As said previously "top of the rock" is much better then Empire State IMO too, less crowded viewing platform and great views of Central Park and empire state building. Clinton street baking Co. Is great for brunch if down Lower East Side and had the best burger of my life at Five Napkin burger in Hell's Kitchen. Would recommend the subway for getting around, no where near as busy as the London Underground and feels safe even late at night! We used the mta website for route planning, it'll guide you from your hotel door to any attraction in the city using the subway! tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/tripplanner.aspx
My favourite restaurant and the best steak in New York is here... http://www.striphouse.com/ Not cheap, but well worth a visit(just be careful with the wines, some of them cost a fortune).
http://ny.eater.com/maps/a-guide-to-new-yorks-mob-restaurants For a Made-Man, such as your good self, this listing should keep you in the right company.
If you don’t just want to see the bright lights and fancy an alternative wander off the beaton track to see real NYC head for Chinatown/little Italy, walk up through the lower east side on Orchard /Ludlow, see huge brownstone tenements and tenements museum, lunch at Katz’s Diner, cross on to the Bowery (Linnet on Prinny Ave now named after this) to see where CBGB’s was and go across Manhattan on Bleeker all the way to Greenwich Village, Friends building etc, Meetpackers district and up on to the High Line walkway which is quality.
New York - well Manhattan cos that's all I visited - is an interesting one. I went for 5 nights on my own a few years back and the first day there I really didnt like it. Cos of Jet-lag I was up and about at 6am and - I'm not exagerating - literally nothing was open. "City that never sleeps"? What they mean is city where hardly anything opens before 10am. Seriously, it was pissing it down and I had nowhere I could get shelter. I was miffed I can tell you. But then, predictably, I did soon love it. Central Park is just wonderful, the foresight to keep that in probably the prime real estate in the world is amazing. Loved it on a weekend just pottering around. Times Square is a s**thole though, bit like Picadilly Circus. I dont do all the touristy stuff, I tend to live like a local and would massively recommend a late-afternoon through to the early hours sesh right along Bleaker Street. Believe it or not I ended up going on a Bloomingdales staff night out Happy days. And they have Newcy Brown on top everywhere, why dont we have that here? I didnt do much in the way of restaurants being on my own but the food on the go was brilliant, although dont make the mnistake I did and order a full pizza rather than a slice and pay about $50 for the biggest pizza I've ever seen. It lasted about 3 days! The vendor asked me multiple times if I really wanted a full pizza, but I was drunk... I'm going to go back next year and this time will definitely leave Manhattan.
London is full of places open at 6am. As for Hull... As Imsaid in a previous post, I have a relative who,lives in Manhattan. He finds plenty of places open early. You have to get used to different attitudes. Bars have to shut between 4am and 8am. Compare that to here But you don't see many drunk Yanks. They have an almost puritanical attitude to drink which he took a bit of getting used to and got some funny looks downing them at his normal rate. When a Yank says we must get together for a drink they often mean it literally, just a drink. Being drunk in public is frowned on and is likely to see you carted off. His wife is in her fifties and he has been told in some places he couldn't buy 2 drinks unless he brought her ID over. He has been to bars to watch football which opened at 7am but no way will you get served even one minute before 8am. Being English still carries kudos with a lot of Americans. Next time you go let us know and I'll try and get some places to try. He always goes where locals go and avoids any English or Irish bars (not bars owned by IrishnAmericans but those faux ones you get all over the place). Times Square has improved. He rang me after going there for the New Year to compare how the huge crowds there cause no problem with the way they get in a panic in London about it.
Oh yes, don't forget to take your ID everywhere. They'd ask a WW1 veteran (should there be any left) to prove his age if he was English. They can be right petty ****s can those sad accented ****s over the pond.
One bar I went to in Chicago wouldn't accept non-American ID even though it was my passport, I said this got me into the country but it can't get me into this bar? He said sorry managers rules.
The best thing is when they ask where you are from! We started to look forward to their replies when we said "hull in yorkshire" they really have no idea who New York was named after!
