Easily Midtown. That's where I usually stay when I travel to Manhattan, and in all honesty, as you know, it's my favorite place in the world thus far. From Times Square to Central Park and the various museums and shopping in the area, there is no other place in the United States that can beat that life. Sure, Burke and Enron will call me a faggot for this, but Manhattan is the epicenter of life as far as I'm concerned. It would be a dream to live there as far as I'm concerned, so enjoy it and live it up as long and to the greatest extent as you can, Sarah. I'm frankly jealous.
In regards to favorite restaurants in Manhattan, I have rather different tastes compared to most people. I love Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, so a couple places in Chinatown are some of my favorites. For Italian, La Mela in little Italy is my destination in spite of the fact I know that Little Italy is not quality anymore - but La Mela still has some of the best pasta I've ever enjoyed. Nick from this forum recommended it to me. The most upscale place I've been to (probably) is the Tribeca Grill which was very good, but I still prefer the more exotic cuisine.
I've also been to a bunch of places in the Theatre District, but New Yorkers always tell me to avoid those places.
Most memorable experiance from NYC - outside of the Prada store in Soho I saw these kids wearing rags eating from a trash can. Really puts this world into perspective..