Going to school in New York City has many perks, but it also comes with the role of being the friend who left home for the big city; essentially, everyone wants to visit. So the question now is how do you give them the “New York experience” without falling into the tourist traps?
If this is your friend’s first time in the city, they will want to do as much as they can — and most of that will be from stuff they’ve seen online. As somewhat seasoned New Yorkers, it is up to us to provide the perfect weekend here using all of the knowledge and experiences gathered since first starting at Fordham and moving to New York.
My first suggestion is to find alternatives to the stereotypical NYC destinations. With limited time to get to every destination, waiting in crowds and lines will only prevent you from seeing more. It is better to focus on what makes New York so New York.
Isabella Opladen, GSB ’29, chose to give her hometown friends this experience through cuisine. “Whenever my friends come to visit me, I take them into the city and out for NYC pizza,” said Opladen. “I also like to take them to my favorite Soho coffee shop, The Lost Draft.”
As a city full of many different cultures, good food is never hard to find. Some places to check out for NYC bites are soup dumplings in Chinatown, Mediterranean delicacies in Astoria, Korean corn dogs in Midtown, Latin food in Bushwick and, of course, a big bowl of pasta on Rose Hill’s very own Arthur Avenue. Sometimes, the best places to dine at are the random restaurants you pass on the street and spontaneously go in, not the ones posted all over travel websites and posts.
When coming to NYC, many people focus entirely on going to Manhattan rather than the other boroughs. A true NYC trip, however, includes all of the city — even those places that require a couple different subway lines and the crossing of rivers to get to.
“I take all my friends who visit me to go thrifting in Brooklyn,” said Ari Patel, GSB ’29. Some of his favorite locations to visit include Urban Jungle and different L Train Vintage locations.
With the size of NYC, there is no shortage of thrift, consignment and vintage stores. Shopping in the city is a whole new experience from going to a typical suburban mall and definitely something to do with visiting friends. Many stores that are only accessible online or have limited physical stores are concentrated here in the city, allowing for as much shopping as one can desire.
For any film or television loving friends coming, there are many notable locations to visit that have appeared in popular entertainment media.
“I brought my friend to the Upper East Side and went down to the [Metropolitan Museum of Art] because that’s the iconic spot from ‘Gossip Girl,’” Sydney Sterngal, FCRH ’29, explained.
Being able to stand in the same filming locations as these renowned scenes will make your guest feel as though they themselves are living in the scene, making an already exciting trip all the more magical.
Other NYC filming locations to visit include The Hook and Ladder 8 firehouse that was featured in “Ghostbusters” (which still has the sign to prove it), the “Friends” apartment in Greenwich Village and the countless Central Park locations that have made their way into different films such as “Elf” and “Enchanted.”
New York has so much for everyone no matter what someone wants out of their visit. For many, traveling to New York is an exciting experience, and with all the time we spend here, it is easy to forget how lucky we are to be in the city and have easy access to all it has to offer. Whether you bring your friends to the typical tourist attractions, your favorite underground spots or places they find from their own research, there is so much to do to make their trip memorable. So, although it is a big responsibility to be the designated “NYC Friend,” the role comes with many perks.
