26th Street Flea/Antiques Market: An extensive outdoor flea market on Saturdays and Sundays (but the best day to go is Sunday). You could spend all day there if you want! It's fun to go even if you're not seriously shopping -- it's a cool people-watching scene. If it's cold outside, there are many indoor antique shops in the same area. Be sure to check out The Garage, a large, two-level indoor heated flea market. And if you like Indian food, I highly recommend Sirtaj for lunch (see the restaurant section for description). Located mostly along 6th Ave. from 25th to 27th Streets. (Subway: N, R to 28th St; F to 23rd St)

St. Mark's Place: Home of NYC's remaining punk rockers, wild-looking tattooed characters, and everyone inbetween. Take the subway to #6 train to Astor Place, and then walk a couple of blocks east and you'll hit St. Mark's. There are tons of CD stores lining both sides of the streets (this is the best area in the city for CD shopping). You'll see lots of strange-looking characters, that I can assure you. There are also a lot of jewelry stores and street vendors. If you don't go for the CDs, you'll definitely have fun watching all the people. Try Dojo's for lunch.

Broadway into Canal Street: After you've toured St. Mark's Place, head west until you hit Broadway, then go south on Broadway. You'll pass many trendy and hip clothing/accessory stores along the way. Lots of street vendors, too.

Canal Street/Chinatown: If you keep going south on Broadway, you'll hit Canal Street, which runs perpendicular to Broadway. All along Canal Street are electronic and surplus stores, and other places of interest. There's also a cool store called Industrial Plastics, and the fantastic art supply Pearl Paint. Once you're on Canal Street, you're in Chinatown, which is an experience unto itself. Be prepared for a super-bustling area. If you want to have lunch in Chinatown, there are an abundance of inexpensive dim sum restaurants in the area.

Herald Square: A completely different experience than the downtown scene. Herald Square is the area arround 6th Ave and 34th Street, which is right near Macy's. Take the subway to 34th Street (N, R, 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F). From the amount of subway trains that go there, you can tell it's a busy area! Actually, "busy" is an understatement -- it's crazy! From 5th Ave to 8th Ave, 34th Street is lined with tons and tons of stores, mostly shoe/clothing/accessory stores. There's also a big indoor shopping mall with about six floors. If you go in this mall, be sure to ride in the completely glass-enclosed elevator -- you'll see a really great view of the area.