Heading to NYC with the girlfriend on May 9th and am looking for some suggestions specific to that time period. I'm pretty familiar with most of the basics as I've visited a couple times and read all of the past threads. Kind of hoping one of our local NYC posters knows of things going on in mid-May that aren't quite apparent to a visitor.
Maybe some new restaurants? Concerts? Broadway shows? Comedy/music clubs? We're staying at the Grand Hyatt on 42nd St.
For sports there's Game 6 of the Heat/Knicks series on the Friday night, Game 7 of Rangers/Capitals if it gets that far on the Saturday, and the Yankees host the Rays and Mariners while we're there.
Girlfriend wants to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, what's the most effective method of getting tickets? Also, I know it's Broadway season and I want to see something new. Any suggestions? Is Death of a Salesman with Phillip Seymour Hoffman getting good reviews? I'm also tempted to just splurge on premium tickets for Book of Mormon and would sacrifice one or more of the sporting events to do so.
I highly recommend taking in a Yankees game, even if your don't care for baseball. It's easy to get to on the subway and the atmosphere alone makes it worth it. Plus, it's fairly cheap...$25 each gets you decent tickets. Make sure you take the express train up there as well.
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For theatre experiences, The Book of Mormon and Sleep No More are truly incredible. Although, I don't know how much luck you'd have in finding tickets.
I believe that The Book of Mormon is from the creators of South Park, and it is absolutely hilarious. It's about two young Elders that go on their mission to Uganda and all hell breaks loose. I heard they're sold out for a few more months but it never hurts to see if there are some tickets out there.
As for Sleep No More, it's a completely different theatre experience where the audience members put on masks and walk throughout the warehouses that have been meticulously designed to create the set from Shakespeare's Macbeth. You are basically walking around with the actors. http://sleepnomorenyc.com/
NYC is incredible! Do everything that you can in your short stay - there is ALWAYS something to do or see in NYC.
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Restaurants: Go to either (or both of) Torrisi and Parm. They're right next door to each other on Mulberry just south of Prince. Torrisi is a bit more of a fine dining spot, they do a different 7 course prix fixe menu every night (they also have a lunch seating) while Parm is a bit of a throwback soda shoppe type place specializing in italian but with a few twists (the meatball parm sandwich is amazing and the calamari is the best I've ever had. I can't even talk about the mozzarella sticks without tearing up a little). If you go with Torrisi you'll want to call now to see if they have an opening as it fills up every single night, Parm is walk in only but you can put your name down and then wander around the area for a while.
There are tons of great restaurants, a good source is the New York page on eater.com. They have these "restaurant heat maps" of all of the places that are considered the go to spots at the moment.
Concerts: There are always a ton of shows in NYC, and it seems like there are more than usual right now. Just did a quick search on Pollstar and some notable (to me at least) shows include Active Child (with Band of Skulls who are great live) and M83. There are tons more, and pollstar isn't always inclusive, but here's the link http://www.pollstar.com/resultsCity....new+york%2c+ny
Broadway: I haven't been to Phantom, but I don't think it's that hard to get. I had friends come into town a couple years ago and get tickets pretty easily. Book of Mormon is obviously the hottest show in town right now, and everyone I know who has been has loved it. I saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying recently and enjoyed it, but it was a little slow.
You can get discounted same day tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Sq (I've heard there's one in Brooklyn too, with way shorter lines) but you're sort of at the mercy of what comes available that night.
Sporting Events: Yankees games are a good time, and it's typically pretty easy to get cheap tickets in May, especially for weekday games. It's an easy trip, just take the 4 train to the Yankee Stadium stop. There are three good pre/post game bars up there, Billy's and Stan's (I think it's Stan's) and the Yankee Tavern. Billy's is the biggest, nad after weekend games part of it turns into the weirdest Staten Island/Jersey Shore dance party. It's the best people watching I've ever done.
Rangers and Knicks playoff tickets will be steep, especially later in a series. Tickets for last nights game 7 were going for $300 minimum, for game 7 of the second round I'd expect you'd be looking at $500 for 400 level seats. Knicks tickets are always steep, and if they've pushed the Heat to 6 I'd expect they'll be in the same range.
The Devils will also be hosting game 6 (assuming it gets that far) while you're in town. Devils tickets are much easier to come by and The Pru Center is literally 15 minutes from MSG and incredibly easy to get to.
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This may be a little bit out of your way but one the highlights of my trip was a cool park called the High Line. It was an old elevated freight line that was converted into a park. It is free and was quite a lovely to walk, also it was pretty cool to see some creative urban planning. http://www.thehighline.org/
I will also add that Book of Mormon is amazing, especially if you like the humor of South Park.
There are a lot of building that have top level observation areas, seeing Manhatten from way above is actually really breath taking.
One of the real weird highlights was actually flying into LaGuardia (sp?) because the arrival runway extends out over water so it almost looks like your going into the drink before you set down, Its almost like a carrier landing.
Another real cool thing is when your departing which usually takes a while and you can see the private jet holding areas its almost like Trump has his own Lear Jet airforce.
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There are a lot of building that have top level observation areas, seeing Manhatten from way above is actually really breath taking.
One of the real weird highlights was actually flying into LaGuardia (sp?) because the arrival runway extends out over water so it almost looks like your going into the drink before you set down, Its almost like a carrier landing.
Another real cool thing is when your departing which usually takes a while and you can see the private jet holding areas its almost like Trump has his own Lear Jet airforce.
I'd suggest going to Top of the Rock over the Empire State Building. You can book your time at the rock, so no waiting in stupid long lines with a bunch of mouth breathing Midwesterners.
The elevator also has a glass ceiling (at least it did a few years ago) which really opens the door for a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in joke.
Another couple of things I thought of, if you're looking for cool cocktail spots check out BoBo and Highlands in the West Village. Both are pretty easy to get a seat in relative to some of the more trendy spots and make really good cocktails with a lot of fresh ingredients. The beer garden at the standard hotel is a great time, although it can fill up on nice weekend days. There are obviously tons of other places too, I often use nymag.com for reviews.
I'll second the High Line as a must see, it's a really cool feature and not at all difficult to get to.
Pick-up Frommer's "24 walks in New York" book. My wife and I did this during one of our visits. Each walk starts at a particular subway station, lasts anywhere between 30min - 2hrs, and points out some great buildings, spots and sights that you may never see on your own. (If you want to borrow the book, PM me).
There's a TKTS booth by the South Street Seaport. Look it up on Google maps. Much less crowded than Times Square and you'll find the same tickets available. If you have an iPhone, download the TKTS app. It will save you some time.
Hell's Kitchen has some great restaurants. Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian etc. very reasonable and authentic.
Take the ferry across the Hudson to Jersey City. You can walk the boardwalk and enjoy great views of Manhattan. Round trip (from memory) is about $10-12??
You won't get SNL tickets. They typically sell out the season well in advance. You can lineup for dress rehearsal tickets, but probably want to spend your time more wisely.
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Pick-up Frommer's "24 walks in New York" book. My wife and I did this during one of our visits. Each walk starts at a particular subway station, lasts anywhere between 30min - 2hrs, and points out some great buildings, spots and sights that you may never see on your own. (If you want to borrow the book, PM me).
There's a TKTS booth by the South Street Seaport. Look it up on Google maps. Much less crowded than Times Square and you'll find the same tickets available. If you have an iPhone, download the TKTS app. It will save you some time.
Hell's Kitchen has some great restaurants. Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian etc. very reasonable and authentic.
Take the ferry across the Hudson to Jersey City. You can walk the boardwalk and enjoy great views of Manhattan. Round trip (from memory) is about $10-12??
You won't get SNL tickets. They typically sell out the season well in advance. You can lineup for dress rehearsal tickets, but probably want to spend your time more wisely.
Tickets pop up on craigslist occasionally, I've never gone after them though so no idea if they're legit.
I might have to look into that book, there's probably a ton of stuff I walk by every day and have no idea as to its significance.
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