NYC disers-- how's this plan....

[buzzgirls&dad]

We will be traveling to NYC on thurs for Memorial weekend. We do have a wedding. So our choice of hotel and some activities are planned for us. Our hotel is the Andaz wallstreet. When get on Thurs we thought we'll check in and go to lunch at Katz deli. We are kind of looking for something to do in the afternoon in the area. At night we were thinking of Rosa Mexicano @ union station?

Friday- deciding on either the city sites tour or Greyline is one better?
Lunch wherever we have gotten off to tour
Dinner- Artisnel Bistro and Seeing " Anything goes"--long day

Sat- We have have tickets for the 9/11 memorial- is there a nice lunch place in the area and is there something else to do around here as we need to be back to the hotel early to catch a bus for the rehearsal dinner which is in Brooklyn.

Sunday- We thought to take the NBC tour and do some shopping and sight seeing in this area and Times Square. Maybe hit Carnegie Deli and head back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

Monday - We leave but have a few hours before we go - What about Ellis Island? We are open to suggestions.


Please let us know if we should try to fit in anything else. Some of our group has been to NYC and others are first timers. Any help would be great!!!

 

[sk!mom]

Not a New Yorker but have visited several times.

I would recommend the TKTS booth Thursday to try and see a show Thursday night. We love to get in as many shows as possible. The booth is awesome for arrival day since I never want to prepurchase tickets for that day in case we have travel delays.

I highly recommend the 9/11 tour. It is one of the most moving experiences ever. Not clear on how much time you have but we usually combine a Chinatown lunch with the Memorial area.

I would skip Ellis Island. We've been only once. It's very time consuming. If you want a closer view of the Statue just take a ferry ride.

 

[lisaross]

If u go to china town eat at:

WoHops - 17 Mott Street - DOWNSTAIRS

small, not fancy - great food - great prices!!

 

[Lemurone]

Be advised that these delis can get super long lines. I lived there for 7 years and any time I tried to stop by I turned right around and left as the line was down the sidewalk!
Are you museum fans? Plenty of museums to occupy you Monday. What about a stroll thru Central Park or the cute Central Park Zoo?

 

[shoney]

It's fleet week! You could check out...
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Public-Events-Calendar/2012/Fleet-Week.aspx

right next to the museum is the BEAST speed boat ride...only 30 mins, very fun, gets close to the Statue of Liberty for great pics
http://www.circleline42.com/new-york-cruises/cruise-schedules.aspx


Get to NBC studio early for a tour. We went a little after it opened and could only get a 2:45 tour time.

 

[frndshpcptn]

After visiting the 9/11 Memorial, walk over to the World Financial Center for lunch. They have this beautiful plaza on the water, with good restaurants to choose from.

There's a PJ Clarke's and a few other sit downs. Plus, this time of year the food trucks (YUM) should be out in full force.

You can see all the boats tied up there too.

It's really nice.

 

[minnierocks]

We just returned yesterday from our first trip to the city...Here are my thoughts...
When we arrived on Friday night, we took the night tour on the Grayline. Seriously, it was worth every penny. Our tour guide was great and it gave us a nice overview of the city. The ride over the bridge to Brooklyn was fun and I was glad that we did it. We spent the rest of the time exploring Times Square, ate at Ray's pizza and bought some yummy treats from the bakery next door. As for the Grayline, it is not an efficient way to get around the city for the weekend...it was worth taking the night tour. It was frustrating to use the rest of the time because it just takes too long to get from point A to point B...and if you decide that you want to do something at stop #3 and you are at stop #9, you have to do the entire loop just to backtrack. We took a taxi. If you are comfortable using the subway, do that.
As for the 9/11 Memorial, other than a deli/pizza place next door...there really isn't anywhere for lunch. We had to get back on the bus and go somewhere else. There wasn't really anything else to do in the area...at least for our group. We saw the memorial and moved on.
We took the Statue of Liberty ferry and we were glad that we did. The SoL is closed, but there were some great views on the ferry and the island. We did not get off on Ellis Island...we just didn't feel that we wanted to take that much time, so we went back to the city. We enjoyed Central Park...it is beautiful. We saw Mary Poppins at the Amsterdam Theatre and it was amazing! I do wish that we had more shopping time...it is almost overwhelming and it is hard to even find a place to start. There is much that we didn't have time to do...we will definitely need to go back. I hope this helps!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Hello! I live in NYC and love it! I hope you have a wonderful trip.

The Andaz Wall Street is very nice. If you're looking for a good place to eat nearby, check out Stone Street. If the weather is nice, they will have outdoor seating at most restaurants. Also near Wall Street is the South Street Seaport, which has ships, shopping, and great views of the East River, the New York Harbour and the Brooklyn Bridge. There is a TKTS booth just south of the South Street Seaport that is less crowded than the one in Times Square - check online for hours it's open. You can always walk by and see what shows are available before getting in line.

I personally am not a fan of the big-name delis - I think they're overpriced (even for New York!), and you can get food just as good at a no-name diner. But I do understand the appeal of wanting to go check them out. Rosa Mexicano is very good. Do you mean the one in Union Square at 14th Street? That's a fun area to walk around, with lots of good dining options.

If the weather's nice, I highly recommend finding a way to get out onto the water. I've only done the 2-hour Circle Line tour. You can also take the Staten Island ferry for free - you can walk to the ferry terminal from Wall Street. The ferry ride itself is about 20 minutes, but then of course you have to come back. You'll get great views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbour without waiting in long lines in Battery Park. You should walk down to Battery Park, though, to check out the view from there - it's a great spot, just don't buy a watch from the peddlers there.

The nighttime bus tour is really fun. You'll be in a good spot to take the subway everywhere else - it's not difficult, and contrary to reputation, people are friendly and will help you out if you need directions.

I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't yet been to the 9/11 memorial, despite working 2 blocks from it. I hear it's beautiful and very moving. I agree with the other poster, check out the World Financial Center. There are great paths for walking along the water there, too.

If you're at Rockefeller Center for the NBC tour and have an interest, check out Top of the Rock - it's less crowded than the Empire State Building. Not quite as high, but I think the view is better actually, especially of Central Park and further north. It's also better organized, you'll get a time window to come back and go up when you purchase your tickets - very helpful! The NBC tour is fun but will be crowded.

Try to go someplace that's not overrun by tourists. People often tell me that they don't know how I can live in NYC because it's so crowded, but that's because I avoid Times Square unless I'm seeing a show. I love the city's parks - check out Central Park, the Hudson River Park near the West Village and Tribeca, and Riverside Park on the Upper West Side. I love the Lincoln Square area on the Upper West Side, too - you can walk around there and check out the very cool Apple store there.

Have a wonderful time! It's a great city.

 

[leebee]

You can buy tickets for both NBC tour and Top of the ROck in advance. Ticket lines are often long, so if you go when you "want" to tour, you might be very disappointed. Also, to go to Ellis Island you need to make get tickets from statuecruises.com. Even if you have tickets, you can count on about an hour-long wait for security, then about 20+ mins to get to EI, then easily 2 hours to tour, then the the ferry ride back. Just make sure you have enough time to do this.

I highly recommend doing the night tour. I also agree that using the bus tour type busses (hop on, hop off) is 100% totally frustrating and infuriating during the day... you spend all your time sitting in traffic.

 

[ibela]

if you're in times square, go to restaurant row on 46th street between 8th and 9th avenue. there are a ton of restaurants there, most are good and reasonably priced.

If you check out the TKTS booth by the seaport, you can get tickets for a matinee performance the following day.

I saw Anything Goes, great show. Enjoy!