My nieces will be up visiting around Christmas and they want to take a trip into Manhattan.
What’s the current situation like NYC? Is everything mostly back to its pre-Sandy normal or are there things that are still closed or out of service?
In Manhattan, pretty much everything is back to normal. Subways are all back up and running, though the PATH trains into Manhattan are only running until 10pm so if you are coming from New Jersey you may want to be aware.
The Statue of Liberty and the South Street Seaport are currently closed due to effects of the storm, as are some attractions at Coney Island, but I think everything else is open and running as it was before the storm.
Lower Manhattan train service is less than full. (No J train south of Chambers Street, whch is only two stops out of service, but still–less than full). And the R train isn’t running from 34th St to Jay Street-Metrotech, though that may not be Sandy-related. There may be other small pockets of disfunction as well.
Good to know, as I was planning on taking them to South Street Seaport.
I just read that the subway system no longer sells one-day passes. Is that correct? And why did they do something that stupid?
From what I understand due to budget cuts the MTA had to eliminate passes that allowed for discounted subway fare. They no longer have 7 day passes either. The MTA is holding hearings now (or was recently- I haven’t quite been following) about raising fares again. It should be noted that the budget for the MTA is determined by the state, not the city.
The R interruption is definitely Sandy-related. Perhaps you recall the shots of the Whitehall station? With the track level fully submerged and a couple feet of water on the turnstile level? That’s an R station. Meanwhile, the R at Cordlandt Station - which only fully reopened in September after being destroyed in 9/11 – is closed “indefinitely.” This article explains what happened in the “Montague tube” AKA the R tunnel under the East River.
But anyway, the J & R are two of the lines least likely to be used by tourists in my opinion, so I’m sure she’ll be fine. Lower Manhattan is actually a lot narrower than it appears on the subway map. The fully-operational 1/2/3, 4/5, E, all go within walking distance of anywhere you’de want to be in the Financial District.
Official map including outages:
We were in NYC on Nov. 17 for my birthday. Mostly uptown (Small’s and Cleopatra’s Needle) but the city looked pretty much like it always does.
We don’t use the subway, we take the LIRR in to Penn Station and then walk or cab to wherever we’re headed so I can’t speak to subway schedules or closings. I know some of the trains to the areas hardest hit weren’t running but if they’re just heading in to Manhattan they should be fine. Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn some areas were really messed up and continue to have problems.
Have fun with the nieces! Hope they get to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. It’s really amazingly huge and beautiful.
The 7-day passes still exist, it’s the 14-day they eliminated.
Ah- my mistake.
They saw the tree on their previous trip to NYC. By preference, I’d rather take them to see new things over going back to things they’ve already done. My main plans were Chinatown and South Street Seaport, so I’m already down by half.
I was on Manhattan just one week after Sandy and to me things looked pretty much like business as usual except for the South East parts (don’t know about public transport as we walked wherever we were going).
With South Street Seaport off the agenda and as long as I’ve got people’s attention, let me ask for suggestions.
I’ll be visiting NYC for one day with my sister and her three teenage daughters. It’ll be a Saturday. I’m pretty much in charge of finding interesting things to do.
We did this once before a few years back and it went well. We saw the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and went inside the shopping center at 30 Rock. We went to the Tenement Museum on Delancey and then had some pizza. We went to Macy’s and Times Square and did some shopping.
As you can see, shopping was a major item on the trip. But I’d like to do at least a few things that go beyond shopping.
Interest has been expressed in the Statue of Liberty but that’s closed. Also in going up in the Empire State Building but they charge a pretty outrageous admission fee. I have considered one of the big museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Museum of Natural History but I don’t know if the girls would enjoy those.
As I said above, my main idea for this trip is seeing Chinatown. It’s a place we can walk around and get a meal at (one of the girls is a vegetarian). And if the Seaport isn’t happening, maybe walk on to Greenwich Village although I don’t really know that area.
So I’m open for ideas.
Well, you’ve been to Ray’s pizza on 6th avenue in the village, right?
I wonder whether the rats in subway system are dead or still breeding.
Hmmm–Ray’s has closed.
I was just in Queens last night and it looked fine.
I was going to suggest Chinatown, actually. It’s very pretty and a lot of fun, and lots of nice shopping. The shopkeepers are less than friendly and hover over you but as long as you can deal with that, it’s pretty cool, and you can get some fun little trinkets.
Try the bubble tea.
If you want to do something a little oddball you can munch your way through Chelsea market and then go for a walk on the High Line if it’s not too cold.
I did a Strayboots scavenger hunt with my 2 cousins, 10 and 13. We had a really good time and saw some cool stuff. Since it’s self paced you can do as much or as little as you want, take breaks, etc. You can finish one in a few hard-charging hours but IIRC you have 24 hours to finish.
Basically, they send you to a rally point then send clues where to go and what to look for by text. You reply by text when you’ve solved the clue. Then you learn something interesting about what you’re looking at. You can choose from a number of areas, and they even have them for the big museums, I have an (adult) friend who said the Natural History Museum was a blast. $12 per adult, $6 per kid under 12 – but I was able to get a groupon so check for that.
Has heat and hot water been restored to all of the Rockaway high-rise housing projects? It was a bit shocking to hear that thousands of people went weeks without them.