New York New York! - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**kiwichick** · 03-05-2009, 12:59 PM

hey kids
im planning to head to canada for a snow season at the end of this year with atleast one other, but stopping en route for a week or so in New York (or hoping to..)..i'd love to see New York pre-christmas, snow and ice skating etc (however i may actually be there more like mid-nov, am i kidding myself?) but thought there must be a fair few ppl on here who've been, what would u reccomend doing there? how long would u reccomend staying? hostels etc?
ohh and what would a reasonable budget be?
any clues appreciated

ta

**Sijuki** · 03-05-2009, 01:40 PM

New York is an expensive city... To get through there on the cheap takes a little planning.

I would go see the Empire State Building (one of those go up in the tall building and look far out upon the city), it's nice cause it's still outside. Go visit Central Park. At least see the statue of liberty, even if you don't actually go to the island. Times Square was really cool to go to. I know there is a bunch I'm not even thinking of.

New York is one of those places you can see some things in a few days or spend weeks exploring the nooks and crannies. So just how intimate you want to be with the city decides the time, but depending on your budget and what you can find for boarding... 4-7 days.

**pinknic38** · 03-05-2009, 03:37 PM

well I'm sitting in the Cbus airport waiting on my flight to NYC right now!

I will say this about NYC, since I've been once before...

-cabs are pretty cheap relative to anywhere else in the US. LaGUardia airport to Midtown is like $25 (and that includes tolls, cos you're coming from Queens in NJ)

-def hit the big stuff: Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Financial District, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, blah blah blah.

-check out some of the high end shopping on 5th Ave/Park Ave, I love to cos you see so many celebrities around there and even though none of us can afford Manolo Blahnick and Burberry, everything is so fabulous to look at

-have a cupcake at Crumbs bakery.... it is from heaven. Crumbs Bake Shop - Home

-check out some of the cool neighborhoods - SoHo, Upper East Side (I love it up there but prolly cos my friends live there), Columbia Campus (and have a piece of pie at the Seinfeld diner), Meat Packing district, etc etc

I will have more advice when I get back on Sunday.

**lauren313** · 03-06-2009, 02:21 AM

Oh my god, I have got to get me one of those cupcakes!

**mbo108** · 03-06-2009, 04:38 AM

I've also always loved St Patrick's Cathedral. I'm not very religious whatsoever (although i was raised Catholic) but as far as cathedrals go its pretty impressive - especially because we don't have big beautiful ones in every city the way Europe is full of them. Its right in Manhattan. My favorite thing to do is to look up at the ceiling - they have the hats of all the former Cardinals from Manhattan suspended there, bright red spots floating in mid-air.

And if its late November the tree (at Rockefeller Center) should be up by then and the skaters will be out (and there's more skating in Central Park).

**pinknic38** · 03-06-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauren313

Oh my god, I have got to get me one of those cupcakes!

if you read dlisted.com and perez, every time you see Suri Cruise with a cupcake, it's from Crumbs. holy smokes everything is so good there!!!

**lauren313** · 03-06-2009, 07:50 AM

Hah, you know we share the perez love!

**mollymore** · 03-06-2009, 11:50 AM

whoops, double post. see below.

also don't forget to have dim sum in chinatown. omg i'm so hungry just thinking about eating in NYC. a little more pricey but I love Negril in Chelsea for carribean food. or you can just go for the $2 jamaican patties in bed-stuy. mmmmmm

**mollymore** · 03-06-2009, 11:51 AM

I love NYC, been there many times, and I don't think it has to cost an arm and a leg. There is a lot that you can do in NYC for free or cheap if you do a little research.

Don't take cabs -- ride the subway or even *gasp* the bus if you want to see the city while you are moving through it. The subway though is much faster. Get a week long unlimited metro card so that you don't have to think about it.

The museums in NYC are great. The Met is by donation and you can get in paying only $1 and stay all day. Go up to the cloisters same day with your met pass and see a whole different area of manhattan. Many other museums have pay-what-you-can nights so look at their websites to see when it's happening. The Guggenheim, for example, is regular $20 but pay what you can on either Thurs or Fri, can't remember which. There are many many other fun and interesting museums big and small in NY like the museum of sex, and the tenement museum in the lower east side. There are a lot of small private galleries concentrated in Chelsea which are of course free because the art is for sale.

Although it can be very chilly in Nov/Dec it is also a very walkable city at least in Manhattan. I always spend a day walking around chinatown, little italy, the lower east side and the east village. Unless you like fancy, there is also lots of cheap restaurants. One of my new favorite places that i discovered last summer and visited again in december is called caracas. Google "caracas new york" and you'll find their website. I dream of their arepas. that said, there are even cheaper places to eat.

there are lots of other neighbourhoods to explore within manhattan and also beyond like aurthur avenue in the bronx (an italian neighbourhood more authentic than little italy right near the bronx zoo) and park slope and williamsburg in brooklyn (very hipster neighbourhoods). these are just a couple of interesting places to visit but it really depends on what you're into.

another tip--you can spend $100 to see a broadway show OR you can find out about the rush tickets that most shows offer for the sunday matinees. there's no guarantee that you'll get a rush ticket as many are done by lottery but I've seen shows for $25 this way. If you don't get in, go walk around times square but don't have lunch there, it's all expensive tourist traps.

basically, if you stick to the beaten path and do all the predictable things, a visit to NYC will cost you a mint but if you do a little research and explore some different options you can see a more "real" NY for $25-$50/day or less even. This doesn't include lodging, can't help you with that one, I always stay with friends =)

Molly

**maracle** · 03-06-2009, 12:22 PM

I'm going to be the oddball and say skip the Empire State building....it's pricey, involves a long line and lots of security, and once you're at the top good luck fighting through the crowds to get a look over the railing. If you've always wanted to do it, go for it, but I didn't really enjoy it. In fact the experience pissed me off quite a bit.

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on the other hand were awesome. You can get a combined ticket for both and they're really interesting (it's windy out there though so bundle up).

My favorite NYC museum is the Frick Collection. It's not a behemoth like the Met or the Natural History museum but it isn't small either and it comes with a free audio tour that's pretty good. Henry Frick was Carnegie's partner in US Steel and the museum is his mansion (a full NYC block) and all the art, furniture, and other badass stuff he collected with his gazillions.

And I have to second Molly's suggestion on getting rush tickets for Broadway shows. They're a lot of fun! You do have to get up early for Rush tickets though. The most recent shows may be hard to get tickets to even with rush tickets. I was able to get tickets to Rent, Chicago, and Sly Fox without much problem. I tried for Wicked shortly after it was released and there were 500 people waiting for a raffle of 20 tickets.

**Sijuki** · 03-06-2009, 01:40 PM

I didn't have such issues with my visit to the Empire State Building... but that was many years ago... Although it was pricey... but oh well I like going to tall things

**mollymore** · 03-06-2009, 02:32 PM

A friend took me to the empire state building. I have to agree with maracle, expensive, long lines, crazy security. they take your photo for security purposes then try to sell it to you for like $20 on your way out. I only went because someone else was paying. it's not all that IMO, and there's better things to do for cheaper.

The frick collection was ok but it depends what kind of art you're into. it's got more like baroque and renaissance type stuff, not really my thing. If you like modern art, you can't beat the whitney or again, the guggenheim depending on what's showing there.

I also second maracle on ellis island. The museum of immigration or whatever it's called is super cool and informative and it's neat to go on the ferry and see the lower tip of manhattan from ellis island.

There's another island, i can't remember the name off hand, but it's right between manhattan and brooklyn/queens and for the price of a transit ticket you can take an air tram over to it, walk around, and have a nice view of midtown. also, a walk across the brooklyn bridge is always nice, and free. Oh NY, I do <3 it.

Molly

**mollymore** · 03-06-2009, 02:34 PM

omg another double post. there's something wrong with things when I hit post in the quick reply view it doesn't re-route me to the thread until I post a second time...

**pinknic38** · 03-06-2009, 02:48 PM

nice tip on the empire state building courtesy of my new york dwellings college friends:

go in the evening. the observation deck is open til 1am and it's busiest from 9-5.... they said if you go around 8pm you might not even have a wait.

in the summer you can wait 4-5 hours between 9-5 and in the off season, it's still 2-3 hours.

also for broadway shows, there are TKTS booths that sell tickets 50% off, the main one being in times square and the lines are hours long for tickets... however there is a lesser-known TKTS booth is in south street seaport and they sell tickets to evening performances on the day of the performance, and matinee tickets the day before... at that booth you will have a 20 min line max for tix.

south street seaport is also VERY cool - you can get AMAZING views of queens and brooklyn and the bridges and there's a lot of cool seafood places to eat.

today I did one of those bus tours where they circle around downtown and you get off where you want and pick up the next bus. I got the tix on discount after some sweet talking. it was nice to pass by everything and just see what I wanted to see. perhaps not the BEST way to experience NYC but it was a nice day anyway.

also I am obsessed with Greenwich village and will live there someday. someday when I have gobs of $. some places in NYC just have a really good feel. when it comes time for the "real world" I am def going to job hunt here. all the neighborhoods are like little cities in their own and I think it would be a great place even with kids!

**pinknic38** · 03-06-2009, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mollymore

Get a week long unlimited metro card so that you don't have to think about it.

good call... the week long metro card pays for itself if you're even there for the weekend sightseeing... it's $25 and it covers all bus & subway shit. fantastic. and I know for sure you can get to JFK directly from the subway and you can get to LaGuardia if you take the 4, 5, or 6 train and get off at 125th and then take the M60 bus to LGA. If you land in LGA you can buy the week long metro card at the newsstand before you even get outside.

<3 ny for sure

**aliz** · 03-06-2009, 03:35 PM

yay, New York! sounds like you've already got a lot of good advice. I went in January last year and really loved it - I'd recommend staying as long as you can afford to! also if you're there for more than a week, mix it up with your accommodation! we stayed 5 days near times square/rockefeller centre kinda area and 5 days in greenwich village. it made us see different things and really explore the city.
I personally LOVED the empire state building, but I think it was because we got very lucky. we went right at the end of the day, and there was seriously NO line. probably because it was January? I don't know. so we got up there really quickly and saw the city in the last light, then went inside for a bit and read the books in the gift shop while we waited for it to get dark cause we wanted to see the city at night too. when we went back outside in the dark, it started snowing right at that moment! it was amazing. so try to find out when the least amount of crowds are there, because once you're up there you can stay as long as you like.

**Legitikick** · 03-06-2009, 10:24 PM

Yeah, you guys are gettin' me all excited about my trip to NY in a few weeks! I'll be there for 8 days for the Model United Nations Conference, its gonna be a sh*tload of work, but loads of fun too. There's some downtime in there too, so we'll have time to explore the city too. Thanks for all the info folks!

**mish99** · 03-07-2009, 01:47 PM

^^ Me to! I have to be patient and wait though.

Since I havnt been - yet -I cant offer any advice.

Nicole - why would you torture me with that cupcake site? I just know I will blow my budget on cupcakes now!!

**pinknic38** · 03-07-2009, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mish99

Nicole - why would you torture me with that cupcake site? I just know I will blow my budget on cupcakes now!!

they're not very expensive! like $2.50 for a huge ass cupcake! totally worth it!!!!!!

**Sijuki** · 03-07-2009, 03:46 PM

I love NYC cause it's a bright lights, big city, lots of hustle and bustle. I know I could spend oodles of time just exploring the history.

My funny experience though was going to a Sbarro's for lunch and I ordered a 'pop' (what us people from this here part of the country call a soda) and the girl looked at me as if i was speaking a totally different language. I remembered where I was and quickly corrected myself that I wanted a soda. She was spot on after that.

I reminded my buddy about that, and he thought that was stupid cause everyone knows what pop is, and then complained cause the girl didn't know what a pop was and it took him so long to communicate what he wanted, but he wouldn't call it a soda.