The Geeks Guide to New York City

by Nathan Eddy

The Center, part of the American Museum of Natural History, is an extensive reworking of the old Hayden Planetarium, which dates back to 1935. The main feature is a seven-story-tall glass cube that encloses the 87-foot-diameter Hayden Sphere, the top half of which houses the Space Theater, which incorporates high-resolution fulldome video to create “space shows,” based in scientific visualization of current astrophysical data.

Open 24 hours a day on one of the busiest streets in Manhattan, this is the ultimate destination for Apple fanboys. A giant clear glass cube caps an underground store. Even if you’re not in the market for an iPad or you’ve managed to figure out how to hold your iPhone 4 so that you can get a signal, it’s worth a stop in.

Located on 206 E. 6th St. in Manhattan, old school gamers can buy copies of older systems, games and pretty much anything related to the world of gaming. Think of it as sort of a small, very compact history museum of video games, domestic and Japanese imports. “We are proud to show you the evolution of video games from the first Odyssey to the Dsi,” according to the store’s Website.

Located on the 24th floor of the Empire State Building, the MetroNaps Nap Center allows you to chill out in a futuristic setting that looks like it came out of The Fifth Element (Milla Jovovich not included). A 20-minute nap costs $14, so it’s not exactly a cheap sleep, but the EnergyPod will wake you with a gentle combination of light and vibration. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Moving right along from The Fifth Element to Blade Runner, architect Thom Mayne’s new classroom, laboratory and studio facility crashes onto 3rd Avenue with a silvery, futuristic bombardment of the senses. Love it or hate it, it’s one of New York’s most fascinating new buildings, complete with a dramatic main atrium and grand staircase, open to everyone.

Microbrewery beers and video games, what could possibly be better? Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, this bar brings out the hipster geeks for long sessions of gaming, featuring more than 20 vintage arcade games from the 1980s, including Tapper, Q*bert, Donkey Kong, Tetris, Robotron: 2084, Centipede, and Super Mario Bros.

A military and maritime history museum with a collection of museum ships located at Pier 86 at 46th Street on the West Side of Manhattan, it showcases the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine USS Growler, a Concorde SST and a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance plane, among other vessels.Photo Credit: Deror Avi

Occupying one of the few remaining structures of the 1964 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in Queens, the Hall mainly focuses on education for children ages 1-17 and is a good place to take your kid to get inspired by all things scientific. The museum includes a large, permanent collection as well as a range of traveling exhibitions.Photo credit: GK tramrunner229

You can already hear the theme song playing in your head, can’t you? Tribeca’s Hook & Ladder Company #8, the firehouse that served as home base for Ray, Egon, Peter, Winston and Janine, currently houses working firemen, who are known to be friendly and welcoming to fans who stop by for a look. Just stay out of the way if you see Walter Peck coming, hey?Photo credit: Phillip Ritz