If you go to Chinatown I recommend the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I got red bean ice cream and it was great. The scoop was huge (imho). If you are interested, make sure you know exactly what street it is on as the street sign is a bit hard to spot - should be a yellow sign with the dragon logo, though. We walked past it and had to turn around.
In addition, I also got some tea from Ten Ren - two of the variety packs for $5 each. It was a pretty decent sampling. The (female) shopkeeper was a bit abrupt with us but I think it was a language barrier issue.
I also second going to the High Line on the west side of the city. Of course you have to keep the weather in mind. That one exceeded my expectations. It’s a pathway set up on elevated railroad tracks (though most of the track is gone, just traces remain). But it was beautiful and provided a different perspective of the city. But I am not sure what the plant life is like in early December.
ETA: check High Line’s hours in advance. The website says they are currently on a limited schedule of 7:30AM - 5PM.
I vote for the High Line no matter how cold it is. The wife and I walked it in April, when we thought it would be nice spring weather. No, it was frickin’ cold. And windy. (We were highly amused by the ice-cream sellers in the frigid weather. And there was some poor model in a wedding gown doing a photo shoot.) We liked it so much that when we returned to NYC for out flight back to Bangkok, we headed straight for the High Line and walked it again.
The nearby Chelsea Market is a nice place to walk through also and a good place too warm up with some hot chocolate.
It’s on Bayard street. The address (as your link shows) is number 65. What’s the difficult part about that? There’s often a line, btw, and at busy times (usually during the summer) you’ll be lining up in the street, which is a tip-off.
I think this depends very largely on what your family wants to do. Chinatown is great if they’re into eating–lots of cheap, semi-exotic restaurants (a lot of Vietnamese restaurants on Baxter Street, for example) and lots of food markets. If they’re into art, then Chelsea is the best–with lots of galleries free to the public, and the High Line in good weather. If they’re history bufffs, a walk in the financial district, where pretty much the whole population of Manhattan lived until the early 19th century, is full of old stuff. For shopping, midtown can’t be beat.
Another possibility. I was thinking about the Museum of the City of New York. I’ve never been there myself. Is it worth a visit? I’m looking for a smaller museum that’s interesting - something you can see in an hour or two rather than something that would take up an entire day.
I think it is, but I’m told I have unusual tastes. It’s not near anything else (as “near” is measured in Manhattan) but if you like NY city history, it’s a good time.
If you want to see city history and don’t mind going to places hit by Sandy, I would suggest the new Brooklyn Navy Yard museum, Building 92. I liked it, but I’m biased because there’s a display of newspaper articles, and my father wrote one of them.