If you are thinking of coming to New York and are at a loss for how to approach your visit, The Morning News has performed for you an invaluable service.

This elegantly condensed rundown of how to approach a weekend or week as a visitor to New York is the best attempt at a manageable answer to the question "what should one do in NYC?" that I've ever found.

The restaurant recommendations may wind up outdated at some point (and are the part of the essay I've least ability to evaluate -- my dining-out experience is seriously contracted these days), but even there Mr. Baldwin has favored picks that have shown a certain longevity, such that even the likes of yours truly can vouch for some of them.

But he's right, right right, about museums, about neighborhoods, about times of day, about the pleasure of rambling in the right places and the wisdom of eschewing others. About the amazing number of performances its easy to see if you'll go off (off-off-actually) the luxe-priced theme park that is now "Broadway."

This guide, though, is in particular a gift to New York residents who find themselves hosting (or playing guide to) family and friends who -- naturally -- are seeking guidance in navigating the city and to picking from its many proferred pleasures.

Because we who live here are (paradoxically) often so hunkered down in our daily lives that we've forgotten what it's like to wander at liberty through the concrete canyons and down by the river and so forth...we can tell you all about that tricky subway transfer at Broadway-Nassau, but we turn all glassy-eyed when asked for suggestions for things to do. "Um...well, you could go to the Statue of Liberty. It's pretty crowded but, you know, if you're into that kind of thing." Useless.

So, I'm the one who needs to bookmark this. And email it to every person who announces their imminent arrival in my fair city. The brain-dead hosts of NYC salute you, Rosencrans.