How to be a Tourist in Your Own City

Don't forget your "I Heart NY" T-shirt to really convince folks you're from out of town

One of the best things about summer is not having to set the alarm clock. It was with this in mind that Charlie and I decided not to lock ourselves into a set time to see the Empire State Building by purchasing advance tickets online. Instead, we savored the extra minutes of sleep in the morning and just got there when we got there. Charlie prepared for the worst, stuffing his backpack with crucial items (M&Ms, The Adventures of Tintin, his binoculars) to survive in lines known to snake around the building.

Charlie’s advance preparations turned out to be for naught (although one can always put M&Ms, Tintin, and binoculars to good use) as the Empire State Building, although not completely deserted, was happily uncrowded. We whizzed through a short ticket line and allowed ourselves an upsell to a combination ticket to both the 86^th Floor and the 102^nd Floor Observatories. When you go, skip the latter. It’s not worth the $15 extra per ticket, it’s enclosed and crowded, and--take my word for it—the view isn’t any different or more spectacular sixteen additional floors up.

Wait until your kids are old enough to be stroller-free or leave the stroller at home, as negotiating either of the observatories with one would have been a huge headache.

Books And Movies For Your Visit

Books:

• The Empire State Building by Lisa Bullard
• Men at Work by Lewis W. Hine
• Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building by Deborah Hopkinson and James E. Ransome
• The Top Job by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
• Empire State Building: When New York Reached for the Skies by Elizabeth Mann
• Sector 7 by David Wiesner

Movies:*

• An Affair to Remember (1957)
• King Kong (1933, 1976/PG, and 2005/PG-13 versions)
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993) (PG)

*I didn’t actually watch any of these movies with Charlie and haven’t seen any of them recently, so can’t speak to how age-appropriate they are for a six-year-old.

The Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue (between 33^rd and 34^th Streets), New York, New York 10118, (212) 736-3100, www.esbnyc.com; Hours: Open daily (8 AM to 2 AM); Admission: Adults: $22; Children 6-12: $16; Children 5 & younger: Free.

Where to Eat

Heartland Brewery, 350 Fifth Avenue (@ 34^th Street), New York, New York 10118, (212) 563-3433, www.heartlandbrewery.com; American-style brewpub with beer-friendly fare and a children’s menu.

Gray Line New York Double Decker Bus Tour Redux: The Downtown Loop

"I wanna see the Flat Tire Building!" Vivi demanded. "Vivi,' said Charlie, sounding very grown-up. "It's the Flatiron, not the Flat Tire Building."

Back by popular demand, here are some more new New York City factoids from our second Gray Line New York Double Decker bus tour that you can make your own and dazzle fellow guests with at your next cocktail party:

1. When the Empire State Building first opened in 1931, it was dubbed the “Empty State Building” due to its paltry 18% occupancy rate.
2. The fastest that anyone has made it from the bottom to the top of the Empire State Building’s 1,576 steps is in nine minutes and 33 seconds.
3. Before he was a retail magnate, R.H. Macy worked on a whaling ship in his teens and sported a red star tattoo. This same star tattoo went on to become the ubiquitous Macy’s logo.
4. St. Vincent’s Hospital, which opened in 1849 and treated patients from Titanic survivors in 1912 to the victims of the September 11^th attacks, closed its doors earlier this year after 160 years of service.
5. More than 150,000 people crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on its opening day on May 24 1883. When rumors began to circulate about the bridge’s instability one week later, a frantic mob began a stampede over the bridge, killing twelve people. Shortly thereafter, P.T. Barnum staged a publicity stunt in which he marched 21 elephants over the bridge to convince the public of its soundness.

Sitting pretty on the upper deck

When we got to Battery Park, we had to switch buses to complete our eastside loop back uptown and because it was so hot out, Charlie and Vivi convinced me to sit downstairs in the air-conditioning. This was a blessed relief for all of three minutes until I realized that sitting downstairs, one could neither hear the guide’s commentary over the roar of the bus engine nor see properly out of the windows, which were covered on the other side with advertisements. When you embark on your own double decker bus tour, make sure to sit on the upper deck.

Stops and sights on the downtown loop included Greenwich Village, Times Square, the Empire State Building, Union Square, SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, the East Village, Rockefeller Center, and the World Trade Center site.

Starting to get antsy on the lower deck. Two plus hours is a long time for the little people to be still and quiet

Gray Line New York Sightseeing, Departure point: Seventh Avenue and 47^th Street, by the Olive Garden restaurant, (212) 445-0848 or (800) 669-0051 (toll free) http://www.newyorksightseeing.com/tourpage.php?item=DL Tour length: 2+ hours; Operates daily 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM; $39 per adult/$29 per child ages 3-11.