New York in October?
Discussion
Morning all!
I'm getting married next Friday, but we have decided to postpone the honeymoon until October as we have four young kids and it will be easier for the grandparents to have them if they don't have to do the school/nursery/playgroup runs every day.
We have decided (or rather, I've been told!), that we are going to go to New York for a week. Neither of us have been before, and although we have a fair idea of a few things we'd like to see such as the Empire State building, Ground Zero, Central Park, Statue of Liberty etc I'm sure some of you guys and girls will have some great suggestions.
Also, suggestions welcome for the best way to book. I do have a mate who works for BA who should be able to help with a friends and family deal though.
So, suggestions please?
I'm getting married next Friday, but we have decided to postpone the honeymoon until October as we have four young kids and it will be easier for the grandparents to have them if they don't have to do the school/nursery/playgroup runs every day.
We have decided (or rather, I've been told!), that we are going to go to New York for a week. Neither of us have been before, and although we have a fair idea of a few things we'd like to see such as the Empire State building, Ground Zero, Central Park, Statue of Liberty etc I'm sure some of you guys and girls will have some great suggestions.
Also, suggestions welcome for the best way to book. I do have a mate who works for BA who should be able to help with a friends and family deal though.
So, suggestions please?
Best time of year to go really - the trees will have started to turn and it won't be ridiculously hot or cold.
Flights my be quite pricey as it's half term, but if you can get a special deal I suppose that's not so much of an issue. I would suggest looking for accommodation in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan - it's a lot cheaper for starters, and at the budget end of the market (which is anything under $200 a night!) there's a much bigger choice.
Flights my be quite pricey as it's half term, but if you can get a special deal I suppose that's not so much of an issue. I would suggest looking for accommodation in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan - it's a lot cheaper for starters, and at the budget end of the market (which is anything under $200 a night!) there's a much bigger choice.
Booking a hotel in Brooklyn can be very hit or miss, had a friend book an online deal with a hotel in Brooklyn last year which seemed like a good deal however when him and his wife arrived they walked in and then straight out of the hotel due to the area and poor standard of the hotel.
Instead of booking a hotel in Brooklyn to save money, what about downtown Jersey City or Hoboken? You have the PATH train right there with no more than a 10 minute ride to 33rd st Penn Station or downtown Manhattan. PATH runs 24 hours a day and from my personal experience is much safer than the regular subway after hours. Plenty of restaurants. If you stay within a mile of the Hudson River it is perfectly safe. Look for deals in the following hotels:
- W Hotel Hoboken (Hoboken PATH)
- Hyatt Jersey City (Exchange Place PATH)
- Westin Jersey City (Newport Pavonia PATH station)
- Marriott Courtyard Jersey City (Newport Pavonia)
- Doubletree Jersey City (Newport Pavonia).
Do not stay in Brooklyn etc. If you go to NYC, you have to stay in Manhattan. Otherwise you will miss out on the vibe and spend time and money on cabs, subway rides etc. The subway is cheap, safe and fast, but you don't want to be shlepping all over the place. Try to stay in Midtown. Haggle, or use a booking site - do not pay rack rates in hotels.
New York is one of the greatest places on Earth. I strongly recommend visits to the Frick Collection, MoMA, the Lincoln Center (spelled thus), and the very moving Ellis Island Museum of Immigration. Have a drink in one of the sky bars (maybe even the Rainbow Lounge in the Rockefeller Center (sic), as even though it is a tad cheesy-touristico, the central position and great views around it make a visit worthwhile.
Ride the Staten Island Ferry there and back again - it's the greatest free ride in town. Liberty Island can be combined with a visit to Ellis Island.
On the Brooklyn Bridge , walk out from Manhattan, either on a sunny day, or at dusk. Do not look back until half way to Brooklyn. Then slowly turn around: If Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" does not immediately come on in your head, then you have no soul!
Little Italy is almost gone, but Chinatown is still fun. Times Square is now a Disneyfied travesty of its former self. NB: Greenwich Village is always "the Village". Saying "Greenwich Village " is a sure sign of a rube. SoHo (south of Houston, pronounced Howston) and TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street) are where the really cool dudes hang out: the Village is a bit stuffier than it used to be these days.
Tell Cab drivers which Avenue and cross street you want to go to - they navigate by junctions. Pay inside the cab, and tip modestly everywhere: New Yorkers hate a cheap bum.
New York rocks! Have fun.
New York is one of the greatest places on Earth. I strongly recommend visits to the Frick Collection, MoMA, the Lincoln Center (spelled thus), and the very moving Ellis Island Museum of Immigration. Have a drink in one of the sky bars (maybe even the Rainbow Lounge in the Rockefeller Center (sic), as even though it is a tad cheesy-touristico, the central position and great views around it make a visit worthwhile.
Ride the Staten Island Ferry there and back again - it's the greatest free ride in town. Liberty Island can be combined with a visit to Ellis Island.
On the Brooklyn Bridge , walk out from Manhattan, either on a sunny day, or at dusk. Do not look back until half way to Brooklyn. Then slowly turn around: If Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" does not immediately come on in your head, then you have no soul!
Little Italy is almost gone, but Chinatown is still fun. Times Square is now a Disneyfied travesty of its former self. NB: Greenwich Village is always "the Village". Saying "Greenwich Village " is a sure sign of a rube. SoHo (south of Houston, pronounced Howston) and TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street) are where the really cool dudes hang out: the Village is a bit stuffier than it used to be these days.
Tell Cab drivers which Avenue and cross street you want to go to - they navigate by junctions. Pay inside the cab, and tip modestly everywhere: New Yorkers hate a cheap bum.
New York rocks! Have fun.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 10th August 14:57
Breadvan72 said:
Do not stay in Brooklyn etc. If you go to NYC, you have to stay in Manhattan. Otherwise you will miss out on the vibe and spend time and money on cabs, subway rides etc. The subway is cheap, safe and fast, but you don't want to be shlepping all over the place. Try to stay in Midtown. Haggle, or use a booking site - do not pay rack rates in hotels.
New York is one of the greatest places on Earth. I strongly recommend visits to the Frick Collection, MoMA, the Lincoln Center (spelled thus), and the very moving Ellis Island Museum of Immigration. Have a drink in one of the sky bars (maybe even the Rainbow Lounge in the Rockefeller Center (sic), as even though it is a tad cheesy-touristico, the central position and great views around it make a visit worthwhile.
Ride the Staten Island Ferry there and back again - it's the greatest free ride in town. Liberty Island can be combined with a visit to Ellis Island.
On the Brooklyn Bridge , walk out from Manhattan, either on a sunny day, or at dusk. Do not look back until half way to Brooklyn. Then slowly turn around: If Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" does not immediately come on in your head, then you have no soul!
Little Italy is almost gone, but Chinatown is still fun. Times Square is now a Disneyfied travesty of its former self. NB: Greenwich Village is always "The Village". Saying "Greenwich Village " is a sure sign of a rube. SoHO and TrBeCa are where the really cool dudes hang out: the Village is a bit stuffier than it used to be these days.
Tell Cab drivers which Avenue and cross street you want to go to - they navigate by junctions. Pay inside the cab, and tip modestly everywhere: New Yorkers hate a cheap bum.
New York rocks! Have fun.
Cheers Breadvan, that is a GREAT help. When you say tip modestly, how does it work? Here, I'll normally just tell a taxi driver to keep the change (within reason), so a £16-17 fare would get him a £3 or £4 tip - is that too 'cheap' for NY cabbies?New York is one of the greatest places on Earth. I strongly recommend visits to the Frick Collection, MoMA, the Lincoln Center (spelled thus), and the very moving Ellis Island Museum of Immigration. Have a drink in one of the sky bars (maybe even the Rainbow Lounge in the Rockefeller Center (sic), as even though it is a tad cheesy-touristico, the central position and great views around it make a visit worthwhile.
Ride the Staten Island Ferry there and back again - it's the greatest free ride in town. Liberty Island can be combined with a visit to Ellis Island.
On the Brooklyn Bridge , walk out from Manhattan, either on a sunny day, or at dusk. Do not look back until half way to Brooklyn. Then slowly turn around: If Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" does not immediately come on in your head, then you have no soul!
Little Italy is almost gone, but Chinatown is still fun. Times Square is now a Disneyfied travesty of its former self. NB: Greenwich Village is always "The Village". Saying "Greenwich Village " is a sure sign of a rube. SoHO and TrBeCa are where the really cool dudes hang out: the Village is a bit stuffier than it used to be these days.
Tell Cab drivers which Avenue and cross street you want to go to - they navigate by junctions. Pay inside the cab, and tip modestly everywhere: New Yorkers hate a cheap bum.
New York rocks! Have fun.
In restaurants I'll tip 10% or more, dependent on service. I wouldn't normally tip in a bar unless it's table service.
ETA: What's a rube?
A rule of thumb is to tip double the Sales Tax added to the bill, or 10 to 15 %. In most bars, you will be able to run a tab, but it is customary to show a dollar or two sitting on the bar if paying as you go (this is a sign to the barman that you are not cheap/a hick, and that you therefore merit proper service, and a well made Martini), and to leave a buck or two when you leave. Tipping is the norm even at bars without table service, although you will usually get such service if you sit in a booth or at a table away from the bar itself. A dollar or so a bag for hotel porters is about right. In a breakfast diner, deli lunch counter, or burger bar, you might just leave a bit of change or a buck or so.
A Rube is a rustic and/or untutored person, an out of towner. See also: Schmuck, as in, don't be one.
New York is not really in America, and New Yorkers are not really Americans. It is New York, and they are New Yorkers. It's the Capital City of Planet Earth. New Yorkers are keenly aware of this.
A Rube is a rustic and/or untutored person, an out of towner. See also: Schmuck, as in, don't be one.
New York is not really in America, and New Yorkers are not really Americans. It is New York, and they are New Yorkers. It's the Capital City of Planet Earth. New Yorkers are keenly aware of this.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 10th August 15:25
I hope that you enjoy your visit! October should be a good time of year to be in NYC, as it will be neither too hot nor too cold, although you will be too early for the fabulous Christmas lights and ambience.
Expect rapidity of speech, apparent rudeness, crowds, grunge, and mayhem, but also a lot of fun.
Expect rapidity of speech, apparent rudeness, crowds, grunge, and mayhem, but also a lot of fun.
Go for a walk in central park.
you can buy tickets for top of the rock / empire state online if you want to get them before you go.
Ground zero is free, but you need to book a ticket in advance.
Statue Of Liberty closed until November, you can still get the ferry there, just you can't get in, the same ferry takes you to ellis island.
To be honest there isn't much of interest in times square, but its worth a walk through at night just to see the light pollution as you approach it
If you can get away with it USS Intrepid is worth a look, when I went they have a bunch of aircraft on board, but it seems some of them have made way for a space shuttle, not sure how long it is there for.
I didn't do it but you can apparently get a tour of the fed reserve bank.
I stayed at the Wellington Hotel on 7th at 56th, a few minutes walk to central park in one direction and times square in the other, subway links just outside the door. Hotel was nothing special but its Manhattan and not expensive !
Taxi ride from either Newark or JFK are fixed fee to Manhattan, works out about $60 with tolls & tips.
Pop in to grand central station and just have a nose around.
you can buy tickets for top of the rock / empire state online if you want to get them before you go.
Ground zero is free, but you need to book a ticket in advance.
Statue Of Liberty closed until November, you can still get the ferry there, just you can't get in, the same ferry takes you to ellis island.
To be honest there isn't much of interest in times square, but its worth a walk through at night just to see the light pollution as you approach it
If you can get away with it USS Intrepid is worth a look, when I went they have a bunch of aircraft on board, but it seems some of them have made way for a space shuttle, not sure how long it is there for.
I didn't do it but you can apparently get a tour of the fed reserve bank.
I stayed at the Wellington Hotel on 7th at 56th, a few minutes walk to central park in one direction and times square in the other, subway links just outside the door. Hotel was nothing special but its Manhattan and not expensive !
Taxi ride from either Newark or JFK are fixed fee to Manhattan, works out about $60 with tolls & tips.
Pop in to grand central station and just have a nose around.
Edited by Crafty_ on Saturday 11th August 13:26
Loads of things to do in New York and plenty of good suggestions already.
The High Line is worth a look - http://www.thehighline.org
A guided tour round the tenement museum is very interesting - http://www.tenement.org
I'd also recommend a helicopter trip, not cheap but very cool.
The High Line is worth a look - http://www.thehighline.org
A guided tour round the tenement museum is very interesting - http://www.tenement.org
I'd also recommend a helicopter trip, not cheap but very cool.
Agree with the recommendations. Stay in Manhattan, as part of experience is "being there". I have been fortunate to have travelled a lot and two places stand out for buzz; Hong Kong (pre hand back) and New York. Do Empire State Building first so you get a sense of the layout of the city. Grand Central is another must. The basement food hall there is an experience. Beware, the park is quite big. My kids were quite worn out the day we walked around.
I was there for the week over New Year last year. Walk around, it's safe and you get a real feel of the place. We took a very slow meander from 125th Street in Harlem (maybe try Lenox Jazz Bar) all the way to Battery Park. I would never knock the tourist places (popular for a very good reason) but the less popular side streets can throw up some really cracking places that will stick in your memory.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff