Don't go to that John's, go to John's on Bleecker street. Awesome brick oven pizza.
John's of Bleecker Street: Home
Head to Williamsburg Brooklyn on Friday and go to the Brooklyn Brewery. They open it up on Friday's. The beer is good and pretty cheap. Williamsburg is where all the hipsters live. You may not be cool enough.
When you are done drinking go to SEA Thai,
https://plus.google.com/105608123237632238456/about?gl=us&hl=en. Good asian food and not expensive.
After dinner head to a local bar and check out some local music. I had a good time at Gallapagos a few years ago. There are a bunch of them there.
Priceline is great. For the Pinstripe Bowl, I got the Henseley on E. 42nd for $125/night.
It was a block away from where the Rutgers team stayed. I would recommend staying in Times Square or the East Side. It is so cool to walk out of a hotel and be right in the middle of the action.
I love the John's Pizzeria on 44th Street in Times Square. The room is amazing. However, if you go to the one on Bleecker Street, and if you like great blues guitar music, go to Terra Blues. It is a small place, but the music is awesome. Starts about 10 and ends at 3am!
Highly recommend the 9/11 Memorial. They limit access to ticket-holders. You can get them online, but there are often none for the day/time you want. However, they often give out extra tickets to those who just show up. They only let so many in at a time. Get some tickets for a time you can make it, so you have a back up, but you can probably get in when you want to, even if the website doesn't give you tickets.
If you go there, look for an old guy with an I-pad. He is loaded with 9/11 stories and he can tell you all about the memorial. He helped us find the engraving for Mari Rae Sopper, an ISU graduate who died on one of the planes (Pentagon, I think) while she was on the way to take a head coach job in California. At ISU gymnastics meets, they give a Mari Rae Sopper award for the most inspiring performance.
The Occupy area is right next to the 9/11 Memorial.
Use the subway and busses once on Manhattan. Buy a multi-day pass. You can get almost anywhere easily and cheaply. Cabs are expensive, especially when they are just sitting still.
I love Katz Deli. People say that it is a tourist place, but whenever I go, it is mostly filled with locals. You have to push your way up to the counter to order. They have pushy guys making your sandwich. And it will be huge and wonderful.
Top of the Rock is a great experience. It is not just an observatory, but most of the roof can be accessed.
Make sure to see the Trump Tower. It is a spectacular building.
Laguardia isn't easily connected to the trains. Sometimes I take a cab to a train station and then get my multi-day pass to use. If you do this, tip the cabbie a lot. He waited hours to get your fare and won't like just taking you a short distance.
At some point, just for the heck of it, take the Staten Island Ferry from the south end of Manhattan and back. I think it is still free. And it gives you some awesome views.
