Anything & Everything New York (PART 2) - [please search thread before posting]

gillian0808

Hi, I am taking my Husband to New York for his Fortieth birthday in November and I would like to take him on the Sopranos Tour as an extra surprise.

Has anyone experienced this tour?
I have been looking at tickets to buy here before we travel but I need a bit of advise. Are the tickets reliable if bought here or am I best purchasing them over there?
Also they are approx £25 each so would I get a better price in NY?

Also I am considering the Holiday lights tour at £23 each, any thoughts?
Many, many thanks if anyone can offer any help at all.

Gillian

melli_2

papercrane0 wrote: »

I travel to New York to visit family often and I usually stay with them. But I've booked friends in to the Jane on recommendations from my cousin. Everyone has loved it. It quirky, cheap for New York and close to the A, C and E subway lines. If it has a downside it the communal bathrooms but they are clean.

Check out their website :www[dot]thejanenyc[dot]com

I stayed in the Jane on my last trip about a month ago and it is amazing, the only problem was the traffic noise from the highway, which kept me awake on my first night.
The bathrooms did get very wet especially around the sinks as well but not the hotels fault and there were a couple of 'peaceful protests' in the evening due to hotel moving from a flop house to a hotel

sturll

I have 3 days in New York coming up and have a car already since ill have driven there.

Is it worth keeping the car or getting rid of it when i arrive? I intend on spending all 3 days in and around NYC.

Thanks

M4RKM

you don't need the car.... honestly, it takes longer to drive places in Manhattan than it does to get the subway.

Also, you'll be looking at around $50 a day in parking charges if not more, unless you can squeeze into a space on the street, but then you have to grasp the alternate side parking rules etc, and risk getting towed...

If you're staying out of Manhattan (brooklyn, queens etc), parking is easier, but still alternate side parking applies (and i still don't understand the rules!) and if you want to go shopping to one of the outlet malls outside, you could park overnight, when you get there, then go up to the malls the next day, then get rid of the car.. however, you don't really seem like the outlet shopping mall type....

sturll

markymoo wrote: »

you don't need the car.... honestly, it takes longer to drive places in Manhattan than it does to get the subway.

Also, you'll be looking at around $50 a day in parking charges if not more, unless you can squeeze into a space on the street, but then you have to grasp the alternate side parking rules etc, and risk getting towed...

If you're staying out of Manhattan (brooklyn, queens etc), parking is easier, but still alternate side parking applies (and i still don't understand the rules!) and if you want to go shopping to one of the outlet malls outside, you could park overnight, when you get there, then go up to the malls the next day, then get rid of the car.. however, you don't really seem like the outlet shopping mall type....

Thanks Mark. I was just pondering over the idea, it would cost and extra £100 or so to keep the car for the extra 3 days. But from what you say id be better off on Public Transport.

I did have a look at NJtransit and it looks pretty good.

I was looking at staying in Secaucas(sp) is that a decent area and how long are we talking about (and ease) to get to for arguments sake the Empire State Building? Or would you suggest staying elsewhere?

What it is is some of the prices of the hotels in NYC are ridiculous, and id rather pay less and have to travel a bit. Rather than be willingly screwed.

M4RKM

The only thing i'd say is that staying in NJ can be more expensive when adding in the $5.75 Off Peak or $6.50 a day to get into NYC. Also, you don't have 24 hour transport back to NJ, so if you want to stay late, or watch a show, you might be scuppered getting back, which will cost about $60 in a taxi.. (oh yeah, it's over state lines, so they charge A LOT more!)

I know you can get the cosmo hotel for $125 a night at the moment, and that's about 12 minutes away on the subway to the empire state (which isn't as good as the rockerfeller center), and i stay at this hotel, and they give me upgrades now, so i have to plug it every once in a while..

NYC isn't the same if you have to plan to get a 9pm train back or something like that... NYC doesn't come to life at night til about midnight, and also, the benefit of staying in manhattan itself, is that you can just nip back to the hotel, to drop stuff off, pick up camera etc, and if you need shower, as it is VERY hot and humid in the summer, so after 4 hours, i know i want to freshen up ready for the afternoon drinking, i mean sightseeing session..


M

sturll

Thanks, i hadn't realised it might have been a problem getting back late.

I guess im going to have to invent plan B.

Like you have said, i really do want to be in NYC early hours and i am planning to see a show and had hoped to get up the ESB late (i believe it doesn't close until 2am)
The hotel you showed does look like a decent one, and initial pricing came up at $219pn, but now i know i need to be in NEW York it gives me something to work from.

Thanks again

M4RKM

oooh... must have missed the offer dates... what exact dates do you need?

might be worth checking quikbook.com for either the cosmo, or the smyth tribeca, (brand new, directly opposite the cosmo, but a lot more expensive normally, but if it ain't full they put cheap prices on quikbook), for good prices..

I've stayed at the Cosmopolitan i think 6 times now, or is it 5.. .meh.. i lose count, it's a nice, but basic hotel, bathrooms are small, but very functional, free wifi, which is always a plus, as some hotels charge $10 a day for that... the subway is outside, so you can hop straight on that into midtown..

plenty of bars, and restaurants on your doorstep there too...

sturll

markymoo wrote: »

oooh... must have missed the offer dates... what exact dates do you need?

might be worth checking quikbook.com for either the cosmo, or the smyth tribeca, (brand new, directly opposite the cosmo, but a lot more expensive normally, but if it ain't full they put cheap prices on quikbook), for good prices..

I've stayed at the Cosmopolitan i think 6 times now, or is it 5.. .meh.. i lose count, it's a nice, but basic hotel, bathrooms are small, but very functional, free wifi, which is always a plus, as some hotels charge $10 a day for that... the subway is outside, so you can hop straight on that into midtown..

plenty of bars, and restaurants on your doorstep there too...

I always seem to miss the deals! Just my bloody luck :rolleyes:

The problem is my dates are not at all flexible.

17th September - 20th September.

Which obviously throws in a Friday and Saturday night.

:cool:

GRIGGSY

Right here goes with day 2. I will try to keep this shorter.

We walked from the hotel to Times Square again catching breakfast on the way, and headed to the Lunt funtanne theatre (not sure of spelling). Prior to leaving Edinburgh we had tried to get tickets on ticketmaster for The Little Mermaid but could not get them as there was no International will call option. We tried again whilst in New York and missed out on 3rd row orchestra seats, but again no will call option for international buyers. Any how we showed the teller a screen shot on the touch from the Broadwaybox web page allowing us to buy tickets for $69. Once we had the tickets (which were for the following day) we headed over to Madame Tussaud and used our New York pass to get in straight away. Quite enjoyed it here although not all the exhibitions were labelled so I didn't know who everyone was. We only came across one school whilst there which was also good as we managed to avoid them. There is one section in it where you can go through a horror tunnel or something which we did and I have to say that whilst I was busy trying to look for wax models I didn't notice the bloke who then jumped out on me and scared me half to death. Well I was then prepared and kept an eye out for people and not dummies IYKWIM. After Madame Tussauds we jumped on the subway and headed down to the Police Musuem (DH is an ex cop) and again used the NY pass. The museum was quite small but I actually found it interesting myself . They had a mix of things to look at from 9/11 exhibits, a memory wall of cops that have been killed on duty, old guns and weapons etc. I dont think it is that expensive to get in to, but I guess it wouldn't be everyones cup of tea.
From here we jumped back on the subway and headed up towards century 21. By this point we were starving so we got a slice at Papa Johns for 99c before heading over to the shop. All I can say is that TK Maxx aint got nothing on this place. It was like a cattle market with so many people bashing into you with bags, elbows etc. I didn't think the prices were that much cheaper, but then I'm used to the outlet prices in Orlando. I had a quick look around the ladies dept as did hubby with the mens, but all we came away with was a handbag and a yankee candle. We then wandered around the site for Ground Zero but didn't do the church as we had done this on our day trip. Oh we also spent a bit of time in a park in that area (cant remember the name). It was then back on the subway for a quick drink at the bar witin the hotel. I was pleased to find Smirnoff Ice (I dont really drink much else) but I think it is catered for a different tastes over there as it didn't taste the same and was classed as a beer rather than a wine cooler.
After changing a freshening up we headed out for dinner at Spice Fusion (Indian). I thought that it was ok, but my husband found his meal to be a bit plain. The waiter did say that there dishes were catered for the American taste buds and that a lot of people from the UK didn't find the dishes to be all that spicy etc. As I said mine was fine, although I did feel really bloated after all the food we had eaten

On the way home we saw the man with the cat on his head which got me thinking if mines would be happy to do this