So you live in New York City, huh?
If you're a New Yorker and you're anything like us, you're experiencing some reflection as 2015 draws to a close. You're thinking about all the delicious, amazing, joyful ways you've spent the past year.
Luckily, living in NYC means a lot of great culture, food, and shows.
When you live in NYC, it's important to motivate yourself to do certain things, things you can't do in any other city, like making sure to get on top of some of our rooftop gardens, drinking on rooftop bars, and catching concerts at some of NYC's hottest music venues.
It's also a good move to bring your business to some of the most classic NYC bars and restaurants. We guarantee they'll return the favor, exponentially.
Read on to see what every New Yorker should have done in 2015. See how many you can cross off the list.
1. Visit a museum
melissa.weatherford I saw Van Gogh's Sunflower yesterday. I think tears were shed, but not quite sure. #vangogh #themetropolitanmuseumofart #tearsofjoy
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is just about the most famous museum in the country. You win if you went to visit it this past year.
It also counts if you visited the MoMa, the Whitney, or the Guggenheim. We will also accept the Museum of Natural History.
We mean, when you live in the city with the best museums in the whole country, it only makes sense for you to visit them, right?
[anad]
You should always pay the suggested amount to get into the museum, but bonus points if you visited any of these museums on their free days.
The MoMa is free on Fridays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Whitney is free on Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum are always pay what you wish, so we guess you can't get any bonus points when it comes to them.
Oh, if you didn't visit a museum this year, then next year is definitely the move. Of course, it's always the move, but if you apply for IDNYC, 2016 might just be the best year ever.
2. See a play
This does not have to be a Broadway play, although NYC's Broadway plays are, of course, entirely excellent.
NYC is the cultural capital of the universe for a reason. One of those reasons is the city's abundance of amazing plays.
We're got Drunk Shakespeare and sober Shakespeare, or we mean, Shakespeare in the Park, the free outdoor installation of Shakespeare plays that are staged for free every summer in NYC's parks.
Maybe you went to see a play in NYC's Fringe Festival, or maybe you saw a show at Theatre Saint Mark's. Hopefully you saw a play in NYC in 2015. If not, don't worry. You can do better in 2016.
3. Eat at a classic NYC restaurant
katzsdeli 🍖Haven't had your fill of turkey just yet? Come in for an open faced sandwich that comes with two small sides'#! OPEN 24 HOURS ON WEEKENDS! #food #foodie #foodporn #foodgasm #openfacedsandwich #sandwich #bagel #coleslaw #fries #frenchfries #steakfries #meat #yum #deli #delicatessen #katz #katzs #katz #katzdelicatessen #katzsdelicatessen #les #nyc #lowereastside #turkey #open24hours
All of NYC's new restaurants are phenomenal, and we endorse them to the highest degree. Still, it's important to keep our OG restaurants alive, especially with rising rents and the climate of corporate chains nosing their way into the city's real estate.
Also, of course, because NYC's old school restaurants are delicious, and completely alight with the flavor of NYC.
[anad2]
So here's what counts as an iconic NYC restaurant: if you've eaten at Katz's, Delmonico's, Berg'n, Di Fara, Peter Luger, or Veselka you've succeeded. Pat yourself on the back because you've eaten at a classic NYC restaurant.
If you didn't eat at any of these restaurants in the past year, all we can really say is that you're missing out.
4. Visit Coney Island
factorycandy Prototype still for an upcoming project! 🎡 📷 😎 #coneyisland #coneyislandboardwalk #brooklyn #bklyn #coney #photographersoninstagram #factorycandy #wonderwheel #denoswonderwheel #photography #art #pretty
Alright, we all know the beaches at Rockaway are nicer than Coney Island.
Still, Coney Island is so classic NYC. You should make sure you hit it up at least once throughout each summer, just to ensure you're having the classic NYC experience.
You've just got to brave the constant hecklers trying to sell you alcohol and food, bask in the swirl of languages that engulf you, ride Deno's Wonder Wheel, and drink a beer at Ruby's.
We get it. You should also go to Rockaway Beach throughout the summer, and we promise we do that too. If you're keeping the NYC dream alive, though, you've gotten out to Coney Island throughout the past year. That's just how it is.
,5. Drink at an iconic NYC bar
the__jackal Happy Holidays and Feliz Navidad from McSorley's. #happyholidays #feliznavidad #mcsorleys #holidays #eastvillage
Okay, it's true. NYC's got a ton of hip, rad new bars. They're pulsing with music, they're bursting with fluorescent lights and fancy new drinks.
We're right there with you. The new bars have their place. But there's nothing, and we mean nothing, like NYC's old school bars.
[anad]
There's nothing like throwing back a brew at McSorley's while your feet rub the sawdust on the floor. There's nothing like the experience. You're not choosing between a huge list of beers. All you're choosing between is dark or light. That's how it's been at McSorley's since 1854.
There's the Blind Ale Tiger House, Campbell Apartment, Blondies, Rudy's, Rolf's and the White Horse Tavern. If you haven't drank at one of these bars in the past year, you're not doing it right.
6. See a concert
It doesn't matter whether it was at Webster Hall, Irving Plaza, the Bowery Ballroom or Williamsburg Music Hall. It doesn't even matter whether the show you saw was at Madison Square Garden.
The point is, if we have anything in common at all, you love music. You love bumping to jams that make you feel, jams that make you sad and happy and angry, jams that remind you of your childhood.
Music is a universal experience, and NYC is a place that values that experience. Our abundance of music venues is evidence you need that music is a big deal in this town.
We can guarantee that whatever type of music you love, whichever band is your band, if that musician is still alive and the band is still in tact, they'll be passing through NYC on a tour. They'll be giving a performance, and you should be at that performance.
Props if you've been out to a show at NYC's incredible concert venues during 2015.
7. Eat at an indoor food market
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We're known for our food in this city, right? We've got some of the best food in the whole world, in our completely unbiased opinions (okay, maybe our opinions are a little biased).
The best part about the food scene in NYC is that we've got all these indoor food markets. Really. We've got a ton of incredible indoor food markets, and that means an absurd variety of incredible food.
[anad2]
With all our indoor food markets, you never have to worry about whether everyone is pleased. Never again do you have to fret about catering to the desires of the friend that wants sushi and the friend that wants pizza.
At Eataly, Grand Central Terminal Market, City Kitchen, Chelsea Market, Hudson Eats, The Plaza Food Hall, and Gansevoort Market there's something delicious for everyone. We even got a new one this year: UrbanSpace Vanderbilt. The food situation in NYC never looked so bright.
Check out 7 Best Shows We Watched in 2015.
[Feature Image Courtesy Instagram]