itinerary help, please :)

My husband and I will be traveling to New York late March. I have an itinerary roughly hammered out, but I锟斤拷锟絛 love any feedback or ideas on where to eat lunch and dinner. We like inexpensive authentic food of all kinds. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Monday

arrive at Hudson Hotel early evening, explore Times Square

Tuesday

day: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Bowling Green and Hope Garden, WTC, Wall St. and NYSE

evening: Nicks vs. Heat at Madison Square Garden

Wednesday

day: MOMA and Central Park, UN (maybe a tour?), International Center of Photography, Grand Central Terminal (although maybe later in the week if we will use this to get to P.S.1 in Long Island), Whitney at Altria and Whitney at Phillip Morris (is this worth seeing?)

evening: Empire State Building, ???

Thursday

day: Chinatown for dim sum (any suggestions?), shopping and exploring, Chelsea, Greenwich Village

evening: New Museum of Contemporary Art, explore Soho

Friday

day: Guggenheim, Whitney and Central Park, American Museum of Natural History-I know this is alot, but I wasn%26#39;t sure when else to do it-it is the only night the Rose Center is open late.

evening: Rose Center and Hayden Planetarium to see space show-not sure yet which show

Saturday

day: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, walk across Brooklyn Bridge, P.S. 1 in Long Island and maybe Grand Central Terminal if we use this to get there-anybody know?)

evening: MET

Sunday-depart early morning

Thanks for your help!

itinerary help, please :)

WOW, you will be exhausted and you might be booking too much to enjoy anything. I%26#39;m all go-all-day everyday type of person, but you seem booked so tight that you will be too busy going from one place to another to see and appreciate the exceptional beauty of the city.

Some restaurants that I enjoyed are Popover Cafe - for the wonderful popovers - and SaraBeth%26#39;s - chicken pot pie - on the upper westside. Cafe Lalo, also on the upper west side is a must-see for breakfast or dessert. 2nd Ave Deli is a wonderful authentic deli - I think in East Village, I%26#39;m not sure. Dean %26amp; Deluca in SoHo is great fun and has lots of choices, as does Zabar%26#39;s on Broadway.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island take a long time alone, and with security, you will have a wait for that trip. There is a wonderful Circle Line tour that goes past Ellis and SoL and takes you all around Manhattan in 3 hours - but you don%26#39;t really get off for the Statue.

WTC is a very emotional experience; you should go there, but take time to comtemplate and understand what happened. It is hallowed ground, and you will feel that when you visit.

Central Park can take an entire day if you see all it%26#39;s beauty, and I wouldn%26#39;t recommend making that a whirlwind - it is a breathtaking park with many interesting sights, including Belvedere Castle. Take time to walk (or take a horse carriage ride) through the park as much as you can, it is a priceless experience.

Take the A train to High Street and walk BACK across Brooklyn Bridge to see the city from that side. You will be near the Empire State Building when you come back. Take the subway as much as possible, it is fast, cheap and efficient, and note the beautiful tile work in some of the stations, they are art in themselves. Stop along the way at Grand Central Station and explore the building, it is exceptionally beautiful and a wonderful piece of architecture.

Enjoy your trip, NY is an spectacular city - please don%26#39;t hurry to try to see everything, savor each neighborhood and location - you will be glad you did - have a safe trip!

itinerary help, please :)

This is an extremely ambitious itinerary and you%26#39;re going to have to drop a few things. To properly enjoy some of the places you%26#39;ve selected, you aren%26#39;t leaving nearly enough time. It%26#39;s easy to spend at least a half-day in either Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, Moma and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island.

Monday and Tuesday are do-able. Wednesday%26#39;s a mess. Eliminate Central Park, the U.N. and Grand Central Station and make it a museum day. Between Moma, the Photography Center and the Whitney you should have a full afternoon.

Thursday%26#39;s okay. Friday%26#39;s a bit crowded. We%26#39;ve previously moved the Whitney to Wednesday. Central Park, the AMNH-Hayden Planetarium and Guggenehim are all in the same general area around the park. Believe me, between really seeing the park and the AMNH you%26#39;ve got an entire afternoon.

Saturday. Eliminate the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, as much as I enjoy it. March is too early to really see it in its glory, plus it%26#39;s a bit out of the way. Instead, wander around Brooklyn Heights (don%26#39;t miss the Promenade) and walk across the Bridge. Take the 4, 5, or 6 train at Brooklyn Bridge Station to Grand Central and explore.

We%26#39;ve eliminated the U.N. and P.S. 1 on Long Island (why did you want to go there?). Another time, perhaps. Also, I%26#39;ve noticed no Broadway shows on the list. Kinda surprised. Perhaps Wednesday or Thursday evenings. Now for food.

You%26#39;re gonna get all kind of recommendations for expensive, trendy places, but since you said inexpensive and authentic, let%26#39;s stick to that. For dim sum in Chinatown there are dozens of good places. My favorite is New Green Bo. For lunch in the Little Italy-SoHo area, try either Pellegrino%26#39;s on Mulberry Street for pasta, Lombardi%26#39;s on Spring Street for great pizza, or Fanelli%26#39;s Cafe on Prince Street for outstanding burgers and fries. You also have to have some cheesecake at Junior%26#39;s at Grand Central Station. In midtown, get the pastrami sandwich (one will feed two people) at the Carnegie Deli. For lunch in Brooklyn Heights, there are any number of inexpensive places along Montague Street. All good. Near Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, two of my favorites are Moran%26#39;s, an Irish pub/restaurant in a landmark building that%26#39;s been around since the 1830%26#39;s. Good food. Good atmosphere. It%26#39;s on 10th and 18th Street. Also in this area at 69 Ganesvoort Street (south of 14th St. and west of 9th Ave.) is Restaurant Florent. It looks like a diner but the food%26#39;s great. Open 24 hours a day. And finally, in Times Square, Virgil%26#39;s Barbecue is a must. Just a bit more expensive than the others I%26#39;ve mentioned, but worth it. And for authentic, try Via Brasil, 34 West 46th for the best Brazilian food in the city. Also a bit more expensive than some of the others but hardly outrageous. Go here for dinner.

I%26#39;ll recommend two of my ';neighborhood'; favorites: great food and atmosphere, modest prices:

Notaro, an Italian restaurant on Second AVe. bet. 34th and 35th Sts; get there before 6:30 or so and you can have fixed price dinners for about $13 or $14!

In the Chelsea section, for brunch, we love La Belle Vie: a French bistro with terrific atmosphere and food; get there around noon to one to avoid any crowds, which there seldom are, and it%26#39;s an amazingly modest $14 or so.

Now YOU can help me! We%26#39;re visiting Phoenix and Tucson in late March...have been to both a number of times; love Tucson esp. Any restaurants off the beaten track that you might recommend?