My wife and I are going to New York City for a week after Thanksgiving. We want to see all the typical sights, already have airfare covered, and plan to walk or Uber most places. My question is what are the hole in the wall places we need to see or go to? Best places to eat without having to give up my whole paycheck? Best place to stay? We are looking at AirBNB but only because everywhere is expensive as far as hotels go. Thanks and Gig em

Fear not, it's New York. Disneyland for grown-ups.

Just start walking from wherever you're staying. If you don't see a cool restaurant, bar, store, park or museum in under three blocks, you're doing something wrong.

Do some research into the area around your lodging, but other than that just be open to it. The only mistake is to get too planned and not be open to opportunities.

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My question is what are the hole in the wall places we need to see or go to?

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- McSorley's Ale House is the oldest bar in NYC. Honest Abe probably had a beer there.
- Walk Central Park. Seriously, you can spend an entire day in there. Climb the rocks, go off the trails, etc. Explore.
- Walk around Columbia University. Beautiful campus.
- Walk the Highline.
- Walk the Brooklyn Bridge.
- Get out of Midtown and spend some time in Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, etc. Lots of charm and each is very unique.
- If you're one who likes looking at old headstones/graves, the Trinity Church (a block from Ground Zero) has a lot of old old grave sites with original headstones.
- Don't Uber or take a cab. Traffic there sucks. Get a MTA card and take the subway. You can usually get within a few blocks of where you need to be and it's the fastest way to get around. Just remember, "downtown" goes south toward the Financial District and "uptown" goes north toward the Bronx. If you know where you are relative to where you want to be, you can get on the right train going that direction. Search the app store as well as there are several apps you can use

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Best places to eat without having to give up my whole paycheck?

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- Bubby's is my wife and I's favorite place. She's a pancake snob and this is her favorite spot.
- Girello is a great local spot for pizza. An old college teammate of my wife's lives in Manhattan and this is where she goes and recommended to us. When you walk out, look to your 11 and you'll see the Ghostbuster's Firehouse from the movie
- Amy's Bread is a small bakery that has a few spots around town. We love to grab some pastries/breads in the morning and put them in our backpack for a snack
- Hell's Kitchen is an area with a lot of restaurants in it. Go read reviews of some to see if any tickle your fancy
- The Little Owl a small quiet place that has good food. A little pricey, but not a break the bank kind of place. If you go there, see if you notice the building it's in. If you're a Friend's fan, it's the building they show that they live in

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Best place to stay?

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It's not somewhere that's loved here on TA, but we stay at the Belvedere. It's close to Times Square and a train station and it doesn't break the bank. My wife and I are the types that wake up and leave and may come back for a half hour or so in the afternoon, and then head back out until that night. For us, spending $350/night on a fancy hotel is a waste. We'd much rather spend that money on a nice dinner. It's not a crappy hotel, but it's not the Hilton either.

Do you live in NYC? Wife and I are moving there in October. Visited plenty of times, but would love a resident to show us the ropes

Edit: just read the last bit of your post, so it looks like not. Just a frequent visitor