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Given that half the cookies in NYC seem to be baked below Union Sq, good luck!

I have no idea if it's the BEST, but you have to include Insomnia Cookies.
This bastion of cookies for the NYU crowd (and anyone else in a 3 mile radius), are delectable. And (I think) it's the only purveyor that does nothing BUT cookies. Whenever I brought them into work, it caused a scene like the bridal gown sale at Filene's.

When you get to the downtown edition, the chocolate chip cookies from Jack's Stir Brew coffee are a must-try. I go to the location on Front Street by the Seaport. They are crisp on the edges, have a ton of chocolate, are slightly underbaked to ensure a gooey center, and have a deep, almost, caramel-like, burnt suger / brown butter bass note to them. I keep begging the staff to give me the recipe, but rumor has it that only Jack's aunt knows the recipe. She makes the batter, delivers it to the store, and the staff only bakes off the cookies to keep the recipe secret.

I am eating a Pret cookie right now and it is good but needs some more salt. I think the success of this cookie resides on the fact it is in a heated case (though that doesn't explain that it is still good when it cools down after being brought to the SE office). CURSES! What have they done to this cooooooooooookie to make it good. And this thing is 300 calories too. I wish they hadn't told me.

Mmmm... just had a Pret Cookie, lush chocolate and slightly soft dough. It is durned good. Just slightly sweet and a crisp "crust."

On to City Bakery!

Not to be too harsh but I always thought City Bakery Chocolate Chip cookies tasted like stinky feet smell.

SO... against my better judgement...but following your lead.... I went over to Pret today. There must me some location specific magic happening because the cookie I got tasted no better than the toll house cookie rolls you buy at Gristedes and cook at home....right down to the slightly artificial preservative taste.

I'm still waiting for Jacques Torres to show up (Outer Borough I guess) and Le Pain Quotidien.

whoa this is a total scandal. i will have to try this pret cookie because i really can't believe that it would be particularly great.

I love pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, and I will eat butternut squash right out of the rind once it's roasted. I bake pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie in autumn, not really for the holidays so much. I generally love squash. I once made pies from a squash in Peru just because it was a novelty. These squashes/gourds are so big it takes two people to carry one. It's important to remember that pies aren't just a desert - they are often the main course, filled with meats, vegetables, and spices. My family usually has pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we also get tired of traditional holiday foods. Frequently, for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we will decide to have something different at the table. Last year we had an incredible Italian dish that my father prepared for Christmas, and I smoked chicken and baby back ribs for Thanksgiving. It didn't change the spirit of the holidays at all for us. So, I guess the important thing is that you enjoy what you cook and eat during the holidays.

Say it with Flour in Midtown East. Amazing!

Two Little Red Hens has the best chocolate chunk cookie for only $1.60! I think Levain is way too "raw" inside.

Just look at this photo and tell me it's not the best looking chocolate chip cookie you've ever seen:

http://nycfoodguy.com/2008/02/05/levain-bakery-the-best-chocolate-chip-walnut-cookie-on-the-planet/

Don't get me wrong, Jacques Torres is delicious too, but in a high class chocolate way, because thin, buttery cookie is all about the shards of chocolate:

http://nycfoodguy.com/2008/05/30/jacques-torres-dark-chocolate-chip-cookie-rivals-levain/

City Bakery is fairly similar to Jacques in that it's thin and loaded with gooey shards of chocolate. The only thing I didn't love about City is that it's so buttery, the cookie doesn't have that delicious, home-baked, reminds us of Mom's cookie flavor that Levain has. It's that characteristic that makes Levain the best.

NYCFoodGuy

It's not even close -- CITY BAKERY. CITY BAKERY. CITY BAKERY. and the CITY BAKERY ginger cookie is the SECOND-BEST chocolate-chip cookie, even thought it's not chocolate chip. It's like Chuck Norris that way.

Baked, Petrossian's, Chocolate Bar, Jacques Torres