BLUF: Might not be worthwhile…read more The primary experience of the Hayden Planetarium is "Encounters in the Milky Way", a 20-something minute movie narrated by Pedro Pascal about how our planet fits into the solar system, how our solar system fits into our galaxy, and how our galaxy fits into the universe. "Encounters in the Milky Way" is good, but might not be worth the extra cost of admission these days, as there are any number of Netflix shows, YouTube videos, etc., that explain the same material with equally impressive visuals. Admission to the movie isn't included for Pay-As-You-Wish customers. For these customers, the total price paid jumps from whatever one chooses to pay, say $1 per person, to a minimum of regular admission plus the ticket for the movie -- at least $30 per adult. For those who decide to pay for the movie, choose a seat in the back, along the walls if possible. Those seated in lower rows will have to crank their necks to get everything into view, because the seats don't recline. It is possible to visit the supplemental exhibits that surround the planetarium (the movie theatre itself) without paying for the movie, but then that experience might feel a little incomplete.

The Planetarium is an excellent place to visit, but the posted hours are 5:30 on Sundays and we…read morewere yelled at multiple times starting at 5:15 that we needed to leave the area. I've been to plenty of museums near closing and don't remember being told I have to *leave* that early. If security is going to get people out 15 minutes before closing, then the hours should be adjusted. I also agree with others that for a separate, ticketed movie, 20 minutes is a bit short. But love having Pedro Pascal narrate!

I found Skyscape museum while walking in the area and trying to get out of heavy snow. I wasn't…read morefully sure what to expect but I left really happy we got to experience it. Skyscape is a really engaging and a well designed experience. Theres a lot to see and do, with interactive spy style missions that kept both me and my son entertained the entire time! My son was completely locked in the whole time and I was right there pretending I definitely understood the instructions on the first try. It's mostly a hands on experience, you're not just walking through exhibits, you're actually participating, solving challenges and learning as you go. Even better, it didn't feel crowded, which made it comfortable to move through at our own pace. We were able to go back and redo some of the exhibits we enjoyed, which made the experience even more fun the second (and third) time around. Overall, a great mix of entertainment and learning, especially for kids but enjoyable for adults too. 10/10. My son loved every second. I loved pretending I knew what was going on.

What a fun and interactive place with friends or a date night! The husband and I came here as a…read moreswitch from a typical dinner and drinks date night. On weeknights, it's cheaper than the weekends, which made this experience more worth it at $27pp. Plus, you also save a couple dollars by purchasing your tickets beforehand online. We participated in the Spygames portion, which was worth doing. Once we got a wristband and setup an account, we got to start the games. They also offer free lockers (you'll want to remove any purses, bags, jackets, etc) as you'll be moving a lot. There's 10 rooms of a variety of games although some are similar or duplicates. You'll be very active jumping, climbing, and running around. The hour went by pretty quick but we were both sweating and exhausted by the end of it, so an hour is really all you need.

Banksy popped into my radar one day and I bookmarked it. I forgot all about visiting this public…read moreart until today when it showed up nearby in my search. It's unusual so I felt lucky I saw it as I passed by. It's been covered in plexiglass for protection against the weather. It appears people and businesses are rallying to keep it from removal. It fun to photograph public art or as some call his work Graffiti. I'm glad I have the photos in my collection. It's my first Banksy.

Banksy made this public art in 2013 and it's still intact. It's covered by an acrylic shield…read more Pretty hard to find unless you're using a map app or Yelp. Check it out on the UWS and get some cool pictures in front of here. The art doesn't look like it's complex, more of like a commentary that's the more complex thing about this. It somehow has become a thing to check out, because it's one of the few surviving pieces of Banksy public art. Officially it's titled Better Out Than In #20, and was part of a series. These appeared on the UWS in October 2013 and most disappeared soon after that. An acrylic panel protects it from graffiti artists...such as Banksy. So ironic. Zabar's put up the protection and has made the public aware of this. Cool that a great place like that takes an interest in art. They have some of the best bagels so be sure to go get some. As Banksy has gone onto bigger things it's cool that one of his older projects is around. It's at Broadway and 79th on the side of a building. This is a few blocks from Zabar's.

I went to The Bumper Factory twice in two days during some of my limited time in NYC. That's a…read morepretty solid endorsement right there. Even better, they have the deluxe versions of many machines while some arcades only offer the stripped down versions. For example, at The Bumper Factory, their Godzilla machine features the building that crumbles to the ground as it gets destroyed. That's pretty cool, and certainly adds to the fun. If you are a good pinball player, you will certainly find the pricing model to be vexing. I do enjoy going to a place where all the games are set to "free play". But $15 for 30 minutes, even in Manhattan, feels steep. Largely that's because I am a good enough player that a few bucks can keep me busy for over an hour. That said this is a great place, and a great price, to teach younger kids the game. And that is exactly what I did with my nephew. What I discovered was that on Monday, despite the hours posted on Yelp, The Bumper Factory was still open. However, the games were not set to free play, and instead of taking the admission fee I was able to simply use quarters to play. Woo hoo! I had one of the best games of my life on Guardians of the Galaxy. One ball alone was kept in play for the better part of fifteen minutes. Had I been paying by the half hour, that victory would have been tinged with sorrow. One other small ding against the place is that the Stern machines which feature the Stern Insider Connect feature were not activated. This is always a bummer, and also why I wasn't able to find this really nifty arcade on the Stern Pinball site. Most of the machines are new and in great shape. The space is pretty small and cramped, but it is NYC. From the arcade's website it also looks like there is a $35 all day rate, which I think I would much rather pay than $15 for 30 minutes. I'd have to take some breaks for coffee and pizza, but there are nearby options for both. More than anything, it's great to see pinball making some kind of comeback and salute the good folks at The Bumper Factory for putting in some machines in a space where kids can discover this great game.

Strangest thing, walked into a martial arts school and found Pinball machines. Went to a Kids…read morebirthday party here yesterday and had a blast playing pinball. They have about 10 pinball machines and I had to battle my kids to get in on the action. Downside, they are open on weekends.

We visited American Museum of Natural History on Jun 25, 2025. Tickets were purchased online by…read morescanning the QR code posted by the entrance. My primary concern was my backpack being too large to be allowed in per their policy. In addition, it contained my laptop. Then I noticed that a departing visitor had a backpack about the size as mine. At the was security checkpoint, my backpack was searched, and then we were allowed in. The first hall we went to was the David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, or Planet Earth as shown on the map. Its exhibits offered a wealth of information on everything geological about the planet. It would take me at least an hour to peruse them all. Next was the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall - devoted to the namesake half-term Governor of New York, Rough Rider boss and President of the United States. There was also another hall on Floor 2 bearing his name but we didn't get around to see it. I was however amazed by the next hall. It bore Roosevelt's name but is simply known as Biodiversity on the Floor 1 map. Hundreds... no, thousands of life-sized replicas of creatures of various shapes and sizes on the walls and ceiling - the Spectrum of Life. I didn't think squids were that large, but there they were. The Rain Forest exhibit was there, and so was the Siberian Tigers exhibit. If the Biodiversity hall was amazing, the next one was epic. Named the Irma and Paul Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life and spanning two stories, its biggest star is the life-sized model of the great Blue Whale hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the hall. No matter where I was, the whale was in my line of sight. There were more exhibits on the lower level, including the Walruses. I did not take more pictures because the lighting was poor. I could sit in this hall all day and do nothing but marvel. I would even pay to spend the night here in front of the great blue whale. (It's not the real thing but still magnificent.) Time was limited so we moved on... to the Futter Gallery. To all the party-lovers out there, this is the place to host a party. You can claim you partied with celebrities... well, portraits of them. Next was the Northwest Coast Hall for exhibits of Native American culture. Wife liked this one the most. The collection was impressive. One exhibit was a set of Tlingit artefacts enclosed in glass located near an alcove. These artefacts supposedly had a history of occultic usage with a sign on the glass warning against any form of photography. Though not superstitious, I chose not to take any pictures. At this point, Wife was ready to call it quits. I wanted to see the dinosaur exhibits, which was on Floor 4. She was interested in Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples that was on Floor 2. According to the map, Asian Peoples had the largest floor area and certainly felt like it. Unlike the layout of Northwest Coast where one could access to and from any point in the hall, Asian Peoples had wall partitions and aisles flanked on both sides by enclosed exhibits. Lots of life-sized dioramas of human figurines in period costumes, minimalist homesteads, domestic tools and wares, weapons, statues and miniature ships that represented the diverse cultures across Asia. Most notable were the Chinese and Japanese ones with artifacts from religion (especially Buddhism), mythology (including the Eight Immortals) and theater (Noh and Chinese opera masks). Finally, the dinosaurs on Floor 4. In the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, I saw the t-rex and the apatosaurus. A guide told us that we happened to be in the final hall and suggested that we backtracked using the arrows on the floor to see the others. From there, we went into the long, large Hall of Vertebrate Origins. Unlike the former, the latter had life-sized models and fossils hanging from the ceiling. I didn't realize a pterodactyl was in my photo until much later. The Orientation Center did indeed have the titanosaur with its neck stretching to the next hall. Sadly, the pictures I took of it didn't turn out good. On to Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals, then the Hall of Primitive Mammals, and finally the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs for the triceratops and the stegosaurus. I'm pleased that the five original Dinobots (from "The Transformers" series) were represented. After almost two hours in the museum, Wife wanted to leave. Otherwise, I'd have spent the rest of the day exploring the rest of the museum. It would take more than a day to appreciate every exhibit in every hall on every floor. The ticket price felt like a bargain, but we got $30 worth of it. My top three favorite exhibits are Ocean Life, the entire Floor 4 of dinosaurs, and Biodiversity. I'd love to come back here again.

Definitely worth checking out! I am not the biggest fan of museums, but glad I got to see this one…read more We paid a little extra to see the Milkyway excursion, and that was honestly my favorite part! There are tons of animals and dinosaur exhibits. The planetarium was also very informational and fun to see. This is a spot where you could really spend all day reading every plaque - I'd recommend at least a few hours to walk through and see everything. I do think it's a spot worth checking out, especially if you have kids, but I don't need to go back for a while!

Overall rating: 4.8…read more I saw this place on Titktok a few months ago and have been trying to find the occasion to go. Admittedly I was very nervous because I'm not a competitive person and I don't like pressure. I made a reservation for a party of 8 and the staff was so friendly. It ended up just being my group and another birthday party which was really fun. The announcer was very nice and the games were CALM AND EASY. Thank god. Everyone had a fun time & enjoyed themselves.

An extremely fun and interactive game show type activity for large groups! We did this as a team…read morebonding activity with my coworkers and had so much fun with it. We started with a happy hour with drinks and light bites before we moved into the game room. The staff made this so fun and enjoyable, u highly recommend this buzzer style game

Mission escape room is on the 8th floor a building close to the time square/penn station area of…read moreManhattan. We went with a group of 4 to do the Hyde room. The rooms are clean and well maintained. The puzzles for the most part make sense and were solvable. The room used some technology and everything appeared to work correctly. Room was linear for a lot of it but did have sections where several activities could be completed at once. I'd say it was medium difficulty we asked for one hint and finished with 3 minutes to spare. I'd definitely return to try out the other two rooms at this location.

As an escape room aficionado I will tell you that this place is great. The technology was spot on,…read morethe game was logical yet challenging. I enjoyed it. Staff were friendly. Did the room as two and escaped.

Date: Monday, March 2nd, 2026 Time: around 3:15pm…read moreParty of: 4 GUESTS THAT DAY - *Nicole Kidman *Luke Thompson *Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes & Hilary Knight *Chef Mario Carbone One of my friends has been wanting to go to a Fallon show for the past few years. We take a yearly trip to NYC, so he always signs up. This year, we scored and got tickets. We actually signed up for two days and got into both. Mon had the better guest lists (at least in our opinion) so we gave up the other tix. It's a process to get in, so nothing too surprising. The earlier you get there, the more of a chance you will sit closer. All in all, we were out by around 6:30pm. Tho they did add a game that was going to air on a another day with I believe the One Piece cast? A good experience if you are into talk shows. It's free, and we got a jar of carbone sauce due to mario carbone being a guest. What's there to complain about? REVIEW #4000

I was excited to do this with my friend! Be sure to arrive early, since everyone else will be sure…read moreto line up. I'd say we got there around 315 and thankfully with this one, all the waiting is indoors. The whole thing including the taping takes about 4 hours. Getting to wait inside 30 rock and have access to the bathrooms is also super nice. The seating is at random but it's all still a really fun experience.

Great show on the origin of the universe. Interesting exhibit outside the planetarium showing where…read morehumans fit in with the beginning of the universe, but it's hard to fathom.

Space...the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the…read moreStarship, Enterprise. Its 5-year mission... To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before! Awwww-aw-awwww-awww-awww-aw! OK, enough with the Star Trek theme...I think the Rose Center is very cool for young and old alike, and I've been about three times since it opened in 2000. That's probably enough for an old curmudgeon like me who remembers staying up for those all-night TV broadcasts of the Gemini and Apollo missions. It's a great set-up that begins with the Big Bang Theater, where you're led into a dark room and a circular screen on the floor where Maya Angelou's voiceover explains how the universe was first formed. It used to be Jodie Foster's voice right after she did "Contact", but I guess even in space, contracts expire. Then you walk down the spiral walkway known as the Heilbrun Cosmic Pathway, an image-oriented timeline of the universe's history from the Big Bang to the present day. Lots of cool pictures taken from the Hubble to peruse, though watch out for impatient kids attempting to age you faster than you want. Most people pay the extra $14 for the 1/2-hour film in the Hayden Planetarium. They make a big ta-dah out of it by making you go up an elevator into a darkened waiting room and then into the rocketship-type seats in the planetarium. I remember the Tom Hanks-narrated one very well as it tracked a voyage from Earth to the outer reaches of the universe. I missed the Harrison Ford-narrated film which discussed extraterrestrials. However, I did just see the Robert Redford-narrated one where he shows how cosmic collisions formed the moon and the Milky Way. I just kept thinking how old and grizzly Bob is starting to sound. There is one shocking moment when a meteor hits Earth...like a gazillion years ago. Pretty soon, they'll run out of male menopausal American movie stars to narrate what's left to describe of the universe. I assume Barbra Streisand will be next singing "Somewhere" to an enraptured audience of Martians. My one complaint about the Rose Center is the poor coordination with the adjoining Museum of Natural History, in particular, how little direction you are given to buy the combination ticket that would save you money on the ticket for the planetarium show. We had to go back and ask for a refund in order to get the significant discount. What a pain. Oh well, there's a great gift shop...always the sign of a great museum, including my favorite item, a kit to show how farts happen. Gee, I think I have the perfect white elephant exchange gift for the office.

This is a very cool experience…read more While this is a great date spot I went with my friend as this was on her birthday wishlist. So if you are going for a "real" art experience this may not be your vibe. This was more a sensory experience, very therapeutic. Our instructor was very thorough. The lighting and aromatherapy was very therapeutic as well. I won't give to much away only that you should try it but I will also warn you if you are doing sculpting you DO NOT take the finished product home with you. As I said this is a great therapeutic experience.

A must-try creative date or weekend hang!…read more I went to Brunch With Monet and had the best time. Love that it's part paint class, part bottomless mimosa brunch. From the moment we walked in, the space had such a chill, artsy atmosphere. The instructor was not only super talented, but also so kind and helpful. He walked us step-by-step through the painting, demonstrating each part on a sample canvas and checking in with everyone as we painted. He kept our mimosa glasses full and refreshed our paint palettes There were also fresh pastries and fruit to nibble on while we painted, and he even helped us take photos and videos throughout the class Whether you're planning a cute date, a girls day out, or just looking for something creative and fun to do in NYC, this is such a unique experience. Highly recommend and yes, I'll be back with more friends soon!