Since I first ventured into the Big Apple on my own at the age of 18, I have since been back to my favourite city eight eleven times. While I have never actually written an NYC to-do list, the one that lingers in my head (with new things being added to it as I go along) has shrunk over the years. I’ll keep this up as a reminder of things still to do and what’s been done. There is a vibe in New York that I’ve always found quite addictive and I officially refer to it as “my happy place.”
But anyway, in no particular order…. The List!
See a taping of Late Night With Conan O’Brien, twice
See a taping of SNL (bonus: on my birthday!)
Hail an NYC cab/Ride an NYC cab
Skip down the steps of The Plaza Hotel like Lily Tomlin in Big Business (the 8 yr old me had a moment)
See Conan’s Legally Prohibited Tour at Radio City Music Hall, front row
Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
Visit the Empire State Building
Ride the Staten Island Ferry
Visit Coney Island
Hop on the subway and get off at a random stop; wander around
Visit Chinatown
Walk through Central Park
Check out Tom’s Restaurant
See Catherine Wheel record their live CD at The Bowery Ballroom
Eat a Red Velvet donut from Babycakes
Stay in Brooklyn
Go on the NBC Tour
See Michael C. Hall in The Realistic Joneses and Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway in the same year
Visit Union Square
Have dinner in Soho
Stay at a hostel
Stay at a real hotel
Visit Times Square
Buy Broadway tickets from the TKTS booth in Times Square
Utilize the numerous $1 pizza slice joints
Visit in the Winter
Visit in the Spring
Visit in the Summer
Visit in the Fall
Check out FAO Schwartz
Check out a Seth Meyers monologue rehearsal
Get a haircut
Visit the John Lennon Imagine mosaic in Central Park
Eat a Black and White Cookie (from Amy’s Bread in Hell’s Kitchen)
See David Bowie’s Lazarus play
See a taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
See Conan at The Apollo
Have lunch or dinner at Lombardi’s
Do an official walking tour of Harlem and Greenwich Village
Check out a show at Comedy Cellar
Three things I’ll never get to do that I really should have:
See Letterman, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!)
What else should I add to the list?