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NYC is always busy, but I have to say I think the busiest time is from Thanksgiving until New Years.
When I used to work in Midtown the tourist crowds were unbearable that time of year. Trying to walk anywhere at all in Midtown can be very difficult at that time. I started packing my own lunches to work so that I wouldn't have to go outside.
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Originally Posted by That_One_Guy
Those are probably the best times to visit weather-wise since both Summer and Winter are kind of extreme and uncomfortable here. There really is no "off season" for NYC but Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years definitely is a really huge time here.
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Originally Posted by BadgerFilms
I would say fall is the time for New York. "I recall, Central Park in fall, how you tore that dress, what a mess.."
Also the Macy Thanksgiving Parade is a NYC staple. And for winter, the Rockefeller tree and the NYE at Times Square are also iconically New York.
The only time of year that one could say NYC has a down time would be from the 2nd week of January (after the Rockefeller Center X'mas is taken down) until March 17th/St. Patrick's Day with its yearly parade which is kind of the first of season every year.
New Orleans in the spring. Also, DC.
Denver, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, Portland OR in the summer.
Boston, Philly, Baltimore, Portland (Maine) in the fall.
San Antonio and it's Riverwalk in the winter. Also Fort Worth gets an honorable mention!
Los Angeles is definitely enjoyable in autumn; especially because the air cools down and we see far less hazy days than in the summer.
Autumn has always been my favorite season, so having left Oregon where we got a very distinct autumn makes me miss it when that time of year rolls around.
But then once friends and family start posting about all the snow, I don't mind missing that
You literally can barely move on, say, 5th Ave during the Christmas season nowadays. Radio City Music Hall during Christmas? It's crazy. I was in midtown on Saturday and it was not too bad at all.
These couple of years is getting pretty bad with the crowds. Last year I literally couldn't get out of Herald Square subway station because the street outside was too packed with people... I had to wait for the light to turn green on the street to get out of the underground. I am not really blaming the people, since for most its their first time during Christmas in NYC, but they act like all the tall buildings and lights are just decorations from a movie set, and forget that NYC is a real city and people actually live and work in those buildings...
May not be "Major" American cities but seasonality impacts is far more drastic in these cities than the ones listed in the thread.
Lake George / Saratoga Springs NY - during the summer and peak of track season these are very live and vibrant places to be. Almost a boardwalk empire type feeling. You get a brief should season in the fall with change in foliage. Then from November to Memorial day they are virtually ghost towns.
Naples/SWL are huge snowbird destinations from Dec - Easter especially at the height of spring training. Once May rolls around its population shrinks by 50-60% through Thanksgiving.
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