Back when I was living in the city 16 years ago, I used to take the subway to work every day, and I found it perfectly serviceable. Sure, there was some grime, guys wearing garbage bags, and kids playing steel drums at the stations (I actually kind of liked the latter), but the trains mostly ran on time and I mostly felt safe. The situation was certain better than what I remember as a little kid in the late 70s. So what I was asking, basically, is whether the subway is more 2002, or more 1979.
As for everything else, thanks everyone for the good advice. Trust me, I’ve been taking notes.
One more thing; I already live in a major foodie city, so I’m not looking for anything fancy to eat in New York. It may sound trite to you, but I’d rather expose my kid to “authentic” New York and American food: hot dogs, bagels, deli food, even diner food. Remember, to us, hash browns and blueberry muffins are a *lot *more exotic than falafel.
Just as safe as in 2002, AFAIK, but many more delays.
I can’t find 2002 numbers, but in 2007 nearly every line had 90% on-time performance, whereas most are down in the 60s or below now (chart halfway down in this article).
Yep, there has been a marked deterioration in MTA’s subway service reliability. And both City Hall and Albany are more preoccupied with blaming one another and getting the other to pay for fixing it. But no way the environment’s even close to 1979’s classic postapocalyptic mutant underworld.
On the theatre front, non-musical, there’s “The Play that Goes Wrong” for those who enjoy some self-referential slapstick.
If you do want to see something on Broadway, and don’t want to take the risk that TKTS won’t have it, it’s a lot cheaper to walk over to the theater (assuming you have time) and buy the tickets in person. TicketMaster etc. charge extortionate fees. You won’t have the ability to pick prime seats way in advance, and we’ve sometimes wound up sitting separately when doing this, but you can usually get tickets to any but the utmost popular shows. You will not get to see Hamilton this way, but we’ve gotten tickets to Wicked (twice), Lion King, and Book of Mormon.
There are also “ticket lotteries” for many of the shows (including Hamilton). You register online a few hours before the show you’d like to see. If your name gets drawn, you have the opportunity to purchase heavily discounted tickets to that show. For a “unavailable except for scalpers” show like Hamilton, this might be your only slot. Don’t bank on it though. We’ve tried several times for Hamilton and no luck.
Depending on your travel timing, a lot of the shows have a fundraiser going on to help AIDS research (we’ve been there twice in the March / April timeframe). For a small or not-so-small donation, you can get some extra swag. I’ve got a “The Sex Is In The Meal” apron from Kinky Boots, but my prize possession is a Polaroid photo of 4 of us with the gay Bert-like puppet from Avenue Q - the one who sings about his girlfriend in Canada (one of our group was a girl from Canada - this led to much hilarity). Other swag might include things like a backstage tour, a signed program, and so on.
Subway sucks donkey balls: the liberal imbecile currently running the city basically washed his hands off the whole thing, claiming “Hey, MTA is run by Cuomo, I ain’t got nothin’ to do with it”. Ok, sure, maybe,but what the fuck is up with thousands of homeless overrunning subway daily, preventing working citizens from getting to their jobs if not on time, but at least in peace? When Bloomberg and Giuliani were running the city, you’d see cops actively dragging the shitheads out of the cars and cracking heads , now you’ve got a single bum occupying a whole row of seats, while stinking up the whole car during peak rush hour.
I’m not old enough to know what it was like in 1979 (I was 2 and didn’t visit NYC then anyway) but although I find it more uncomfortable and crowded than the subways in Boston, it doesn’t feel unsafe. Well, it feels unsafe when you get too close to the drop off at the edge of the platform while wandering around an ill-placed pillar, but I don’t think that’s the kind of unsafe you mean. There are still buskers and people selling stuff, but I’ve never particularly worried that I’d be mugged or assaulted.
Do you think any of that is new? Do you think it is representatives of the problems unique to the current era of inept operations in the transit system? Do you think people fucking or throwing crickets on trains is some kind of epidemic? Because I’ve got disappointing news for you if you do.
I think there’s at least one bum on the F train that I take to work every day during rush hour. The stinky animal might not be in my car, but when train slows down to a stop, you can see inside the passing cars, and there’s usually one present somewhere. That just wasn’t the case before the current idiot took the office.
The Empire State Building is open pretty late at night, and is a great “End of Day” activity. The view is better with the lights below you anyway IMO. Definitely pay the extra to go all the way to the top.
If you want to see the statue of Liberty get your tickets now. By now I mean like, right this minute, because it fills up way in advance.
The Staten Island Ferry is also great late in the day, especially if you can time your round trip to coincide with sunset. Don’t go to the very top on that one, unless you really like breathing diesel fumes. If you want a longer ride there are dinner cruises that go all the way around the island.
Lombardi’s Pizza is worth going to. For the classic American burger and fries go to Shake Shack. A bunch of people are now going to show up and turn the thread into a big burger war about this. Ignore them and go to shake shack. Get a milk shake to go after you eat.
Google the local papers 2-3 weeks before you go and see what festivals are running at DUMB, central park, and the Highline. Depending upon your families’ interests, there may be something going on that bumps those to the top of your list.
Also see what special exhibits will be running at the museums. There can be some real gems but you’ll want to get tickets in advance if at all possible.
And I recommend checking Atlas Obscura for guidance whenever visiting a new city.
As TruCelt noted, Lombardi’s Pizza is excellent (hint: they only take cash). Supposedly the oldest pizzeria in the country, they run a coal-fired oven that hits something like 800 degrees F. The result is a crisp thin crust, very deelish. It’s just a few blocks from the Tenement Museum as well. There tend to be long-ish lines, so go right when they open, or well after the lunch crowd.
There are many other pizza places in the city, each offering “the original New York pizza” (large, thin and somewhat limp crust). All perfectly tolerable, but Lombardi’s is better.
Go another block after Lombardi’s and have dessert at Ferrara.
Kossar’s Bialys may not have anything novel to you, but to me (a Catholic girl from PA), the product was delicious and new. The article I read that mentioned the place (20+ years back) noted that the bialys would not all make it home, and they were right :D.
I don’t know offhand of any traditional “diners” in NYC (though I don’t rule it out), not like the ones that are so common in New Jersey: huge menu, a bit of everything, all perfectly acceptable and nothing extraordinary.
If you’re feeling like something cute, meal-wise, there are numerous restaurants that specialize in one basic food group. There are a number of macaroni-and-cheese restaurants (I haven’t been to any… yet). A restaurant that specializes in peanut-butter dishes. We went to one in Hell’s Kitchen that was all bacon, all the time (BarBacon, I think). There’s a shop in the West Village that sells gourmet popsicles (some dairy free, some with dairy): PopBar, I think. There are tons of bakeries where you can get walking-around snacks such as cupcakes.
But the one food you really have to have, or you can’t say you’ve been to New York, is the pizza.
When I was out there a few years ago, I stayed in a motel in New Jersey and just had to eat at a diner. The food was really pretty good and, OMG, the portion was HUGE! I had to leave at least half of it because it was just too much.
Diners are everywhere. In my neighborhood (Yorkville/Upper East Side) there’s The Mansion, Gracie Mews, Gracie’s Corner (which moved recently, replacing Viand). All good, solid, if unremarkable eateries that have been around forever. EJ’s luncheonette is a little more upscale and Lexington Candy Shop is totally old-school.
So I’m walking up 8th avenue right now, and I have to say, New York has changed cery little. A few new glass buildings, a few new chains (Pret? Really?) and all the stretch limos seem to have disappeared from Midtown, but other than that it’s the same city. I’m loving every moment of it.
