[quote name='Mookyjooky']My girlfriend and I are staying at the Dream hotel for the next couple days, anything to do here? lol...
So far, loving it. So far, spent 700+ dollars in the first 10mins here...[/quote]
being a New Yorker, these are my suggestions:
Chinatown. Take a subway or cab to Canal street and walk up to Mott Street. That's a great place to shop for things that "fell off the back of a truck", good imposter designer brands (i.e. Cucci instead of Gucci). Go to Chinatown Icecream Factory on Mott Street. Go to a tea house and get some chocolate bubble tea with milk.
Go to Pommes Frites (lower east side), the only *true* belgian fry shop in the city. they have home made belgian "french" fries with over 30 condiments. they're the best you'll ever have.
Get "rush" tickets to a broadway show. you show up at 6pm (curtain is at 8) and stand outside. they sell all unsold tickets for like $20. you can get front row tickets to Avenue Q or Spamalot for cheap and they're good shows.
Alphabet City. Get over to Avenues A, B, and C. Hit up Bleeker Street and St. Mark's Place for the best tattoo artists and piercers in the city. There is all kinds of crazy punk rock, goth and freak stuff and is great for people watching and partying. While there stop at Atomic wings for some of the best wings in the city or Australian Homemade Icecream for some really rich treats. Kiev is an Eastern European restaurant with home made food.
Museum of Natural Science and the Planetarium. Admission is kind of pricey but you can spend a whole day there. It's on 5th Ave and 81st(?).
If you like steak, head out to brooklyn for Peter Luger's Steakhouse. It's over 100 years old and serves the best dinner you'll have in NY.
Central Park Zoo. Admission is only a few bucks and you can spend the day outdoors with the aminals.
For nightlife/clubbing, hit up Webster Hall, Avalon, Exit or Tunnel. Cover is pricey at about $25 (or more, depending on the night) but it's a crazy rave-like atmosphere where the best DJ's in the world spin on a nightly business. I saw DJ Richard Humpty Vision at Exit years ago. It was INSANE.
For cheap food, hit up street vendors (they're not as dirty as you'd think - they're actually highly regulated by the health department), Gray's Papaya (as someone already mentioned- numerous sites around the city), or Coronets Pizzeria (110th and Amsterdam near the enterence to Columbia University)
The NY Auto Show is currently going on the Jacob Javits Center. Get discount tickets online and see some crazy concept cars and the new 2008 models.
If you're in Queens for any reason, hit up the Beer Garden at Bohemia Hall. They've got only the best imports on tap from Europe. The only remaining beer garden in NYC, you can sit in the bar or outdoors at a picnic table hanging out with the friendliest people you'll meet in NY (no, seriously). Pitchers are relatively cheap and they serve traditional Bohemian food until late at night.
PM me or IM me with questions or for directions.