Pop Culture

NYC Tourists Waiting in Line for Crappy Things

Happens all the time.

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New Yorkers know that you have to wait on line. You have to wait on line for the subway. You have wait on line for new sneakers. You have to wait on line to get the job of your dreams. New Yorkers do enough waiting on line for these important things that they know when not to wait on line.

Every day, tourists queue up for attractions and shops that the rest of the city doesn't even look at. Except to take photos of the massive lines and laugh. Yes, this is NYC Tourists Waiting in line for Crappy Things.

RELATED: 25 NYC Tourist Activities That Are Actually Cool

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Top of the Rock

Address: 30 Rockefeller Plaza
Website: topoftherocknyc.com


Fine. The view is nice. As you're waiting in line to buy tickets, though, you pass a sign that tells you that if you had bought tickets beforehand, you could've skipped the line. Even still, you get to the top and you're waiting in another line. No one wins.

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Shake Shack

Address: Madison Square Park
Website: shakeshack.com


Oh, sure. Burgers. Amid the chatter of the dog park and the lunch-hour rush, you'll stand in a park waiting for a cheeseburger with a cult following. You're better off at the Schnipper's down the block.

TKTS Times Square

Address: 47th St. and Broadway
Website: tdf.org


The TKTS Booth is the spot for discount tickets to all shows mainstream. That’s all well and good, but why suffer through the wait when you can plan ahead and get that group discount action? If you are a last-minute person, do yourself a favor and hit up the other location in South Street Seaport.

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M&M'S World

Address: 1600 Broadway
Website: mymms.com


Nostalgia for candies past. M&M's isn't Disney. It's characters from commercials. Advertisements. Something designed without art as the motivation. And now you're standing in line at M&M's World to buy something you can get at Duane Reade. What happened to you?


Magnolia Bakery

Address: 1240 6th Ave.
Website: magnoliabakery.com


Appearances in Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada will do wonders for your company—just ask Magnolia's cupcakes. But guess what, pop culture cupcake fans? There are dozens of high-end cupcake shops across the city, and they'll all take your money to sell you something over-sized with edible pearls.

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Madame Tussauds

Address: 234 West 42nd St.
Website: madametussauds.com


Calling this place a museum is like calling the poster store in the mall an art gallery. For those who don’t have the dogged determination and total lack of self-awareness to meet actual famous people, but still want a faint taste of the limelight, this must be the place. We recommend Google image search as a reasonable, cheap alternative.

The Rink at Rockefeller Center

Address: 601 5th Ave.
Website: rockefellercenter.com


Why wouldn’t you wait in this mammoth line to pay a hefty fee to get your ice dancing on? One great reason is that the ice skating is free just a few blocks south in Bryant Park. Another reason is that ice skating sucks.

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The Halal Guys

Address: West 53rd St. and 6th Ave.
Website: 53rdand6th.com


The Halal Guys have a good cart, but it's still street meat. You can get it anywhere. Why are you in a line for a specific cart? Unless one particular owner saved a dear friend of yours from dying with some kind of transplant, walk a few blocks.

FAO Schwarz

Address: 767 5th Ave.
Website: fao.com


No kidding, you're here because of a Tom Hanks movie? Which one? Philadelphia? Oh, the other one. Cool. Also, stop. Shut it down, or else we'll drag you here around the holidays and watch you succumb to a claustrophobic panic attack.

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Abercrombie & Fitch

Address: 720 5th Ave.
Website: abercrombie.com


Tourists come to NYC from all over the world to experience the breadth and depth of culture. And then they wind up here, buying clothes any middle schooler could get from their local mall. #AMERICA #BODYSPRAY #LATECAPITALISM

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