Just go to your hotel and ask to check your bags there. They’re quite used to this - we do it every time we travel to NYC. Have a few small bills to tip the bellhop at the beginning and ending of the day.
Ditto the next day. Give yourself time to get to the hotel, have them dig up your bags, and then get from there to the station.
Depending on the traffic, you may find it faster to walk to the station after that than to try to take a cab - when we’ve stayed near Times Square, we’ve always wound up walking! The last couple times, we’ve stayed in Chelsea (28th last time, 30th this time) and so walking is trivial.
There is also a TKTS booth as South Street Seaport, which in my experience is much less crowded - and also worth a visit. The lat time I went back there was a 99 cent TKTS app which let you know what is available before you get on line. It is probably worth researching the shows ahead of time to make a list of the ones you’d like to see.
Good points! We’re usually nearer Times Square so have not tried the other location (I think there may be a third one somewhere?). I have a vague memory that the one in South Street Seaport may have tickets to the next afternoon’s matinee, the evening before, but I could be wrong.
As a fun side note: I actually first heard of the High Line while waiting at the TKTS booth some years back; was chatting with another person in line and he mentioned it. We didn’t have time for it that trip but we made a point of seeing it on our next visit.
TKTS is credited with allowing some shows remain on Broadway longer than they would otherwise have done, since selling tickets at half price is better than not selling them at full price. Some pretty decent shows have lasted quite a while that way - we saw Kinky Boots there about 2 years back via TKTS and it’s still playing.
Of course as I said, you won’t find the blockbusters there like Book of Mormon or Wicked. If you want to see one of those shows and don’t care to pay TicketMaster’s extortionate markup, your best bet is to walk directly to the theater when you arrive and buy your tickets there.
It can help if you don’t care if you sit together; they often have very good single seats available. Both times I saw Wicked, we sat separately. Book of Mormon, on the other hand, our choices were something in the nosebleed section, or box seats off to one side. We chose the box seats and they were actually really good - very comfy armchairs with legroom, right on the edge of the balcony.
When I was looking at the TKTS site, one in Brooklyn came up, not very useful. Before 9/11 there was one by the WTC PATH stop. We sometimes transferred to the subway there.
BTW though you won’t get popular blockbusters, you are also not limited to 3rd rate shows. The last show we saw through TKTS was Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, very well reviewed but not a blowout.
There’s still one there, about a 5-10 minute walk away, at the South Street Seaport. The one by Lincoln Center is new, I think built in the last year or so.
If you want to see a Broadway play rather than a *musical *there is a separate (much, much shorter) line at TKTS for play tickets. If crowded, you might need to ask one of the line security people where the “play line” is. We saw James Earl Jones in a couple of productions with TKTS tickets.
If you are into photography, a stop by B&H Photo is always fun (the photo stuff is upstairs). Only a couple of blocks from Penn Station. You will have to go early on Friday (they close at 2PM Friday and all of Saturday). Just about any piece of photo equipment you could want is available for you to play with.
I recently had a very short visit to NYC. It was my fourth time. I opted for something I’d written off before as being too touristy - the Circle Line Landmarks Cruise. It was absolutely superb. A great way to see the sights from a different angle, and pack in lots into a 90 minute tour. I paid a bit extra for the “premium” tour - which meant access to the smaller, quieter top deck.
So far I’ve been taking it easy. Never had Japanese curry, so I had that at Go Go. Had a slice at Pizza Suprema. A cookie at the Schmackery. And now drinking beer at Beer Authority.
No transportation so far aside from my feet, but having a great time.
Dinner was spicy lamb noodles at X’ian Famous Foods - thanks to whoever it was who recommended that, it was really amazing! Very unusual, but great, flavors!
