This list is by no means comprehensive – it’s just a small sampling of activities and attractions we recommend!
In Yonkers/Westchester County
- Cross County Shopping Center – mid-price, recently renovated, outdoor mall
- Empire City Casino – video slots and horseracing, if you’re in to that sort of thing
- Hudson River Museum – history of the Hudson River and Valley, a historic house, and planetarium
- Old Croton Aqueduct Trail – walk along the route of New York City’s first fresh water supply
- Ridge Hill – Recently-completed, outdoor, mall-as-a-lifestyle center
- Sarah Lawrence College – a drive or walk around the campus of Emily’s alma mater/workplace is worthwhile if you’ve never been!
- Untermyer Park – gorgeous park with grecian structures and a darker past as the “Son of Sam” park
- Wave Hill – lovely botanical garden, technically in the Bronx but easy to access by car from Yonkers
In NYC
If you haven’t been to NYC before, of course you should check out all of the places you’ve seen in movies: Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty. But especially if you’ve been here and seen all that, we recommend you check out NYC’s other boroughs and attractions off the beaten path! Here are just some of our favorites:
- Brooklyn Heights Promenade – breathtaking views of lower Manhattan
- Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum – design museum in Andrew Carnegie’s former mansion
- Flushing Meadows Corona Park & Queens Museum – remnants and repurposed spaces from the ’31 and ’64/’65 Worlds Fairs
- Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island – take the tram there!
- The Intrepid – sea, air, and space museum on an aircraft carrier
- Museum of the City of New York – diverse array of NYC-related exhibits, do-able in a few hours
- New York Transit Museum – Drew and Emily first met on a train trip run by the Transit Museum
- Yankee Stadium – they’re on the road our wedding weekend, but you can get a tour
NYC Guides
Restaurants
The definitive guide for things to eat in the New York metro area has been compiled by Emily in the form of a Google Map. Zoom in and then click on a pin to read a one-sentence review of each restaurant!