This is a tough one. Is there a doorman at your buddy’s place? If so, leave it there. If not, check Grand Central or Penn Station to see if they have lockers or a storage facility (might be like 10 bucks or so). But security in NYC is tight…so that might preclude that idea. It would suck, but I guess you could just lug it around – it might not be too bad…and will keep you in a place for longer which might let you get to know it better (like a park). Hope this helped a bit. Good luck. I live in NYC and it’s a tough situation to be in!