My Trip to New York City

In this thread I asked some questions about using the NYC subway a few months back. As it turns out, I was totally useless at understanding the subway. I was always sure that the train I was about to get on was going in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. I had no sense of direction and no idea as to how to tell which direction the train was going in. Luckily, my sister had no trouble with it. But she got impatient with me for doubting her. On the other hand, I was a whiz at getting around on the surface with a grid and even spotted a compass decal at one stop. Yay me!

The highlights of my trip were:

Seeing the original Winnie the Pooh (and friends) at the Schwarzman building of the NYPL (5th and 42nd). I agree with people who say they belong in England but I appreciated being able to see them. Piglet is tiny compared to the rest. Eeyore is my idol. I feel bad about it though after reading how the real Christopher Robin felt about the notoriety. I also enjoyed the rest of the NYPL. We took a tour that lasted an hour or a little more.

The Today Show. I know it’s “touristy” but I really enjoyed hanging out on the plaza for an hour or so. I got a pastry at Bouchon Bakery and got a seat at the counter for a bit, too. Anne Curry spent at least 45 minutes going around talking to people, having her picture taken, talking to kids, etc. For whatever reason Lester was there instead of Matt. When I watch it’s on the weekend so it was cool to see Lester in person.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I’m not in the best of shape and my feet were hurting a lot of the time I was in NYC but I made the walk. It was totally worth it. Yes, I stayed out of the bike lane. I’d like to do it again when the repairs are done with. For most of the walk it wasn’t possible to tell you were even over a river.

We saw the Alexander McQueen exhibit at The Met. This was much more up my sister’s alley than mine but I really enjoyed it. We got there at exactly the right time (about 10th in line so we could sit on the steps for an hour instead of standing). I’m not a big (or even a little) fashion person but it was really cool. My only gripe was that some things (the Kate Moss hologram, for example) were situated for people who were five feet tall or less. i think you could go here every weekend and not see it all. Wow.

Best thing of all: The Book of Mormon. I’d downloaded the recording when it was free on Amazon but had only listened to the first song once. I knew my sister was skeptical about seeing it but I was paying and I was pretty sure. It was the highlight of the trip for both of us. It was worth every penny I paid for the tickets. I want to go again. Hello!

We also saw Anything Goes. I was a little disappointed with this one. I guess I’ve seen too many movie musicals on TV. Sutton Seton, Seattle Sutton (?) whatever her name is seemed to be phoning it in. Loved seeing Jessica Walter in person but she wasn’t that great either. The guy standing in for Joel Grey was great. I can’t magine Joel Grey doing that role as well.

Dinner at LaMasseria after Book of Mormon: I thought it was a very nice place and they didn’t look down on you (like Becco) for being a rube. I had a gorgeous, deboned, well-seasoned Cornish hen with a small serving of the best mashed potatoes ever. The stuffed squash blossoms we had as an appetizer were excellent, too. Our waiter was very nice and shed some light on why most of the people we met in Manhattan weren’t from the USA.

Ok, lunch at Becco on day 1. We were there during the hottest week of the year and all I wanted was water. i was thirsty. We were looked down the nose at for only ordering water. There was a “special” that’s apparently somewhat famous. All you can eat pasta, or something. Well, the only one I wanted more of was the truffle ravioli. Guess what. They came around with the penne but when I asked for more of the ravioli, no one showed up. Lidia…you suck.

We did our viewing of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry. On my next trip I’ll book a harbor cruise to do that. Or do the official boat to the island. It just wasn’t close enought to make me feel “wow”. And the bathrooms on the SIF were gross.

I’ve visited the website of Purl SoHo many times and used that as a way to get us to that area. 419 Broome St. What a beautiful area. Thank you so much to the people of NYC for standing up to Robt. Moses and not allowing that area to be demolished for a freeway. By far, the most beautiful neighborhood I visited.

Hello Again: I know you responded to my subway questions and I thank you for that. I think you’re a knitter, too. Purl SoHo is well worth going to. My sister also went to Seaport Yarns without me.

Despana: A little Spanish sandwich store at Broome & Lafayette. I decided I had to go there after seeing a YouTube video. I wanted to see the guitar store on Broome St too but it was closed. Anyway…go there. Get The Despana bocadillo. If I lived anywhere near this place I’d go there regularly.

Oh yeah. I got really pissed at my sister one night and went out drinking. As I’ve said, I’m shit with the subway so I stayed on our block (close to Times Square but not on Times Square). The first two places I went to weren’t my style but the third place (St. Andrews) was perfect. Wisconsin in NYC. I got shitfaced and talked to some really nice people from Manchester and from somewhere near Glasgow and tipped the Irish bartender really well.

I’d have liked to have spent more time in Grand Central Terminal but was feeling pressured by you-know-who. I insisted on going to the lobby of the Chrysler Building. The closer we got the harder it was to find. And when we did find the entrance, it wasn’t worth it.

That’s all I can think of right now. Can anybody get me a deal at The Crosby Hotel? The Mercer? How can this Wisconsinite understand the subway?

I forgot to say that when we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge it was from Brooklyn to Manhattan on the morning that same-sex marriage was legal. Many people were getting married. Even the Avenue Q puppets. Very cool!

That’s great you had a fun time here!

As for the subways…most of the entrances (or all probably) say something along the lines of “Downtown-Manhattan” “Uptown-The Bronx” or whatever. This may not be true across every subway line, but generally speaking anything going to Manhattan or Brooklyn is going in the downtown direction and anything going to The Bronx or Queens is going uptown. The only exception I can think of is the A train which goes to the Rockaways (part of Queens) but goes south through Brooklyn.

Subway exits also are also usually labeled “NE” “SE” “NW” and “SW”, so that can help you get oriented as you exit.

I was just around the Broome St. area tonight…it is beautiful…I work in the West Village which I like a lot better than Midtown.

I didn’t know they were doing repairs on the Brooklyn Bridge…I’ve been over it several times and was always acutely aware I was over a river because of all the gaps between the wood.

I missed the McQueen exhibit because I’ve been super busy with work/I was looking for a new apartment…I also wanted to see Book of Mormon but tickets were too pricy. Oh well. Maybe I’ll go see the lobby of the Chrysler building!

And…did you spot the compass at the Columbus Circle station? That’s the only one I can think of.

Thanks for the info! I’m going to NYC on the 15th. I think I’m more skeered of NYC than I was of Australia.

I definitely bookmarked that spanish sandwich place. (To be honest, I think I’m planning on EATING my way thru NYC! )

Unfortunately we didn’t get up to Columbus Circle. Maybe next trip. We didn’t even make it into Central Park. There’s just so much you can do in five days. The compass I spotted was at the Prince St. (N,R) station. Maybe that was my problem. Not reading the signs at the entrances. I’ll remember that for my next trip.

Someone on another forum says that if you go to the Book of Mormon theater before showtime you can get last minute cancellation tickets for face value at the box office.

Despana: I should say that there are only a couple of very plain tables with metal chairs in the back. We didn’t mind though. If the weather’s nice maybe there’s somewhere to eat outside nearby. They had samples out, too. I came home with some garlic stuffed olives that are really good. I wish I could have brought home some ham.

If you’re in that area you might want to pop in to Dean & Deluca on Prince & Broadway. I enjoyed looking around there. We went to NY Cake on 22nd St., too. I think they have every kind of cake decorating supply ever invented.

I thought NYC was going to be scary too (in the getting lost and way too many people around me sense) but it was fine, except for Times Square. If I was going to stay in Midtown again I’d book a hotel on the same side of Broadway as my theaters just so I didn’t have to deal with that. I expected the sidewalks and subways to be packed all the time everywhere and it wasn’t like that at all.

We also went to The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria to see the Jim Henson exhibit. And the museum at The International Center of Photography on 6th & 43rd. They had a great Elliott Erwitt exhibit when we were there.

AllShookDown (BTW I love that album) it sounds like you had a great trip! You really did some “different” stuff that a lot of tourists never see like the Museum of the Moving Image.

It’s hard to pinpoint what the issue was on the subway. Two questions:

  1. When you got on the subway, did you have a clear idea of where you wanted to go, ie, “uptown” vs. “downtown”
  2. When you got down to the subway platforms, did you see and understand the signs indicating direction? (maybe you saw them, but didn’t understand them, or maybe you didn’t see them, that’s what I’m trying to clear up) The signs hang from the ceiling so that you see them if you are looking at the tracks.
  3. Did you ever ask directions from someone on the platform, and if so, did it help?

Well, all in all I have to say you did very well. Even though I grew up in NYC I can remember using the DC Metro and getting disoriented my first time.

I cannot imagine being lost in a NY subway. The entrances are clearly labeled, every stairway to a platform is clearly labeled and on the platform itself, there are boards on each platform (if more than one) showing what stops there. Occasionally, I am disoriented exiting from a subway but that’s another matter. Usually the exits are well labeled too.

The Montreal metro is badly labeled since they tell you only the name of the last station on the line and that’s often not helpful. Before the most recent expansion you had to be careful to choose between Henri-Bourassa and Honore-Beaugrand, for example.

I’m not sure what my problem is Hello Again. I thought I was doing all the right things but my sister and I would be standing there waiting for the train to arrive and it would come from the opposite direction I was expecting to come from so I’d be worried that it was going in the opposite direction of where we were headed. My sister would insist it was the right train and we’d get on, and it was the right train going in the right direction. It’s been too long now for me to remember a lot of specifics. I did “get her” once when we were coming back from downtown and she wouldn’t trust me that there was more than one stop called Times Square and she made us get off at the first one and we had to walk a few blocks through the Times Square hordes to get to our street when we could have stayed on until the next stop. I like the trains that have the constantly updating stop info boards above the seats.

Maybe if my sister hadn’t been there dragging me along I’d have been forced to think about it more.

Oh okay, well that’s not a big deal. You were following the signs correctly, it’s just that you didn’t know which direction the train would be coming from down the tunnel? Don’t be too hard on yourself about that; it doesn’t matter. As long as the sign above you says Uptown or Downtown, whichever one you need, you’re getting on the right train. It’s easy to lose your North/South bearings once you’re underground, but that’s okay because it doesn’t matter once you’re down there.

Helpful hint: trains almost always drive on the right.

Thanks everyone.

Friedo, I don’t understand what you mean by that.

I think in your mind you were putting way too much faith in your internal compass, and too little faith in the signage. A train can’t just come from the wrong direction every now and then. It would be a giant f-ing catastrophe. So if the train sign says “downtown & Brooklyn”, the one place its NOT going is uptown, regardless of whether it appears in the moment to be coming from the “right” direction.

Here’s a tip, though, to know which way the train will come. Look down the tracks into the tunnel in both directions. In one direction, flush against the wall you’ll see the signals (red/yellow/green like traffic lights). The train has to come in the direction where they can see the traffic signal. Make sense?

You’ve got some number of tracks, some with trains going this way and some with trains going that way. Trains will generally use the right-hand track, just like cars use the right side of the road. If you’ve got more than two tracks, think of them as a multi-lane road. This allows you to easily guess with excellent accuracy which direction trains will come from.

This doesn’t work 100% of the time, because there are some places where tracks are arranged vertically instead of horizontally, or if they are running trains the wrong way due to maintenance or repairs.

Right hand facing which way? That’s why this explanation makes no sense. It’s on the right hand if you know the direction of travel, but if you don’t (which is the problem here) selecting the right side track is a 50-50 proposition. Let’s say I want to go uptown. Coming down the stairs, I am facing South. If I continue to face south, the uptown trains are on my left, and the downtown trains are on my right. Only if I properly turn around and face North are the uptown trains on my right.

Plus it ignores lines with Express on the inside/Local on the outside configurations. Even when facing the direction of travel, the trains on the right and left of the platform are both going the same way.

Right, which is why compass directions become obsolete once you go underground. Just look at the signs; who cares what direction the trains come from?

Where is there more than one Times Square stop? Multiple lines stop there, but there’s only one “Times Square” stop per line.

If you’re trying to figure out which direction the trains are coming from before you even get to the platform, you’re doing things wrong. Don’t do that. Look for the signs. They’re everywhere. The tip I gave applies to figuring out which direction your train is coming from once you’ve arrived at the correct platform.

Yes, but those two trains are still driving on the right side of the line as a whole, just like a four-lane road.

. Sutton Foster…and come on…She may not be a Patti,(Lupone) but she’s decent!

Hey, you must have been in New York around the same time as me!

With regards Times Square, I think you’ll find it’s one stop, but with multiple exit points.

I agree about the Staten Island Ferry, we also got the sense of ‘not close enough’ so will do a harbour cruise next time.

I think the best thing we did was go up the Rockefeller Centre - fantastic views of the city, including the Empire State Building which of course you can’t see if you go up it! My husband’s first novel is called Empire State so we had fun taking pictures of his book cover with the actual building in the background! (That’s a business card with the book cover on it, it’s not a tiny book!)

The problem, as expressed by the OP, is that she could not figure out which train was hers based on the signs, ie, could not identify the correct platform.

Its almost like you’re in a completely different conversation.