Anyone Ever Been To New York City?
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PlaydohPants wrote: »LeGaCyGiAnT91 wrote: »Do you guys recommend a hotel to stay at that's fairly reasonable? I will be driving my own car, but it sounds like a nightmare in the city, so sounds like walking/uber is the way to go.
I've stayed at Gotham in Midtown which is small and quiet and has an amazing location but the view itself really sucks and they're doing construction across the street right now but it wasn't terribly priced and I had a good time. Usually I just go in for the day though so I'm not much help there.
There are parking garages but I think they're something ridiculous like $15/hr. Street parking is near impossible and many many streets are oneway so it's difficult to get to where you want if you don't already know where you're going.
Try $100 a day for parking in the city.0 -
In Brooklyn, there are some nice things to see though: the Brooklyn Museum has one of the best Egyptian collections you can find; right next to it, the Botanical Gardens makes for a lovely way to spend the day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Museum
Way out past even my end of Brooklyn is Coney Island and the Aquarium. Here and there, in Brooklyn, there are houses that go back to the early 1800s or before:
brooklyneagle.com/articles/2014/8/27/revolutionary-war-houses-brooklyn-wyckoff-bennett-homestead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrick_I._Lott_House
https://prospectpark.org/visit-the-park/places-to-go/lefferts-historic-house/
In this world, there is not a single place that doesn't have issues; but I feel that, if you can be intelligent and observant, no matter where you are, you should be able to enjoy the positive aspects.0 -
Visited NYC a while ago. We were on a construction job in Greenport, NY at the tip of Long Island about 80 miles north of the city. We spent a day in NYC and one thing we did was to take a tour bus...Red Bus Tours, I think??? The buses were red anyway...that took us to all the major parts of NYC. They had doubledecker buses and it didn't cost very much plus we could get off and back on as many times in a day as we wanted. The tour guides were great, informative and funny! We found that the deli's were the best...great food and not very expensive but as I said, we only spent a day there. Would love to go back sometime.0
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SRosello90 wrote: »As a native I will say to stay far far away from Times Square if and when possible. It's incredibly congested and a bit of a tourist trap. There are plenty of things to do here on the cheap if you know where to look. There are plenty of museums that are free or low cost, places like the MET, The Cloisters (Part of the MET) and The Museum of Natural History are suggested donation entry, yes they have a suggested price you should pay (This is a mandatory price if you want entrance to certain exhibits especially at the Museum of Natural History) however it is ultimately up to you what you want to give. If you wan to take a short ferry ride on the Hudson hop on the Staten Island ferry for FREE, want to visit the zoo or one of our botanical gardens check online since there are days with FREE admission. Want some cheap eats? Head to Chinatown and find a local bakery, most items are a dollar or just over that amount. Want to catch a Broadway show, you could do one of two things, either head to the TKTS booth for tickets the day of out use an app like Today Tix to find tickets at a discount for certain shows. Also, don’t be afraid to ride the subway, trust me it’s safe if you go ahead and mind your own business and don’t take it at obscene hours of the night, if you’re staying for a week go ahead and get yourself the weekly unlimited card for $31 currently, trust me your feet and wallet will thank you later. Hope this helps!
Any tips for tickets for the Met? I was informed by the aunt I told I'll travel with this is her ONE thing she HAS to do. I was thinking it might be a nice gift for the husband to give her and I.
Hi! Typically you would get the tickets at the entrance of the museum; there is a suggested donation price which you would pay in full when purchasing the tickets online (http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/buy-tickets) or when you go to the museum you can pay whatever you’re comfortable with or would like to give. The Met is honestly one of my favorite places in New York.0 -
Hey, I heard a jogger was killed in rural Princeton, MA yesterday. I hope no one is planning on visiting that unsafe area.2
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SRosello90 wrote: »SRosello90 wrote: »As a native I will say to stay far far away from Times Square if and when possible. It's incredibly congested and a bit of a tourist trap. There are plenty of things to do here on the cheap if you know where to look. There are plenty of museums that are free or low cost, places like the MET, The Cloisters (Part of the MET) and The Museum of Natural History are suggested donation entry, yes they have a suggested price you should pay (This is a mandatory price if you want entrance to certain exhibits especially at the Museum of Natural History) however it is ultimately up to you what you want to give. If you wan to take a short ferry ride on the Hudson hop on the Staten Island ferry for FREE, want to visit the zoo or one of our botanical gardens check online since there are days with FREE admission. Want some cheap eats? Head to Chinatown and find a local bakery, most items are a dollar or just over that amount. Want to catch a Broadway show, you could do one of two things, either head to the TKTS booth for tickets the day of out use an app like Today Tix to find tickets at a discount for certain shows. Also, don’t be afraid to ride the subway, trust me it’s safe if you go ahead and mind your own business and don’t take it at obscene hours of the night, if you’re staying for a week go ahead and get yourself the weekly unlimited card for $31 currently, trust me your feet and wallet will thank you later. Hope this helps!
Any tips for tickets for the Met? I was informed by the aunt I told I'll travel with this is her ONE thing she HAS to do. I was thinking it might be a nice gift for the husband to give her and I.
Hi! Typically you would get the tickets at the entrance of the museum; there is a suggested donation price which you would pay in full when purchasing the tickets online (http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/buy-tickets) or when you go to the museum you can pay whatever you’re comfortable with or would like to give. The Met is honestly one of my favorite places in New York.
I totally agree. I can't count the number of times I have been to the Met. And, for the love of all things good an holy, build some time in to just sit on the steps and people watch. On a warm, sunny day, the Met steps are just amazing. You will see a huge cross section of NYC life.
One of my greatest joys in life to date has been taking my kids to the Met to show them all the spots from E.L. Konigsburg's "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler"0 -
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Manhattan resident here, so I'll tell you what I've told many other out of town visitors throughout the years. I won't get into the itinerary because there were a lot of great suggestions. Just don't listen to that woman who talked about slashing and the subways being unsafe. That was seriously ridiculous.
- New York is expensive. Suck it up and deal with it. If you are going to be money conscious about everything, it will ruin your time here. Just expect to pay more and be pleasantly surprised when you don't. With that said, you you can do/eat a ton of things here on the cheap. But doing mostly touristy things, expect the touristy areas to be more expensive. My suggestion is to look up "cheap things to do in NY". There are a ton of lists with ideas of things you can do that are on the cheaper side.
- If you are only here for a couple of days, it's really not worth it trying to save money by going to another borough or New Jersey. You simply don't have the time. Also, you're 25 years old so you'll want the hustle and bustle of the city. And nothing beats stumbling home drunk after an amazing night out and to just walk a couple of blocks to your hotel.
- When people ask me for hotel suggestions. I just tell them to check hotels.com or Kayak or something like that. What might be a good recommendation today might end up being 700 dollars tomorrow. Deals come and go all the time. With that said, I just checked hotels.com and there are a ton of hotels under 200 dollars in Midtown. I usually use hotels.com because most of the hotels there have a free cancellation policy. So you can book something now and when the time comes closer and if you find a better deal, just get that one instead.
- Central locations are usually the best. As a local, I personally avoid Times Square like the plague but if you've not been here before you'd probably love staying in that area. There are many hotels in the West 20s that tend to be cheaper. Just check whatever has a great deal online.
- Food: If you do stay in the Times square area. Do not eat there and DO NOT eat in any of the chain restaurants. They are expensive and awful. Just walk over to Hell's Kitchen on 9th Ave (anywhere between 42nd and 55th". There will be a ridiculous amount of restaurants there that are cheaper (again, that's a relative term)
- Parking. Don't bring a car. If you do, don't valet park at the hotel. Depending on where you find a hotel, just look up parking garages in the area. I just found this site for example: http://www.parkwhiz.com/p/new-york-parking/map/ Tell Siri to drive you there directly and just leave your keys until you are ready to leave the city.
- The city is too big and there is too much to see in two days. I am a walker. I love walking everywhere, but given your lack of time, you might want to consider the hop on/hop off buses. Maybe do that for one day and then walk around the following day. I do want to say that the statue of liberty tour might take up too much of your day. If you do the Staten Island ferry then you'll get a very close look at Lady Liberty. Just consider cutting some things so you can spend more time on other things. You'll be back again.
- If you are going to do a Broadway show, TKTS has the best deals but the lines are long and it will take up too much time from your day. Either go to TKTS by Southstreet Seaport which has no lines (if you happen to be there) or just look up "discount broadway tickets" and websites like Theater Mania will have shows up to 50%. It's what I tell everyone to do.
- Oh, and please be mindful of the people around you when you walk. Don't walk in a row of 3 or 4 people and take up the sidewalk. And don't just suddenly stop when there are a ton of people walking behind you, especially when walking up the subway stairs. And don't hog the sidewalk when trying to take a picture of your friend (do it at an angle). And don't be afraid to ask people questions. We might seem to always be in a hurry but we'll stop and answer questions.
My my! I came to this forum to look up if I should set my Activity Level to Sedentary or Lightly Active seeing how I walk everywhere in NYC and here I am writing a novel.
Good luck and hope you have a blast and let us know the trip turns out!
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I
NY
Born and raised. No other city compares to it. IMO.1 -
I just went a couple of weeks ago w/27 year old DD (I'm 51). We used Airbnb (stayed in Little Italy, great deal) the subway, taxi, bus, uber, and our feet. As others have said, Yelp for restaurants. We had a great time, saw a show, ate in Hells Kitchen, Noho, Harlem, Williamsburg, Chinatown, Times Square, and of course, Little Italy. I really like Airbnb for big cities....our hosts have been great and the price was right. That being said, you can get great deals on hotels when you book with Expedia.com.0
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Disnt read any of the replies of probably mych more informative ppl than me, but I found during my last tourist trip to manhattan for a week, the Comfort Inn in China Town had the best prices with free breakfast included. I got a normal hotel room for the price of staying in a private hostel room which was much much shittier and felt unsafe.
Plus I got to watch everyone doing their morning exercises in the park across the street and was close to not only the metro but taking my chinese bus back to VA0 -
finny11122 wrote: »My cousin is there at the moment . She went to see phantom of the opera 2 days ago . Said it was great .
I. Am. So. Seriously. "Jelly" about that!!!! o_O It's my most favorite musical. Ever! I'd go to NYC JUST for the theater shows, with "Phantom" being top of my list, always. Seriously, if they allowed "signature" stuff at the bottom of posts, mine would be so full of POTO quotes, it's not funny.0 -
Manhattan resident here, so I'll tell you what I've told many other out of town visitors throughout the years. I won't get into the itinerary because there were a lot of great suggestions. Just don't listen to that woman who talked about slashing and the subways being unsafe. That was seriously ridiculous.
- New York is expensive. Suck it up and deal with it. If you are going to be money conscious about everything, it will ruin your time here. Just expect to pay more and be pleasantly surprised when you don't. With that said, you you can do/eat a ton of things here on the cheap. But doing mostly touristy things, expect the touristy areas to be more expensive. My suggestion is to look up "cheap things to do in NY". There are a ton of lists with ideas of things you can do that are on the cheaper side.
- If you are only here for a couple of days, it's really not worth it trying to save money by going to another borough or New Jersey. You simply don't have the time. Also, you're 25 years old so you'll want the hustle and bustle of the city. And nothing beats stumbling home drunk after an amazing night out and to just walk a couple of blocks to your hotel.
- When people ask me for hotel suggestions. I just tell them to check hotels.com or Kayak or something like that. What might be a good recommendation today might end up being 700 dollars tomorrow. Deals come and go all the time. With that said, I just checked hotels.com and there are a ton of hotels under 200 dollars in Midtown. I usually use hotels.com because most of the hotels there have a free cancellation policy. So you can book something now and when the time comes closer and if you find a better deal, just get that one instead.
- Central locations are usually the best. As a local, I personally avoid Times Square like the plague but if you've not been here before you'd probably love staying in that area. There are many hotels in the West 20s that tend to be cheaper. Just check whatever has a great deal online.
- Food: If you do stay in the Times square area. Do not eat there and DO NOT eat in any of the chain restaurants. They are expensive and awful. Just walk over to Hell's Kitchen on 9th Ave (anywhere between 42nd and 55th". There will be a ridiculous amount of restaurants there that are cheaper (again, that's a relative term)
- Parking. Don't bring a car. If you do, don't valet park at the hotel. Depending on where you find a hotel, just look up parking garages in the area. I just found this site for example: http://www.parkwhiz.com/p/new-york-parking/map/ Tell Siri to drive you there directly and just leave your keys until you are ready to leave the city.
- The city is too big and there is too much to see in two days. I am a walker. I love walking everywhere, but given your lack of time, you might want to consider the hop on/hop off buses. Maybe do that for one day and then walk around the following day. I do want to say that the statue of liberty tour might take up too much of your day. If you do the Staten Island ferry then you'll get a very close look at Lady Liberty. Just consider cutting some things so you can spend more time on other things. You'll be back again.
- If you are going to do a Broadway show, TKTS has the best deals but the lines are long and it will take up too much time from your day. Either go to TKTS by Southstreet Seaport which has no lines (if you happen to be there) or just look up "discount broadway tickets" and websites like Theater Mania will have shows up to 50%. It's what I tell everyone to do.
- Oh, and please be mindful of the people around you when you walk. Don't walk in a row of 3 or 4 people and take up the sidewalk. And don't just suddenly stop when there are a ton of people walking behind you, especially when walking up the subway stairs. And don't hog the sidewalk when trying to take a picture of your friend (do it at an angle). And don't be afraid to ask people questions. We might seem to always be in a hurry but we'll stop and answer questions.
My my! I came to this forum to look up if I should set my Activity Level to Sedentary or Lightly Active seeing how I walk everywhere in NYC and here I am writing a novel.
Good luck and hope you have a blast and let us know the trip turns out!
I once visited NYC back in 2011 for a show at the BB King Blues Club. I'm a Midwesterner, and had a bit of sticker shock with the food (I expected my plane tix to be pricey, though), and yes, Times Square is hella congested, but OMG, I had sooo much fun and would go back in a heartbeat, because there *is* so much to see, especially all my fave theater shows, so I absolutely loved your tip for the Broadway tickets!!!! Thanks! :-D1 -
Was in nyc back in 2015 for a week. Best city ever. Stayed at the marriot in Times Square was about 400usd a night in February good central location but if I went back I'd find a cheaper hotel0
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I was going to go today but with heat indexes of 110... I'm staying home. I'm so sad!0
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arditarose wrote: »
Yeah I'm in NJ and not even setting foot outside today.0 -
How can you come to NYC and not take a subway ride?! Yes it is expensive but everything in NY is. It's like saying wow the ocean is wet! Staying outside the city itself will be cheaper but then you have to commute in. Take in a Broadway show, battery park, Central Park, and 42nd street of course. Crime happens all the time here you can't live your life in fear!0
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I had to dig up this thread
My entire family is going to nyc in October and then getting a cruise from there. My mom wants to see the empire state building, the natural history museum and probably shops. We're staying like 2 blocks from Central Park can't wait. I've read the rink at Rockefeller Center should be open...fingers crossed.
I'm super excited1 -
I had to dig up this thread
My entire family is going to nyc in October and then getting a cruise from there. My mom wants to see the empire state building, the natural history museum and probably shops. We're staying like 2 blocks from Central Park can't wait. I've read the rink at Rockefeller Center should be open...fingers crossed.
I'm super excited
Funnest city in the world besides vegas! Make sure u go to dave and busters!
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Haha we've Dave and busters here0
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Zealand4530 wrote: »Was in nyc back in 2015 for a week. Best city ever. Stayed at the marriot in Times Square was about 400usd a night in February good central location but if I went back I'd find a cheaper hotel
Comfort Inn in China Town was $81 a night. For comparison, some of the *kitten* hostels in Times Square were $80-100 a night. lol0 -
I live 2 hours north of the city and do everything I can to stay away from it.0
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My best hotel stays in manhattan were through name your price on priceline. I've stayed at the doubletree in times square for like $149 a night which was a great deal. I also stayed at the Millenium Times square around the same price. Both were on weekends. In fact, I drove when we stayed at the double tree and I think parking ending up costing more than my hotel. so yeah, if you can avoid parking you should do it. Plus, driving in the times square/broadway area sucks. majorly.
I ride the subway in every city. Just be smart. Oh, and alot of your major credit cards offer discounted or even free tickets to the museums as part of being a "cardholder". Check with them. The MOMA is great. I like art. There is a great beer garden in the west village. The Standard Biergarten. I have to hit beer no matter where I go.
We also always go to a baseball game when in town. I'd guess the Mets will be cheaper than the yankees and that would get you over to Queens to see a different area. I'm not real familiar with that area though. I'm from PA. We just like to go into a city besides Philly sometimes and NY is only 2 hours away tops.0 -
Driving in the city isn't that bad. There's traffic and a lot of people who do things unexpectedly but if youre alert at the wheel there shouldn't be any problems. There are parking garages that are (depending on area) $10 - $15 an hour if it's on peak, off peak it can be under $10. I'm not sure about hotels because I live in Brooklyn and haven't used a hotel in ages anywhere. The subway can be dangerous but for the most part it's pretty safe, plenty of police are around, just have to keep alert. I've yet to encounter anyone trying to stab/rob me. I've seen a penis or two but other than that no physical harm has been done >.< How much time are you spending here? If someone asked me what should they see, I guess I'd tell them see one of the bridges, go to central park and then try to get to prospect park (the people who designed central park, designed prospect park I believe).
Also take a side street and just look around. That would be my advice.0 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »
You know BK and BX inmates are always in denial that their borough has issues. They often cite the uber-gentrification of Brooklyn heights, esp the Jay street area as the shining example of Brooklyn's redemption.arditarose wrote: »Cutaway_Collar wrote: »While I won't say NYC is unsafe, it has the potential to be seedy especially in the outlying areas.
Just 2 days ago, a jogging woman was found dead in the bushes, I saw in the news. She was found dead with her pants pulled down or something.
If you are looking to cut cost and are staying deep into the boroughs... much of interior BK and the Bronx are infested with thugs and criminals. I will not touch certain areas of BK and probably all of Bronx with a ten foot pole after 11pm at night.
Also, you cannot find a hotel deep inside Harlem and take late night walks. Harlem is okay nowadays but there still are some dudes who stand out there and sexually harass women as they walk by. While they won't take it to the next step like they used to in the 80s, they definitely look fcuking scary.
For your own sanity, stay between the union square and central park perimeters of the city. Hundreds of hotels are out there. I named a few in my earlier post which are in the 300$ to 400$ range and have the prime NYC experience.
When my wife and I go to the city, I love waking up and taking a walk 2 blocks to get coffee. Early am in the city is lovely, you can smell fresh bread being cooked in the bakeries. It is absolutely useless to wake up in BK, the Bronx or Jersey city.
What are you even talking about? Nobody is telling tourists to go stay in freaking Brownsville for god's sake. I don't even think tourists could FIND some of the unsavory neighborhoods.
I suggest walking across the Brooklyn Bridge too. When you get to DUMBO on the Brooklyn size you can grab a slice of pizza and take the F train back to Manhattan one stop if you don't want to walk.
I have lived over there before escaping to connecticut long time ago. Also, spending 80% of my week in the city gives me perspective.
I agree with your tour guide recommendations, but I don't think I said anything wrong with suggesting to the touring OP that staying in Manhattan provides 100% NYC experience rather than selecting a place in BK or Queens for that matter.
It's like, oh we woke up and what do we do.... Take the R train and then transfer into the 6 to go see rockfeller center. That is so pleasing. Oh wait... we got into the wrong 6. We should have take 6 uptown across the street.
...inmate? If there was a downvote button just for calling people who live here that, I would click it in a minute.
Also I do think it's cool to suggest to the OP to visit Brooklyn. Anywhere can be dangerous, but if you keep your wits about you and travel smartly there's less of a chance of something happening to you. Most of us are willing to help those who are lost/unsure of how to get to their destination.0 -
SRosello90 wrote: »SRosello90 wrote: »As a native I will say to stay far far away from Times Square if and when possible. It's incredibly congested and a bit of a tourist trap. There are plenty of things to do here on the cheap if you know where to look. There are plenty of museums that are free or low cost, places like the MET, The Cloisters (Part of the MET) and The Museum of Natural History are suggested donation entry, yes they have a suggested price you should pay (This is a mandatory price if you want entrance to certain exhibits especially at the Museum of Natural History) however it is ultimately up to you what you want to give. If you wan to take a short ferry ride on the Hudson hop on the Staten Island ferry for FREE, want to visit the zoo or one of our botanical gardens check online since there are days with FREE admission. Want some cheap eats? Head to Chinatown and find a local bakery, most items are a dollar or just over that amount. Want to catch a Broadway show, you could do one of two things, either head to the TKTS booth for tickets the day of out use an app like Today Tix to find tickets at a discount for certain shows. Also, don’t be afraid to ride the subway, trust me it’s safe if you go ahead and mind your own business and don’t take it at obscene hours of the night, if you’re staying for a week go ahead and get yourself the weekly unlimited card for $31 currently, trust me your feet and wallet will thank you later. Hope this helps!
Any tips for tickets for the Met? I was informed by the aunt I told I'll travel with this is her ONE thing she HAS to do. I was thinking it might be a nice gift for the husband to give her and I.
Hi! Typically you would get the tickets at the entrance of the museum; there is a suggested donation price which you would pay in full when purchasing the tickets online (http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/buy-tickets) or when you go to the museum you can pay whatever you’re comfortable with or would like to give. The Met is honestly one of my favorite places in New York.
I didn't realize the price was a suggested donation until visiting for a few times. One time I had a classmate who said they gave them a nickel.
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I live in NYC, and I love it here. Like others have said, I wouldn't fuss too much about crime on the subway. I ride it every day, have never had an issue.
There's some good advise and resources to be found here - https://www.reddit.com/r/asknyc - check out the sidebar.0
This discussion has been closed.
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