There are just about as many things to do in New York as there are people that live here. This is our “must-do” checklist for every quintessential New Yorker to complete. How many can you check off?
1. Go to an outdoor performance
2. Get a soft pretzel or a hotdog from a food cart
3. Take an aimless stroll through Central Park
4. Visit a hidden beach spot
6. Party on a rooftop you’re not supposed to be partying on
7. Record a street performance and upload it to Facebook for no less than a hundred likes
8. Watch the sun set over the Brooklyn Bridge
9. Photobomb a tourist’s picture of Freedom Tower, or the Statue of Liberty, or some other landmark
10. Wave at the camera when you’re walking past ABC news
11. Get a dog
12. Get another dog
13. Give a dollar to a street musician
14. Miss your train
15. Barely make your train
16. Wait too long for your train
17. Spend the night in a museum
18. (Mis)Interpret a piece of modern art
19. Go to the premiere of your friend’s indie film
20. J-walk (almost getting hit by a cab is optional, not encouraged)
21. See the ball drop in Time Square on New Year’s
22. Meet a celebrity
23. Go to a Broadway show
24. Visit the 9/11 Memorial Museum
25. Go to a trivia night
26. Go to a New York team’s home game
27. Play a game that you’re (never) too old to be playing
28. Ice skate in Rockefeller Center
29. Attend a political protest
30. Play speed chess in the park with a stranger
31. Make a budget
32. Break your budget
33. Make a wish in a fountain
34. Pretend you’re interested in buying a couture accessory/piece of clothing on 5th Avenue
35. Spend the weekend at your friend’s place in the Catskills/Hamptons
36. Go to an adult Halloween party
37. Smoke on somebody’s fire escape
38. See the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade
39. Meet your soulmate by happenstance at a coffeeshop (or at least someone who you date for a while)
40. Have dinner in Hell’s Kitchen
41. Stay out until 6am
42. Get kinky
43. Go to a farmer’s market
44. Order a beer only brewed in New York
45. Listen to some live indie music
46. Explore alternative methods of getting to work (a horse, rollerblading, etc.)
47. Inadvertently walk through a construction site
48. Ride a ferry
49. Talk about moving somewhere else because it’s too expensive to live here
50. Decide to stay because NYC is the only place to be