New York City

DawnOf1969
DawnOf1969 Posts: 726 Member
edited September 22 in Chit-Chat
Help! We are travelling to New York City in June and I am trying to plan our trip. I am not familiar at ALL with the city and need advice on areas/hotels to stay. The different...burroughs(?) confuse me. I dont know where the best/safe places are for tourists to stay. Alternatively, we are also looking at not staying in the heart of NYC but staying somewhere on the permieter to save some money. We will have a rental car so traveling a little is not a problem. I just dont know where to even look! I would like recommendations from people who've been there or live there.

Replies

  • jpowers416
    jpowers416 Posts: 57 Member
    Help! We are travelling to New York City in June and I am trying to plan our trip. I am not familiar at ALL with the city and need advice on areas/hotels to stay. The different...burroughs(?) confuse me. I dont know where the best/safe places are for tourists to stay. Alternatively, we are also looking at not staying in the heart of NYC but staying somewhere on the permieter to save some money. We will have a rental car so traveling a little is not a problem. I just dont know where to even look! I would like recommendations from people who've been there or live there.

    If you don't want to stay right in the city, you might want to look into staying in a town that is right on the MetroNorth train line. That way you won't have to worry about driving/parking in Manhattan (I find it to be both terrifying and a pain in the butt!) The only thing with that is that you might have a train commute of 20 minutes or so to get into the city, and the hotels might be pricey since the towns in Westchester are all a bit expensive. I've been living about 40 minutes outside of te city for a year and a half now and take the train into the city a bunch, it's really easy and saves me the headache!
  • rolandhulme
    rolandhulme Posts: 148 Member
    What are you planning on doing while you're there?

    If you're doing the tourist thing, it's worth the time and money you'll save traveling to stay in Manhattan itself. There are quite a few cheap hotels around. I can't remember the name of it, but I hooked some British friends up with one on the Upper West Side that was very reasonable.

    How long are you staying? I'd make a list of things you want to do. I recommend:

    1: Top of the Rock - the best view in Manhattan (since you can see the Empire State) and less crowded.
    2: Walking in Central Park. Central Park Zoo is also a blast.
    3: Little Italy - although there's only a few blocks on Mulberry Street left. It's swallowed by Chinatown (although great place to buy fake Rolexes!)
    4: The village. Go for lunch or drinks on West 4th Street.

    Ellis Island/The Statue of Liberty are interesting, but plan to spend at least half a day doing them if you go. It's a schlep.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    Help! We are travelling to New York City in June and I am trying to plan our trip. I am not familiar at ALL with the city and need advice on areas/hotels to stay. The different...burroughs(?) confuse me. I dont know where the best/safe places are for tourists to stay. Alternatively, we are also looking at not staying in the heart of NYC but staying somewhere on the permieter to save some money. We will have a rental car so traveling a little is not a problem. I just dont know where to even look! I would like recommendations from people who've been there or live there.

    don't worry much; the city is pretty much like disneyland these days. if you're in a rough area, you'll know it immediately, but with that said, there aren't many truly rough areas any more. you'll be doing more touristy things, and believe me, that's set up to be as safe as possible (money talks!)

    i've walked in times square at 4 in the morning, and saw not a shred of indecent behavior. there are cops on every corner.

    be prepared to walk. it's the best way to see the city. once my brother, boyfriend and i took the subway to battery park and then walked back to midtown, winding through little italy, chinatown, east village, west village, chelsea, soho and all the little districts in between.

    edit: oh, you won't need a car. it's far more of a hassle than you think. you'd be better to spend the money you *would have spent on a car* and stay somewhere on the train line. everything is connected by subway. the only reason you would need a car is if you are planning to head out to long island or something.. and even then, you can get pretty far on the rails.
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    If it is your first time in NYC you will probably spend most of your time in Manhattan. What sort of things do you like to do I can give you some recommendations.

    Staying in Manhattan is the most expensive.... you could check out The Brooklyn Marriott approx $250 a night and still be in the city in a pretty busy neighborhood. with lots of good restaurants and night life. And there are several subway trains available there to take you anywhere in the city.

    You could stay in NJ.. there are hotels in Jersey City in the Newport Section that will be cheaper approx $200. Not the greatest area, it is up and coming to be trendy but is surrounded by some shady element. There is a train there that can take you into the city.. but you would need to change to subway trains if you wanted to check out lots of places.

    You could also look other areas of Jersey like Ft. Lee where you could get cheaper rooms but not have much around to do, and you would need to drive into the city.

    Personally I would not go for the rental car... cars in the city are more hassle then they are worth. Parking will cost you between $30-$40 just about anywhere you go and the roads are always congested... and if you are not in Manhattan you will be paying tolls. Getting a Metrocard for the subway is the best... once you learn to read the map it will take you anywhere quickly and safely.
  • DawnOf1969
    DawnOf1969 Posts: 726 Member
    Thanks for the adivce. Yes we are doing the touristy thing, we've never been there. I'll definitely add those things to my list. We are defnitely visiting Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, WTC memorial site, Empire State Bldg, Guggenheim and Met (my son is huge into art), Museum of Natural History, TX Rangers vs. Yankees and hopefully seeing a Mets game as well, a broadway show, taping of Jimmy Fallon and I already had Top of the Rock on my list as a maybe. The baseball schedule dictated when we were coming to NYC :)
    We're there for a week so I think maybe I'm pushing things a little, but we'll see. So you think Manhattan in a good place to look at hotels? I've also been told to look at apartments for rent so I'm looking into that but I am just NOT familiar with the area enough to know if the apartments are in a "decent" area.
  • DawnOf1969
    DawnOf1969 Posts: 726 Member
    Part of my problem is I am presented with too many choices. Broadway, Chelsea, East and West Villages, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Central Park, Long Island, Midtown, Queens, SoHo, Tribeca, Staten Island, Upper East, Upper West, Wall Street. these mean nothing to me! I dont even know what to choose when presented these choices.

    As far as the rental car, I've considered not getting it but telling my husband that is a different story. I have no problem using subways/trains as I have maneuvered these in Italy, Paris and London. So it doesn't bother me at all. But him....well......
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    Maybe this will help.... but you need to wear a NY Giants hat when you come to my city :)

    Broadway - most likely talking about the Time Square Area- everything is there and it costs a lot of money to stay but if you were looking to spend the cash it would be pretty cool.

    Chelsea - Is in Manhattan and is sort of a hipster type area with some rough spots. If you stick with major chain hotels it will be good but if you are looking at independent type places it could be a crap shoot.

    East and West Villages... same sort of thing. Lots of cool places to hang out, big bar scenes and if you are there during the college year NYU has lots of students around.

    Brooklyn - It is huge, anywhere from a 15 minute ride to where you want to go to over an hour. Atlantic Ave or Brooklyn Bridge would be good places to check out.

    Jersey City.. has some up and coming areas with some new places as long as you are in the waterfront/newport section. Anything else is not all that nice

    Central Park Old school New York Money area... great place to hangout or stay but you will pay

    Long Island I'm from Jersey, so it is a foreign land full of pushy people to me... and lots of traffic

    Midtown, Business area, but includes Times Square too

    Queens, A lot like Brooklyn in it is quite large. But Astoria and Long Island City are not bad

    SoHo, South of Houston... and that is pronounced Howston, if you say it like the Texas town people will look at you funny. Another Trendy area with 5 star restaurants and places to buy a $20 martini.

    Tribeca, Right by Soho very similar

    Staten Island, - Lots of traffic, out of the way, no good public transportation (except a ride on the ferry is really nice) and not many hotels. Not really the place to stay if you ask me

    Upper East, Upper West -> as far as you will be concerned these are the same thing, just different sides of the park. There is actually a Cortyard Marriott (Upper East Side) that I have consultants that stay there.. it is out of the way so it is not bad if you have a car and it is cheaper then staying more into the center of the city. Make sure they are not talking above 100th street.

    Wall Street. (The area I work in) Business part of town, gets very quiet at night and is expensive. Easy access to transportation to anywhere in the city

    hope that helps.. LETS GO GIANTS!!!
  • rolandhulme
    rolandhulme Posts: 148 Member
    I'd avoid staying in Jersey or Brookyln - it's a schlep to get back to your hotel if you want to go out late for dinner or a show, and much more expensive by taxi.
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