What Do Teenagers Do In NYC?

By Meghan Riley

Sena Cheung (17, left) and Sebastian Flores (16, right) enjoying a Friday night in Central Park
Sena Cheung (17, left) and Sebastian Flores (16, right) enjoying a Friday night in Central Park

Even in a city that never sleeps, teenagers sometimes have trouble finding age appropriate things to do on a Friday night in New York City, according to an informal survey.

Once teenagers are allowed to go out with their friends without supervision, they need to find something to fill their time.

The survey showed that about 71% of teenagers are allowed to go out at 14 years old or younger, 14% are allowed to go out at 15 years old, 7% are allowed out at 16 and 7% are allowed out at 17 years old or older.

This doesn’t mean that kids are allowed to roam free and do whatever they want.

“My mother won’t let me go out at certain times,” says Amber Miranda from the Bronx, “And there are things that are too far, like Brooklyn.”

The survey also showed that almost 79% of teenagers have a strict curfew to follow. Almost 36% of kids have some kind of boundary from how far they can go from their house. And the other 28% have some other kind of restriction.

Once teenagers are allowed the option to go out and be with their friends, they have to find things to do.

Only 14% of teenagers who took the survey said that they had trouble finding thing to do in New York City this summer.

Parks, movie theaters and cheap restaurants are all popular places for teenagers to hang out on the weekends, according to the survey.

However, in order to go to movies or restaurants teenagers need money.

A large 86% of kids who took the survey said that their parents in some way pay for them to do things with their friends.

Only 14% percent said their parents always pay for them to go out with their friends, and half of the survey takers said that their parents only pay for them sometimes.

“Finding cheap things to do is imperative when you’re in New York City for the summer” said 17 year old Michelle from San Diego.

Over 57% of answers from the survey said that they can only spend $20 or less when they go out with their friends.

Less than half of the survey takers said that they pay more than that on a regular basis.

Teenagers, especially starving college students, need inexpensive options for things to do in New York City.

It is after all one of the most expensive cities to live in, according to CBS MoneyWatch.

Even just walking around the streets on a Friday evening can leave teenagers with few age appropriate options, says NYU PreCollege residential and commuter students alike.

The streets that are filled with bars and nightclubs and expensive restaurants can be distracting and leave some kids thinking there is nothing else to do, according to the 14% of survey takers that had a hard time finding things to do.

When teenagers get bored and see a row of bars on St Marks Place, they look for ways in, according to the residential advisers who were in charge of the PreCollege students this summer.. This means they search for fake IDs and can get caught and in a lot of trouble for having one.

Out of the 20% of students who took a separate informal survey, only half of their fake IDs worked and got them into bars in New York City.

The other half were caught and their IDs were taken from them on site, according to NYU PreCollege students who were with the group that got carded.

The Fakes Epidemic; Underage Drinking and Fake IDs

Cheap Things To Do In NYC

 

Cheap Things To Do In NYC

What is there to do year round in New York City? Let me tell you!

 

Museums

Asia Society Museum

725 Park Avenue, New York, NY

212.288.6400

www.asiasociety.og

Free on Fridays from 6pm to 9pm

Under 16 free entrance always

Association with Hunter College is free admission

 

American Museum of Natural History

79th Street and Central Park West, New York, NY

212.313.7278

www.amnh.org

Suggested admission fee is $22 for adults, not mandatory

 

The Guggenheim

1071 5th Avenue, New York, NY

212.423.3575

www.guggenheim.org

Admission fee is suggested, pay as you wish on Saturdays 5:45pm to 7:45pm

 

The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

200 Eastern Parkway Museum

718.638.5000

www.brooklynmuseum.org

Admission fee is suggested, pay as you wish

$4 discounts for students

 

Whitney Museum of American Art

99 Gansevoort Street, New York, NY

212.570.3600

www.whitney.org

Fridays from 7pm to 10pm admission is pay as you wish

Association with New York University is free admission

 

Museum of the City of New York

1220 5th Avenue, New York, NY

212.534.1672

www.mcny.org

Suggested admissions fee is $14 for adults and $10 for students, pay as you wish

19 and Under are free

 

Gardens

Conservatory Gardens at Central Park

Entrance at 5th Avenue and 105th Street or 106th Street gate inside Central Park

Free

 

Botanical Gardens

2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY

718.817.8700

www.nybg.org

Weekdays student price $18, Weekends student price  $22

 

Sports Games

Mets Games

www.newyork.mets.mlb.com

$10 promenade level seating for students, rush list

 

Yankee Games

Half priced tickets for students at the Ticket Window

 

Shows

Broadway Shows

www.studentrush.org

Discounted tickets to day-of performances

 

AMC Movie Theaters

www.amctheatres.com

Discounted movie tickets on Thursdays for Students

 

Exercise Classes

Yoga Classes

www.eastyoga.com

10 class card for $100 with student ID, 5 class card for $50 with student ID