having a tour of Greenwich Village at 1 PM, so if you get there in time you can learn all about the neighborhood you're staying in.

A Broadway show is always fun.

More on all of the above can be found via a simple Google search. Also, check the webpage http://www.nycvisit.com/home/index.cfm for more ideas.

Book Block

Check out the Strand Bookstore at the corner of Broadway and 12th
Street for thousands of second-hand and remaindered books at bargain
prices (Mon-Sat, 9:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Sun, 11:00 a.m.-10:30 p.m.).
Even folks who think they are familiar with the Strand might not be,
if they haven't been there since the newly renovated second-floor
space devoted to art books finally opened to customers. If you find
yourself accumulating too great a gross tonnage of purchases there,
you can arrange to have them shipped to your address when you pay for
them at the cashiers' desk. Shipping them out of state will exempt
you from NY sales taxes, effectively subsidizing the shipping cost.
From the Strand, walk north one block to Broadway and 13th Street to
Forbidden Planet, an SF specialty shop (Mon-Sat 10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.,
Sun 10:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m.).

Outdoor Exploring with Scenic Views

Explore one of Brooklyn's westernmost neighborhoods, Brooklyn Heights,
by taking the subway (2, 3, 4, or 5 train) to the Borough Hall stop
and then walking back toward the East River. As opposed to the
skyscraper canyons of Manhattan, the Heights offers streets of
historic, human-scaled architecture: brownstone townhouses along with
the services (restaurants, shops, etc.) attendant to a long-gentrified
neighborhood. The promenade overlooking the East River affords
terrific views of lower Manhattan. If you feel like stretching your
legs some more and if the weather obliges, you can return to Manhattan
by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, one level of which is reserved
for pedestrians and bicyclists. (Researching the location of the
pedestrian access point ahead of time is advised.)
Another option providing dramatic views of lower Manhattan and some of
the surrounding waterways is to take the Staten Island Ferry (which is
free) from the southern tip of Manhattan to Staten Island, and back
again.

Entertainment

TKTS (http://timessquare.nyctourist.com/broadway_tkts.asp) is a
source for half-price tickets for plays (Broadway and Off-Broadway)
and some other events. On a Friday or Saturday, the lines at the TKTS
booth in Times Square are especially lengthy. To save time, try the
less heavily trafficked satellite TKTS booth at the South Street
Seaport instead.

Art Options

The Museum of Modern Art (http://www.moma.org/) has just opened its
newly renovated and expanded facility, which has increased its display
space by some 50%. The admission price has been hiked to a scandalous
$20.00, but entry is free on Fridays from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Check the listings of temporary exhibitions in the Obvious Museums in
case there's something on that catches your fancy. For example, the
Guggenheim Museum (http://www.guggenheim.org/), which is known
primarily as a venue for European modernism, is currently showing a
major exhibition of Aztec art.
For Saturday gallery-hopping to see contemporary art for free, the
greatest concentration of galleries is in Chelsea. Head for the West
20s between 10th and 11th avenues; start, say, on 24th or 25th
Street. Some 200 galleries in that area participate in the
publication of "Chelsea Art," a free brochure listing Chelsea
galleries and their locations. Look for giveaway copies of the latest
edition at the entrances to the first galleries you visit. More
detailed listings for galleries and museums throughout New York are
available in the more elaborate Gallery Guide, which may also be
available for free at some of the more upscale establishments. Some
galleries open as early as 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays, but many do not
open until 11:00. (On Sundays, they'll be closed.)

So how was your trip? What did you end up doing?