New York travel advice

[CGYTransplant]

Natural History Museum is AMAZING.

30 Rock does have an amazing observation deck, and if you go first thing in the morning there are NO LINES.

The Subway is awesome- fast, easy to use and cheap. Just avoid rush hours, if you can.

If you want to go to a show, hit up the TKTS booth in Times Square for cheap, same-day tickets. They just don't have the super-popular shows (Wicked, Phantom, etc). The booth opens mid-afternoon (like, 2 or 3), and the lines move pretty fast, but try and get there about 2:30 or 3.

Do not eat food from the carts on the sidewalk, unless you want to spend the rest of your trip in the bathroom.

Don't take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, it's overrated. If you want to get close, a tour of the harbour will get you good photos.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by CGYTransplant

Natural History Museum is AMAZING.

30 Rock does have an amazing observation deck, and if you go first thing in the morning there are NO LINES.

The Subway is awesome- fast, easy to use and cheap. Just avoid rush hours, if you can.

If you want to go to a show, hit up the TKTS booth in Times Square for cheap, same-day tickets. They just don't have the super-popular shows (Wicked, Phantom, etc). The booth opens mid-afternoon (like, 2 or 3), and the lines move pretty fast, but try and get there about 2:30 or 3.

Do not eat food from the carts on the sidewalk, unless you want to spend the rest of your trip in the bathroom.

Don't take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, it's overrated. If you want to get close, a tour of the harbour will get you good photos.

Completely false. I eat from street carts 3-4 days a week and I've never once had a single issue. Look for the carts with a lineup, the longer the line the better the reputation of the cart and the better the food. Even the most popular carts are typically no more than a 5-10 minute wait, although there are a few infamaous late night carts that people will wait quite a while for.

And there are never lines at Top of the Rock as long as you book your time in advance, which is very easy to do.

[Engine09]

=Fobulous;2412048]1. Don't take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. You can easily see if from the park and it really isn't worth the money to take the ferry out.

That was actually one of the highlights of my last NYC trip, after walking the city for 3 days straight it was nice to sit down on the top deck of the ferry and enjoy the view of Manhattan from the water.

At the time of my visit you could not get inside the statue but it was still cool to see it up close. You can also get off the ferry at Ellis Island, well worth it in my opinion.

[Cactus Jack]

I've been 8 times, it's a pretty amazing city.
- Don't stay within a few blocks of Times Square. You'll thank me. Times Square is an amazing place to walk around for the first time but then it wears thin. Too many people.
- Museum mile (or, as a Canuck I like to call it Museum 1.6Km) is near the middle of Central Park and worth checking out. I prefer the Museum of Natural History.
- Central park is fantastic, especially if you're a jogger (as long as you're not allergic to horses). I think the best time to see the park is in the fall but there is no bad time. You'll spend hours there. The south part is much better than the north part.
- Checking out a Broadway show is worth the money but you can get by with the cheap seats ($66 ~). Go see a show you haven't seen before (as in, not Chicago or Lion King or something).
- Walking the Brooklyn bridge doesn't take long and is free and fun. You see a nice view of the city and the statue of liberty. Plus, on the otherside stop at Grimaldi's for pizza. It's a little tricky to find from there so you will need a map but it's worth the wait in line.
- I find NYers to be pretty rude so prepare for that and people overload. It's not a clean city either as you may image, you'll see garbage bags and rats quite frequently. It can be shady and the subway is kind of a dump but is the most efficient and best way to get around as long as you stay on the main line (the other east-west) aren't dependable on the weekend. It's also a safe city and one of the most unique in the world.

Enjoy!

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

I've been 8 times, it's a pretty amazing city.
- Don't stay within a few blocks of Times Square. You'll thank me. Times Square is an amazing place to walk around for the first time but then it wears thin. Too many people.
- Museum mile (or, as a Canuck I like to call it Museum 1.6Km) is near the middle of Central Park and worth checking out. I prefer the Museum of Natural History.
- Central park is fantastic, especially if you're a jogger (as long as you're not allergic to horses). I think the best time to see the park is in the fall but there is no bad time. You'll spend hours there. The south part is much better than the north part.
- Checking out a Broadway show is worth the money but you can get by with the cheap seats ($66 ~). Go see a show you haven't seen before (as in, not Chicago or Lion King or something).
- Walking the Brooklyn bridge doesn't take long and is free and fun. You see a nice view of the city and the statue of liberty. Plus, on the otherside stop at Grimaldi's for pizza. It's a little tricky to find from there so you will need a map but it's worth the wait in line.
- I find NYers to be pretty rude so prepare for that and people overload. It's not a clean city either as you may image, you'll see garbage bags and rats quite frequently. It can be shady and the subway is kind of a dump but is the most efficient and best way to get around as long as you stay on the main line (the other east-west) aren't dependable on the weekend. It's also a safe city and one of the most unique in the world.

Enjoy!

Where the heck were you? In 2+ years I've seen 3 rats, 2 in the subway and one in a lumber yard in a shady area of south Chelsea.

And NYers in general aren't rude, we're just in a rush most of the time. There are a lot of hard exteriors to people here, it sort of comes with the amount of interaction, but if you ask for directions or need a hand with anything you're more likely to find yourself having to choose which advice to follow from the 4 people who will offer to help.

As for the subway, the weekend can be a pain due to construction, but you can always get to pretty much everything. If a whole line shuts down for any period of time it's big news (as happened with the 7 train recently) and it's incredibly rare. You'll never have an issue getting around Manhattan and there are numerous lines (there's no such thing as a 'main line'), reaching out to the boroughs can be a bit harder but is still easy relative to getting around Calgary.

The Natural History Museum is great, definitely worth the trip, but there are tons of different museums if you're into something else. The Met is incredible, I often swing by right before closing (when it's free) and spend 20 minutes in a few rooms. (BTW the Met is part of Museum Mile, the southern most museum actually, the Natural History Musueum is on the other side of the park). The MoMa is pretty cool, it's not just bizarre modern art either (although there's currently an exhibit that involves squeezing between 2 naked people in a hall), the exhibit on product design is really cool as is the area on furniture. In the museum category there's something for everyone to enjoy.

[Pastiche]

Do not eat food from the carts on the sidewalk, unless you want to spend the rest of your trip in the bathroom.

Also have to chime in here. This advice is not good. Street food is awesome. Don't be a baby and avoid it.

[CaptainCrunch]

A lot of good posts in here. I didn't have any problem with the street cart food except that the coffee that they served was insanely hot.

The broadway shows are amazing. I love central park, especially strawberry fields. There's tons of good restaurants in the Italian area off of central park as well.

I took the tour of the UN which was amazing, the museum of natural history is a must see as well as the museum of modern art.

Also look for a sporting event to attend. Walk through the lobby of Trump tower. Stand in front of John Lennon's apartment.

There's never a shortage.

Have a gyro.

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by valo403

Where the heck were you? In 2+ years I've seen 3 rats, 2 in the subway and one in a lumber yard in a shady area of south Chelsea.

And NYers in general aren't rude, we're just in a rush most of the time. There are a lot of hard exteriors to people here, it sort of comes with the amount of interaction, but if you ask for directions or need a hand with anything you're more likely to find yourself having to choose which advice to follow from the 4 people who will offer to help.

As for the subway, the weekend can be a pain due to construction, but you can always get to pretty much everything. If a whole line shuts down for any period of time it's big news (as happened with the 7 train recently) and it's incredibly rare. You'll never have an issue getting around Manhattan and there are numerous lines (there's no such thing as a 'main line'), reaching out to the boroughs can be a bit harder but is still easy relative to getting around Calgary.

The Natural History Museum is great, definitely worth the trip, but there are tons of different museums if you're into something else. The Met is incredible, I often swing by right before closing (when it's free) and spend 20 minutes in a few rooms. (BTW the Met is part of Museum Mile, the southern most museum actually, the Natural History Musueum is on the other side of the park). The MoMa is pretty cool, it's not just bizarre modern art either (although there's currently an exhibit that involves squeezing between 2 naked people in a hall), the exhibit on product design is really cool as is the area on furniture. In the museum category there's something for everyone to enjoy.

Dude, rats everywhere by. By Columbia university, 2 on the platform at the same time 42nd ST on a saturday, another dashed in front of me a block off Wall St, etc.

As for NYers not being rude, I guess it's not fair to classify them all as such but honestly speaking I've met nice NYers only 3 or 4 times I can recall. Even bus drivers are rude, I know it's a big city and people are in a hurry and the tourists are annoying but NYers still come across that way.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

Dude, rats everywhere by. By Columbia university, 2 on the platform at the same time 42nd ST on a saturday, another dashed in front of me a block off Wall St, etc.

As for NYers not being rude, I guess it's not fair to classify them all as such but honestly speaking I've met nice NYers only 3 or 4 times I can recall. Even bus drivers are rude, I know it's a big city and people are in a hurry and the tourists are annoying but NYers still come across that way.

The one near Wall surprises me, although you're close enough to the water and the ferries that I guess it makes sense. Rats in the subway is a given, and to be honest there are some pretty run down areas near Columbia so that one doesn't surprise me. I personall haven't seen a rat in a long time.

And bus drivers are generally rude everywhere. The nice ones are incredibly nice, but I find that to be rare.

If you actually talk to NYers you'll find tons of great people, sounds to me like you didn't meet many NYers.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

A lot of good posts in here. I didn't have any problem with the street cart food except that the coffee that they served was insanely hot.

The broadway shows are amazing. I love central park, especially strawberry fields. There's tons of good restaurants in the Italian area off of central park as well.

I took the tour of the UN which was amazing, the museum of natural history is a must see as well as the museum of modern art.

Also look for a sporting event to attend. Walk through the lobby of Trump tower. Stand in front of John Lennon's apartment.

There's never a shortage.

Have a gyro.

I have no idea where this is, but I like the sounds of it. Do you remember where off the park?

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

As for NYers not being rude, I guess it's not fair to classify them all as such but honestly speaking I've met nice NYers only 3 or 4 times I can recall. Even bus drivers are rude, I know it's a big city and people are in a hurry and the tourists are annoying but NYers still come across that way.

I found the complete opposite. Everyone I interacted with was very nice. I was a little surprised because I had always heard how rude everyone was. Maybe your the rude person and people were just responding in kind.

[flip]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I found the complete opposite. Everyone I interacted with was very nice. I was a little surprised because I had always heard how rude everyone was. Maybe your the rude person and people were just responding in kind.

I went in July and there were SO many tourists there because we went when it had been raining for like 2 weeks and we were there on a Saturday and it was beautiful and sunny.

Anyways, even with all the tourists running around all the NY people I met were very, very nice. THe cops seemed slightly annoyed because they are pretty much just tourist information booths because that is all cops were doing is answering questions from tourists. But when we almost got on the wrong subway some nice NY lady gave us the gist and helped us out.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by flip

I went in July and there were SO many tourists there because we went when it had been raining for like 2 weeks and we were there on a Saturday and it was beautiful and sunny.

Anyways, even with all the tourists running around all the NY people I met were very, very nice. THe cops seemed slightly annoyed because they are pretty much just tourist information booths because that is all cops were doing is answering questions from tourists. But when we almost got on the wrong subway some nice NY lady gave us the gist and helped us out.

See, people were even nice to a guy who had a thread on here devoted to hating him. Now that's impressive.

[flip]

Originally Posted by valo403

See, people were even nice to a guy who had a thread on here devoted to hating him. Now that's impressive.

I swear, in real life, I have almost no enemies. On CP, I'm not sure the same can be said.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

- I find NYers to be pretty rude so prepare for that and people overload.

Probably cause you're not looking where you're going and walking backwards while trying to take a photo.

NYers aren't rude, they are direct. Too busy getting shat done to tread gently. And anyone who works for the MTA is generally just an asswipe, so don't expect anything else. Let me tell you a story that both illustrates the tool-worthiness of bus drivers and the awesomeness of random NYers all in one.

I used to work in an industrial part of Brooklyn and took the bus from the same place every day. One day on a particularly rainy day, I was running to catch a bus that had just stopped. The driver let me get within 10 feet of the door making me think I had a chance, and then all of a sudden he hits the gas and peels out. He had no doubt seen me and just couldnt be bothered.

2 seconds later, a little hatchback screeches to a halt, the passenger door swings open, and a voice from inside yells, "Get in, we're gonna catch that fataing ayshole!". Without even questioning who this guy was, I jumped in, and this dude guns his Tercel and we go off chasing the bus like it's the frickin Paris-Dakar rally. Couple of blocks later we catch the bus and pull into the next bus stop right in front of him. I get out, thank my driver, and board the bus with the biggest shat eating grin on my face.

You'd be surprised how many times these random acts of awesomeness happen from regular NYers.

[valo403]

^^^ That. Is. Awesome.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by valo403

I have no idea where this is, but I like the sounds of it. Do you remember where off the park?

Just off of 104th and Columbus if I remember right it was a couple of years ago.

I do remember that they served everything in family portions. So you would get huge plates of pasta and pass them around the table.

I honestly also had the best Sushi that I've ever had in New York too.

I stayed at a business club right off of 5th avenue and w 56th street which is right across from Trump Tower and walking distance to everything.

[mc0709]

I found the people were nice. They are direct, but thats just what comes along with living in a big city where you are shoulder to shoulder with people constantly. Its like saying hi to a person on the street in a small town, and a person on the street in Calgary - the small town person would say hi back wheras the Calgarian would likely not know what to do and just look away. The subways smelt bad, and the homeless people did smell really really bad. I thought the city was extremely clean - especially for one that size. It was much cleaner than Edmonton (and New York is about 10x more densly populated) in regards to litter, and honestly I felt safer in most parts of New York than I do in areas like Jasper Ave. in Edmonton. We did opt to take a cab ride back to our hotel at night though (12:00 am) which I think is a smart idea. Plus it was nice to take a cab ride and see parts of the city above ground after taking the subway everywhere. There were also sooooooo many restaurants to try. You will love it!

[CaptainCrunch]

I do remember that garbage was stacked outside, but it was always gone by the next morning.

I also had no trouble with the people in New York, they were exceptionally nice, especially Carolyn the original chick from the Apprentice who I had a quick conversation with outside of Trump tower one early morning.

One morning I needed a smoke, and the place I stayed in was non smoking. so I trucked downstairs before the sun came up and I'm standing outside of the hotel trying to light a smoke but it was dead.

This really huge guy was giving me the hairy eyeball from down the street and he started heading my way.

Of course with my knowledge of New York, I was trying to see if I could throw my wallet into the lobby so I wouldn't get mugged.

He pulled out his lighter, lit my cigarette told me to have a nice day and went back down the street.

I think the attitude of a lot of New Yorkers did change after 9/11.

[amorak]

Originally Posted by flip

I swear, in real life, I have almost no enemies. On CP, I'm not sure the same can be said.

Almost no = At least 1

I just found that an odd choice of words, as I don't know anyone (who's not a girl - chicks make enemies like its going out of style) who would say "I have an enemy!"

anyways, back to your regularly scheduled Papa John's recommendations