New York City in one day

In My Humble Opinion
1

We have an exchange student from Italy staying with us (we live in Chicago). My wife really wants him to see NYC but doesn’t have a lot of time to spare so wants to take him for the day. She tracked down a great flight deal that will get them into LaGuardia around 9 AM and then they have to fly out around 9 PM that night.

We need to squeeze as much “New York-ness” into those few hours as possible. He’s said he wants to see:

  1. Central Park
  2. Times Square
  3. Rockefeller Center
  4. Empire State Building
  5. Ground Zero
  6. Statue of Liberty

We can probably cheat on Liberty by just seeing it from the top of Empire State. We figure they could cab it to Central Park, walk to Times Square and 30 Rock, then cab it to Empire, Ground Zero and back to the airport. We just want to know if this kind of crazy, half-arsed tour is possible. Any other “must see” things they should see or do that they can squeeze in? Someplace special to eat along the way?

Thanks for your input and ideas.

2

I spent 3 days doing the tourist thing in NYC last year. All that would be too ambitious in my mind. We took 3 days to see all that plus a couple of museums and shows.

You could kill two birds with one stone by going to the Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center. Just as good of a view and you get to see the Empire State Building from it.

If I had to give up seeing one thing, it would be Ground Zero.

You could get on one of the tour buses and see a lot. Probably cheaper than cabs. There are people in different color jackets selling tours at Times Square and plenty of other places.

3

I would start with the Empire State Building. From there, you’ve technically “seen” everything! After that, I’d say prioritize your list and wander from one to the next until you run out of time.

For food, if I were strapped for time yet still wanted a true NYC experience, I’d eat strictly from street vendors. You can find just about any type of food that way, and you’ll remember it for a long time.

You didn’t mention the subway, but to me, that is a quintessential part of the NYC experience. Of course it is easy to fit into your agenda if you use it to get from Point A to Point B to Point C until you run out of time.

Good luck and don’t forget to have a knish!

4

I personally wouldn’t even try it. If there is any weather issue, you may not get to NYC until mid-afternoon–just in time to go back to the airport for the return flight. Also, if he is from Italy, he will have plenty of opportunity to plan a proper trip in the next few years. It seems that about 10% of Italy comes to NYC every year.

5

Shell out the money to stay over a night. If you get in at 9 am, you’ll make it to Manhattan at 11 if you are lucky, and since you need to leave at rush hour it will be even worse the other end.
Times Square is most interesting at night - you’ll lose a lot of the impact during day time. Unless Ground Zero has moved a lot since the last time I was there it is not all that interesting now. Going up the Empire State Building is a good idea, I’ve never been to the top of Rockefeller Center, and outside won’t take long to see.
How far do you want to go into the park? It can take you 10 minutes or hours.

Given the time you have, I second the recommendation to eat from street vendors.
And Times Square to Empire State Building is not very far, and probably as fast to walk as time needed for a cab and time spend by the cab in traffic, plus you get to see something. I personally would recommend heading down 42nd street and past and into Grand Central Station, then to the East River to the UN, which takes you past the Chrysler Building, and then cut back to the Empire State Building.

If you stayed over you’d have time to actually see something, go to a museum, and maybe to a play, which is the real experience in my book. if you divide cost by time, you’d see that you would come out way ahead.

6

It is all walkable and probably the best way to do it. He’s Italian so the Met and Gugenheim aren’t as important but I would say go to the Museum of Natural History for the dinosaurs, the gems, and the North American mammals (and anything else that needs to be seen).

Start in 1.Times Square and walk north to Carnegie Deli* and then head up to 2. Central Park. Go to Museum of Natural History and then walk across Central Park to 5th Avenue and South past the zoo, the Plaza Hotel, Tiffany, Harry Winston, Trump Tower?, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and to 3.Rockefeller Center.

Walk south then to NY Public Library, (Grand Central Station?) and end at the Empire State Building. It is a lot of walking but that is how touring should be done! and it is just one exhausting day.

[Ground Zero is not worth the time or effort. Statue of Liberty is similar- you can see it off the Empire State Building and it won’t have much effect on a foreign high schooler other than to say he saw it.]

If you want a closer up view, ask a cabbie to drive you from the Empire state building past the 9/11 memorial and the statue of liberty and to take the Brooklyn Bridge back to LGA. (and maybe swing by Katz’s Deli for supper?)

*Carnegie Deli is yes just for tourists, etc. but it is a known quantity of “fun” and “NYC”

7

I’m curious if you’re saving that based on having visited the museum/memorial, or just from having seen the construction site? I agree vis-a-vis the construction site, but, while I haven’t been the the museum people seem to find it affecting. The museum/memorial has only been open less than a year. You need reserved passes to enter, but they’re free.

8

That would be one hell of a cab ride.

9

Be aware that the Carnegie Deli does not take credit cards. It looks like you can buy a gift card, though.

I worked as a messenger in NY the summer after I graduated from high school, and I commonly walked from the UN to the East Village, but this is quite a hike and don’t expect to see much. The Museum of Natural History is an all-day trip.
And it is really a bit far to walk from the Carnegie Deli. If you have to go there, take the subway - you get out in the museum basement.

Run a few marathons to get in shape before trying this.

This is terrible advice. The Brooklyn Bridge takes you to quite the wrong side of Long Island, and the BQE is no picnic anytime, especially not during rush hour. The 59th Street bridge is a much better choice.
Google Maps suggests the Queens Midtown Tunnel to the LIE and says it take 39 minutes in current traffic - but it is 8:30 pm in New York. It is going to take a lot longer to make a 9 pm flight. When I forced it to take me over the bridge, it went up to 50 minutes in current traffic.

10

I was at the memorial/museum this past summer. My GF, a native New Yorker and 9/11 survivor, was brought to tears. Myself (a native Chicagoan), I found it extremely ho-hum and a tad maudlin. So it all depends on your perspective.

11

Skip Ground Zero for two reasons: 1) There’s really nothing to see there and 2) It’s too far away from the rest. I would also skip Times square. It’s way too crowded for comfort in my opinion.

12

Thank you all for your insight. The 9/11 memorial is more for my wife. She knew people who died in the towers and would like to pay her respects. Carnegie Deli is a great idea.

OK, they’ll have to dial back the trip a bit. They only have the one day because we are pulling him out of school for the day and we have too many other things going on in our lives to take any more time out. It’s not like he’s been ripped off in his visit with us. He got to build his first snowman, have a snowball fight, go sledding, skiing and skating. He’s seen the sites in Chicago, including the lunacy of St Patrick’s Day. We’ve taken him to St Louis (rode the Arch) and drove to North Carolina. We do plan on taking him out West when school gets out so he can see a little more of the US. He’s seen the Bulls, Blackhawks, Wolves and we will take him to a Sox game.

This kid is 17 and his whole knowledge of America was from TV and movies. He has these images of NY and wants to give them a little context.

13

The Carnegie Deli is crowded, but has pretty fast service.
What is iconic for him? Another possibility, though it takes some time, is the Staten Island Ferry. It is close to Ground Zero, and gives about the best view of the Statue of Liberty without going there. You can walk back on at Staten Island - nothing to see there. And you get to sit. South Street Seaport, with a good view of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, is close also.
Then subway up to midtown for the Empire State Building, the UN, the Carnegie Deli, and Central Park.

14

In that case, if you really have the one day (1/2 day) that starts and ends at LGA at 9am and 9pm, and Ground Zero is a must…

Summary:

  • A NYC Cab Ride
  • walk along and through Central Park
  • Rockefeller Center
  • Empire State Building
  • NYC Street food / local pizza?
  • Ground Zero
  • Brooklyn Bridge
  • Junior’s of Brooklyn (corned beef or pastrami, cheesecake)
  • Another NYC Cab Ride
    In Manhattan, 20 street blocks (going N/S traveling on avenues) is one mile, so figure you’ll walk at a pace of about a block (1 numbered street) per minute when walking between destinations. So this is what I’d lay out:

09:00am - arrive at LGA
It should be about a 30 minute cab ride from LGA to 79th St. and 5th Ave., if traffic is not terrible.

09:30 - 10:00 - walk along and/or through the park from 79th St. to 59th St., plus time to enjoy it. Don’t take a horse carriage ride. Just smell them as you approach 59th St. Maybe peek inside the Plaza Hotel, or the toy store FAO Schwarz as seen in the movie “Big”.

10:00 - 10:30 - keep walking down 5th Ave. to Rockefeller Center (about 48th St.)

I’m not sure what you want to see at Rock Center in the spring, but figure you’ll spend 30 minutes doing it.

11:00 - 11:15 - Walking down 5th Ave. to ESB (at 34th St.)

11:15 - 12:00 - Have lunch.

If it were me, I’d go for a street vendor on 34th St. heading west towards 6th Ave. (Hot dogs? Falafel? Shish-kebab?). I’d say “try New York Pizza” but Midtown is not the right place, the pizza there is generally of the chain variety catering to tourists or other passers-through instead of locals doing repeat business. I’ve heard that “Little Italy Pizza” on 5th Ave. between 32nd and 33rd Sts. may be an exception, but I haven’t had a reason to find out yet.

12:00 - 14:00 - go up and see the ESB Observation Deck, etc.

Take the subway from 34th St. and 6th Ave. to Ground Zero (the 2/3 train to Park Place), it’s about a 10 minute ride including the wait.

Spend however much time you think is right and respectful there. I have yet to go to GZ myself, after all this time.

Let’s say it’s about 4:30pm now (16:30). Walk east and go on foot over the Brooklyn Bridge, walk east on Tillary St. and then down on Flatbush Ave. to Junior’s. This will take about an hour, add another 30 minutes or so for gawking and photographing on the bridge and maybe in Brooklyn. Here’s where you take pics of the Statue of Liberty and NY Harbor.

5:30 or 6:00pm - have dinner at Junior’s. Save room for the world famous cheesecake. The food’s not bad either. If you want a classic NY deli sandwich like pastrami on rye, they do it pretty well here too.

7:00-7:15pm - pay the check, hail a cab and get thee back to LGA. By now rush hour should have diminished down if it’s a weekday.

15

I’d add Grand Central Terminal to the tour. Even if you’re not taking a train, it’s one of the iconic landmarks of NYC.

16

I spent a couple of weeks in NY in the earl 80’s and that wasn’t enough.
As a suggestion have you thought about a boat trip around Manhattan island, can’t remember the duration but should give you and your guest enough time to see the ‘sights’ from a different perspective and to visit later in the day, when queues are shorter, something that grabs your interest.
Same advice I give to those on a quick trip to London.
Peter

17

Yeah, that fits in with my itinerary well, GCT is right there on 42nd St. just easy of 5th Ave. en route between Rock Center and the ESB.

18

That’s the Circle Line Tour. I wouldn’t recommend it for a first trip - besides the UN and the bridges, there is surprisingly little of interest on the rivers. Not worth the time.

19

BTW, as a native New Yorker I hate to say it, but your pizza in Chicago is far superior to NY pizza - which come in second place, better than anywhere else.

And, unless all the cars left NY for other places, expecting to arrive in the city at 9:30 from a flight arriving at 9:00 am is crazy. It would have been almost impossible even when I lived in Bayside 40 years ago.

20

Yeah, it might actually be faster to take the LGA bus to Roosevelt ave (q33 or q47) and take the 7 train to Grand Central (the last stop so you can’t miss it). If i had to estimate I’de say if the plane touches down at 9am, you won’t be in Manhattan before 1030, LGA is overburdened and it often takes a while to get a gate. Even if you were physically out of the airport by 930, traffic would still be at rush hour levels.

Chicago and NY style pizza are two different animals, it’s apples and oranges trying to compare them.