Western Premier Harold Square.

Some basic suggestions:
1. Hotel was close to the Empire State Building - iconic
2. You want easy on and off of subway. Even with subway plan on walking tons.
3. 9/11 memorial will take 2-3 hours at least.
4. Statue of Liberty ferry from financial district - Plan on 2 hours. Ellis Island was nice but really wouldn’t plan on spending a lot of time there.
5. Consider buying a NYCity Pass which gives discounts on Rockefeller Plaza (the Roc), 9/11 Memorial, Statue of Liberty, and a few more. Main iconic places.
6. See or walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked it from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Great views of NYC financial and Manhattan skyline.
7. Some great food places and bakeries. (Katz deli, LeVain bakery, Magnolia bakery for amazing banana cream pudding-delicious, etc.) Hot dogs and pretzels from street vendors aren’t worth it.
8. Times Square is amazing and a surreal explosion of sensory perception.

Plan on walking, walking, and walking. We did 30 miles in three days. Central Park was a lot of fun.
Museum of Natural History was fun but takes a lot of time, right there by Central Park.

Enjoy, it was a lot of fun. You can use Apple Pay or phone for subway access. Very easy!