How to visit new york
How I did it: I went once with a high school choir, and once with the staff of the college newspaper I work for.
The high school trip had a guide, which was alright. You get to see the sights, but you can't pick and choose what you want to do, and you wait a lot. Wait for the bus. Wait to get through crazy traffic. Wait to get in line. Wait in line. Wait to get into the gift shop. Wait for the other 35 people to be done at the gift shop. Wait while 35 people debate on where to get lunch. You get the idea.
The trip with the college paper was without a guide. We were at a journalism convention, so that occupied us until about 5 or 6 p.m., and then we were free to roam about the city. My companions and I didn't have similar ideas about what a fun time in NYC was. Mine involved going ice skating at Rockefeller, taking the subway, hanging out at a bar on Karaoke night, seeing some live music (I really wanted to hunt down Gregory and the Hawk, since she lives somewhere in NYC...), and maybe even catching a musical. Didn't happen, haha. Though we did have adventures.
Lessons & tips: Go with a guide once. See a broadway musical. Check out the classic landmarks - (window?)shop on 5th Ave., see the Statue of Liberty, visit Ellis Island, see NYC from the Empire State Building (really, do this... it's an insanely long wait, but nothing beats the view. Pack a sandwich, take a book and your MP3 player, and wait it out... totally worth it), visit Ground Zero (everyone should do this... sometimes we forget the horrors of that day and it fades from our minds... we need to go there to remember. They've begun rebuilding now, but there are memorials and such... and just standing there, realizing where you are, and what happened there... it is overpowering. Please, please, please, never forget.)
Go back a second time...
Do all the stuff you wanted to do the first time, but couldn't because your Nazi tour guide didn't have it on the schedule. Revisit places you wish you'd had more time last time. See a different musical, or see something off-Broadway. Ride the Subway. DON'T buy $5 tee-shirts off street vendors. You get what you pay for - just saying. Take lots of pictures, not just of landmarks. Find interesting and unique places to eat (we discovered the wonder of frozen yogurt bars late one night in NYC when we were lost, haha... it was amazing). Give money to the musicians playing on the street or at subway stations. Never pass up cheesecake from Junior's bakery. We were staying at The Marriot on Times Square and I went to Junior's bakery for a pastry and coffee for breakfast every morning, and the last day I splurged on a liberal slice of the cheesecake that had been taunting me every morning for a week. Absolutely delicious.
Talk to people - your waitress, barista, roomservice, the guy standing on the corning yelling about comedy shows (note: he will always tell you that THE place to go for THE BEST TIME in NYC is his comedy show - but if you can get him out of salesman-mode, he can probably tell you some fun stuff to do.) Ask where a good, offbeat place to eat is, where to get a good deal shopping, what part of NY makes a good day trip, etc. Talk to other tourists. Sometimes you get into adventures with the people you meet. Just be careful, and don't go off with strangers alone - two or three together is better.
*** Be aware of your possessions. Don't carry a big, snatchable purse. Don't put things down 'just for a minute' - either you will turn around and they'll be gone, or you will be distracted (it happens easily) and forget things. Take only as much cash as you need. Keep things compact and close to your body. I carried a slim wallet, a small digital camera, and my cell phone with me everywhere, and not much else. My wallet went on my inside coat pocket. No one could get it there.
Resources: A foldable map of NYC, roomservice, the waitress, the doorman, the guy selling Obama Condoms on the street, the NY Subway system
