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New York for two days -- what to do, where to stay?
djmitchella
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Registered User regular
I'm taking my wife to New York for her birthday at the start of December; thus far I have flights booked, and that's it. We arrive at Newark just after 3pm on Friday 2nd, and leave at 4pm on Sunday 4th (from Calgary, so it's a fair amount of flight but not jet-lag's worth). That much, at least, is sorted out.
Next question: what should we see, and where should we stay? I know basically nothing about the geography of New York beyond what I've sort of vaguely got from movies / TV / bikesnobnyc, none of which is very concrete. I know Manhattan's where all the big buildings are, and I guess(?) the sights, but I also know that there are an awful lot of sights to see; how practical is public transport for getting around? Google maps thinks it's an hour from the airport to the Statue of Liberty which gives me a rough starting point, but I'm still pretty fuzzy on the details, and if it's even worth taking the subway -vs- walking, like I'd do in London.
What things are must-sees, given that fairly limited time? There's a lot of museums, there's Broadway for shows, there's going to the different boroughs to see what's there; there's just walking around, we both like to walk places, so would it make more sense to try and see things on foot to save transit complications; you can see a lot of the big name stuff in London on foot, but I don't know if there's an equivalent sort of thing in New York,
And is it worth trying to stay somewhere central or is that just going to be ludicrously expensive? (checking, we'd get _bunk beds_ at the YMCA by Central Park for $goodgrief) Would it be better to stay a bit further out and take transit in the morning to wherever-it-is?
This is a pretty fuzzy set of questions, but beyond "okay, so we're going to New York" I don't have much worked out, and it feels like there's some real-world knowledge about how to get around in New York that I'm completely lacking which would help to narrow things down a bit.
Next question: what should we see, and where should we stay? I know basically nothing about the geography of New York beyond what I've sort of vaguely got from movies / TV / bikesnobnyc, none of which is very concrete. I know Manhattan's where all the big buildings are, and I guess(?) the sights, but I also know that there are an awful lot of sights to see; how practical is public transport for getting around? Google maps thinks it's an hour from the airport to the Statue of Liberty which gives me a rough starting point, but I'm still pretty fuzzy on the details, and if it's even worth taking the subway -vs- walking, like I'd do in London.
What things are must-sees, given that fairly limited time? There's a lot of museums, there's Broadway for shows, there's going to the different boroughs to see what's there; there's just walking around, we both like to walk places, so would it make more sense to try and see things on foot to save transit complications; you can see a lot of the big name stuff in London on foot, but I don't know if there's an equivalent sort of thing in New York,
And is it worth trying to stay somewhere central or is that just going to be ludicrously expensive? (checking, we'd get _bunk beds_ at the YMCA by Central Park for $goodgrief) Would it be better to stay a bit further out and take transit in the morning to wherever-it-is?
This is a pretty fuzzy set of questions, but beyond "okay, so we're going to New York" I don't have much worked out, and it feels like there's some real-world knowledge about how to get around in New York that I'm completely lacking which would help to narrow things down a bit.
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As someone who lives in New York, I can't really help you with hotels. Most of the nice, centrally located ones will cost $Texas though. You might want to look for a smaller hotel, like a Best Western. Hit up Hotels.com or similar travel website.
Public transportation is easy and awesome in NYC. Subways are reliable and go to 95% of places in the city, and run non-stop (though less frequently over night). There are buses to fill the gaps subways can't. You can rent bikes from stations all around Manhattan if that's your thing, just be SUPER careful, since drivers pay very little heed to bicycles. There's also Yellow Cabs/Uber, if you don't mind paying a bit more to get around.
Partly included in "how to get around," and partly in "things to do," are the bus tours that allow you to get on and off from various locations around the city. They're a standard tour bus, but if you want to get off and look at a location, there are other locations to get picked up by a bus from the same company.
As a final note on transportation, the city is totally walkable. I did 10 miles with my cousins when they came to visit, no problems.
Things are in general pretty expensive, but you have to be aware of things that are a bit more expensive, because it's the city, and things that are out and out gouging, because tourists don't know better. The electronics/gifts stores in Times Square are excessive in this regard. You just have to know you prices, but a lot of the time you'll be stuck just paying more anyway.
As far as things to do, there's probably more than you can do in one trip, but definitely see the major museums, and see a Broadway show if you have time, they're really fantastic. There's lots of historical sites, especially downtown in the old city (below Wall Street). There's a combination Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour that can take up a lot of a day. Most of the things to do are in Manhattan. The other boroughs are mostly residential, and EXCEEDINGLY difficult to get to and around compared to Manhattan.
Another important note: the food. There's multiple good restaurants for every type of cuisine, every possibles fusion of two (or more) cuisines, and a bunch of other extremely fun and clever restaurants. This will depend on your tastes a lot, but there are so many good places to eat. The only things I will recommend are getting real New York Bagels with cream cheese from an authentic deli/bagel store (you can tell the place is good if they have a lot of specialty Jewish food, like smoked Lox), and authentic New York Pizza. There's a bunch of good places, but if you want a sit down restaurant, John's Pizza in Times Square is great (but tends to attract tourists).
Feel free to @ me if you have more questions.
You should be able to see the Christmas tree at Rockafeller Plaza. Thr plaza itself is great and the view from Top of the Rock is awesome. Me and the wife did the art tour, and it was pretty interesting. Tons of ironic communist symbology.
Statue of Liberty can be viewed for free from the Staten Island ferry. It goes right past it. I hear the Ellis Island trip can take up half the day so you might just want to do that.
but they're listening to every word I say
The best way of getting around within Manhattan is subway trains or walking. Buses are slow as molasses. Citibike hire is fun if you aren't easily rattled.
Walking is a lot of fun, but avoid Times Square which is full of tourist traps and various rogues trying to separate you from your money. Just go there for a show if you want to see a show, don't bother exploring or eating there.
Central Park is great to wander in. The West and East Villages are lovely for urban walks and packed with great places to eat.
Staying somewhere other than Manhattan can be good but make sure you have a subway station nearby that will take you to the city in under an hour.
If you had more time, or were planning a second trip, no big deal to be a little further away, like Brooklyn Heights or Long Island City or Harlem, but being that extra distance away will result in seeing a couple sights less per day, which is fine when you have plenty of time at your disposal, but isn't conductive to just a 2 day stay.
But yes, stay in Manhattan. It's the best use of your time. The only other location I would recommend is the Marriott in Downtown Brooklyn, since it's right by the Borough Hall transit hub.
a lot of the fancy stores on 5th avenue set up christmas window displays, and the last time I saw them they were pretty dang cool.
I would definitely see times square - it's iconic and an incredible place to people watch. I agree that it's not worth eating or buying anything there, though.
Grand central terminal is one of my favorite places in the city. it's absolutely gorgeous and well worth a stop. It's very busy during rush hour (morning and evening) but is calm otherwise. They usually have a cool holiday market there starting in december.
my general tip for visitors is that new yorkers tend to do everything late - if you want to go to a hip brunch spot, awesome cocktail bar/speakeasy, etc - make sure to show up unfashionably early and you'll likely have the place to yourself. my favorite cocktail bar opens at 5 and if you show up at 5 you get in right away. If you show up at 6, there's a 1-2 hour wait.
As for things to see, I'd recommend Little Italy/Chinatown, they make for some great walking around, plus some phenomenal food.
its barely a block from grand central terminal (subway!), and a simple stroll to Times Square
from there you can go over to 5th or 6th avenue and head north pass Rockefeller Plaza on the way, and a couple of other cool landmarks, and you end up at central park
I also enjoyed taking the subway down to the brooklyn bridge, and then from there strolling around lower manhattan, going down to the stock exchange, etc
anecdotally, I was really underwhelmed by Times Square/Broadway. It's insanely touristy (although I was there during Fleet Week, so... maybe that contributed)
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Two days is a little time to pack in. If you are into spending time at museums, some of the big names may be worth it:
MoMA has some really amazing art, Starry Night, early Picasso, Duchamp. It requires you to pay though.
The Met is 'donation' recommended so if you are comfortable being awkward it can be free. Has a wide variety of stuff and some pretty amazing Egypt and Medieval type stuff.
My favorite was always the Met's cloister satellite, which is way uptown. http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/met-cloisters
Also, if you are into living history type stuff- the tenament museum is amazing. http://www.tenement.org/
With transit, you can probably just get a multiday subway pass and go nuts. This seems to be the free option for planning transit now: https://citymapper.com/dc
Next: tickets to Hamiltonhahahahaha.
Make sure to read up on this, I vaguely remember reading that NYC is about to crack down on airbnb based on it violating a subletting law they just passed? Basically politicians wanting to get their cut of a new market.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-airbnb-law-causes-stir-in-nyc-1477267960
I wouldn't necessarily suggest walking south from the UES. It's not the most exciting hood (nor is the UWS where I lived) and its not a short walk to head south to the more interesting areas. YMMV regarding 'short' and 'interesting' of course. I'd maybe suggest hitting the Met, then taking the subway to 23rd, heading west to Eatily/Shake Shack, and then south on Broadway to Union Square. On Saturdays there is a farmers market in Union Square, but no way you'll get to that and hit the Met in the same day.
Um, you want food suggestions? Because there is a crapton of stuff to do that can't be covered in two days, but there might be some consensus available on restaurants for specific cuisines.
And you should go to Katz's deli regardless of what anyone else says. The best death is nitrate poisoning from pastrami.
I legitimately stayed with a friend at his apartment in Manhattan. The apartment complex grilled anyone coming in with luggage; required your driver's license; questioned you for about 10 minutes before letting anyone in. They were doing everything they could to keep AirBnBers out.
daveNYC - thanks, I think we're almost certainly going to end up pushed for time to see the museums, but we like walking for the sake of walking, too, so I guess we'll have to see how we're doing for time. Food recommendations would be great, I'm not keen on spending any time slogging through yelp if we can avoid it -- as far as "types of cuisine" goes, anything that's distinctive to new york, I suppose, so delis/pizza/whatever the cliche'd "new york food" is, we're there to be tourists..
New York is big on lunch specials, so you can save a lot of money eating lunch at a nice place and then a slice of cheap pizza for dinner
Which means you have Friday night and Saturday, which is not a whole lot of time. Stay centrally located, and get as much done as your wife (since its her birthday) is comfortable with).
Or is there another Calgary I am not thinking of?
That's the right Calgary; flight leaves at 4pm, though, so I'm hoping we'll have a workable amount of morning available that day, even allowing a few hours for getting to/through the airport.
ate pizza
(and a giant pretzel and street-cart hotdogs and a bagel + lox and ludicrously large donuts)
went past the Guggenheim (and the Met), but resisted the urge to go into them:
saw the big Xmas tree:
went to MoMA and did actually go into there:
didn't eat lunch at Katz's Deli because the line was insane and we'd already had lunch once that day:
made it to be able to see the Statue of Liberty, though we didn't have time to get onto the water by then:
found out that Times Square isn't actually a square the same way that, say, Leicester Square is, which was very unexpected:
Saw A Show (thanks, Stubhub! I'd never used it before but it was super easy, it turns out)
walked through Central Park:
went past Trump Tower to see what all the fuss was (actually not too bad; the police were there, and very politely asked us to keep the sidewalk clear after we'd taken enough photos, but beyond basic keeping it from getting too jammed-up, it was fine)
went to Grand Central Station
saw the Empire State Building:
The WTC memorial pools were surprisingly effective, and look like nothing much in photos; we went past those on the way up from Battery Park to see what was there, and 'in the flesh' they are very very impressive as things both as far as how they've made them, and how well they work as a monument.
Food recommendation, in case anyone is reading this thread in future: Superiority Burger where I had not only the best vegetarian burger I've ever had, I'd say I had the best burger of _any_ kind I've ever had. Lucky Peach has more on them. Pizza was at a local restaurant a few blocks from where we stayed, which was cheerful and energetic and had a mixture of families with kids running around and very elderly men eating very slowly, which was pretty much exactly what we wanted at that point on that day.
The streets / subway were busy but manageable (I used to live in the UK so have had practise at that sort of thing on Oxford St, so Park Lane / 5th Ave were familiar feeling) -- what did surprise me was how busy Canal Street was when we were there, given that there wasn't anything obviously _on_ there except for a lot of discount jewelry shops)
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Don't forget Robert Morse. Sterling Cooper reunion!
nice trip @djmitchella !
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