Everything & Anything New York City

willstewart

Half the hotels around Times Square are difficult to spot in my opinion. Some are back from the street and have competely non-descript frontages i.e glass doors into a large empty looking room. Some have scaffolding up outisde them and with hundreds of people walking around, you can easily walk past them unawares.

As I've said before, I stayed in Queens recently for around £100-120 a night (some people got it cheaper by booking further in advance) and was a 5 min walk away from the 7, N and Q lines etc.
Did originally book 5 nights at the Sofitel (£1700+!) and couldn't even find that whilst I was there.

The subway system can be a pain to navigate with luggage. Loads of stairs to go up and down, some of which are very narrow and not easy with people coming at you. That said, used the Tube in London recently and some bits weren't a lot better.

What I don't like about Times Square is the fact that the ais more than one subway station in the area and you find most lines only go south. You generally have to walk a few blocks north in order to go north or east rather than picking the biggest one.
It's a shame as well that Penn Station isn't as well connected as say Grand Central or Times Square which seems to have most lines going through it.

M4RKM

beeza wrote: »

Been swotting up on this thread since I first posted and I've put an itinery together. Would be grateful to anyone if they think there's a big problem with any of this:

Friday

13:05 - Land at JFK
Taxi/Limo to Times Sq Hotel
Evening: Times Square, ESB (walking)

Dinner and Drinks somewhere nearby

Why a limo? why spend over $100 on transportation to the hotel, when a $40 prebooked (ex tolls and tip) will get you there the same speed. Save the money, book with carmel, remember the $4 off coupon, and spend the $60 saved on a really nice meal...

beeza wrote: »

Saturday (on foot)

Shopping Tiffanys/5th Av, Lunch at 4 Seasons (maybe), more Shopping FAO Schwarz/Bloomingdales etc
TOTR

Meh! I'm not a shopping person, everything there is perfectly walkable, I'd personally split shopping up with some culture, so I'm not just doing a whole day of one thing. However, I'm a bloke, and I shop when I need to buy something, not just to walk around..

beeza wrote: »

Dinner and Drinks - looking for somewhere lively - Will get a cab to Greenwich Village/SoHo/Tribeca. Any suggestions?

Use the Subway. It'll cost you much less, it is simple (yes, most tracks go north / south). What food do you want, what budget have you got, what do you really want to do? For drinks, I'd head down Bleeker Street, plenty of bars, restaurants, and a great atmosphere, more of the real new york.

beeza wrote: »

Sunday (metro to Met Museum, walk back to TS)

Met. Museum, Central Park, Carriage Ride, MoMA

Will catch dinner and drinks somewhere cheap and cheerful

I'd ditch the Carriage Ride, they are overpriced, some of the horses are not treated well, also, you might not have enough time. I did Central Park, from about 91st and down to 59th. It took a good 4 hours. Add on the time in the Met, and your whole day has gone.

If you want cheap and cheerful food, you could head to Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Bedford Ave, on the L train), and head to Fette Sau. Amazing BBQ place, just order some food, bread, beans, and pay by weight, and then just grab a spot on the shared tables, and grab a beer from the bar. It's great fun, and you get TONS of food for your money.

beeza wrote: »

Monday (Metro down and back)

Liberty Island (only, not Ellis Island)
Brooklyn Bridge (Drink at River Cafe?)
Wall Street/China Town/Little Italy

Looking for a nice dinner and drinks (wife wants to dress up) in nice area, willing to travel???

What's your budget though, what food? Have you browsed through places menupages, and opentable to find out what is in your price range and your tastes?

beeza wrote: »

Tuesday

Looking for inspiration for Tues, a bit of schmoozing about, simple sights, Grand Central Station? Flat Iron Bldg? Nothing too stressful, just a wander around and soak up the last of the atmosphere. Any suggestions? Lunch at Katz Deli?

17:00 - Depart to airport

If you're heading down to Katz, it'll give you more time to explore areas like SoHo and the village. You could easily get to Grand Central, hop on the Subway to Flatiron, walk down to Union Square, and keep walking south. You'll eventually hit the Village (starts about 4th street), and SoHo (SOuth of HOuston)

beeza wrote: »

We're planning on visiting the Met and MoMA but not the Guggenheim. Is that the right choice?
Ditched the dinner cruise idea as they're only Saturday in Jan and it doesn't fit in with us.
Looking for an area to go out Saturday night. Any ideas? Not looking for a fancy restaurant, looking for a few nice bars for drinks.
And Monday should be somewhere in a nice area with other nice places to go (that sounds bad, right? but I hope you know what I mean)
Anything I've missed you think is essential? We've discounted bus tours, helicopter rides, the Gugg. and a few other things. Where do you think we're wrong?
JFK Airport lounge at Terminal 3???? Can't find how to book.

4 days seems so little time but its all we get, ho hum.

The Met can and will take up a whole day if you want it to. It's a huge museum, and amazing. MoMA takes about 4 - 5 hours to do it properly, and more if you take advantage of one of the movies it shows, (included in your ticket price). If you want nice places with other nice places to go, then get out of Times Square, maybe the first night head over to 9th Ave for your meal. Your "nice" meal I think needs a bit more thought, but with 22000 restaurants, you won't be short of choice. I dunno how young you are, but Williamsburg in Brooklyn has great restaurants (Fette Sau is only one), and a multitude of bars, some nice, some divey (but who doesn't want a 32oz Coors Light served in a styrofoam cup for less than $4)


Anyways... You've really thought through your plan, and linked areas of the city together, it's amazing how many itins i've seen when people have wanted to go from Midtown to SOL, to TOTR, to Brooklyn Bridge in a day.. it's just getting them final details in, and you'll have a great holiday!

M

greenface

beeza -easy to do and all in order with loads more time on your hands. fill in the gaps when your there we thought tiffanys we did tiffanys 20 minutes later we left tiffanys . Went to Disney (5th ave) spent a very good full hour in there and spent a fortune.(not sure if thats now moved) Went to Central Park thought a nice walk /carrage ride/ice skate and the whole day doing stuff.. Did all in mid day but spent a good hour sitting at Strawberry Field and Dekota then walked back to T/S stopping off a a Great Irish Bar ran by a Liverpool Supporter to watch Arsnal get beat. Nothing like the plan. Grand Central you can do in any spare time .When your at Maceys and MSG do the Flatiron and district find alot of decent foodies there too look on some websites ENJOY NYC

delwynshd

Wish I was able to post some of the Virgin Deals on here but because im an agent I cant. In terms of costs they are really low for FEB/MAR flights and hotel packages

Del

beeza

Thanks to both of you (Mark and greenface) for taking the time to respond. I’ve tried to plan rather than just list the first things that came into my head but it is only a plan and is likely to change when we’re there. Its our first trip to NY and my wife wants to see and do all those things she’s seen on film & TV so this trip will be rather cliched I’m afraid.

M4RKM wrote: »

Why a limo?

By limo I meant a saloon car from Carmels

M4RKM wrote: »

Meh! I'm not a shopping person, everything there is perfectly walkable

What can I say, she likes shopping. She could spend all 4 days shopping, limiting it to Saturday is pretty restrained.

M4RKM wrote: »

Use the Subway. It'll cost you much less, it is simple (yes, most tracks go north / south).

Onlt mentioned taxis to indicate willingness to travel. Will use metro where we can although wasn't planning on getting the week's ticket. Has single fare gone up to $2.50 and day ticket disappeared? Couldn't see it anymore on MTA site

M4RKM wrote: »

What food do you want, what budget have you got, what do you really want to do?

...For drinks, I'd head down Bleeker Street...

...cheap and cheerful food, you could head to Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Bedford Ave, on the L train), and head to Fette Sau...

What's your budget though, what food? Have you browsed through places menupages, and opentable to find out what is in your price range and your tastes?

Budget for food? Nothing strict, where we spend big we’ll cut back elsewhere. I would eat bagels, pretzels and corns dogs for the rest of the trip (she wouldn’t ) if we can go to the Four Seasons and somewhere else nice.

I know asking about restaurants is like asking how long a piece of string is, cost, style etc etc but I was hoping for some idea of an area/streets with a few upmarket places.

We’ve had a couple of direct suggestions– Mexican, Thai and Japanese but my wife wasn’t keen. Probably best to stick to “European” cooking and we have to try a good steak somewhere.

I couldn’t convince her we should try Hooters. With cheap and cheerful we’ll probably just pick somewhere we see that looks ok wherever we happen to be. But if someone said try the few blocks around XX St. in XYZ area of town, we can do the rest. Been recommended an Irish bar in HK if we’re there.

Will look at the ones you mention.

M4RKM wrote: »

If you want nice places with other nice places to go, then get out of Times Square, maybe the first night head over to 9th Ave for your meal. Your "nice" meal I think needs a bit more thought, but with 22000 restaurants, you won't be short of choice. I dunno how young you are, but Williamsburg in Brooklyn has great restaurants (Fette Sau is only one), and a multitude of bars, some nice, some divey (but who doesn't want a 32oz Coors Light served in a styrofoam cup for less than $4)

I know what you're saying about TS, we will be exploring further from there. Picked the Crowne Plaza there because it has a good size gym/pool attached. Price was ok.

We're around 30 so vageuly young and although a 32oz beer sounds great to me, I'm not sure the wife would.

M4RKM wrote: »

I'd ditch the Carriage Ride...I did Central Park, from about 91st and down to 59th. It took a good 4 hours. Add on the time in the Met, and your whole day has gone...

The Met can and will take up a whole day if you want it to. It's a huge museum, and amazing. MoMA takes about 4 - 5 hours to do it properly, and more if you take advantage of one of the movies it shows, (included in your ticket price).

Not planning on walking all of Central Park and we know from experience that about 2 hours is our limit in a museum so 2 of those plus the park in a day is about right for us. Carriage ride is film/tv gold so I don't think there's any budging there. Probably just a 20-30min ride anyway.

M4RKM wrote: »

If you're heading down to Katz, it'll give you more time to explore areas like SoHo and the village. You could easily get to Grand Central, hop on the Subway to Flatiron, walk down to Union Square, and keep walking south. You'll eventually hit the Village (starts about 4th street), and SoHo (SOuth of HOuston)

Thanks for that suggestion, I’ll take a look at it. I just want a relaxed day, seeing whatever crosses our path and nothing too stressful because we’ll be flying back over a “short night”.

M4RKM wrote: »

...and you'll have a great holiday!

M

Thanks.

ess0two

Just back this morning,managed to dodge the snow.

Got loads of stuff from sales etc,stayed on 30th street,nice and quiet some great 'cheap' eating places down there also.

Did most of the usual things,also seen 'the addams family' at the theatre,horse drawn carraige around Central park,ice skating was fun also.

Flew Continental 757 - 200, leg room ok,food average,these walk on cases are now beginning to take the !!!! in terms of boarding and totally filling up the overhead bins.

M4RKM

More mega deals for between now and March have appeared on my Quikbook e-mails, how about some of these


6 Columbus Circle – a Thompson Hotel as low as $120 Winter Savings! Valid for stays through 3/31/11.
Park Central New York Hotel as low as $83 Winter Sale! Book now and receive 25% off stays through 3/31/11.
Jolly Hotel Madison Towers as low as $139 Winter Savings! Valid for stays through 3/31/11.

Wow... around £65 (when adding on taxes) for hotel rooms, BARGAIN.

---
beeza - i'll give you some of my thoughts later on when I'm not at work....

greenface

delwynsholidaydeals wrote: »

Wish I was able to post some of the Virgin Deals on here but because im an agent I cant. In terms of costs they are really low for FEB/MAR flights and hotel packages

Del

I have posted on here long enough for people to know i am honest & without bull. If you fancy giving this fella a call to see what he has got its genuine and he gives good deals.Delwyn put me and family on a good deal to Kos (club akti)last year and a good price for my parents to go to Tunisia. He hangs around the "beat my quote" board or PM him direct. A decent geordie IMHO....

M4RKM

greenface wrote: »

A decent geordie IMHO....

You mean there is such a thing... only kidding

M4RKM

beeza wrote: »

By limo I meant a saloon car from Carmels

Excellent. I'm going to do a guide on my website that will show you how to get the discount, as I think a lot of people miss the check box.

beeza wrote: »

What can I say, she likes shopping. She could spend all 4 days shopping, limiting it to Saturday is pretty restrained.

You've done well. If you end up at Macy's during the day, you can head down to the basement, and the bar for a beer. If you're at Bloomingdales, there is a dive bar less than a block away, (I'll find out the info if you want!)

beeza wrote: »

Onlt mentioned taxis to indicate willingness to travel. Will use metro where we can although wasn't planning on getting the week's ticket. Has single fare gone up to $2.50 and day ticket disappeared? Couldn't see it anymore on MTA site

Single Fare if you buy it each time, then yes, however, if you get a pay per ride MetroCard and load it, you get fares for $2.25 each, and if you add on more than $10, then you'll get a 7% bonus. However, the break even point for a $29 metrocard is 12 rides in the period. It really depends how much you're going to travel, and in the evenings, I'd urge you to get out and about, and leave the neons of Times Square, especially as your around my age, and the nightlife isn't in TS.

beeza wrote: »

Budget for food? Nothing strict, where we spend big we’ll cut back elsewhere. I would eat bagels, pretzels and corns dogs for the rest of the trip (she wouldn’t ) if we can go to the Four Seasons and somewhere else nice.

I know asking about restaurants is like asking how long a piece of string is, cost, style etc etc but I was hoping for some idea of an area/streets with a few upmarket places.

We’ve had a couple of direct suggestions– Mexican, Thai and Japanese but my wife wasn’t keen. Probably best to stick to “European” cooking and we have to try a good steak somewhere.

Research these, see what you think. Posh Meals = David Burke Townhouse, Tribeca Grill, Momofuku Ko, Per Se,

Steak - Keens Steakhouse, Old Homestead Steakhouse, or Peter Lugers in Brooklyn.

Cheaper Eats = For good neopolitan pizza, try Motorino (east village), for good normal pizza, you have Johns of Bleeker Street. Also, any of the Heartland Breweries I can recommend, especially if you want something close to Times Square there is one there, however the Union Square one has a different menu... If you want a real traditional italian in NYC, you have to avoid little italy, head into Brooklyn, and go to Bamontes, really old skool italian, and the food is amazing. so filling, cheap too!

Ukranian - Veselka down towards the LES/East Village - It's open 24/7 so you can go drinking, and then eat, or eat and then go drinking.

Buffalo Wings - gotta be Mudville 9, it is a locals favourite too for the best wings in NYC. good pub food overall.

Fette Sau - this is in Brooklyn, and I've already mentioned it, it is legendary, and well worth a visit.

This is only a few options, and there are many many more places you could go and eat, and pay $10 or $100 easily.

beeza wrote: »

We're around 30 so vageuly young and although a 32oz beer sounds great to me, I'm not sure the wife would.

I'm just over 30, so I'd urge you to head to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and can give you an amazing pub crawl around places that you'll like for beer (including Turkey's Nest, and their 32oz), and places that will do normal drinks. All bars will do a spirit with a mixer, and a hell of a lot stronger than back here..

beeza wrote: »

Not planning on walking all of Central Park and we know from experience that about 2 hours is our limit in a museum so 2 of those plus the park in a day is about right for us. Carriage ride is film/tv gold so I don't think there's any budging there. Probably just a 20-30min ride anyway.

The fee $50 for up to 20 minutes. It normally lasts around less than this from reports i've read. I've walked past, and the horses do not look well treated, and I really don't want you to get ripped off. If you want a 30 minute ride, be prepared to stump up over $100. I'm not a fan because I like animals, and don't think they should be made to pull our asses around.

how about something a little more alternative and do a pedicab tour with a licensed pedicab driver like Stan O'Connor - this guy is great, - http://www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com/tours/centralpark.htm - for $65 you'll get a proper tour of Central Park, and you'll have fun.

As for museums, I wouldn't do the met, if you know you can only do 2 hours in one. it's too big, and you'd miss all the good stuff. MoMA you can cover plenty of it in 2 hours, I'm a member, so normally go for 90 minutes twice in a weeks stay. If you want to see other art, and limit yourself to 2 hours, then consider the Frick Collection - a much smaller museum, and you'll do it justice. (as a side note, I've never done the met, because it is too big, and I'd rather do other things!)