Where to take the tourists

Man, this is a toughie. What kind of nyc do you want to show them? Maybe walking up and down the streets in the West Village? Show them Edgar Allen Poe and Edith Wharton's places, and then to Fatty Crab for food (with recession shots with a pickle back) then to Bobo for drinks / Fat Cat to play ping pong?

Fat Cat is a great place, @Jenmac; I just wrote an article about it for metrowize - http://www.metrowize.com/fat-cat-lounge-not-just-kids

@Uraniumfish I agree with JenMac it all depends on what their tastes are.. some people may enjoy a tour of the shops and a nice meal at a fab restaurant while others may enjoy a visit to the Met or something cultural also followed by a great meal.

@Uraniumfish: Take them to my place and let them watch me write. :) ha ha. Just kidding. I'm not sure. So many great places to go to. I was thinking a stop at the Empire State Building first and then a trip to Times Square.

My sister is coming to the city for the first time this spring and I was actually wondering what we should do, too. I seriously doubt that she is dying to do touristy stuff. At least I hope she isn't. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your suggestions.

I have also heard good things about Fat Cat... and of course the Met is a great idea just about all the time.

So, they'll want to do tourist stuff, which is incredibly boring to me. I need to find something that I'd enjoy too, while still giving the sense of big, exciting New York. @NeverSleeps, the Met would be great, but in my case it's gotta be a night time activity.

The problem with tourist traps is overcrowding. So if you were to go to the usual tourist places, you would find the places packed. That I couldn't handle. I wonder what areas of the city are good to go to without being surrounded by a ton of tourist.

@Everybody Well, I did my tourist hosting duty today. Since it was an afternoon excursion after all, I did a Grand Central to Herald Square mini-walk and then Koreatown for some excellent lunch. It wasn't exactly a highly imaginative tour, but I felt i didn't need to do all that much. Just let the city speak for itself.

Bryant Park/THe 42nd Second Street Library is another great place to meet and show tourists around, especially literary-types. Great exhibits, gorgeous buildings, and nice restaurants in the park right outside

@ajadeidealist What's your favorite restaurant around there? I don't know of many.

@Uraniumfish Is the Met open really late?

@anyone I tend to hang out downtown - but I think if my parents came to visit I would have to show them around further uptown. I just can't see my parents being interested in anything the East Village or Wiliamsburg has to offer.

Yeah, what is it about parents where they just only seem interested in the uptown New York? Whenever my parents are here we go somewhere downtown once per visit: and, it's always to stinko Soho to shop or something.

@Uraniumfish I think ajadedidealist means the Bryant Park Grill ..have eaten there once .. it was quite ok.. other than that that area is quite a restaurant wasteland .. there just arent any around there unless you hit the Grand Central eateries.

@Everyone I am lucky in that sense that I live Uptown. When my parents last visited they enjoyed just walking around my neighborhood though they loved Carl Shurz Park where they went to do their yoga and stuff every morning.

@ajadedidalist I like that area, too. And isn't there a massive and expensive department store there? Nordstroms, perhaps? That seems like a touristy thing to do, especially during the holiday season.

@JenMac I couldn't imagine my parents being interested much in the downtown area much, either, with perhaps the exception of the financial district.

@NeverSleeps I think you mean Lord and Taylor the city's first Nordstrom and that too a Nordstrom Rack is set to open in Union Square in May .

@Uraniumfish - I don't remember the name, but it's the one right next to the library in the park - it's got a roof terrace and everything! Gorgeous. Also, the restaurants in Grand Central are nice - the Food Concourse in the basement for light snacks, and the restaurant/Oyster Bar for more formal meals

The original Cipriani is right there. That's a nice restaurant and a major tourist draw . . . and the restaurant in the Plaza is great too.

@JenMac Have you been to the Cipriani's at 42nd? I used to go to the one in SoHo some time back (because of a boy, no less) but I believe that one is now gone, right?

I did a temp job at Rainbow Room (when it was still owned by Cipriani) and have wanted to go to a Cipriani place ever since - still haven't made it though. Is it really as good as it's supposed to be?

The food is just ok, but it is definitely a scene. The Soho one is definitely around. They have a Sunday night party in the upstairs area that is still going strong: a bunch of richy Euros buying bottles and listening to techno.

@JenMac there seem to be a ton of Euro tourist centric places in the city, two that come to mind immediately are -Bagatelle in the Meatpacking district and Cafe Noir in Soho.

@JenMac I didn't know they did the bottles and techno on Sundays, but I definitely remember the richy Euros with deep deep tans...

Ugh, Eurocentric techno. I will never figure out the appeal.

Oh yeah they do. It's not as big of a scene as it was, say, two years ago. But, I walked past it on Easter and it was definitely jammin.

I once had a roommate who worked with a bunch of Polish girls, and they were always heading out to the "Polish nightclubs." There is definitely a scene for everyone and anyone in this town.

@BroadwayBK you can say that again, all the South Asians tend to head to 'bhangra' parties which are held all over the city at various locations and often feature a deejay known as DJ Rekha.