Everything & Anything New York City

greenface

Blue1878 wrote: »

Hello

Could anyone recommend a reliable car service to get me from JFK into Manhattan please?

I'm off there in just over a week with my partner and we decided to treat ourselves rather than lump bags on the subway after a 7hr flight!

Thanks

jump a cab outside JFK or book a limo (carmel cars etc) others have the link If your going to NYC for a week it will cost you super money in parking and you wont want to use the car ever evre ever ever. Driving in NYC is murder for a american not more a tourist . But if you do decide there will be your big companys at JFK international exit AVIS Etc (others have a link.) I know i dont normally provide a link sorry but i can steal some time at work with a very slow computer run on gas from the early 40s.

VintageToon

guineapig wrote: »

I have done a fair bit of research both personal ( when I was there) and on line. I found that the dept stores are nicer and of course you don't have to buy anything! eateries and cafes are less nice but useable.
o

I must say most public toilets around the tourist parts are kept clean quite alot of the time. and most bars are - You'll find at night though they ain't normally as clean.

Maccy's though are a joke. There's only 2 restroom areas in the whole place and they are proper dirty (were for me anyways)

As for the bar's just pop in. Most people don't mind. Plus what's the worst they can do? Shout at your & not let you use them?

Blue1878

greenface wrote: »

jump a cab outside JFK or book a limo (carmel cars etc) others have the link If your going to NYC for a week it will cost you super money in parking and you wont want to use the car ever evre ever ever. Driving in NYC is murder for a american not more a tourist . But if you do decide there will be your big companys at JFK international exit AVIS Etc (others have a link.) I know i dont normally provide a link sorry but i can steal some time at work with a very slow computer run on gas from the early 40s.

Thanks, I did mean a limo type company.
There's no way I'd try driving there!

I've heard of Carmel cars, was just wondering if there are any others?

jalapenojojo

Hi all
Does anyone know of a UK pay as you go sim card which has the cheapest rates to text from New York to UK? My OH and I don't want to take our contract phones, instead we thought about taking a couple of our old phones (need to check they are tri-band/quad-band) and would prefer PAYG as wouldn't matter if they got lost.

Just so we can reassure the family we haven't got lost/mugged/kidnapped etc... my dad informed me, "I wouldn't want to go to New York. It's full of crooks and gangsters" !! I told him the FBI had said its one of America's safest citys (if not the safest) to which he replied "Says a lot about America then". Bless him in his little jam jar!!!

greenface

Been watching too much midnight cowboy then has he. New York is i think the safest "LARGE"city in USA (doesnt mean you can let your guard down)Dont act like a tourist. As for texting and calling we are on o2 as most of our family never found it too expensive and even sent a few photos by text. But i am a "we are here ,alive and all is good -Pass it on" rather than "been in tiffanys and now going to ?? "

jackieblack

Has anyone been to the American Museum of Natural History?

Am planning for our trip next year and DD wants to go to AMNH because Night At The Museum is one of her favourite films.

I know it was filmed in a studio, but can anyone tell me how realistically the inside of the museum was reproduced on the movie set? Or not?

shinyahashimoto

I never saw the films, however the AMNH was great, I would thoroughly recommend going. It's also next to Central Park, so might be a day to combine the two.

greenface

See both but never connected but wouldnt it be great to have a museum after "THE" museum . With all the areas and historical parts covered. (even come to life) Do like night at the museum .& agreed ANHM is good fun esp for Americans because although we think we know America theres so much we dont --Go to Madame Tussauds in X square and see who you know and who you dont ..

M4RKM

jalapenojojo wrote: »

Hi all
Does anyone know of a UK pay as you go sim card which has the cheapest rates to text from New York to UK? My OH and I don't want to take our contract phones, instead we thought about taking a couple of our old phones (need to check they are tri-band/quad-band) and would prefer PAYG as wouldn't matter if they got lost.

Just so we can reassure the family we haven't got lost/mugged/kidnapped etc... my dad informed me, "I wouldn't want to go to New York. It's full of crooks and gangsters" !! I told him the FBI had said its one of America's safest citys (if not the safest) to which he replied "Says a lot about America then". Bless him in his little jam jar!!!

Why not get an AT&T Sim Card for your phones.

$10 top up gives you 250 minutes calls back to UK Landlines.
25¢ per outgoing text, and 20¢!per incoming text.

Sure beats those 50p text, and £1 per minute phone calls on most UK PAYG Sims.

M

ptkloon

VintageToon wrote: »

Hey Guys. Long time since i've been on here. I had my 10 days holiday in New York in June. Some people may have saw my quick post just after it.

Thanks alot for the advice etc and mainly to MRKM for all his tips & help. I'm now planning on my 2nd trip to NYC this summer. We completely stuck into manhattan (Statten Island & Brooklyn a little)
So will be doing some stuff outside of manhattan this time.

I missed a few things in my last visit such as Broadway show & a Yankees game.

Also i don't know if everyone else was like this but did everyone else find it hard to stay out the bars over there? I loved the atmosphere and as i am partial to a drink stayed in them ages. mostly till 4am leaving very little sleep. During our 10 day stop we got up mostly around 10ish.

Things we did while there. (If there's anything you feel i didn't do please let me know)

Empire State Building - Got up real early for this to avoid the crowds (Also had to keep pushing it back due to fog & mist).

The High Line - I can't recommend this enough, Basically an old railway line running through new york been turned into a great park. Loved the walk through it.

Rockafeller Centre - Never went to the top for the view but hung around outside it.

Maddison Square Gardens - Very over-rated. If your not going to see a game/band there. Don't bother.

Liberty Island/Ellis Island - Left this a bit late in the day so we didn't spend much time at the statue of liberty but it was brilliant. A nice day. I'd recommend taking a picnic over and sitting on the grass underneath it. Ellis Island was interesting but there's alot to see. We scanned over the stuff pretty quickly.

Museum of Natural Science - The Guggenheim was closed on thursdays which we wanted to see (Its closed on Thursdays for those planning on going) so we went here instead. It is absolutely massive. You don't really need to pay extra for the added attractions. Some are pretty crap. There is loads to see mind. We ran out of time/got tired.

Little Italy - Recomended at night. grab a meal it doesn't disapoint. Went to the Soprano's bar (was filmed there) brilliant street shame its only one street now. Never got to Chinatown for a meal so that's on the list for trip two.

Brooklyn Bridge - Grabbed a canole at little italy then walked across Brooklyn bridge spending a bit of time there.

Statten Island - Its free. Go for the views on the boat. Not much to do in Statten Island itself but we found a quiet bar and had a few beers. Flirted with the American Lass behind the bar - I really should remember names of places etc - Next time i'm going to take a small pocket notebook to jot down places i go to.

Greenwich Village - I'd say it's the place to go for drinks on a night-time. Brilliant place. Main street is Bleaker Street so if you want to check it out ask a taxi driver to take you there but ask him to go to the place where all the bars are. All the barstaff and people are really friendly to. My tip though for bars is when you first get to NYC pop into a bar during the day. They'll be quiet and whoever is behind the bar is always willing to chat to you - they'll tell you things to do in NYC that you don't hear about much. Also tip them and they'll give you a free round every so often.

World Trade Center/Ground Zero - Was pointless for me. the boards were all up around it. pretty much just a building site. There was a small dedication shop type thing next to it.

Trinity Church - There is loads of churches around NYC. None as good as this though. Wonderful place/building.

Flat Iron Building - Just viewed this from outside, Grabbed a bit to eat and chilled outside it for a bit.

Central Park - Walked alot of this. Just chilled watching the world go by - Watched some minor baseball games going on. I even joined in a bit of football(Soccer) and showed the yanks how to play. Strawberry Fields was cordened off by the police though :mad: so we missed out on that. Loads to do here.

Shopping - As a bunch of guys we were not bothered about bloomingdales etc. But we took advantage of Maccy's etc and spent quite a bit.

Times Square - Found it really busy and annoying but still great. Had some food at the Hard Rock Cafe.

That's about it of the sighseeing stuff. I loved New York as a whole and could have just sat in various coffee shops/bars just watching the world go by. There is so many different bars, coffee shops, deli's etc etc around. I loved it. I never used the Subway (My mate was paranoid and wouldn't) but with having 10 days there we just walked most places or grabbed a taxi and it only came to a couple of dollars between the 3 of us.

Our hotel was The Jane up on the West side in the meatpacking area near Greenwich village. It was small cabins but i got upgraded to a captains cabin for free because they'd double booked so i got a shower to myself etc. I'd go there again. There was a nightclub/bar underneath but it was dark and very wierd so we normally only had a drink there before we went out on the night or before we went to bed. One night the prices changed though and we got stung for $55 for 3 bottles of bud. haha.

So sorry for bleaking on but i just wanted let you know how my visit went and you can let me know if there's stuff i didnt do that i should etc. For 10 days it seems like i didn't do aload but i partied a bit hard on some nights. But it was well worth it.

:beer:

Thanks for that detailed report - We are heading over in a couple weeks for 4 nights and are hoping to go to a few bars on the Friday and Saturday night (and hopefuly for a couple the other nights too) I have heard the Meatpacking district is the place to go for nightclubs? Would you say that Greenwich would be better? We are a young(ish) married couple (27 and 30) and were hoping for live music one night and a nightclub the next.