What is there to do in New York if you are a New Yorker?

-How about going to see a taping of a show? The Daily Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tyra Banks Show, The View, Saturday Night Live--all of them film here and the tickets are free. You may have to get on a waiting list, but once you get in, it's a good time.

-The Nuyorican Poets Cafe: This is a cool little cafe in the village that features some of NY's best up-and-coming poets, playwrights, and musicians. Every Friday night they have a poetry slam. They also serve drinks. And I believe admission is only $11.

-Check out a comedy club. Gotham Comedy Club has been completely renovated and looks great now. Admission I think is $12 and there's a two-drink minimum, but once you fill out one of those comment cards, you're pretty much guaranteed to "win" free tickets--which is really just their way of getting you to come back. So with drinks you'll probably end up spending $20 for a couple hours' worth of entertainment. Also try The Upright Citizens Brigade. They do a lot of improv shows and tickets are between $5 to $11.

-Chelsea Cinema's Classic Movie Night: If you must settle for dinner and a movie, why not go see a classic movie for only about $7.50? Not only are the tickets cheap, but they also give you a raffle ticket which can win you a free dinner for two, or off-Broadway show tickets, or movie tickets. It's pretty fun. I saw Niagra Falls and The Best of Everything there. Hysterical. Check it out online for a schedule. They show a different movie every Thursday night.

-This Saturday is Hip Hop Karaoke night at The Knitting Factory at 11 PM. Admission is free. And this is beyond the usual cheesy karaoke spots. They provide a stage, a hype man, music...it's like you're putting on a real show, but you're rapping to classic hip hop songs. Even if you don't perform, it's cool to be in the audience and just enjoy. I'm actually going to this.

-For more traditional karaoke, try Japas on 55th Street. Instead of having to rent a private room, which can be pricey, you just sing right at the bar and pay about $1.25 per song. Plus they offer a pretty extensive sushi menu and everything is half off. (I usually get the California roll for $2.50.) And they have happy hours too, so drinks are also cheap. You'll probably end up spending less than $20 to eat, drink, and sing.

-Dave & Buster's: This one is not exactly a hidden treasure, but dinner there is pretty affordable, and with some entrees you get a $15 playing card to play all the games there. (Skee ball, basketball, the trivia game...)

--Willing to venture outside of Manhattan? Then come to Queens! I just went for the first time to the Queens Farm in Floral Park. Admission and parking is free. Then if you want to do the pumpkin picking, hay ride, and go through the giant maze made out of maize, it's only $10 for a combo pass. And while you're there, you can feed the cows and goats and sheep. (A bag of feed is $3.00) And you can buy some delicious hot apple cider, fresh popcorn, and pumpkin muffins.

-Also in Queens, come to Flushing and have some dim sum. Sure, you could go to Chinatown in Manhattan, but why not change up the scenery a little? You can go have some dim sum (which will only run you maybe $10-$14 depending on how much food you get, since you pay per item that you choose), then head over to Flushing Meadows Park and see the giant NYC replica at the Queens Museum. (Admission is free, but they suggest a $1 donation.) You can also go to the Flushing Town Hall. They have all kinds of shows there--jazz ensembles, choirs, dance troupes, etc.--and admission is usually free or cheap.

--If you want to see a Broadway show but can't afford full price or even TKTS prices, why not try for lottery tickets or rush tickets? Not all shows offer them, but plenty do. I know for a fact that Avenue Q and Spamalot offer lottery tickets. So basically you show up at the box office before noon and put your name into a bin. If your name gets picked, you get up to 2 tickets for dirt cheap. I saw Rent this way for $25. And some offer plain old rush seats, where you show up early in the morning, before 9 AM, and depending on how many seats they have available, you can get cheap, cheap tickets. I saw Freak like this and paid $17 and sat in the first row.

--Spend a day at the zoo. The Bronx Zoo is free on Wednesdays. And the zoo in Central Park is pretty cheap from what I remember.

--Take advantage of Restaurant Week when it rolls around. You can have a 3-course meal at a 4 or 5-star restaurant for $20-$30.

--Go dancing. On Friday nights at LQ, they usually have a free all-you-can-eat buffet I believe at 7 PM and drink specials. Ladies are usually free until midnight and men get reduced admission if you sign up for the guestlist. Even if clubs aren't your thing, it would be something different to do on a Friday night. Plus free dinner! At the Copacabana they even offer salsa lessons before the live music gets started.

--Volunteer! Volunteering is a free way to spend a day, and you help someone while you're at it. Take a look at the New York Cares web site. They have volunteer projects all year long that you can take part in, and it can be fun. I've participated in the school and park clean up days, where we do everything from paint murals and benches, to help organize libraries. And as an added bonus, they usually provided free lunch and dinner. And especially going into the holiday season, they'll need volunteers to help with soup kitchens and toy drives and the like.

--Check out this web site: twi-ny.com It lists all kinds of stuff to do in NY: gallery openings, film festivals, book signings, etc. Most of the stuff is free or pretty cheap.

There is a lot to do in this city that won't break the bank. (Trust me, I don't make a lot, and yet I always have a good time.)

Okay, three suggestions:

1) This is not something that you do on a whim (like, "let's go out this Friday night) but I subscribe to theater companies. It's much cheaper that way, and you get a wide ranging theater experience. It's much cheaper than going to a broadway show, and truthfully, the theater is often better! I've seen some turkeys this way, but I've also seen some really great plays! Also, sometimes the things that you happen to have subscription tickets to, also happen to become that years hot play. It's happened to me before. You pay for a subscription package at the beginning of the year, so it costs a lot at that moment, but then the tickets just come.

These are not Broadway shows. (The Manhattan Theater Club does it's mainstage on Broadway as does the Roundabout, but most of these companies are off-Broadway.) And some are cheaper than others. Also, some are more mainstream than others. I have been a subscriber to the Public Theater for years, and the last year or so, I'm also subscribing to the Pan Asian Rep. The Pan Asian is a very small company, and they have been very nice to me. I've enjoyed their plays a lot. And the Public? Well, I just love them. Not everything there has been good over the years, but there have been some really terrific things!

Like classical music? You can also get a small package of concerts from the NY Phiharmonic. Or, even cheaper, the Brooklyn Philharmonic. There are also smaller concert halls, like Bargemusic that are less expensive then the major halls.

2) Find a new neighborhood, and get to know it. Get out of Manhattan. Go to new parts of Brooklyn, or Queens or Staten Island (I suppose the Bronx as well, but I've been there very little. I guess that should be next for me.) Eat in an ethnic restaurant. Walk around new streets, and get to know a new ethnic enclave. It's a great way to re-explore the City.

3) This is sort of related - take a walk! Even in a really familiar haunt, take a long, long walk. When you walk for recreation, you'll see things you never saw before. New signs. New stores. New restaurants. New people. Art in places you never saw before. Just little surprises. NYC is always changing, and this make the changes up close and personal.

I hope this has been of some help. Have fun!

Well, most "immigrant" New Yorkers, by which I mean people who move here from elsewhere in the USA rather than those who are born here, felt EXACTLY like you do... at first. But believe me, try living here for 10-15-20 years, too, and you, like the NYers you talked to, will hate it, too. It's kinda like a bubble-bath... you get into the tub and it's all warm and bubbly and delightful at first, but, after an hour, or two hours, or six, or even eight hours- oh, my, god, the bubbles are all popped, the water is cold and grey, your skin is wrinkled up like a prune, and you just can't freakin' stand another second of it!!! Yes, that's right, that's what I said, life in New York City is like an old, cold, bubble bath... And another thing... in NYC it's considered cool, and a sign that you're a "real" New Yorker, to put the city down as much as possible, even if you don't believe it, to impress out-of-towners with how jaded you are, so you probably encountered some of that, too.

Ok im not sure if this will offend anyone but its a cool thing for a couple to go see and very cheap. The museum of sex is a great place for couples to go spend a few hours. Its rather interesting and amusing. Basically this place is located in NYC ( 233 Fifth Avenue at 27th Street, New York) and it has different displays. The change them every so often but its a fun thing to do for a couple or a girls night out. I found htis plave by accident when i was in NYC for a few days with my husband. We are new yorkers and decided to "tour" our city and be visitors fro a few days and in one of our brochures we had gotten this museum was listed in it. Go to the link below it may be helpful or you can google it too.

Have fun!

Take a bus tour. It may surprise you how much you really don't know about New York until you take that tour. I especially liked one that went to uptown Manhattan - way uptown, like near the Cloisters (a fabulous and often overlooked place to visit), Columbia University, Harlem, etc.

Then of course, there is always the Village. Just go and absorb the local culture by sitting in Washington Square Park (though there are renovations going on) or for the real funky, try the East Village.

Museum of Modern Art is free Friday evenings from 4 - 8

Thursday night is when many of the Chelsea galleries have openings for their new exhibits http://chelseaartgalleries.com/ or visit during the day.

Go to auction previews these are also free, Goolge for Christie's, Sotheby's Swan, Tepper etc.

Get a copy of the Village Voice and see what other free stuff is going on.

Have cheap dinner at Papya King or an early bird at Dallas BBQ

There is plenty of stuff if you know where to look.

Good Luck

Have you tried crossing into Jersey, I've been dating my Boyfriend for about a year, he lives in jersey and i live in nyc. He has taken me to many nice resturants, malls, and just to drive around is nice. If you are looking to do something romantic, I recommend Flemmings. Its a resturant overlooking the water. Fleming's Prime Steakhouse - www.flemingssteakhouse.com

90 The Promenade, Edgewater - (201) 313-9463

THEY HAVE SPECIALS ON SUNDAYS..

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See the intrepid museum.!Go hang out in Chinatown. If you're bored there, imagine what the rest of us have to deal with. I, for one would never become tired of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I would have a membership there.

Get yourself a dog, they are fun, loving animals and you can go on long walks, parks etc.

take dancing lessons

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http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-journal-1569484-midto...

I hope maybe these sites may be of some use to you. Best of luck!