Dear Afterworms,
Mrs Nog – as she will then be, a Nogkid and I, are all off to New York for a couple of weeks in the Summer. ( Yes – I know.)
We’re in Brooklyn for 4 days and then 5 days on Long Island, then back to Manhattan.
I expect we’ll be bored rigid..unless you good folk can suggest ways by which we can while away the dreary hours, as well as suggest any apps which we might load onto our gizmos to assist us with opur travels.
Over to you and muchas gracias in anticipacio…
Where to start?
The usual answers are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, Statue of Liberty and (depending on your tolerance for such things) the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
But a lot depends on your interests and the age of the Nogkid. The Met is stunning, and you can spend all day there (top tip – you don’t have to pay the full admission price. You pay what you want. Useful if you only want to spend an hour or so). But it isn’t for everyone. Similarly, the Natural History Museum is great for kids, and they have some fantastic special exhibits. But some if it is a bit dusty and dry and won’t interest everyone.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (one combined trip) are interesting, but you have to pre-book (quite far in advance in summer) and isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The free Staten Island Ferry will take you past them, with a good view, and you can drink beer on the ferry.
One of my favourite things to do here is just to walk. Come out a subway station in Soho or Chinatown, and just wander the streets. Google Free Tours by Foot for some excellent tours, and ideas of where to go.
Where are you staying on Long Island? It’s a big place, and unless you are near a Long Island Rail Road station, it won’t be easy to get into the city. Even then, it won’t be cheap.
And of course, it will be murderously hot. It’s expected to reach 35 today. Make sure wherever you are staying has AC.
I’ve lived here for a year now and barely scratched the surface. But send me a PM if there’s anything you want to ask. I’ll do my best to help.
Walk the High Line from W30th St, then go to Murray’s Cheese Bar on Bleeker St. Mmmmm!
http://www.murrayscheesebar.com/
and yes, walk everywhere in Manhattan. The subway’s horrible anyway.
Go to BarSixtyFive in the Rockerfeller, not the Top of the Rock – you have to buy a cocktail but the view is near enough identical to TotR. So you’re a cocktail up on the deal.
Oh, and see if you can pick up tickets for Colbert. Well worth the hour you’ll need to queue. The house band is worth the price of entry anyway.
Here’s what we said in recent similar threads:
1000 thanks to you all….
I’ve already now booked Stat of Lib, Empire State and am vacillating over a walking tour.
All good so far and more very welcome !
Thanks again.
You probably won’t be record shopping but Bleecker St Records and Other Music, both previously on West 4th Street are both gone now.
The Subway looks horrible, but it’s cheap, efficient and air-conditioned. Cabs are cramped regardless of whether they are Chevrolets or Priuses (the dividers cut into the space between driver and passengers) and you often have to ask for a/c. You may even have to give directions!
Random places to go: Museum of Modern Art, Times Square at night (kid will love it), Blue Bar at the Algonquin, South Street Seaport, Central Park, walk across Brooklyn Bridge and have brunch at the Bridge Cafe (oldest continuous business in Manhattan).
Stay cool (if possible)!
I took the kids last year and this was our list. Best things for me were just soaking up the vibe, the buildings and 9/11 memorial around the old World Trade Center, skating in the park and Grand Central Station. Empire State security was airport level and very slow. MOMA was meh. FAO Schwartz has closed. Flatiron and Chrysler still jaw-dropping. And we saw Wicked on the spur of the moment, which was fabulous.
Another vote here for the 9/11 memorial and Ellis Island (I’d skip the Statue of Liberty if it’s busy). The Strand bookstore on East 12th Street is a great old school shop and you can always pay a brief moment of music homage outside the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street
Coney Island (Baby). Check out Jersey City too, walk by the river and see amazing views.
We were in Manhattan for the weekend just a couple of weeks ago. First time for Mrs DrewToo and DrewToo Junior. Walking does let you feel the city – but get on the Subway – its not pretty but its efficient. As mentioned elsewhere – cabs are modified to seemingly make them as uncomfortable as possible – particularly for a larger gentlemen.
The FREE Staten Island ferry is so cool – so to the very bottom deck and view from the open deck area. I was surprised at how moving the 9/11 memorial is – take that moment.
Top of Rock – recommended – but you might need to book a day ahead at popular time – like dusk. However – do go up something high at night!
Some great recommendations already, and I’m not the worlds biggest expert on NYC but as a veteran of 10 visits to my favourite city including getting married there can I recommend the Circle Line Cruise? Pick the best of cruise and the boat will take you around the island of Manhattan with a witty, informative and up to date commentary. I’ve done it 6 times and on every occasion the commentary was different and bought up to date. For me it’s my must do thing that I recommend to everyone. Also gives you fabulous photo opportunities of the Statue of Liberty.
https://www.circleline42.com/cruises-and-schedules/best-of-nyc-cruise/
No mention of live music? NY is a city where you can see great music live any night of the week, except perhaps Monday. Check out the Iridium if you are in midtown near Rockefeller Centre, or the Blue Note or Village Vanguard if you are downtown. City Winery, also downtown, is an excellent gig venue too. I’d be surprised if you didn’t catch at least one top class act playing at one of those places while you are there. Oh, and congratulations!
Once more, major thanks to all concerned..
We’ll do what we can to get to any / all of these…and I’ll report back and drop in anything else which comes our way.
Couple of places to eat: Shake Shack behind the Natural History Museum. It’s wonderful. Loved it.
And you need breakfast at the Comfort Diner on E45th St. We tried a few places for the whole American breakfast thing, and this place is unfussy, comforting, the proper experience – and full of New Yorkers eating breakfast, rather than tourists. It’s fantastic.
All the sights have already been mentioned! Except one. Ellen’s Stardust Diner on 51st and Broadway. Yes, it’s technically an eatery but you don’t go for the food. You go for the kids who work there. All of them are aspiring musical theatre performers, and every few minutes they get up on the tables and perform. They are INCREDIBLE. Ellen’s has a college fund for them to train – and many of them end up in Broadway shows.
We queued for maybe 90 minutes to get in, but it was honestly the best time I had on my most recent NYC trip. I just adored it.
I’d never heard of Shake Shack before this morning and now I’ve read about it twice http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40170738
Huh. Fancy that – I hadn’t seen that story. Funny how things like that happen.
“Afterworms” – I like that! As it happens, I was already feeling a little squirmy today…
Highline – yes, try for an early morning before it gets snided out.
Brooklyn bridge – yes, walk towards Manhattan appears to be the received wisdom.
Go up the ESB at night/evening, Top of the Rock (or similar) in the daytime. views of Central Park are ace.
Ellis Island is similarly ace, Staten Island ferry is worth a trip.
I liked EJ’s Diner, other diners are available.
City Winery is a great place to wile away an hour or two. Mission Delores in Brooklyn is worth a look if you go that way.
Free Tours by Foot are very good, local guides, well worth the effort.
See one of the MoMA/Guggenheim from the inside, two might be too much?
If you want a very off the wall way to spend a couple of hours one morning, I went on a guided birdwatching walk in Central Park, it was amazing. So good, in fact, I went again while I was there. Google (OSEAA) “Birding Bob”.
Central Park Zoo is very good too, if you like your animals a little easier to look at.
The subway is fine, but generally runs north-south only on Manhattan. Buses run east-west.
Manhattan is a very big place to walk around without doing the subway at some stage.
We were in NY for a week and can add to all this that our most memorable meals were:
Cheesecake at Junior’s
Pizza at Lombardi’s (the first pizza restaurant in NY)
Hot pastrami sandwich at Katz’s (touristy, crowded but definitely worth it)
Fast food: Chipotle’s
And as Man City fans we had a good evening at the Mets, the City to the Yankees United.
Chicago – we got half-price tickets at the TKTS booth – is a brilliant Broadway musical, as you can’t get into Hamilton.
Never, ever eat at Chipotle. Their food processing standards are…questionable.
If you’re not going to a ‘name’ restaurant, trust Yelp. There are so many really good small neighborhood places. We went to a Cuban in Hell’s Kitchen and were blown away by it.
If you haven’t been before, you have to try one of the major name delis. Not so much for the quality of the food, although the Katz’s pastrami is great, but for the experience.
There are some really nice smaller museums; the Morgan just melted my heart, but then I love books history and art.
I agree with comments on the Metro; not pretty but very good for getting around.
Try to get to a baseball ground – you can choose the Mets or Yankees. Don’t pick the Yankees.
This lovely little essay might help get you in the mood. We were in the city a couple of weeks ago to see a few shows and this sums up our experience pretty well. Keillor’s been depressed about Trump (aren’t we all) and has been writing columns apparently to comfort himself. He just did a similar one about cheering himself up by visiting your lovely island.
Anyway, have a wonderful trip. I love New York.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-city-so-beautiful-you-forget-about-trump/2017/05/16/b9943c68-3a58-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html?utm_term=.ff973b8b65d4
Point Mrs. Nog at Bloomingdales. Mrs. T isn’t a mad shopper but she loved it.
Oh and Macy’s was good too apparently.
Walk the high line, visit The Met and MoMA. Go see the Mets play.