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

M4RKM

LIRR is Long Island Rail Road.

You can't use a Metrocard for the subway on the LIRR, also, (the red lines) don't exist. the 1/9/2/3 are the trains you need.

There really isn't an easy way to get to your hotel from the Airport, so the extra cost on the LIRR is probably the best option.

as for a metrocard, it costs $28 per person for unlimited subway and bus rides throughout New York City, so it's a great deal.

you will also need a PAYG metrocard for the rides on the airtrain as they are $5 each, but you can have 1 card for up to 4 people..


M

austinforever

Heya, been stalking these forums for a while and just wanted to get your opinion on this package.

Have the opportunity to purchase return flight to NY and stay 3 nights at the New Yorker for £499 in total at beginning of September. Is this a good deal?

Thanks

judygarland

Well, what a fantastic city. Definitely now my favourite.

Flew with Continental from Birmingham to Newark. Took a good hour to get through immigration after having my fingerprints taken, being photographed and then questioned for a couple of minutes. From the airport I took the NJ transit train which took me to midtown Manhattan, Penn Station. This was about half a mile away from my hotel. Found out when I got to my hotel that I could have got on the subway as there is a station below the hotel! The Radisson Martinique was an excellent choice as it’s right in the heart of the Korean restaurant area and directly opposite a Speedys which is good for breakfast. Saying that, the breakfast buffet in the hotel was quite reasonable at $15.00.

When I exited Penn Station, I was really wowed by the sight. Straight in front of me was the Empire State Building. Equipped with my little map route I headed off for a walk towards Times Square. I though thiswas a strange area made up of quite a number of roads and was nothing like I imagined. It’s a very busy area and home to many entertainment venues. Spent about an hour here taking in the buzzing atmosphere and then picked up my New York City pass from Planet Hollywood. I purchased this online before I left the UK and it gave me access to the attractions for 3 days and cost $155.00. I then jumped into a bike taxi which was really quite scary. The driver weaved in and out of trucks and taxis whilst peddling over very bumpy roads. Headed back towards my hotel and decided to check out what I could have for dinner.

About 100 yards away from my hotel I found a great little shop/deli. Down the centre of the shop there were compartments full of hot Chinese food, a salad bar and also an array of fruit. Down one wall were all the drinks and then there was a selection of deserts too. You grab a plastic container, fill it with food and then take it to the counter to be weighed. The food was fantastic and I ate here the first two nights, taking the food back to my room to eat it. It cost less than £10.00 for my evening meal and included a drink.

Day two

Jumped into a taxi to get to Times Square where I was catching a “See it all in a day” tour bus with www.newyorkpartyshuttle.com. The tour bus didn’t leave until 10.30am so I decided to check out the Stardust Diner for breakfast. You really must go here if ever in New York. The waiters and waitresses are all budding singers/actresses and they entertain you whilst you dine. They take in turns to sing. Really fun place to go but some people might find this a bit much at 8am in the morning! They were all fantastic singers and not at all like karaoke. These people could sing.

The tour took 6 hours, and the route took me past all the major architectural “sights”, which included the New York Library, St Patrick’s church, Times Square, Pier 17 and then through districts such as, China Town, Soho, Greenwich Village. It stopped off at about 15 different locations around NYC and at each one the tour guide would get off the bus and give a talk for anything from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. We even tripped across to Statten Island on the ferry for a view of the Statue of Liberty.

Whilst waiting in the queue for the bus, I got chatting to a nice lady from Finland who was also travelling alone. I was a bit apprehensive about being by myself, but once I had arrived in New York, I found it no problem at all. You do so much queuing that it’s quite easy to strike up a conversation with other tourists and I met some really interesting travellers from all around the world. The tour guide was from New York and I was really impressed with his knowledge. Joey (our guide) really did make the trip interesting. We parked outside the Dakota buildings (where John Lennon lived and was shot in front of!) and then into Central Park to see Strawberry Fields, Winter Gardens (by ground zero), St Patricks Church, Trinity Church, Madison Square park for a good view of the Flat Iron building, Pier 17 where you get an excellent view of Brooklyn Bridge (really nice food court in there too), Wall Street and the financial district. All the time, we were getting information about the history of what we were seeing, where famous people had apartments and good restaurants to eat etc. Well worth the $60.00 I paid but I would recommend booking it before you leave the UK.

After saying goodbye to Pip from Finland who I spent a very good day with, I walked past the Marriott Marquis hotel and just had to go and check out the revolving restaurant. The glass elevator to the top was amazing and something to be experienced. I was escorted to a table where the menu indicated that you had to buy at least one drink. The cheapest was $10.00! Be careful if you arrive after 7pm, they add $7.00 (I think) to the bill. Spent an hour here (it takes an hour to do a full rotation) taking in the views (luckily there were clear blue skies) and then made my way to Macys to check out the flower show. This was just amazing. The whole ground floor resembled something akin to the Chelsea Flower show. There were chandeliers made from Orchids and giant Flamingos. Every stand was just covered in flowers. Walking past the Empire State building I noticed there was no queue and so took the opportunity to venture up to the top. Took about 40 minutes of queuing to get to the top and is well worth a trip. Wouldn’t recommend the Sky ride though which I was very disappointed.

After a rather full day, I returned to my hotel stopping off to pick up a piece of New York cheese cake.

Day three

It was time to check out the Statue of Liberty. My New York city pass included the ferry ticket to Liberty Island and also Ellis Island. The NYC pass website is a little misleading as it creates the impression that you can fast track past the queues. What it doesn’t mention is that you have to queue at the ticket booth to pick up a ticket at each attraction to get entry. Still, it saves you having to get money out at each attraction. I joined the queue for the Liberty Island Ferry at 7.30am after a speedy taxi ride from mid Manhattan. Great time of day to get around NYC by taxi. I wouldn’t bother though any other time of day as the subway is much quicker and cheaper at $2.00 for 2 hours of unlimited journeys.

The first ferry left at 8.30am and it is definitely worth being there early. Bearing in mind it was Easter, I only queued for about 20 minutes to get through the security checks to be able to climb the 150 steps to the viewing platform and visitor centre which is just below the feet. We were subjected to the usual airport type checks before entering the ferry and then again on the island. You have to enter a machine which blasts you with air from head to foot which was different. After enquiring what this machine was for, I was told “to check for residues mam”.

It’s well worth a trip to Liberty Island if you have good weather. The view of Manhattan is fantastic. Being on my own, I was constantly stopped by other tourists, asking if I would take their picture. This was the highlight of the whole of my trip.

From Liberty Island you can take another ferry over to Ellis Island to visit the Immigration Museum. This is also well worth a visit. You could spend a whole day here but as I wanted to cram so much into my stay, I caught the ferry back to Battery Park and was on the subway for 11am on my way to the Rockerfeller to check out the view from the top. Quite a few people on the forum have said that the view was better at the TOTR and I would probably have to agree as you get to see Central Park and also the Empire State Building. Only really queued for about 45 minutes.

From the Rockerfeller (the ice rink was still in operation) I headed off to Central Park. I had printed off details for hiring a bike which was $40 for a three hour hire but when I got to Columbus Circle, there were lots of pedi-taxis hanging around which seemed a far more relaxing option. For the same price, I was taken round the south part of Central Park by a student from the Ukraine who stopped off at various sights in the park and gave me a little bit of information with the aid of a photo booklet he had prepared. The weather was dry and bright but quite cold at 5 degrees but I was given a blanket to put over me.

From here, I ended up in Grand Central Station and had lunch whilst people watching. I then walked towards 5th Avenue and stumbled across the Easter Parade which was well worth a look.

I headed back to my hotel and decided to check out the Korean restaurant which was opposite. For $25.00 I had sizzling steak with onions, 8 side dishes, soup, rice and salad! Excellent value and I couldn’t believe how cheap it was.

Day four

Absolutely exhausted, I decided to spend a few hours in the Natural History museum. This was excellent and I would recommend getting there for when it opens and going straight to the fourth floor to see the dinosaur collection. A security guard I chatted with at 10am had said that on Easter Sunday there were 29,000 people in the museum and that you could hardly move on the fourth floor for people. The entrance is very grand and this museum is quite spectacular.

I had lunch here in the basement where there is an excellent food court and then started to make my way back to Penn Station as my flight was the same day. I ended up sitting on the steps of the Post office (which was a very grand building), people watching and taking it all in. With about 3 hours to kill, I ended up in a cinema but didn’t see much of the film as I fell asleep!

The journey from Penn Station was very easy and within 45 minutes, I was at Newark Airport. This airport is huge and I was a little frustrated by the queues to check in. All of the European flights were queuing together so this meant there were about 300 people waiting. It took me about 1hr 15 minutes to check in so it was good that I allowed 3 hours.

So, all in all, I had an amazing time even as a lone traveller, was absolutely shattered and will definitely be visiting NYC again!

brixham

I am in New York early September for my (life begins !) birthday.
Can anyone recomend somewhere for a meal in the evening that is nice whithout being silly expensive or so posh I don't know what I am eating.
I fancy somewhere at the top of a building.
Any ideas ?

cashbackproblems

brixham wrote: »

I am in New York early September for my (life begins !) birthday.
Can anyone recomend somewhere for a meal in the evening that is nice whithout being silly expensive or so posh I don't know what I am eating.
I fancy somewhere at the top of a building.
Any ideas ?

one place im planning on going is somewhere called "the view" in manhatten, great views, rotating restaurent and the buffet is reasonable, google it. If you google new york restaurents with views you'll get loads and you can check out their menus.

cashbackproblems

austinforever wrote: »

Heya, been stalking these forums for a while and just wanted to get your opinion on this package.

Have the opportunity to purchase return flight to NY and stay 3 nights at the New Yorker for £499 in total at beginning of September. Is this a good deal?

Thanks

i would say thats about average, not mega cheap but your not being ripped off either. Plus i guess cos your booking it quite late prices will obv go up abit, im paying 650 for 7 nights and flights at somewhere slightly better than the new yorker (not much tho) off expedia, about 2 months ago.

thatsfabulous

Go for it, I'd be happy with that price:T

Savvy_Sue

cashbackproblems wrote: »

Also any beach resorts people could recommend, may make the day trip down to atlantic city if we have the time, has anyone done that?

Is this just for the day? We didn't do Atlantic City, we did a few days in Wildwood last July, which is further south and not a day trip. It was still very hot. And when there were thunderstorms, they cleared the beach. And the boys all got terribly sunburned (I wasn't with them!)

fordy

has anyone ordered a New York pass for pick up at times square rather than delivery?
I'm not sure how long you have to collect them after ordering and ive only got 3 days to get it at a discount. I've emailed them but the reply was less than helpful.

M4RKM

Oooh.. i've got a dilemma. Cosmo Hotel where i've booked for 4 nights, has gone down in price from $189 a night to $145 a night through hotelconxions.com

Now, if i cancel my current rate, it'll cost me $25, and then rebook at the new lower rate, I'll actually save £100 ish. BUT, hotelconxions say it takes up to 4 weeks for the refund to appear, which is quite a long time IMO.

what's my chances if I make a phone call to see if they'll just refund the "difference" in the old rate, to the new rate?!


M