I went back with my wife on a business trip. We went to a play called Once Upon A Mattress. She had a list of all the museums. I thought I would hate them but not so. Same as when we went to Paris on an awards trip. Dozens of pictures.

Go while you still have the energy. My traveling days are over.

We did #2 on Christmas day. The illusions and effects they pull off is amazing! If wanting to capture the quintessential NYC Christmas mood this is a must.
Saks store front light display was insane, both the display and the crowd. Only time in NYC I felt unsafe, too many people.
Rockefeller center tree was just as bad as Saks, had to check it out from two blocks away.
Empire State Building day after Christmas we waited a little over two hours, next day was literally four hours to get to the top.
All the harbor cruises were 4-6 hour waits.

We got the City Pass that allows you to pre-pay and chose X amount of things to do. We had one left over the night before we left so we did the double decker bus tour at night. That was one of the best times we had.

We took car service from La Guardia, not bad.
And like was mentioned above, never once did we encounter rude people......

The Nutcracker with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center is truly spectacular....as it should since that’s where Tchaikovskys music was turned into the ballet by George Balanchine.

Probably seen it half a dozen times there.....never disappoints. And I am no ballet fan.

I concur. Ever try to tand on your toes.

The Peninsula Hotel roof-top bar. As you enter the hotel, go down to your immediate right, and then left down a hallway to an, admittedly, slightly hinky, dark little elevator waiting area. Get on the elevator. Ride it to the top. Getting off, don't go all around to the left, 'cause you want a view to the north, towards Central Park. Take the first table available. You're welcome.

New York Times just published review of Peter Lugers calling it outdated and not good (the critic ordered fish and French fries). The only reason I know about this is, seemingly every person who has ever eaten there in the past is defending the place and spamming the critic. It’s hilarious and makes me want to eat there.

Read the "critique" at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/dining/peter-luger-review-pete-wells.html. It's actually a critique of a meal and a "review" (more opinion, lol, in my opinion) of products over a period of time. Seems that's not quite the role of a food critic but I digress. He went to a steakhouse and got fish? I wonder which competitor paid him and how much. Or maybe they simply didn't comp his meal. Anyway, I'm realistic. I know you can't please all the people all the time. And I bet at every steakhouse I've been to numerous times, including Luger's, I've returned a steak. It's a restaurant, it won't be perfect every time. I can't tell you how many fantastic meals I've had at Luger's. And I'll go back until I decide otherwise.

== Edit ==
Zagat - many consider this reputable, reliable, authoritative - shows solids marks. 4.8 food, 3.7 decor, 4.1 service. It it were so bad it wouldn't have lasted so long and maintain solid marks. That's not to say things can't change and it can't go downhill. I'll talk to my NY friends and see what their current opinion is. It's been maybe two years since I last dined there.

https://www.zagat.com/r/peter-luger-steak-house-new-york1

NYT article said you had to wait just like everyone else even if you had a reservation. Plus staff varied from indifferent to rude.

Those two things alone mean it will never get a dime of my money. My pet peeve is paying good money to be treated like crap - no matter the context. Though it seems to be a “thing” these days.

Yes, Sir. This trip isn't my idea, but I go in with an open mind. This will be our first show. Who knows we might like it. Right now, it just one of those "when in Rome" situations.

Great idea, I love the Nutcracker. Will look into it. Thanks.

Appreciate it.

1-8 plus #11 will be done within the first three days.

Why you up so late?

Also. A prearranged car service is the way to go to and from airport.

Hit Empire State bldg so you can see it at day and night.

Stay away from Times Square. It’s a dump.

It may be frowned upon. But I went to see the bldg shown on “friends”.

Not unless I have to. Heck, I hate going to Abilene.

I didn't get that vibe from Times Square. A lot to do and see, we shopped quite a bit there. Could have been they were getting ready for NYE, but never struck me as a dump

Been once, never again, Yankee Stadium was a DUMP as was the City. But I've never been that "Vibe" type of guy.

Youre doin your wife a SOLID. should earn you LOTS of perks!!!!

Understandable that you don’t like that, but it’s been their way for 60 years. This isn’t a trendy spot, plus it’s located in New York. There is going to be rudeness. It’s New York.

I was gonna try and be funny and say go to McDowell s from Comming to America but turns out there really is a McDowells in Queens

You know, the old job....16 more years, and I'm gonna quit! Everyday is one day closer to retirement.

Prearranged, got it. What companies?

Gonna hit the top of the rock, it will be the first thing we do once we get settled into our hotel. Plan to get there an hour before sunset, and stay till it gets dark. If we have time we will hit the Empire State building. I like art deco so I really would mind hitting both of those observatories.

We will probably hit Times Square just for Los tacos #1. I hear they have the best tacos. Puro San Antonio lol, I need my tacos... plus our hotel in just a block or so away. I would also like to get some pics of it at night, all lit up.

On our list, my wife absolutely loves that show. I didn't take you for a Friends guy.....

I'm getting articles about this in my news feed now. It seems to have touched a nerve on both sides.

Lol, is that the real? If my wife finds out about it she will want to go for sure. That's probably her favorite movie of all time.

It absolutely did touch nerves on both sides. A lot of New Yorkers are siding with the restaurant.

Your wife has good taste in movies.

Any spot that a NYT review of makes national headlines is a “trendy” spot. I grew up in east TX and I’ve been hearing about PL all my adult life. It’s been “trendy” ever since I can remember.

Irrespective of all that, some may enjoy paying for rudeness. I’m not one of them. I have been known to walk myself right out of some places due to rude service. I don’t care where it is. Poor service is one thing but rude service is another thing entirely.

Another thing on tickets for the Empire State Building and the like, go on line and see if you can get tickets that get you to the front of the line. My wife did all the research and our tickets allowed us to go straight to an elevator with no wait. Probably cost a bit more but I'm not patient enough to wait 2 hours to visit anything. We also did a small tour of the 9-11 site and museum. Tour guide was awesome and walked the group (10-15 people) through the nearby churches and told us the stories of those on the ground. I've been several times and this was the best tour. Dinner and drinks on top of new world trade center is also a great venue.