To echo lay the wood2, this is what a professor of mine who went to Columbia told me when I visited NYC in April.
If you have time, I would recommend that you either ride the Staten Island ferry (and sit at the back of the boat outside when you leave Manhattan) or walk across the Brookly Bridge. Both give you fatastic views of the NY skyline. If you decide to walk the bridge (which is almost a mile each way), make sure you stop for pizza on the Brooklyn side at Grimaldis, which is under the Brooklyn Bridge. They don't sell slices, but the pizza is so good, that I could almost eat a whole pie myself.