- Word of warning it'll be fecking freezing over here and a lot of the off beat things require hypothermia at this time of year. Best parts of the city to explore are the neighborhoods: East Village, West Village, Chinatown, Tribecca, Upper West Side, Upper Eastside, Hells Kitchen, Gramarcy, Washington Heights, Harlem, El Bario, Downtown, Midtown. On your wanders you'll find loads of fun stuff to see and do. Head to the batting cages and driving range at Chelsea piers. Take the cable car to Roosevelt Island (if it's fixed), Statan Island ferry with cheap beer onboard, bounce over to Hoboken on the Path take in the view and visit the local footy shop run by a Villa fan. Eat street meat using http://midtownlunch.com as your guide (a site also run by a Villa fan). Visit Eataly on 23rd and 5th/Broadway for an intense food porn session. For the best BBQ of your life venture up to http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/ in Harlem, from there you can fight back at the food coma with a stroll down the water, over to Columbia Uni or up to Fort Tryon Park and The Cloisters museum. Not to mention if there's a game on over to Legends on 33rd street and 5th to watch the Villa with me and the boys.
- The Knicks are reasonably decent this year so I imagine ticket demand has gone up, best spot for getting tickets imo is Stubhub.com but I doubt the game against Atlanta will be a sell out.
- Yes, you will be shot but it will be a great story to tell the kids if you survive. Nah, to be honest West Queens is grand the whole area is undergoing heavy gentrification so you'll be more likely to see people walking around with a rat dog in one hand and a latte in the other than somebody with a boombox.
Totally, Coney Island is brilliant however I've never ventured down there in the dead of winter so I'm not sure how much of it will be open.