New York - advice

Larry SR

Off to New York in a week with a first time visitor. It's been many years since I did the tourist sites of the city, can anyone offer some tips?

Plan so far is:
Empire State Building
Site of Twin Towers
Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island

Is there any more we should definitely do?

Also, any good tips for some good roof top bars?

Thanks in advance.

Clonmel1000

Larry SR wrote: »

Off to New York in a week with a first time visitor. It's been many years since I did the tourist sites of the city, can anyone offer some tips?

Plan so far is:
Empire State Building
Site of Twin Towers
Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island

Is there any more we should definitely do?

Also, any good tips for some good roof top bars?

Thanks in advance.

Central Park
Time Square
Rockafella Centre

athtrasna

Do Top of the Rock rather than Empire State. A much more pleasant experience and you get to see the empire state.

Pizza under the Brooklyn bridge in Grimaldis and walk back to manhattan over the bridge is one of my favourite things to do.

Nervous Wreck

The High Line is a must. Old elevated railway track that's been turned into a public park. You can walk the length of it in about 45 mins and enjoy some lovely sights along the way. I also really enjoy the bus tours.

Larry SR

Clonmel1000 wrote: »

Central Park
Time Square
Rockafella Centre

Thanks! Forgot about a couple of the above and staying in Times Square.

spurious

The Tenement museum is very interesting.

coylemj

Tell your friend (who hasn't been there before) that you do a lot of walking in NYC so bring a trusty old pair of shoes, it's definitely not the time to break in a new pair! Remind him/her that the price tags on items in stores does not include 8.875% sales tax.

Don't go near any of the independent electronics stores in Manhattan, they are notorious for fleecing tourists with garbage sold with false promises. Stick with the established chains like Radio Shack or Staples. If buying a gadget which comes with a mains charger, ask for an 'international' model which can handle 100-240V mains supply.

The Staten Island ferry is free and gives you a great view of NY harbour - worth considering if you decide not to do the Statue of Liberty.

sassyj

Catch a basketball or baseball game if on, so much fun!

cavan4sam

Irish famine memorial ,, a walk around the west village ,, steaks in smith and wollenskys ,, a broadway show ,, drinks in the red lion and dancing in webster hall

Avada

The Intrepid Aircraft carrier is worth a visit if you're into that sort of thing

garbeth

A Broadway show is a great night out as well

spurious

Bring your passport to Macy's and get a 10% 'out of town' discount.
http://www.visitmacysusa.com/visitor-savings-pass

whippet

Do the High Line after dark ... Much better experience.

SHOVELLER

whippet wrote: »

Do the High Line after dark ... Much better experience.

Agree. It has become a victim of its own success. So much so they had to shut it down recently due to overcrowding.

The Whitney Museum of American Art is worth a visit if you're into the whole art thing!

Walk around the East Village.

Riskymove

Larry SR wrote: »

Plan so far is:

Site of Twin Towers


Also, any good tips for some good roof top bars?

The new One World Observatory built on the site of Twin Towers is worth it for the views but is busy and pricey so book in advance


Rooftop bars - http://www.230-fifth.com/

230 Fifth is good

rockonollie

Pre-book liberty island/ellis island.....the lines for the ferries start building before sunrise

Fathom

New York Giants football. Or New York Jets. Home games. Links: http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/2016-schedule/article-1/New-York-Giants-2016-Schedule-Announced/ddfddee8-8ef1-4d4b-81b2-1f63d038b18c http://www.newyorkjets.com/schedule/season-schedule.html

Cosmo Kramer

You're probably there by now, but anyway...

Go to see The Book of Mormon on Broadway.

Enter the daily online draw for Hamilton. You probably won't win but you never know.

Go up one tall building (out of Rockerfeller, ESB and WTC). No need to go up all three.

Eat a ShakeShack in Madison Square Park (next to the Flatiron Building). Go back another day, eat another one.

If the weather is nice, sit out in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park some evening.

Visit the Irish Famine Memorial, it's like a small piece of rural Ireland next to the World Trade Center, very weird but well worth a visit.

In Brooklyn, get your pizza in Juliana's, not Grimaldi's (they're right next to each other). Shorter line, better pizza.

Go to Times Square once. Then never go there again.

Get a weekly subway pass.

Frankie5Angels

Wondered if I might get a bit of advice as well...apologies if hijacking your thread OP.

Thinking about heading over and fancies the dates/prices around Thanksgiving. Is it utter madness around that time - is it to be avoided like the plague altogether? Dates I was thinking were 24th to 28th November, so would be there for Black Friday but happy to do touristy stuff then too instead of ploughing around the shops.

Appreciate any advice given

InTheTrees

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Wondered if I might get a bit of advice as well...apologies if hijacking your thread OP.

Thinking about heading over and fancies the dates/prices around Thanksgiving. Is it utter madness around that time - is it to be avoided like the plague altogether? Dates I was thinking were 24th to 28th November, so would be there for Black Friday but happy to do touristy stuff then too instead of ploughing around the shops.

Appreciate any advice given

I'd rather see you settled in your hotel on the 23rd. If you have a hotel booked and somewhere to be on thanksgiving day, I think you'd be fine. Thanksgiving day itself will be quiet, dont make big plans. But services, shops, etc will be back open on Thursday. And what about staying until the 29th? Traveling on that Monday will be crazy.

Save

Nervous Wreck

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Wondered if I might get a bit of advice as well...apologies if hijacking your thread OP.

Thinking about heading over and fancies the dates/prices around Thanksgiving. Is it utter madness around that time - is it to be avoided like the plague altogether? Dates I was thinking were 24th to 28th November, so would be there for Black Friday but happy to do touristy stuff then too instead of ploughing around the shops.

Appreciate any advice given

I did almost these exact dates last year and it was great. Did touristy stuff on Black Friday to avoid the madness. Get up mega early to get a good view of the parade. Apart from that, there's not much different about the place as compared to other times if the year.

faceman

For eats book The River Cafe in Brooklyn. It has a perfect view of Brooklyn Bridge so book a window seat. Lunch is cheaper than dinner and it is a little pricey but well worth it.

UCB have two improv comedy theatres in New York. It's the theatre Amy Poehler set up. Always good stuff on.

Similarly google Batsu New York. Sells out every week. It's another improv comedy show but it's in a sushi restaurant and the show is themed on Japanese games shows. It's MENTAL!

To wine and dine with the locals head to the Lower East side of Manhattan. It's the cool part of town. Even the Irish bars there are trendy. There's one called The Late Late Show which is modelled on everyone in Ireland's favourite show...

In terms of the regular tourist stuff.

If you want to go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty book it now. Limited number are permitted in it daily.

As someone else said don't climb Empire State, climb the other skyscraper across of it. Do it at dusk if you can too.

Oh and brings lots of money. New York is pricey.

Frankie5Angels

Cheers for the replies, once it's not heading into something absolutely crazy then I think I'm happy enough to head over around that time.

InTheTrees wrote: »

I'd rather see you settled in your hotel on the 23rd. If you have a hotel booked and somewhere to be on thanksgiving day, I think you'd be fine. Thanksgiving day itself will be quiet, dont make big plans. But services, shops, etc will be back open on Thursday. And what about staying until the 29th? Traveling on that Monday will be crazy.

Planning to arrive on Thanksgiving, which is the Thursday, so will miss most of that. Was kind of more worried that Black Friday was going to be manic and I would miss a day by not being able to move, but if I could do touristy stuff on that day, then I'm happy out. Wouldn't be flying out until late on the Monday, so expect that it'd have calmed down? Staying until the 29th would be ideal, but I'd be out of money and annual leave by then! :pac:

jack presley

faceman wrote: »

As someone else said don't climb Empire State, climb the other skyscraper across of it.

.

Don't be climbing any skyscrapers. Use the lift inside...!!!!

Seriously though, over the years I've been up the ESB, Rockerfeller and the new WTC building this year. My favourite is the Rockefeller as you can get a great view of the other 2 and of central park which look amazing from there.

it is nice seeing Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty from the WTC though and the lift ride up and down is pretty cool too.

rockonollie

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Wondered if I might get a bit of advice as well...apologies if hijacking your thread OP.

Thinking about heading over and fancies the dates/prices around Thanksgiving. Is it utter madness around that time - is it to be avoided like the plague altogether? Dates I was thinking were 24th to 28th November, so would be there for Black Friday but happy to do touristy stuff then too instead of ploughing around the shops.

Appreciate any advice given

The black friday madness that we see on TV is when stores open at 5 or 6am.....and in recent years they've been opening even earlier, or not even closing the night before. It won't affect your visit.

coylemj

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Planning to arrive on Thanksgiving, which is the Thursday, so will miss most of that. Was kind of more worried that Black Friday was going to be manic and I would miss a day by not being able to move, but if I could do touristy stuff on that day, then I'm happy out. Wouldn't be flying out until late on the Monday, so expect that it'd have calmed down? Staying until the 29th would be ideal, but I'd be out of money and annual leave by then! :pac:

I think you're much better arriving on the Thanksgiving Thursday (which I have done three times) because the airports will be manic the day before with all the New Yorkers getting out of town to visit mom and pop.

Some places in Manhattan will be very busy on Black Friday - there used to be a massive queue to get into the FAO Schwartz toy store on 5th Ave. (now closed) and getting in and out of the nearby Apple store (the glass cube) was a nightmare with serious congestion on the stairs and a queue for the lift - possibly not as bad now since they opened a store in Grand Central Station.

Yes, the airports will have calmed down by Monday evening when you're flying home. Americans get very little annual vacation so most people will be back at their desks on Monday morning.

Frankie5Angels

Thanks again for the replies folks, just gonna plough on and book it now!

Foxtrol

Outside of the parade route, Penn Station, and certain stores, NYC is comparatively a ghost town around Thanksgiving (like most holiday weekends). Two years ago I even ventured into Macy’s Black Friday afternoon and I’d seen worse when I worked in stores in Dublin. Definitely nothing to worry about when planning a trip.

livers

hey... we went about 2 years ago - landed thanksgiving afternoon... its so quiet around so easy to do stuff - as its just really tourists around! found an Italian restaurant around the corner from the hotel so didn't have to go somewhere and eat turkey! Macy's had started opening on thanksgiving that year so by 9 we were wondering around and the sales had already started - it was busy but Macy's always is! We went to New York for the shopping and were bracing ourselves for the madness of Black Friday - it was a bit of an anti climax - got up early and we were in bloomingdales for 7am - along with about 100 other people - the place was empty ! i think everything we see on TV are the retail parks outside of cities all around the states - and not in Manhattan. We got in loads of shopping and great deals in all the shops so don't let black Friday put you off! Enjoy - Im going start of December to get full Christmas experience as all other times I've gone have been Thanksgiving and all lights not up yet - or Rockefeller wasn't lit - can't wait !