So suppose I were to be flying to NYC tomorrow, and I had most of the day Thursday to explore Manhattan. What would you recommend me doing, going to see, etc., if I were to be mostly on foot or on the subway? Any lesser-known points of interest that I could brag about having been to? Anything that's not worth my time or money?
I'm not planning on going to any shows, although we might try to catch the Yankees game on Wednesday night.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Don't do the Statue of Liberty. Way too much time for too little payoff.
The Met is completely worth it. For landmarks, I liked the Brooklyn Bridge a great deal. The Effeil Tower is good, but only if the weather is clear.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Actually, I was planning on visiting the Met and walking through a bit of Central Park.
It would be fun to do the Empire State Building thing, but I've heard it's expensive and time-consuming.
I like kat's suggestion of the Brooklyn Bridge.
I do like art, but I think the Met will be enough. Unless there are some other museums I shouldn't miss.
I'm going with one of our financial guys, so I believe we will be visiting Wall Street. Since I have absolutely no concept of NYC, I don't know where that is in relation to anything else.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Oops, I meant the Empire State building. *sigh*
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Rockefeller Center sounds fun. Maybe I'll try Macy's as well.
Any good, interesting stores where I can pick up souvenirs?
Edit: *pats kat on the back*
I wasn't going to say anything. Heck, I figured NYC probably had its version of the Eiffel Tower, kind of like Vegas. Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Adam, tell me when you've added everything you're going to, and I'm going to print your list.
And enjoy your date!
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Thanks, Adam!
The guy I'm going with has been to NYC plenty of times, so I'll get around the big distances with him. But I'm not planning on spending the whole time with him, so I don't want to be completely clueless when I hit the streets.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
quote:Any good, interesting stores where I can pick up souvenirs?
There's an awesome vintage toy store at 2nd Ave. and St. Marks(8th St.) called Love Saves The Day. In fact, all of St. Marks is pretty cool. Neat place called Into The Woods, too.
Go by Strawberry Fields (72nd and Central Park West) while you're in Central Park if you're a Beatles fan.
The Museum of Television & Radio is cool, on 52nd, between 5th and 6th Aves, as is the Museum of Natural History (Central Park West and...79th?80th?).
Lalo and I may be hanging out in the city Thursday afternoon/evening, so drop me an email if you get bored.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
The Museum of Natural History, except that it tends to be a time-sink. I could do about 5 days in there. If you go, start on the 5th floor. The 5th floor is where the dinosaurs are, but it's really the fact that you are lead through a sort of genealogical progression of the history of animals. I probably can't do a good job explaining, but they do. Just make sure you watch the movie and follow the floor.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
The problem with the Met is that one day will only be an appetizer. I liked the Guggenheim for a 3/4 day museum visit, and spent the rest of the day at Central Park. I love zoos, so I spent an hour or so at the Central Park zoo.
Well, crud...I went to see what the Guggenheim was featuring now and they are apparently closed on Thursdays. So forget that one...
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Frisco: Lalo and I may be hanging out in the city Thursday afternoon/evening, so drop me an email if you get bored.
And I'm arriving Friday morning. I see how this works. Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :
The Brooklyn Bridge is about a 5-minute walk from Wall Street, and from it you can get a very nice view of the NY harbor, Statue of Liberty, and the skyline in general if you walk about halfway across. And if you've never been to NYC before, stopping at Times Square (42nd & Broadway/7th Ave) is a rather fun 2-minute interlude, esp at night - you can gawk at the bright lights and the other gawkers.
I totally second going to the Met for at least an hour or two, but yeah, that is too big to see everything in one day. I'd find an excuse to stop at Grand Central Station too (42nd & 5th Ave) and check out the main concourse - beautiful architecture. Union Square (14th & Broadway) is a fun place to just hang out - not sure if the artists and farmers' market is there on Thursdays. And Ground Zero is a must. Chinatown is a fun place to wander around in and go souvenir shopping - take the NQRW/yellow line to Broadway & Canal and head down Canal.
If you're planning on doing lots of subway traveling, allow about 20-30 mins per trip. The thing I hate is that in most stations, there's no way to tell how long it'll be till the next train, so you could just as easily wait for 10 seconds or 10 minutes (or more). Other than that it's great.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Is your reason for not wanting to see a show the cost? Because most shows seem to have lotteries a couple of hours before curtain, where you can win the right to purchase up to two front row tickets for something like $25 a piece. They don't all do this, but it seems to be somewhat common.
If you are at all interested, I cannot recommend Wicked highly enough.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
If you’re there in the morning be sure to have Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I did that after I ran the NYC Marathon. What fun! You can get your muffin at the coffee shop on the corner. Ground Zero is a have to see. Central Park is pretty amazing too. Times Square and Union Square are neat to see.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Well, I probably did less in NYC than even I planned. We did go to the Yankees game on Wednesday night, wherein the Yankees came back from 0-4 in the third inning and beat the Devil Rays 5-4. That was fun. It was the only night where we had the option of going out and doing something, and we opted for the game over a show. I think it was a good choice.
Then I got a bad headache and kind of stayed in bed too long on Thursday. I walked up to Central Park but mostly stayed on the south end, sitting on a rock and feeling crummy. I walked here and there down 6th Ave. but didn't stop and look at much, mostly just stopped at a drugstore and bought some Tylenol.
Later, I walked all the way down from Times Square (where the hotel was) to Macy's in search of a store that sold ties. Finally I bought one for way too much at Macy's. Then I took the subway back to Times Square because I was late and my coworker was waiting for me. We were going to the awards banquet down at Battery Park. I ran up to my room to put on my suit---and at that point realized I hadn't packed a dress shirt. Crap! So I put on my suit over my t-shirt, rode back down to the lobby, and broke the news to my coworker. He wasn't happy. Finally we decided that he would go immediately down to Battery Park and get us signed in, and I would run down to the Gap to buy a shirt. Lucky for me, Gap was having a sale on their dress shirts. I wore one out of the store (paid for, of course) and still managed to get to the banquet on time. Whew!
If I'd had one more day in NYC I would have seen a lot more. I was feeling a lot better after Thursday and willing to do more exploring. But, alas, I quickly ran out of time and we had to get back to the airport.
Still, I had a great time in Manhattan, and I would definitely go back to see more of it. Even though hotel prices are horrendous and it costs close to $50 to take a taxi to Manhattan from the airport....
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*cough* Because some of us hadn't heard of it until after we took a cab from the airport to Manhattan?
And because, judging by their own website, using it with luggages might be rather a pain?
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
What's an airtrain?
My coworker has to travel to NYC all the time. He handled the transportation. If I had been footing the bill, I definitely would have looked for alternatives.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
AirTrain Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Wow. Definitely cheaper than a taxi. That's good to know. Now, if they could only do something about the hotel prices in Manhattan, it would be a reasonably priced vacation.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I did something about the hotel prices in NY. I stayed with friends (and friends of friends). Yay for schnorring! Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I do have a brother in law who lives in Jersey City. Hmm.
Are the hotels any cheaper outside of Manhattan?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
IIRC from when I stayed here about eight years ago, yes. But not a huge amount cheaper.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Out of curiosity, I looked at Hotwire rates. JFK area starts about $100 a night, midtown Manhattan about double that. Hoboken/JC also about $100 a night, but if you're willing to stay in Morristown/Parsippany you can get as low as $65 a night -- for a place with more amenities.
No idea what times/costs are involved with getting into the city.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Stupid Manhattan. Be more Vegas.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Vegas? Where the rates triple when Comdex comes to town? Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I suppose there’s that. Plus, Vegas doesn’t have the Naked Cowboy. Now that was a sight. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Which I missed. How sad.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I think he has a website. IIRC, it was written on the back of his briefs. nakedcowboy.com, or something like that. That is one website I'm never going to visit, but if you missed him in Times Square, maybe you still want to see him up close and personal. Whatever floats your boat, rivka. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*adjusts afr's sarcasmometer*
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
*adjusts rivka's humor meter* Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*tickles kq*
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Hey! I'm extremely ticklish! *screams, jumps, and flinches away whenever anything moves or comes near her*
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Hey! I'm extremely ticklish!
I know.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
*narrows eyes*
I just have to go over... here now.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
Get some bagles from Zabar's and eat them in Central Park.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
'Cause everyone's your friend in New York City And everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty The streets are paved with diamonds and there's just so much to see But the best thing about New York City is you and me
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
I know.