NYC for 1 day

[mrodgers]

After that, take a spin up to Canal St for shopping or go to Little Italy and get some Pizza.

I'll be looking for pizza and food at Little Italy myself next time if we ever go again. We wanted the slice to eat out on the sidewalk so my daughter says, "Internet tells me Joe's Pizza." So we had Joe's Pizza. My expectations were so high, but when we got it, I said, "It's mall pizza!" Which isn't a bad thing as we have 2 malls with great NY style Neapolitan pizza, my favorite pizza, but I did expect better than that. So Joe's Pizza was fantastic, just not any better than my local also fantastic options in the mall.

Which is why my mind was blown with Junior's Cheesecake because I had very low expectations. Very particular about my cheesecake and it was everything I imagined the best cheesecake I've ever had to be.

 

[Hopscotch]

I would also plan to spend part of the day hanging around the areas of the colleges you visited. This is how we got most of our intel on what life was really like at various colleges. Spend some time in the coffee shops or restaurants near campus and in the student unions and bookstores. Talk to as many random students as you can, it'll give you a totally different perspective on the schools than what you hear on the tours.

 

[HopperFan]

I would also plan to spend part of the day hanging around the areas of the colleges you visited. This is how we got most of our intel on what life was really like at various colleges. Spend some time in the coffee shops or restaurants near campus and in the student unions and bookstores. Talk to as many random students as you can, it'll give you a totally different perspective on the schools than what you hear on the tours.

OH SO TRUE!!! This likely makes the most sense for this trip. It was an important part of our college visits.

NYU is my old stomping grounds and you can have a great day in the Village. Check out Chelsea Piers and the High Line. Lunch at a sidewalk cafe in the village. You'd have time to do 9/11 Museum if that is of interest, quick subway ride south or quick ride north to Empire State Building for that overview.

Columbia is really a more residential area but you have St. Johns Cathedral and not far south to museums and some interesting parts of Central Park. Other than Cathedral it is all time consuming.

 

[bluezy]

Ah, Radio City. The first time we visited NYC, I was a kid. And we just happened to be walking by there when I really needed to use the restroom. So we went in and asked. They said restrooms weren't open to the public, but I could use it if we were on a tour. So we bought tour tickets, and it ended up being one of the most fun things we did that trip!

I really enjoy the Radio City tour. I wish they still took you backstage, but at least they show you a movie of that area now. When we did the tour a few years ago, we had an awesome guide. Within about 3 minutes of starting the tour I thought to myself, "This girl should be working at Disney. She has a total Cast Member vibe." At the end of the tour when we were all just hanging out, I mentioned to her that I thought she should be working at Disney. Turns out, she *had* worked at Disney for 8 years and had just recently (in the last year or two) moved to NYC with her partner.

I also really enjoyed the NBC Backstage tour. I had done a little research and found out that if you did the tour on a Saturday afternoon you could often see the cast of SNL rehearsing in the studio. So that's when I scheduled our tour! We got to watch them rehearse for several minutes. And then we went home (we live about 2.5 hours away) and watched the show that night and saw the scene they were rehearsing. That was cool!

 

[JLTraveling]

I also really enjoyed the NBC Backstage tour. I had done a little research and found out that if you did the tour on a Saturday afternoon you could often see the cast of SNL rehearsing in the studio. So that's when I scheduled our tour! We got to watch them rehearse for several minutes. And then we went home (we live about 2.5 hours away) and watched the show that night and saw the scene they were rehearsing. That was cool!

How fun! Reminds me of the days when Disney-MGM Studios was an actual working studio. I used to go to Mickey Mouse Club tapings a lot. And we got to do some special events too, like the "A Conversation With" series--we saw George Burns and Betty White, in a relatively small theater. And Mark Hamill's handprint ceremony was fun. I love that stuff!