OT - Company Outings in NYC

at my job they always make us go bowling for "fun" but one year they rented a bus and did an all day brooklyn pizzeria tour and it was such a good time. although by the end of the day we were all in a coma.

There are lots of places to take cooking classes, but it can get pricey. There are also a few places around the city where you can make ceramics, a la art class when you were 6 that are more reasonable. Chelsea Piers maybe for a group lesson, golf, wall climbing?

my mother went to Scanlan (sp) Glass where you make your own colored glass stuff. she has some much fun that for mother's day, i bought a private lesson for my wife and her. they had a blast and it was definitely something different. the cooking class of make your own pizza is easy and fun too.

Rock climbing at Chelsea piers? They might do groups.

swe, don't know if they do groups but the West Side Pistol Range could be fun. People are nervous at first and then the adrenaline takes over. I've done something similar with a group and beers after (not before!) were a blast. People that you don't expect really get a kick out of it.

http://www.westsidepistolrange.com/newtoshooting.php

How about a scavenger hunt? I've done the Watson Adventures (http://watsonadventures.com/) hunts in the Met, Central Park and the Village. I've had fun on each one, even when I didn't particularly like the people I was with.

I went to a Cyclones game with friends a few years ago. Everybody had a ball, even tho none of us were huge baseball fans.

I would also tell you that the Tenement Museum will book group tours, and it's fantastic. Lasts a couple of hours, they do interactive tours, and it's really fascinating.

I would caution against stuff that involves physical activity like climbing walls. Yes it is taking people out of their comfort zone and team building, all that but it really, really puts an emotional burden on those who are not in good shape. I know all the "shoulds" but they aren't going to change of overnight and being humiliated in front of co-workers, especially in something that may have nothing to do with the job you are hired to do, is really demoralizing.

Great ideas, thanks... keep 'em coming.

I'm actually going to go to the pistol range myself... but probably not appropriate for this particular group. Thought about Chelsea Piers, but I do worry about the couple physical exceptions, like liz noted.

Pizza tour is a great idea...

It's outside of NYC, but I had a group outing to an indoor go-kart track up near Mount Kisco. (Grand Prix New York.) It was kind of a pain to get to, but it was a lot of fun. It was competitive and physical -- but being out of shape wouldn't have been as much of an impediment as (say) rock climbing. (Probably would slow you down a bit, though -- the skinniest guy on my team did win the race. But he was also really good.)

Other than that, I've played golf up at the park in the Bronx (whose name I can't remember for some reason), but you really need at least a couple of actual golfers on the team to make it fun.

There is always World Yacht. Also, in the warmer months there are Champagne brunches on large sailboats that go out into New York harbor. How about biking along the Hudson River (you can rent bikes) with a lunch at Steamer Corner in the Financial Center?

HK, we already did go-kart. Velocity 17 in Jersey. Great time.

we did sailing with one company out of Chelsea Piers. 4 people per boat/4 boats. learn sailing and then race. nice 1/2 day.

love bowling - don't know if it's in your budget but the ICE cooking classes are a blast.

Death Valley