Last time I was in NYC, I saw a taping of both the Daily Show and The Colbert Report on the same night. It was way cool.

There’s a ton of great shows while you’re in town. On the 29th the Fiery Furnaces, Man Man, and Standing Nudes are at Webster Hall while Jose Gonzalez, Juana Molina, Psapp play a sold out show at the Bowery Ballroom. On the 30th, Bishop Allen continue a residency at hipster magnet Pianos, and blogger favorites Birdmonster are at Sin-e with Tally Hall, The Gaskets, and The Talk, courtesy of Underrated Magazine and Crackers United (two NYC music blogs). On July 1st, there’s Matt Costa, Elvis Perkins, The Little Ones at the Bowery Ballroom. I think you’d really like Elvis Perkins. There’s also The Comas, Hopewell, The Head Set, Hymns at the Mercury Lounge, which is a great bill. More shows can be found on ohmyrockness.com.

As for sightseeing, what are you into? In addition to the usual Times Square, Empire State Building (buy tickets online beforehand), Central Park (Shakespeare in the Park perhaps?), and Statue of Liberty stuff (take the Staten Island ferry to go past it for free), Natural History Museum/The Met/MoMA/Guggenheim, I recommend seeing the New York Public Library, Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center (observatory deck), hanging out in Bryant Park, eating at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and seeing Brooklyn Heights, taking a walk through Grand Central, bumming around the West Village, East Village, and Lower East Side (great photographic opportunities), and taking the subway. Visit the Met, but don’t pay more than a dollar (it’s pay what you will but the signs don’t indicate that). Grab some pizza, cupcakes, cream puffs, and bagels while you’re here, too, and mark some time for restaurants. I’m sorry you’re staying so close to Madison Square Garden but it shouldn’t keep you visiting places like Shopsin’s, Una Pizza Napoletana, Jane, Prune, Balthazar/Pastis, New Green Bo, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Grand Sichuan, Union Square Cafe, City Bakery, Crif Dogs, Village Yokocho, WD-50 maybe? And, I’m a member of MOMA and can get you in for free, too, if you like. Email me if you want to chat more (especially about where to eat!), and we should get together while you’re here.

Take in Avenue Q on Broadway.. you can find decent seats for around $40… It’s Sesame Street for a more… mature audience.

http://www.avenueq.com/

I second the recommendation to take the Staten Island ferry…best free view of the city you’ll ever get. And walking the Brooklyn Bridge is also a good idea if you have time.

Oh! And you really can’t miss out on Coney Island. Seriously…if nothing else, go there. I can’t remember which train takes you out there (B,F?), but it’s an experience and a half.

To get to Coney Island, take the D, Q N or F train to Stillwell Avenue (last stop). It will take about 45 minutes from Midtown, longer if you have to transfer.

And for point to point subway directions, turn to hopstop.com.

Woops my bad, BSS is at Prospect Park. Getting my wires crossed with the Sonic Youth/YYY show in August :) All other comments remain true.

whew, thanks for all the suggestions. I’m writing this all down – for serious. I am not especially keen on catching any club shows while I’m in town. I consulted ohmyrockness and there’s nothing I have to see and really, I see so goddamn many shows here at home… I’m on vacation. The park shows are on the list because a) they’re free and b) they’re in a park. I like parks.

Kathryn – I will email you.

and dammit thomaus, I swore you to secrecy on that! Now I have to call Axl and tell him the whole thing is off. I hate it when he cries.

Hey Rockstar,
Give Jose a hard french for me.

Hi Frank – a while back, I posted the little walk-and-nosh tour of Chinatown and the Lower East Side that my husband and I like to do on the blog, Chocolate and Zucchini, which Clotiled included under the heading "Walk-and-eat in Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown" on her NYC Reader’s Guide – click "walks/areas" and scroll down a bit:

http://chocolateandzucchini…

I’m going to second the recommendation to hit Shake Shack over Burger Joint – both are good, but I’m addicted to the Shackburger, and their concretes are out of this world.

I’ll also add another vote for the Staten Island Ferry, particularly if you have good weather – the views are spectacular.

Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions!

My lil’ lady and I are heading to NYC for the same 4 days. weird. Canjet from Pearson?

We did the New Pornos, Stars, Sadies show at Prospect Park last year. It was free & we just showed up – no tix necessary. As long as you’re there when the show is expected to start, you should get grade A seating.

And I think it will be a perfect settting for TV on the Radio.

JUNE 29 – Land of Talk, Tokyo Police Club, & TBA @ Syrup Room (all ages)

Just noticed this show listed on BrooklynVegan’s blog.

I know you’ve got plenty of suggestions here, but come on down to McCarren Park in Brooklyn (on Bedford Ave.) on Saturday, July 1st and cheer on Toronto Kickball as we take on Brooklyn, Providence, Washington, Atlanta and, er, Hoboken…we could use the local support!

<i> best grilled cheeses in the world – around the block from arlene’s grocery – i’m bad with directions, especially since i’ve only been there during cmj craziness. but i’m serious – best grilled cheese ever!
</i>
It was…but Grilled Cheese NYC closed down last year. Sadness for all.