Things to Do in West New York

Stray Boots Urban Games is an interactive tour that sets friends and family members loose on an exhilarating, knowledge-fueled undertaking guided by text-message clues, trivia, and riddles. They operate in cities across the country, dividing them into special game zones that contain the historical sites, local areas of interest, or eccentric child mayors unique to each city. During the explorations, clues point the way to cultural hot spots, which Stray Boots communicates to players via text message. At least one player on the team will need a U.S. cell phone to receive clues, and none of the self-guided tours require previous knowledge of the city. Adventurers play at their own pace—most zones take two to three hours to finish—which allows them to spend more time learning about the city and photographing vibrant fire hydrants for aquacentric scrapbooks.

For more than 75 years, Olinville Arms Co. has accommodated New York's law-enforcement team with high-quality uniforms, equipment, and shooting practice space. Training classes enlighten students on the intricacies of handling firearms and performing security with classes on topics including armed service, cuffing, and baton use. To ensure clean and comfortable environs, a high-tech air-filtration system funnels gun smoke and profane one-liners away from patrons down range. In addition to safety and skills courses, Olinville's staff revamps outmoded firearms with gunsmithing services such as barrel installation, re-bluing services, and general repairs.

EscapeMaker.com facilitates transit-friendly and sustainable excursions within 500 miles of New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, or DC with their online guide to the northeast United States. The staff reviews towns and plunges deep into popular regions to unearth the most compelling and budget-balancing activities around as well as intriguing sights. An EscapeMaker feature aids trip planning by custom aggregating each step of the trip into one handy document, ensuring that sojourners always have helpful info on hand, such as phone numbers, directions, and translations of campfire songs in local languages. In addition to their stalwart guidance, EscapeMaker.com also hosts weekly specials from bed and breakfasts, hotels, and other travel enterprises.

The party planners at Barcrawls.com coordinate pub-crawls throughout the year to commemorate holidays and work-free weekends. Hosted in more than 50 cities, events entice prospective participants with drink specials at each city's best watering holes and garden hoses.

Restless fingers find a place to settle down at Annie & Company Needlepoint and Knitting's homey brownstone on the Upper East Side, where resources for making functional, soft art fill the entire 3,000-square-foot studio. Yarns harvested from soft mammals and fibrous plants spill out from baskets on the first floor, overwhelming knitting needles as large as 40 inches and colorful notions from Susan Bates and Clover. Upstairs, a sunny window illuminates a wooden table suitable for stitching or sipping tea, surrounded by hand-painted needlepoint and cross-stitch canvases hung salon style.

The staff of expert craftsmen shares knowledge with groups and individuals through project-based classes, and has invited yarn designer Debbie Bliss to contribute her elaborately spun falsehoods and professional insight to the discussion.

Central Park Sightseeing matches riders with the proper transport or tour for exploring the 843 acres and 47 miles of scenic pathways that make Central Park famous. Park explorers can select from more than 150 new basket-equipped bikes for men, women, and children in a bevy of styles, such as hybrids for comfortable cruises, mountain bikes for tackling the park’s hills, and tandems that seat two riders or one cardio-savvy centaur. Tour guides piloting pedicabs convey visitors around the park while bestowing pearls of wisdom concerning the area’s history, including which famous movie scenes were filmed in the park and where. Some of Central Park’s more popular attractions, horse carriages take passengers on a relaxed trip through the trees and streets. For visitors who prefer to keep their feet on the ground, Central Park Sightseeing also offers walking tours led by guides that are well-versed in pop culture, park history, and the process in which baby squirrels hatch from their eggs.