Anyone Ever Been To New York City?

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  • Tsartele
    Tsartele Posts: 683 Member
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    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.
  • ejbronte
    ejbronte Posts: 867 Member
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    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.
  • Wysewoman53
    Wysewoman53 Posts: 582 Member
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    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.
  • SRosello90
    SRosello90 Posts: 54 Member
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    synchkat 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.
  • Kvm11628
    Kvm11628 Posts: 7,386 Member
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    Hey, I heard a jogger was killed in rural Princeton, MA yesterday. I hope no one is planning on visiting that unsafe area.
  • Kvm11628
    Kvm11628 Posts: 7,386 Member
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    SRosello90 wrote: »
    synchkat 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"
  • toned_thugs_n_harmony
    toned_thugs_n_harmony Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Kvm11628 wrote: »
    Hey, I heard a jogger was killed in rural Princeton, MA yesterday. I hope no one is planning on visiting that unsafe area.

    oh my gosh... I was planning a trip, but it sounds much too unsafe now!
  • Kvm11628
    Kvm11628 Posts: 7,386 Member
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    Kvm11628 wrote: »
    Hey, I heard a jogger was killed in rural Princeton, MA yesterday. I hope no one is planning on visiting that unsafe area.
    I am tripling spice levels to your chicken vindaloo.

    Bring.it.on.

    And, you know I am just teasing....
  • samer_shu
    samer_shu Posts: 2 Member
    edited August 2016
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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!
  • Just_J_Now
    Just_J_Now Posts: 9,551 Member
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    I <3 NY
    Born and raised. No other city compares to it. IMO.
  • tamms_1965
    tamms_1965 Posts: 38 Member
    edited August 2016
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    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.
  • King_Spicy
    King_Spicy Posts: 821 Member
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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 VA
  • druidkat7
    druidkat7 Posts: 691 Member
    edited August 2016
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    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.
  • druidkat7
    druidkat7 Posts: 691 Member
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    samer_shu wrote: »
    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! :-D
  • Zealand4530
    Zealand4530 Posts: 180 Member
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    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
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I was going to go today but with heat indexes of 110... I'm staying home. I'm so sad!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    I was going to go today but with heat indexes of 110... I'm staying home. I'm so sad!

    @Franci27 I was literally coming into this thread to tell anyone who thought about coming right NOW, not to. It's horrible. I tried to describe it but there are no words lol.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I was going to go today but with heat indexes of 110... I'm staying home. I'm so sad!

    @Franci27 I was literally coming into this thread to tell anyone who thought about coming right NOW, not to. It's horrible. I tried to describe it but there are no words lol.

    Yeah I'm in NJ and not even setting foot outside today.
  • kdtesoriero
    kdtesoriero Posts: 141 Member
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    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!
  • synchkat
    synchkat Posts: 37,369 Member
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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 excited