Going to NY for the first time, advice? [Archive]

DaDakota

09-06-2007, 07:48 AM

Well, In all my 42 years I have never been to NY, other than flying through the airports.

That is going to change on Sunday, I have a business meeting on Monday (my birthday coincidently) and will be in NY for Sunday night and possibly Monday night.

I am in a bit of a catch 22.....should I stay Monday night and do some sight seeing on Tuesday (Which is 9-11 by the way), or should I just get the meeting done and head home on the late night Monday evening flight to avoid the 9-11 date?

What is the neatest touristy thing to see in NY? Is it the Statue of Liberty?

What?

Thanks,

DD

First Lady

09-06-2007, 08:03 AM

I haven't been to NY but just thought I'd wish you an early birthday. I wanna try a real NY pizza, just like going to Philly for their cheese steak.

bladeage

09-06-2007, 08:07 AM

Don't go to Subway (the sandwich place).

RocketMan Tex

09-06-2007, 08:25 AM

Eat pizza at Patsy Grimaldi's in Brooklyn
Eat deli at Katz's on the lower east side
Visit my favorite record shop....Final Vinyl in Greenwich Village

Or if you want traditional touristy....go to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Once of the greatest art museums in the world.

A-Train

09-06-2007, 08:29 AM

http://www.uloc.de/media/4f22_krabbensaft.jpg

Definitely get the crab juice...

texanskan

09-06-2007, 08:55 AM

DD, what is your favorite kind of food(s)?

Top of the Rock is pretty bad ass! 20 bucks but what a view.

Not sure if the Yanks or Mets are in town but baseball in NYC is like football in Texas.

Where is your hotel? I'll give you a good list of places to go after you reply on the food question.

Oh yeah just walking up madison and 5th around the park is lots of fun and of course you have to do times square at night.

emjohn

09-06-2007, 09:01 AM

Maximize your time and skip the obvious stuff. See more of the real NY - Little Italy, Chinatown, Central Park & Midtown.

Rockefeller >> Empire St Building: a fifth of the wait, less than half the price, almost as good a view. The NBA store's not far away.

Definitely cab around a little - but that might be thorny with the strike.

Get a slice of pizza at a Joe's or any place that gets a strong recommendation from a local.

Evan

ryan17wagner

09-06-2007, 09:03 AM

If you have a chance to be in NYC on 09/11, do it. Especially around ground zero.

B-Bob

09-06-2007, 09:31 AM

My vote for best tourist thing to do in NYC:

Take the "circle line" boat that goes around lower Manhattan and back. There is also a longer tour that does the whole island, but I think it's overkill.

The half tour, done around twilight, is awesome, and you can buy beer on the boat.

tulexan

09-06-2007, 09:45 AM

Get some pizza at Bleeker Street Pizza. There is also a street meat vendor at 45th and 6th who used to be the sous chef at the Russian tea room. Amazing lamb and rice for $7

kaleidosky

09-06-2007, 09:53 AM

I wouldn't give a 2nd thought about flying on 9/11.. I think you'd be better off staying around the city for that date and find something cool going on in memorial.

Also, to me, the Statue of Liberty is a waste of time. Gotta go all the way out there, go up, come back.. during a relatively short trip, you can spend your time in better ways.

For other NY advice, you'd get better details from other people, so I'll leave it at that.. but I agree, a baseball game in NY (or Boston) is like nowhere else. No matter what people have said, it's still different when you actually experience it. (Moreso the Yanks and Red Sox than the Mets...but Shea has its moments too)

DaDakota

09-06-2007, 05:57 PM

Ok,

Flying into LaGuardia on Sunday evening staying Midtown at the Courtyard Marriot.

Looking for a place to get a late meal and have a talk with my biz partners.

Suggestions most appreciated.

I decided against staying a couple extra days and am leaving Monday night to avoid being there on the anniversary of 9-11.

DD

geeimsobored

09-06-2007, 06:02 PM

If you have a chance to be in NYC on 09/11, do it. Especially around ground zero.

Honestly that was one place I avoided last time I was in NYC. I was at the WTC just a couple of weeks before the attacks and then went about a year later. And I've been a few times after that. And ask any New Yorker, they stay the hell away from there. There's really nothing to see there outside of a huge crater and I still don't trust the air around there, even now. And when I went last time, some douchebag was throwing around flyers saying that 9/11 wasn't real. Now he can say what he wants but there were people clearly mourning there and it's never appropriate to start throwing that stuff around while people are mourning. Nonetheless, that might have been the closest I've ever been to committing a violent act.

rhino17

09-06-2007, 06:04 PM

Are you a Seinfeld fan?

Mr. Brightside

09-06-2007, 06:06 PM

NYC has the greatest motley crew of people, places, and things in a small area. In fact, I am moving to NYC in less than a month and a half.

Get a all day pass for the subway and cruise all the famous stops. Visit Yankee and Shea Stadiums. See MSG. Chinatown is interesting.

Time Square is a bit over touristy, but I guess if you have never been you should visit.

Central Park and the apartment complex near Central Park where Lennon was shot is also good stuff.

You could take a Seinfeld tour, if you are there on the weekends.

Also you can check out the famous NYC streetball court- Rucker Park in Harlem.

Mr. Brightside

09-06-2007, 06:08 PM

Honestly that was one place I avoided last time I was in NYC. I was at the WTC just a couple of weeks before the attacks and then went about a year later. And I've been a few times after that. And ask any New Yorker, they stay the hell away from there. There's really nothing to see there outside of a huge crater and I still don't trust the air around there, even now. And when I went last time, some douchebag was throwing around flyers saying that 9/11 wasn't real. Now he can say what he wants but there were people clearly mourning there and it's never appropriate to start throwing that stuff around while people are mourning. Nonetheless, that might have been the closest I've ever been to committing a violent act.

You shouldn't go to Dallas downtown where JFK was shot either. There are alot of people who it seems make it their profession to talk about conspiracy theories all day long.

tinman

09-06-2007, 06:18 PM

get some pizza dakota

111chase111

09-06-2007, 07:17 PM

Eat pizza at Ray's...

MR. MEOWGI

09-06-2007, 07:29 PM

Go hold up a sign about JVG at The Today Show window.

B-Bob

09-06-2007, 07:49 PM

Go hold up a sign about JVG at The Today Show window.

beautiful.

Sorry to be obsessed, DD, but in all my visits to NYC, that little boat trip I mentioned stands out. They have a guy doing play-by-play the whole time, giving you the history, the details of different sections of town, even why certains areas can support skyscrapers while other areas can't. It helped me get a grip on the real layout of Manhattan... and it was just gorgeous.

If you do the shorter one, it's a couple of hours I think. They even get you as close as you need to get to the Statue of Liberty. (As someone else said, the tour itself is boring.)

Leaves on the West side, circa 42nd.

Circle Line Tour (http://www.circleline42.com/index.ihtml?page=sightseeing)

Carl Herrera

09-06-2007, 08:03 PM

Kinda depends on what you are into. Pick up a copy ouf TimeOut New York magazine, they usually have a good list of events going on.

Furious Jam

09-06-2007, 09:52 PM

1 - Times Square - just to say you've been
2 - Carnegie Deli - for a pastrami sandwich
3 - Empire State Building or 30 Rock - you can't understand NYC unless you see it from the top
4 - ride the subway everywhere - you can't understand NYC unless you see it from the bottom
5 - St. Patrick's Cathedral - a religious experience, even if you happen to be an atheist like me
6 - try a pizzeria - doesn't have to be Grimaldi's or John's, a Ray's will do in a pinch

All of these things you can do in 24 hours. Of course there's so much more, but this list will give you the flavor of the city.

Bonus Tip: the Upper East Side may be a little out of your way, but Tal Bagels on E. 86th has the best bagels on Earth.

rhino17

09-06-2007, 09:56 PM

The Kramer Tour (Seinfeld) is by far the most fun touristy thing to do there. Its only done on Saturdays, but I dont know if they run them this early in the year

DaDakota

09-06-2007, 11:14 PM

nyquil82

09-06-2007, 11:16 PM

walk around looking up at the buildings without seeing where you are going, don't forget a camera.

The other day I saw a stupid biatch walk through a busy crosswalk in times square looking up and taking a picture.

Carl Herrera

09-06-2007, 11:25 PM

I don't have time for touristy things, only there for 24 hours.....

I had a job offer from MTV and their mobile division but turned it down, don't want to move to NY.....

Not with a family to raise....I am addicted to Austin.

I am not even sure where midtown is.....but any suggestions for a quiet restaraunt/bar to hook up with my biz partners Sunday evening?

DD

Mr. K's is posh Chinese restaraunt with GIANT chairs, and lots of guys is suits around. I know of a great authentic Japanese place called Rio and You, but they don't open on Sundays. There is Robert's Steakhouse, which is a highly rated steak place with lot of businessmen customers and located inside the Penthouse Executive Club (yes, it's topless). It's chef owns a little barbecue called Daisy May's place next door (not topless). Hawaiian Tropic Zone has waitresses in bikinis. Bobby Flay owns a place called Bar Americain. There are a ton of places you can go....

And here's a Greek restaurant:http://www.livanosrestaurantgroup.com/

krnxsnoopy

09-06-2007, 11:26 PM

across110thstreet

09-06-2007, 11:29 PM

what I would do is dig up the other hundred or so threads that say the exact same things as the advice given here...

there is simply too much to do or recommend to do in a couple of days...but this jaded ex-New Yorker gives you this advice- live like you were a local for a day- avoid being a tourist and walk around/take the subway all day- see what kind of adventures you can get yourself into...

do not visit Times Square. Do not visit the statue of Liberty, do not visit the Empire State Building...

Do go to Rockefeller Plaza and visit The Top of the Rock, check out Central Park, get lost in it if you have to. Check out Strawberry Fields and the Dakota Building. Go all the way uptown to the Cloisters and Fort Tryon if you have the time. check out the East Village near Tompkins Square Park.

instead of the Circle Line tour, take a Water Taxi...
ride the train out to Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium. visit a museum- the Guggenheim, Metropolitan or Museum of Natural History...

take a tram ride over Roosevelt Island. rent a bicylce on the Hudson River.
go to Canal Street and you will find Chinatown and Little Italy.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge

Deckard

09-06-2007, 11:37 PM

It sounds like a real touristy thing, but go up to the top of the Empire State Building, if no one has already suggested it. Incredible view. Just incredible. Hell, New York is incredible. One of my regrets is never having lived there for a year or two. Just a great place, and nothing else like it in the world.

Khal80

09-07-2007, 12:26 AM

If you want a nice place to take your business partners, lounge type place....go to The Lemon

classy place...you can sit down and talk....

MR. MEOWGI

09-07-2007, 12:27 AM

Cab drivers there are on strike btw.

ROCKET RICH NYC

09-07-2007, 02:22 AM

late night Chinese open 24 hours go to Wo Hop on Mott street. Been open since 1938. Be sure to walk downstairs. Get a tshirt and leave your picture on their wall. The best fried rice in town.

A_3PO

09-07-2007, 06:59 AM

You should stay an extra day. Your options for Monday are very limited. I would be paranoid about getting back to LGA in time to make the flight.

I flew out of New York on 9/11/2002 and it was no big deal at all. This is your first time and you owe it to yourself to see a few things. Some of these suggestions are awesome. I suggest you fly out Tuesday and treat yourself to a 9-10am to midnight adventure. New York is an incredible thing to experience, especially the first time you go.

famicom

09-07-2007, 10:42 AM

If you are looking for something cheap to eat, they have these gyro stands and $1 roasted peanuts on the street that kick ass! They were around the 5th street, also shanghai joe's (1 in chinatown and 1 by central park) have good dumplings. Too many things to list...the Natural History museum has a lot of dinosaur fossils if you're into that...didn't have a chance to catch a show on Broadway...also be prepared for a lot of walking unless you take a cab, in that case your paying for a rollercoaster ride because they drive crazy.. I'm talking about driving on the sidewalks crazy!

Deckard

09-07-2007, 11:00 AM

jo mama

09-12-2007, 01:02 PM

***THREAD BUMP!

im going to nyc for the first time next tuesday and am having a bitch of a time getting a hotel for under $300 a night (for 2 people). am i being naive in thinking i can get $200 a night? is there some kind of event going on next week that is causing all the hotels to be booked up? do all the euros take their "holidays" in september?

i was looking at one called the carlton arms that a friend raved about, but they have nothing available till october.

i would prefer to stay in manhattan somewhere (midtown or upper east/west side), but am now thinking maybe brooklyn. if i understand correctly, its pretty easy/quick/cheap to get into manhattan from brooklyn via subway?

can anyone suggest any decent hotels for me? the internet search has been futile. i dont need a tv or phone or spa or anything. we'll be out and about all day - just need a quiet place to sleep.

cur.ve

09-12-2007, 02:52 PM

***THREAD BUMP!
can anyone suggest any decent hotels for me? the internet search has been futile. i dont need a tv or phone or spa or anything. we'll be out and about all day - just need a quiet place to sleep.

Craigslist.com:

Look for a short term sublet in the areas you want to stay in Manhattan (close to attractions):
- Hell's Kitchen
- Chelsea
- East Village (although these will probably be smaller)
- West Village
- Midtown
- Upper West Side
- I would say if you're a first-timer, don't go about 72nd street and don't stay 'downtown'/financial district

They are usually nicer and cheaper than hotels in New York. I've put up my place to rent when I go out of town and you should be able to find one within your price range.

gifford1967

09-12-2007, 03:07 PM

beautiful.

Sorry to be obsessed, DD, but in all my visits to NYC, that little boat trip I mentioned stands out. They have a guy doing play-by-play the whole time, giving you the history, the details of different sections of town, even why certains areas can support skyscrapers while other areas can't. It helped me get a grip on the real layout of Manhattan... and it was just gorgeous.

If you do the shorter one, it's a couple of hours I think. They even get you as close as you need to get to the Statue of Liberty. (As someone else said, the tour itself is boring.)

Leaves on the West side, circa 42nd.

Circle Line Tour (http://www.circleline42.com/index.ihtml?page=sightseeing)

I've been to New York many times and wanted to take this tour, but haven't yet.

thegary

09-12-2007, 03:11 PM

im going to nyc for the first time next tuesday i would prefer to stay in manhattan somewhere (midtown or upper east/west side)

is there a reason why you want to stay in those areas? i can assure you they suck. what are you in town for? if you are just in town farting around, get the cheapest place possible and blow the money on hookers or drugs or whatever. i would stay here if this is to be a recreational visit:
http://www.hostels.com/en/availability.php/HostelNumber.16931

weslinder

09-12-2007, 03:39 PM

can anyone suggest any decent hotels for me? the internet search has been futile. i dont need a tv or phone or spa or anything. we'll be out and about all day - just need a quiet place to sleep.

I was going to recommend the Mansfield, because I've stayed there more than once and it was in the $150 range, but Hotels.com has it for $299 now. Try calling and bargaining with them. There's no way it should have doubled in price in 2 years.