I know you asked about Jekyll and Hyde's before, I've been to the one on 57th st, and I think it's 7th ave. There are 2, the club and the other one. I think the club is downtown (but I could be mixing them up), but the one that is downtown is geared more towards adults with the alcohol. I think your troop would love the one in midtown. It's interactive, and there are different levels to explore. The portions are huge, and it was fairly reasonably priced. Generally, when I've gone, we shared food, so it wasn't so bad. I think we might have been the only native NYers when I went, but it's fun being a tourist in your own city sometimes.
As far as the subways go, try to figure out how many trips you'll be making and if a weekly unlimited will be worth it for you. I didn't notice how long you plan on going for, but there are also daily unlimited passes. Otherwise, it's $2 a ride, although if you're not going until 2010, they could raise the prices by then. I would personally avoid buses because they have to drive on the streets, and it can get very crowded and trafficky, to the point where it is faster to walk than take the bus.
Also, if there's a large group of you, I would try to avoid the subway at peak times. It'll be crowded at those times anyway because of people coming off from work, and it'll be hard to get all of you in one car and all of you getting off at the same time. When it's very crowded on the subways, you sometimes need to push your way through if it's your stop to get off, and people generally don't appreciate having 50 people climbing over them. But they're safe, easy to figure out. I've been taking the subway on my own since I was 12, and I've never had much of a problem, only once, but it was late at night, and towards the end of the line. But I was in the same car as the conductor and he apparently called a cop for me who came on at the next stop and the other guy ran out of there. But this was around 2 am, and I was the only other person in the car. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry.
The other thing to consider if you stay in NJ is how much will it cost you to get into NYC every day. My friend lives in NJ, and if she's taking the bus into Manhattan, she has to pay around $20 for a round trip bus ticket. Course, she lives in central NJ, and not right across the river so maybe that makes a difference, but it's something to consider. Also, I don't know how late you plan on keeping the girls out, but the NJ buses and PATH trains don't have great night time schedules. I think the buses are maybe once an hour after a certain time, and the PATH trains stop running all together, whereas the subways and buses run 24 hours a day. So look into that as well if you're staying outside the city.
I don't know if your girls would be interested, but you can get a backstage tour of Madison Square Garden. You get to see the lockerrooms, the theater, etc. I always wanted to do that, but never got around to it. Or you can get a tour of the NBC studios. I remember when I was little, my mom took us on a tour of Radio City, and we got to see the Rockettes practice room and the costumes and all that kind of stuff. Not sure if they still do that.
And since these are girls, remember no trip to NY is complete without a trip to Bloomingdales.
