Help me plan my New York trip

[cruisin]

I've been to NYC a couple of times and still don't get why people say it's so expensive. To me prices are comparable to other cities. And I never really go on a budget. The only thing that makes it expensive is that I'm always enticed to spend, since you're constantly walking by restaurants, stores and interesting things.

I think it depends on what you do, and whether you are there for an extended stay or going in for the day. I live about 50 minutes from the city (w/o traffic). It's expensive to go in and do something. The highway tolls, the tunnel/bridge tolls, the parking. Before you even do anything it's about $40-$60. Mass transit from here is not much cheaper, parking in the lot and the round trip train ticket will cost $25-$30. But then there is the time issue, non-weekday trains only run hourly (rather than half hourly/sometimes every 20 minutes) and most of them are not express. I refuse to use the subways anymore, and the busses are such a pain in the butt, taxis are $$ (especially if the driver thinks you don't know where you're going).

[Southpaw]

I've been to NYC a couple of times and still don't get why people say it's so expensive. To me prices are comparable to other cities. And I never really go on a budget. The only thing that makes it expensive is that I'm always enticed to spend, since you're constantly walking by restaurants, stores and interesting things.

It's expensive to live here. The rent is too damn high.

[cruisin]

^^ I do think I understand El Rey's point. NYC is expensive, to live there and to visit. But, so are most major cities. Paris, Rome, San Francisco, Prague, etc. are all expensive to visit. I just think that for those of us who live near NYC, we are more aware of how expensive it is to live and visit there, we're not comparing it to other cities that are also $$.

[Artemis@BC]

Of all the cities I've visited, London has been the most expensive by far. There are some deals to be had -- all their public galleries & museums are free, for example, although they do encourage "donation" -- but any savings there are eaten up very quickly in other areas, esp. food and transit. And if you think Broadway shows are expensive, you should see the West End prices!

[cruisin]

Of all the cities I've visited, London has been the most expensive by far. There are some deals to be had -- all their public galleries & museums are free, for example, although they do encourage "donation" -- but any savings there are eaten up very quickly in other areas, esp. food and transit. And if you think Broadway shows are expensive, you should see the West End prices!

A big part of that is also the exchange rate.

[genevieve]

The High Line is a new must do:
http://www.thehighline.org/

I'll second (or fifth or sixth, more like) this! I love the high Line - it's one of the most innovative and cool urban parks I've seen. I went over a year ago and there was a old building in the middle of it that was about to be renovated into fancy schmancy condos. I wish they'd have left it as is - the architectural decay on display was a beautiful part of the experience.

Also seconding something someone posted pages ago - get the weekly metro pass. it's totally worth it. Only thing is - don't buy on if your first transit ride is at night - it will wipe out a whole day (for some reson I thought it might be time stamped when I last went).

[Wyliefan]

Hey Artemis, looks like I may be there same time as you!

Forgot to ask you -- do you have an e-mail subscription to Playbill? It's a great way to get theater discounts.

[oleada]

I totally third, fourth or whatever, the Highline. It's a lot of fun! My friends and I liked going once in a while, getting food and watching it get dark. It's a nice place.

[all_empty]

I'm still over all the High Line lurve. The observation deck over the intersection goes the street is kinda cool, but otherwise it's just a long concrete walk with some nice plants. Yes you can observe the urban decay ... and then stroll into the $3,000 month condo project.

While rents are bad, hotels are even worse. I blew $1,000 in four days and that was through Priceline! I wanted to try AirBnB, but my reservation didn't confirm until after I arrived so I needed to find other arrangements.

[Artemis@BC]

Forgot to ask you -- do you have an e-mail subscription to Playbill? It's a great way to get theater discounts.

I don't currently, but I will about 90 seconds from now ...

Top tip! (As our UK friends say.) Thanks!

[FigureSpins]

Check out the NYS tourism site, I Love NY: http://www.iloveny.com/

They have some discounts but their events calendar is better. It's all of NY State, so it's pretty far-reaching.

NYC's government portal is here: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgo...fa24601c789a0/
More geared towards things going on in the City itself.

NYC's tourism site is here: http://www.nycgo.com/


The NYC Transit museum is in downtown Brooklyn. They have old subway signs and cars with straps to hang from, hence the term "straphangers."

[cruisin]

I'm still over all the High Line lurve. The observation deck over the intersection goes the street is kinda cool, but otherwise it's just a long concrete walk with some nice plants. Yes you can observe the urban decay ... and then stroll into the $3,000 month condo project.

Yeah, I'm not getting it either. It's not exactly a nice area of the city, the views...?

While rents are bad, hotels are even worse. I blew $1,000 in four days and that was through Priceline! I wanted to try AirBnB, but my reservation didn't confirm until after I arrived so I needed to find other arrangements.

And $250 a night is not bad at all.

[FigureSpins]

By the way , Restaurant Week has been extended (I guess because of the snowstorms) to February 27th. Great bargains to be had in some pretty hoity-toity places.

http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek/

Yeah, I'm not getting it either. It's not exactly a nice area of the city, the views...?

The view of Jersey City and Hoboken is actually pretty nice and as long as you don't look too closely at what's underneath the park, the tops of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State are very attractive.

I agree about the neighborhood. It runs through the meat-packing district, which still reeks in warm weather, even with the demise of its many butchering facilities.
Given your vegetarian lifestyle, Artemis, you may not want to stay there too long when the sun comes out.

[emason]

I'm still over all the High Line lurve.

New Yorkers (myself included) love the High Line because we live in a concrete jungle and anything that gives us more park space is a blessing. Instead of an eyesore of disused elevated train tracks, we now have a beautiful stretch of garden that changes with the seasons and there is seating of various types on which to relax. I saw more birds and butterflies in one afternoon at the High Line than I do in a year down on the concrete below. It's not about the views; it's about the escape you get from the city by just climbing up a flight of stairs.

[Erin]

I'm coming late to the party, but I also recommend Top of the Rock over the Empire State Building after having been to both. I also loved walking the Brooklyn Bridge at night.

A couple of places to eat that haven't been mentioned:
Tony's DiNapoli - Family style Italian restaurant just off of Times Square. In spite of its location, the prices were extremely reasonable. I think our meal ended up being $35 each, which included wine and we all left completely stuffed.
Landmarc - A bit pricier, but the food was unbelievable. We went to the Tribeca location, but I discovered on the website that there's also one near Central Park.

[cruisin]

New Yorkers (myself included) love the High Line because we live in a concrete jungle and anything that gives us more park space is a blessing. Instead of an eyesore of disused elevated train tracks, we now have a beautiful stretch of garden that changes with the seasons and there is seating of various types on which to relax. I saw more birds and butterflies in one afternoon at the High Line than I do in a year down on the concrete below. It's not about the views; it's about the escape you get from the city by just climbing up a flight of stairs.

Or, you could get on NJ transit and come out here, we have birds and butterflies, deer, foxes, black bear, a few coyote. Oh, wait, I'm trying to convince you to want to come

[emason]

Or, you could get on NJ transit and come out here, we have birds and butterflies, deer, foxes, black bear, a few coyote. Oh, wait, I'm trying to convince you to want to come

Don't worry, when I really truly need a change of scene I hop the DeCamp bus from Port Authority and go to Bloomfield to my favorite needlework store. Half an hour on the bus and I am a million miles away, mentally at least.

[Willowway]

I agree with emason about why NYCers love the High Line. Also, the HL is a little phoenix and New Yorkers love nothing better than a 'back from the dead' story - better still the story of a place we can enjoy after it comes back from the dead. And the HL is an epic phoenix story - it took years of apathy to neglect to aspiration to working through the politics to raising money to reclaim this little bit of interesting space for the people of NYC. Like everyone and everything in NYC, the place has a great story that goes along with it.

[FigureSpins]

^ ^
I wish I could rep you - you nailed the spirit!

[Willowway]

Thank you FigureSpins - you and I have other business - we need to set up our own 'compulsive shopping for fabric and other sewing related illnesses' thread somewhere.