Everything & Anything New York City

mrkenneth

That greeter thing looks interesting, is it mainly for the less commercial areas of New York? How long was your tour for as we only have five days

M4RKM

mrkenneth wrote: »

That greeter thing looks interesting, is it mainly for the less commercial areas of New York? How long was your tour for as we only have five days

Big Apple Greeter Tours normally last a few hours. I had a great tour of Chinatown, and useful hints on how to use the subway. Had lunch, and just got a wealth if information and hints and tips.

I'd recommend using the greeters to explore an area that is out of the normal tourist areas...

wake6

M4RKM wrote: »

I've also never bothered myself with the UN building, so far east, nothing else near it....
M

There's always the cable car to Roosevelt Island. Cracking aerial views on the way across and then cracking views across the East River to East Manhattan.

The cable car starts about 10 short blocks and one long block from the UN building. And a 7 day metro card can be used for the fare.

Feeling groovy...

A picture I took from the cable car can be found here:

ttp://wp.me/p2tbp3-3c

(as a new user I am not allowed to post clickable links so you need to add the "h" to the above line.)

wake6

A few weeks ago someone advised against going up the Empire State Building because of the poor lighting.

The lighting at this time varies according to the time of year. In October 2012 we went at 8am and got some quite striking lighting from the low sun. The queue is shortest at 8am, 3pm and after 11pm (according to the ESB website).

If it is inappropriate of me to link to my holiday photos in this way then let me know and I will remove this bit. If you cut and paste the text below into a browser address and add an "h" to the beginning you can see one of the photographs I took.

ttp://dmjphotos.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/downtownwide.jpg

If a more seasoned poster, who is allowed to post links, feels it is appropriate will they post the link "click-ably?"

We got some great info from this thread - thank you to everyone.

phatbear

wake6 wrote: »

A few weeks ago someone advised against going up the Empire State Building because of the poor lighting.

If theres a choice between totr and esb I always chose totr.

For me if I want to see an iconic view of manhattan it includes esb and of course one of the things you cant see from esb is the esb itself.

fuzzybear01

wake6 wrote: »

If a more seasoned poster, who is allowed to post links, feels it is appropriate will they post the link "click-ably?"

http://dmjphotos.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/downtownwide.jpg

janeypopz13

Hello all.

I'm just back from 12 days in NYC... It was amazing!

Thanks for all the tips I have got from reading through pages of this forum. Very helpful. Definitely recommend getting the $29 7 day metrocard - you will use the metro all the time.

I just thought I would give some information about our trip.

We had an apartment through airbnb (the shock!) - it was a private room in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I was slightly scared due to all the bad stories I had read, but it was great. The apartment was great - clean, big room, new kitchen with washer/dryer, and balcony that had amazing views of Manhattan. The guy who owned the apartment was working and out a lot so didn't really see him but when we did he was really friendly and gave us great tips. I would highly recommend it! Obviously check out the reviews, google street view the apartment etc. Through doing this it allowed us to spend more time in NYC as it cost far less than a hotel.

Moving on to what we did...

Brooklyn is great - Greenpoint/Williamsburg are really cool areas with so many good bars/restaurants/vintage shops.

The Met Museum - it would take you days to see everything so choose exactly what you would like to see. The photography exhibition and the Egyptian exhibition were very good. Note - it is technically free but they advise a recommended donation of $25. We paid the student price of $12 each but people beside us paid $1 each.

Natural History Museum - very interesting but similar to above would take numerous trips to see it all.

9/11 memorial - emotional, but very interesting. Book in advance.

Chelsea Market - amazing food!

The High Line - urban park.. Hard to explain it but worth a visit! Would be lovely during summer.

Central Park - great to spend a day walking through it.

Brooklyn Brewery Tour - free tours on Sat and Sun afternoons. Very information but also funny, and the 'tasting room' has a huge selection of beers.

Top of the Rock - we went during sunset and got amazing photos with the Empire State Building in the back round.

Brooklyn Bridge - spent New Years Eve there with thousands others watching fireworks - great experience.

Park Armory Exhibition - you get to go on huge swings which move this large white sheet about, whilst people talk to pigeons (very modern art but lots of fun on the swings!)

Soprano Tour - book in advance, every Saturday 11 - 2.30pm. Really recommend if you are a Soprano's fan. You get to the diner from the last episode, and to the Bada Bing which is an actual strip club!

Prospect Park, Brooklyn - lovely park, Zoo, Botanic Gardens and right beside Brooklyn museum.

Evenings (other than just going to 'Happy Hours' around Brooklyn)

Comedy club - UCB East.. Lower East Side. We went to a couple shows - ticket prices were $5, and $10. You didn't need to buy drinks or anything like other comedy clubs. It was really fun.

Sleep No More - a reworking of Macbeth. Set on five floors of a fictional hotel. You have to wear masks, and you go exploring through all these different sets.. It's quite scary but an amazing experience. My boyfriend and I separated and both seen completely different scenes. Look it up - it is pricy $95 but worth it.

Nitehawk Cinema, Williamsburg - a small cinema where you can have dinner/drinks whilst watching the film. It was fun experience.

We had so many great meals, and walked about lots of different areas. I want to go back already!

Hope this gives anyone some good tips!

M4RKM

wake6 wrote: »

http://dmjphotos.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/downtownwide.jpg

We got some great info from this thread - thank you to everyone.

Wow, how different the skyline is looking now with 1 WTC in the view.

M4RKM

janeypopz13 wrote: »

We had an apartment through airbnb (the shock!) - it was a private room in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I was slightly scared due to all the bad stories I had read, but it was great. The apartment was great - clean, big room, new kitchen with washer/dryer, and balcony that had amazing views of Manhattan. The guy who owned the apartment was working and out a lot so didn't really see him but when we did he was really friendly and gave us great tips. I would highly recommend it! Obviously check out the reviews, google street view the apartment etc. Through doing this it allowed us to spend more time in NYC as it cost far less than a hotel.

As a hosted stay is perfectly legal, can you please post the link of the apartment you stayed at, so I can add it to the list of good places.

I've got 2 in the list so far, so another one will come in useful!

M

fuzzybear01

M4RKM wrote: »

Wow, how different the skyline is looking now with 1 WTC in the view.

I already know that I'll be going back again once it's open. I imagine the view from the observation deck is going to be amazing :j