Clearly a home loss is due <| sep |> I personally recommend skipping the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building . DO take a ferry and go to Dumbo for the views and Julianna ' s Pizza . Museums are always a good idea in NYC . Not out of the way precisely getting to the Cloisters from midtown , for instance , takes over an hour by subway , but worth hitting up because they ' re fun as well as centrally located . Chelsea Market The Strand The Evolution Store The East Village Greenwich Village Alphabet City . Just walk around ! Great book stores , specialty shops , restaurants , bars , cafes . Great Places to Eat PMF in the East Village is quiet romantic and has great food and cocktails as well . Shanghai Asia Manor , Shanghai Cafe I don ' t recommend Joe ' s for a popular nighttime bc of the wait , and Nom Wah are some of my favorite places in Chinatown . Veselka is great if you like pierogies and diner food . Thai Villa is beautiful and has great food I really love Gramercy Tavern . all of the Ootoya locations are great if you like Japanese food . Raku is great for soups .