We’ve been to Manhattan twice in the last two years, and both times stayed at the Residence Inn on 24th and 6th - it’s relatively cheap, clean, and a perfect location. NYC has some of the best restaurants in the world - I highly recommend Ipuddo, Fatty Crab and Max Brenners (for dessert). If you are interested in Gold, you can visit the gold vault at the Federal Reserve bank (must reserve ahead of time). There is a very nice docent tour at the Tenement Museum. Nearby is the New museum, which has some amazing conceptual art. There will probably be street fairs going on - visit one.
Don’t be, it’s a great neighborhood. I live on 96th St. Times Square is only two stops on the express subway that you can get at 96th & Broadway. You can be in midtown in less than 10 minutes.
Thanks. You must be just around the corner from the Hotels Alexander and Newton mentioned previously. Do you know anything about them?
Yup! I can actually see the Hotel Newton from my living room window! Unfortunately I’m not familiar with the details about them or if one is better than the other. Since I live here, I don’t really have any need to go to a hotel. The only hotel I know about is the infamous Hotel Carter in Times Square. (Voted as the worst hotel in NYC! So don’t go to that one! :D)
It was voted the dirtiest hotel in America, not just NYC, four years in a row. Cite. :eek:
There’s a thread here somewhere about the Hotel Carter. I briefly entertained the notion of staying there, but I don’t think I could do that to the wife.
Just like visitors coming to Las Vegas, visitors going to NYC always come armed with a huge list of things to do and usually don’t get to more than one or two on the list.
The reason is that there is simply too much to do. Once you get on the streets and start walking, that ends all plans. So much to see and do and experience.
The only way anyone could be bored in NYC is to be dead - and even that would be fodder for an upcoming Law and Order episode, so that might be interesting as well.
I lived in NYC for two years and I cannot remember a single day that was even slightly uninteresting or boring - so I think it is safe to say you will find the time flies by. However, as has been mentioned, take trunks full of money as the city is not cheap and you will be spending money like there is no tomorrow! Last time I was there I spent over $1000 in a week and didn’t buy a single t-shirt, nor eat at any fancy restaurants or see any big shows - that was just for basic drinks, food, taxi, tips and little things.
Yes, I have to say that reading up on NYC, it does seem a little overwhelming. We’re hoping to keep the absolute musts, such as the Statue of Liberty and maybe Letterman and/or a Broadway show, to a minimum and schedule plenty of exploring time. Some friends in Connecticut may come into town for a day, and they can show us some stuff too.
Regarding the Statue of Liberty: We’ve found that unless you buy tickets WELL in advance, you can get onto the island but not into the statue (and I’m not even talking about tickets to go up to the crown level, I mean inside the statue at all).
So as soon as you’ve settled on dates, go online and get the tickets. We were hoping to visit it next weekend and they’re already sold out. Egad.
Alas! The Statue of Liberty will be closed from October 29 for upgrades. Info here. The link doesn’t say how long it will be closed, but we’ll inquire once we have firm dates. Liberty Island will still be open though, even if the staue herself is closed.
“The work is expected to be completed in approximately one year.”
Ah, yes. Thanks. Missed that completely. So no inside of the Statue of Liberty for us, but we will vist Liberty and Ellis islands.
Looks like we’ve pretty much decided on the Hotel Newton on the Upper West Side. On Broadway about 50 meters from the 96th Street subway station, from where we can apparently reach Times Square in 10 minutes on an express train. I’ve had a series of very pleasant e-mail exchanges with the hotel’s reservations manager, who answered all my questions promptly. This place not only also scores high in reviews on Trip Advisor, but the few negative comments have been answered on the site with apologies and assurances of correction by the very same reservations manager who has been so helpful to me in e-mails. He really seems conscientious. The room will probably be rather small even though we’re not going for the cheapest room, but nothing can be as small as we had one time in Hong Kong, and even that was okay. All we need is a place to flop each night, then out again the next morning.
Contrast that with the nearby Hotel Alexander, whose website is clunky and difficult to navigate (or at least the Rates page), information e-mail is down and bounces messages back, and my message sent to another e-mail address I found has gone unanswered. Sorry, Alexander: Not impressed.
Thanks again to all the suggestions and information in this thread.
Even that’s padding it. From the 96th St. station, just get on the 2 or 3 heading downtown, and you’ll only stop at 72nd St. before you stop at 42nd St./Times Square. 5-7 minutes tops, not counting the couple of minutes you might have to wait for the train.
In a pinch (or if it comes first and you just want to), you can take the 1 from the same station. It’ll stop at every station (86th, 79th, 72nd, etc.) but you’ll still get to 42nd St. in ten minutes unless there’s a problem on the track. Have fun!
Okay, we took the leap and just booked and paid for our room in the Hotel Newton. Upper West Side. Broadway between 94th and 95th Streets and right by the 96th Street subway station. Superior Queen room. I considered the Queen Suite, but the wife was against it. Said we just need a place to flop and freshen up. No matter how small it is, it can’t possibly be smaller than this one place we stayed at in Hong Kong, and it was fine. By paying now, we received 12% off, making it $194.04 a night plus taxes and fees, or $226.165 a night all-in. Not a bad price for NYC; we’ll actually end up paying more in DC. We could have gotten 15% off if we had been willing to lock into those dates, but we like to keep some flexibility in case of emergency; if we were going to do that, we could just go with Priceline.
Thanks again to everyone for all your help.
Less than three months away now. We’re looking at this City Pass for US$82 apiece. Sounds like it’s a good deal. Provides admission to the ferry for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Empire State Building Observatory, American Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Top of the Rock or Guggenheim Museum. Anyone familiar with this sort of ticket book?
Have requested tickets for Letterman and am waiting to hear back on that. Finally feels like we’re about to leave.
That is a good deal.
Be sure to leave plenty of time for security lines at the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, and the Empire State Building. The security sweep is as thorough as at any US air port, and the lines get very long, particularly on weekends. American Museum of Natural History’s security was not quite so serious. I haven’t been to the other museums since 9/11. Check the web sites for each place youre goign to visit, or email them and get some time estimates.
Thanks! Will do. The inside of the statue is closed for renovations at the moment, so that’s one less line I guess.
I’m afraid the lines may still be there - check with someone with up-to-date information. Before the statue was closed you needed to buy advance tickets to get inside. There was still the long security line to get on the boat going from the southern tip of Manhattan to Liberty Island and/or Ellis Island. When I went to the Statue of Liberty with my son last December, we could not get tickets to the inside, but the lines were still long. With the statue closed those lines may be shorter, but find out what the waits are like when you are going, and plan accordingly.
Thanks. We plan to hit the SoL and Ellis Island fairly early in the day. Looking forward to it! 