New York City help

[blessedby3]

I am heading to NYC on Friday with my 2 dd's, dsis, dniece and mom. We are staying in Secaucus and taking the bus in to the city on Friday for an evening show of The Little Mermaid. The show is at 8pm.
What time would you suggest we head in to avoid the traffic?
When we went about 3 1/2 years ago we hit horrible traffic and it took us forever to get to the bus station from our hotel. Also, I remember when we got off the bus we couldnt tell what level was the street level and had a hard time getting out of the bus station for some reason. No one wanted to help either or didnt speak English so we were very frustrated.
Can someone tell me what level the doors are on to get on the streets of NYC?

Another Question. I remember the Lunt Fontain theater being fairly close to the bus station and Times Square. DD was wanting to go to the Statue of Liberty on Sat. and I was wondering how far away that would be from the bus. DD has had foot surgery and while this isnt the greatest time to be going because of that, the play closes at the end of the month and thats why we are going now. I dont want her to have to walk tons and wondered what the best mode of getting around would be. Im a little concerned about the subway and navigating that if we have to take it. We took a taxi on our last trip, but I was afraid we werent going to survive that ride

Youngest dd also wants to go to the American Girl store. Are all these things close?
Times Square
Statue of Liberty
American Girl

Also, any suggestions of what else is great to try and get to see is appreciated. We will just have Fri. evening before the show and Saturday to do what we want.

Any suggestions for reasonable places to eat lunch or dinner would be great too. Thanks

 

[java]

Well the Statue of Liberty is all the way downtown and takes a good long time to head over and visit. Would she be happy enough just to see it from the shore? You'll probably see it driving over from NJ. They suggest taking the ferry by 1pm to really get to see it all *including ellis island.
But if all she wants is a close up of the statue you can do it for free on the Staten Island Ferry- You could take it over and back (although to me that's a lot of time to waste if I only had one day in NYC)
BUT if you do it- eating in the village is great fun and cheap! Eat Ethnic and you'll have a fantastic inexpensive meal.

Times Square and the American Girl store are all relatively close by- near the theater district. Really the only thing you would want to see in Times square is the ToysRus with the ferris wheel inside- The M&M's store and MTV if you kids are into that.

You didn't mention the Disney store? That's near American Girl.

http://www.becco-nyc.com/

Is one of our favorites to eat. Inexpensive Italian (lidia who owns my favorite restaurant Felidia in NYC opened this less expensive but just as delicious place!)

Virgil's BBQ is also one of our favorites
http://www.virgilsbbq.com/

And a lot of people like Carmines
http://www.carminesnyc.com/
To me it's ok I prefer Becco- but it's good too.

And we like Ellen's Startdust Diner for breakfast
http://www.ellensstardustdiner.com/
Singing waitstaff is FUN!! And it's reasonable for NYC

 

[blessedby3]

Well, dd really wanted to get a chance to see the S of L up close. We saw it from a distance last time. If we go from the bus stop area, what is our best bet to get there? We wouldnt be touring the whole island, and I believe that someone said you could ride the Staten Island Ferry for free and get a good look at it. Our plans are not set in stone, so if it wont work out then it wont work out. I was hoping to see some Times Square stuff before the play. We did go to The Disney Store, and TRU last time, although my youngest wasnt with us then and definately wants to go to TRU. That would leave us Sat. to do anything else we wanted to get in.
Thanks for the help. NYC is just such an overwhelming place to me and Ive only been that once. This time DH wont be with us to make me feel better about things.
What about Am Girl? How far/close is that to other things we want to do?

 

[funhouse8]

Well, dd really wanted to get a chance to see the S of L up close. We saw it from a distance last time. If we go from the bus stop area, what is our best bet to get there? We wouldnt be touring the whole island, and I believe that someone said you could ride the Staten Island Ferry for free and get a good look at it. Our plans are not set in stone, so if it wont work out then it wont work out. I was hoping to see some Times Square stuff before the play. We did go to The Disney Store, and TRU last time, although my youngest wasnt with us then and definately wants to go to TRU. That would leave us Sat. to do anything else we wanted to get in.
Thanks for the help. NYC is just such an overwhelming place to me and Ive only been that once. This time DH wont be with us to make me feel better about things.
What about Am Girl? How far/close is that to other things we want to do?

Maybe this will help with getting around


http://www.hopstop.com/?city=NewYork

 

[java]

Getting to the Staten Island ferry is pretty Easy. You can take the subway(Either the 3/4 or the 1/9) you would get off at SOUTH FERRY I believe
Here's a map
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

The round trip would be about an hour on the Staten Island Ferry. (It won't be packed with commuters on a Saturday) but it runs 24 hours a day.

American Girl is 5th and 49th street I think.

When are you seeing the play? Friday night or Saturday day/night?

 

[java]

Maybe this will help with getting around


http://www.hopstop.com/?city=NewYork

Hey that's a great site! Thanks for posting it I bookmarked it for us too!

 

[blessedby3]

Getting to the Staten Island ferry is pretty Easy. You can take the subway(Either the 3/4 or the 1/9) you would get off at SOUTH FERRY I believe
Here's a map
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

The round trip would be about an hour on the Staten Island Ferry. (It won't be packed with commuters on a Saturday) but it runs 24 hours a day.

American Girl is 5th and 54th street I think.

When are you seeing the play? Friday night or Saturday day/night?

We are seeing the play on Friday night, 8pm

 

[NJMomma]

The Statute of Liberty is technically in NJ. The ferry to see the Statue of Liberty leaves from Jersey City, which is closer to Seacaucus than Staten Island. The advantage to the Staten Island ferry would be the price, but I think it's far easier to go to Jersey City. I'm sure your hotel can help you out here as well - they can tell you what's the best way to go. Just what I think...

I haven't been to the American Girl shop, so I can't help you there.

As to avoiding traffic, well, that will be hard! Leave many hours ahead and find something to do NYC to occupy yourselves. I have hard many close calls getting into NYC just in time to see shows. Make an afternoon of it - go to Times Square, (the Toys R Us in Times Square has a ferris wheel inside- it's neat!) the wax musuem, all that touristy stuff.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[big_red_s]

Start the day as early as you can. If the show is at eight I wouldn't live after 4 PM on a Friday.

My suggestion is to go as early as possible. Your theatre is around Times Square so you should be fine with that. If you have time you can go to the American Girl place, it's a bit of a walk or you can use the subway

Being from the area, I've never been on the hopstop so I can't comment. Some people love it, some hate it., but the subway is by far the best method for getting around quickly.

The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island are easily worth half a day trip and are amazing up close, I'd do just that on Saturday. If you have time, and boys in your group, I'd also recommend the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.

 

[blessedby3]

Im thinking we wont get to the hotel until about 3pm. Guess we should just check in and get on the bus. I cant remember what time we got on the bus last time, but it was probably 5-6 and we just werent thinking about there being so much traffic.
Do you know what level of the bus station is street level?

 

[czycropper]

I've never taken the bus in so unfortunately I can't help you there (I usually drive in or take the subway) BUT I will concur with NJMomma that you should make an afternoon of it and go in early. You can easily walk to AGP-NYC from Broadway &/or bus station - it will be about a 15-minute walk depending on how fast you go (We have a tendency of walking fast since my DDs are now used to city walking and don't stop in the middle to look around ) Also, remember to check the bus schedule in the evening since the busses may be further in between. We usually drive in for shows because of the waiting for subways and then changing to NJ Transit and I really dislike public transportation but that's me

Regarding the Statue of Liberty, why don't you just drive to Liberty State Park and take the ferry from there. The hotel can tell you how to get there (basically taking the turnpike south to 78-east and get off at the signs which will be the last exit before the Holland Tunnel). You'll get beautiful views of Lower Manhattan and it's about a 5-minute ferry ride. We drive over there when we get visitors but we're lucky that we live off I-78 and it only takes us about 50 minutes to Liberty State Park. The Staten Island Ferry would really be WAY out of the way.

Have a great time!

 

[tinkamom]

Getting to the Staten Island ferry is pretty Easy. You can take the subway(Either the 3/4 or the 1/9) you would get off at SOUTH FERRY I believe
Here's a map
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

The round trip would be about an hour on the Staten Island Ferry. (It won't be packed with commuters on a Saturday) but it runs 24 hours a day.

American Girl is 5th and 54th street I think.

When are you seeing the play? Friday night or Saturday day/night?

American girl is 49th and 5th and World of Disney is 55th and 5th. Its a very easy walk to/from Times Square.

I don't know anything about the bus terminal. Maybe you could find a map on google? Or maybe theres a customer service number here that could help you: www.lirr.org, it has info for trains, subways, and busses.

I was thinking of going to the Statue of Liberty and was looking at this site: www.nps.gov

It said to expect long lines in the summer and holidays, hours long on each side of the ferry! I'm waiting till fall!

Have fun!

 

[blessedby3]

Getting to the Staten Island ferry is pretty Easy. You can take the subway(Either the 3/4 or the 1/9) you would get off at SOUTH FERRY I believe
Here's a map
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

The round trip would be about an hour on the Staten Island Ferry. (It won't be packed with commuters on a Saturday) but it runs 24 hours a day.

American Girl is 5th and 54th street I think.

When are you seeing the play? Friday night or Saturday day/night?

Wow, that map of the subway is overwhelming!! How confusing is it to actually go down in the subway and buy tickets? Is there anyone there who can help us? What are the fares typically? thanks

 

[mjkacmom]

American girl is 49th and 5th and World of Disney is 55th and 5th. Its a very easy walk to/from Times Square.

I don't know anything about the bus terminal. Maybe you could find a map on google? Or maybe theres a customer service number here that could help you: www.lirr.org, it has info for trains, subways, and busses.

I was thinking of going to the Statue of Liberty and was looking at this site: www.nps.gov

It said to expect long lines in the summer and holidays, hours long on each side of the ferry! I'm waiting till fall!

Have fun!

The lines are much shorter on the NJ side than the NY side.

 

[dgthree]

The theatre you'll be seeing the show at is 4 blocks from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. If the bus is anything like the ones I've taken from northern NJ into the Port Authority, you'll come in on an upper level, and have to go down one very narrow escalator or flight of stairs to get to the second level of the bus terminal, and then you'll take an open escalator down to the main level of the terminal. From there, make a right off the escalator and the doors onto 8th Avenue should be in front of you.

Can't offer much advice on food or other things to do, as I haven't spent much time in NYC except to work in the last few years. Have fun!

 

[ecamc]

I am the sis going on this trip to NYC. Thanks for so many replies. It is a bit overwhelming to read about getting around in the city when you are from a rural area! I know we are going to have fun though. Any other suggestions would be appreciated !