Outside the huge post office there's a random sign (if it's still there) that says 'no standing'. go stand underneath, take a picture, you'll feel both a rebel and an idiot at the same time.
Ground Zero makes you feel very insignificant, they also have tourist buses that do the main spots that you can buy a ticket for that lasts for a few days and just jump off and on. If you get the right guide they are good. Do not bother with Statue as you are not allowed up it anymore but the helicopter tour is good if you do not mind the outlay
Went last November, it's full of trash and weed shops on every block now, is 1000x dirtier than London for example, and the crazies and homeless there are on another level.
With that out of the way, obviously it's a fantastic place to go, with a lot to see.
Do however many observation decks as you please, they all offer something a little different, but the Empire State is the most central and iconic of them all.
The Twin Towers monument, Wall Street and all of the lower end of Manhattan can be covered in an afternoon, best thing to do is get a subway out to Brooklyn in the morning, walk back over the bridge and do it all in one day.
Do a boat trip around the island of Manhattan if you can, play close attention to the tides though as when it's high tide they can't go all the way around and have to turn back after a while (though almost all the sites are seen around the lower half anyway)
Go to Central Park for a breather, away from the endless traffic, people and lights and noise of everything else. The zoo is tiny and not worth it, Bronx Zoo is much better but a lot further out.
Catch a game of anything if you can, August is tricky I think only Baseball is happening at that time of year, but they do sports very differently to us and it's interesting to see.
Broadway show is a must, avoid the singing diner place though, it's shite and the queue is about 3 hours long, not worth it at all.
Times Square is more like Times District now, covers about 8 blocks of constant adverts, American Consumerism at its worst/best depending on how you see it.
Chelsea Market is nice to amble around in and is at one end of The High Line, which Americans think is a long walk but it's really not.
Walk as much as you can, you see loads of cool things and it's cheaper than cabs and subway.
Oh and none of the yellow cabs look like yellow cabs anymore, they're all hybrids!
Went last November, it's full of trash and weed shops on every block now, is 1000x dirtier than London for example, and the crazies and homeless there are on another level.
With that out of the way, obviously it's a fantastic place to go, with a lot to see.
Do however many observation decks as you please, they all offer something a little different, but the Empire State is the most central and iconic of them all.
The Twin Towers monument, Wall Street and all of the lower end of Manhattan can be covered in an afternoon, best thing to do is get a subway out to Brooklyn in the morning, walk back over the bridge and do it all in one day.
Do a boat trip around the island of Manhattan if you can, play close attention to the tides though as when it's high tide they can't go all the way around and have to turn back after a while (though almost all the sites are seen around the lower half anyway)
Go to Central Park for a breather, away from the endless traffic, people and lights and noise of everything else. The zoo is tiny and not worth it, Bronx Zoo is much better but a lot further out.
Catch a game of anything if you can, August is tricky I think only Baseball is happening at that time of year, but they do sports very differently to us and it's interesting to see.
Broadway show is a must, avoid the singing diner place though, it's shite and the queue is about 3 hours long, not worth it at all.
Times Square is more like Times District now, covers about 8 blocks of constant adverts, American Consumerism at its worst/best depending on how you see it.
Chelsea Market is nice to amble around in and is at one end of The High Line, which Americans think is a long walk but it's really not.
Walk as much as you can, you see loads of cool things and it's cheaper than cabs and subway.
Oh and none of the yellow cabs look like yellow cabs anymore, they're all hybrids!
Great summary - I love the place, well used to but since they legalised weed the place has literally gone to pot (sorry couldn't resist)
Resurrecting an old thread with some good suggestions. Wondering if anyone has anymore up to date ones. Going with the family in August. Cheers.
@sam3110 has covered things nicely. With the sport, I went three times in the 90's always in November. Then they play basketball, NFL and ice hockey. Perhaps baseball and the MLS is on. The outlet shops were ridiculously cheap, although I do not know how it compares to now. If you like Blondie, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Hotel opposite Madison Square Gardens there was a pub called The Blarney Stone, this was used for the Heart of Glass video. All in all, if you like London you'll love New York. Imo, one of the top 3 cities in the world, along with Rio and Sydney. Have a great trip.
If you want to get off on Liberty island you have to book in advance (not sure you gain much over a trip that just circles the island). If you actually want to go up into the Statue of Liberty (assuming it's reopened post-Covid, so check) you need to book months in advance. We went to New York in January 2016 and you had to book 3 months in advance.
Sparks Steakhouse, East Midtown - hasn't really changed since Paul Castellano & Tommy Billotti were whacked outside in 1985. You can pop into the Perfect Pint just round the corner for a "pre-match" beer.
IL Cortile, Mulberry Street, Little Italy - have a pre-dinner pint in The Mulberry Street Bar at No.176 where Sopranos's fans will notice the rear area, which served as the New York Mob's hangout. IL Cortile itself was the place an outgoing Sopranos' cast-member (probably about to be whacked) would be taken by the other cast members for their "final meal!"
New York is a place I've always wanted to visit and still will one day when the little one is bigger.
What Sam says is pretty much what all the Americans tell me. Its gone right down hill especially since covid. Its dirty, crime is on the rise etc and avoid the metro as its full of weirdos as well as it stinks of weed. I'm told to visit Boston instead.
New York is a place I've always wanted to visit and still will one day when the little one is bigger.
What Sam says is pretty much what all the Americans tell me. Its gone right down hill especially since covid. Its dirty, crime is on the rise etc and avoid the metro as its full of weirdos as well as it stinks of weed. I'm told to visit Boston instead.
Going to Boston instead of New York is like going to St Albans instead of London. It's a nice city but there is no comparison...
New York is a place I've always wanted to visit and still will one day when the little one is bigger.
What Sam says is pretty much what all the Americans tell me. Its gone right down hill especially since covid. Its dirty, crime is on the rise etc and avoid the metro as its full of weirdos as well as it stinks of weed. I'm told to visit Boston instead.
Going to Boston instead of New York is like going to St Albans instead of London. It's a nice city but there is no comparison...
I know that. There probably isn't another place like new york hence why it's always been popular. Pretty much all Americans I speak to always suggest other places rather than New york.
Was dragged along a couple of years ago to see Ice Hockey at Madison Square Gardens. One of the best nights ever. Fabulous experience and kids will love it.
I went to New York for the very first time last week!
All of the main things have been covered, but I would definitely recommend booking the Statue of Liberty in advance so that you can go up into the crown.
Though, keep in mind, it is not an easy trip up and down a very narrow and steep staircase. Hence why only 240-500 people can get tickets to do it per day. Entirely worth it though to do something special. Here is the view from outside the crown:
Whilst we saw most of the landmarks during the daytime, we decided to book onto a nighttime ‘Circle Line’ cruise, which cost about £30 each. This goes around Manhattan and also to see the statue, which looks stunning at night.
The skyline in the evening is fantastic from either the river or from any of the observation decks:
We did three observation decks, and the best one was the Edge, which can only be described as a hanging balcony on top of a skyscraper. Part of it has a glass floor as well, for those not afraid of heights. The view from the deck is outrageous. I won’t post a picture of it, as it’s one of those that I think you just need to see for yourself!
Went last November, it's full of trash and weed shops on every block now, is 1000x dirtier than London for example, and the crazies and homeless there are on another level.
With that out of the way, obviously it's a fantastic place to go, with a lot to see.
Do however many observation decks as you please, they all offer something a little different, but the Empire State is the most central and iconic of them all.
The Twin Towers monument, Wall Street and all of the lower end of Manhattan can be covered in an afternoon, best thing to do is get a subway out to Brooklyn in the morning, walk back over the bridge and do it all in one day.
Do a boat trip around the island of Manhattan if you can, play close attention to the tides though as when it's high tide they can't go all the way around and have to turn back after a while (though almost all the sites are seen around the lower half anyway)
Go to Central Park for a breather, away from the endless traffic, people and lights and noise of everything else. The zoo is tiny and not worth it, Bronx Zoo is much better but a lot further out.
Catch a game of anything if you can, August is tricky I think only Baseball is happening at that time of year, but they do sports very differently to us and it's interesting to see.
Broadway show is a must, avoid the singing diner place though, it's shite and the queue is about 3 hours long, not worth it at all.
Times Square is more like Times District now, covers about 8 blocks of constant adverts, American Consumerism at its worst/best depending on how you see it.
Chelsea Market is nice to amble around in and is at one end of The High Line, which Americans think is a long walk but it's really not.
Walk as much as you can, you see loads of cool things and it's cheaper than cabs and subway.
Oh and none of the yellow cabs look like yellow cabs anymore, they're all hybrids!
Great summary - I love the place, well used to but since they legalised weed the place has literally gone to pot (sorry couldn't resist)
All very dirty and seedy now
How to kill a golden goose springs to mind
Genuine question - has the same happened in Canada and other countries and cities where it was legalised?
I looked into this sort of thing recently as parts of really central San Francisco are not places you'd want to walk, even in day time. The best explanations I could find are people being priced out of housing, homeless numbers growing, and extra strong crystal meth becoming common - which seemingly turned harmless people into shivering, shouting, psychotic wrecks. So I would guess similar has happened in NYC..? Property prices must be crazy.
NYC has always had weirdos, mind. Last time I went pre-Covid we were worried we wouldn't make it back to JFK as someone went and sat on the bars that connect subway carriages, so really someone/we should have let the driver know. But then what if them emergency braking made it worse?
Anyway, my tip would be to look up some of your favourite TV and movie sites.
And we did an interactive mystery tour thing, through the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Soho. We did it through these guys although it doesn't look like they offer the same tour we did anymore although they have one for Greenwich Village. I think there are quite a few companies that offer similar things. Accomplice the Show | Interactive Shows in NYC
Make sure you do the whole New York deli thing for some of your meals. I second the advice to walk as much as you can. The subway is a great way to get around (and worth riding on just to say you have), but north side of Central Park down to the southern tip of Manhattan Island is only about 8 miles and there's something to be seen on every almost every street/corner. Because it's so familiar from films/TV I kind of felt like I'd been to New York before, even though I had not. I absolutely loved the place.
Not sure how late in August you're there but the US Open Tennis start at the end of the month. We took that in during our visit and had a great time. Much cheaper and easier to get tickets than Wimbledon. We booked for two sessions in advance but, on a whim, we were able to get tickets for Arthur Ashe, the day before, for an extra session that meant we got to see Murray play Djokovic.
Nice cakes in here. Close to Central Park on the west side and open late. Think it was a filming location for 'You've got Mail', amongst other things. Cafe Lalo | The most famous cafe in NYC
Went last November, it's full of trash and weed shops on every block now, is 1000x dirtier than London for example, and the crazies and homeless there are on another level.
With that out of the way, obviously it's a fantastic place to go, with a lot to see.
Do however many observation decks as you please, they all offer something a little different, but the Empire State is the most central and iconic of them all.
The Twin Towers monument, Wall Street and all of the lower end of Manhattan can be covered in an afternoon, best thing to do is get a subway out to Brooklyn in the morning, walk back over the bridge and do it all in one day.
Do a boat trip around the island of Manhattan if you can, play close attention to the tides though as when it's high tide they can't go all the way around and have to turn back after a while (though almost all the sites are seen around the lower half anyway)
Go to Central Park for a breather, away from the endless traffic, people and lights and noise of everything else. The zoo is tiny and not worth it, Bronx Zoo is much better but a lot further out.
Catch a game of anything if you can, August is tricky I think only Baseball is happening at that time of year, but they do sports very differently to us and it's interesting to see.
Broadway show is a must, avoid the singing diner place though, it's shite and the queue is about 3 hours long, not worth it at all.
Times Square is more like Times District now, covers about 8 blocks of constant adverts, American Consumerism at its worst/best depending on how you see it.
Chelsea Market is nice to amble around in and is at one end of The High Line, which Americans think is a long walk but it's really not.
Walk as much as you can, you see loads of cool things and it's cheaper than cabs and subway.
Oh and none of the yellow cabs look like yellow cabs anymore, they're all hybrids!
Great summary - I love the place, well used to but since they legalised weed the place has literally gone to pot (sorry couldn't resist)
All very dirty and seedy now
How to kill a golden goose springs to mind
Genuine question - has the same happened in Canada and other countries and cities where it was legalised?
I looked into this sort of thing recently as parts of really central San Francisco are not places you'd want to walk, even in day time. The best explanations I could find are people being priced out of housing, homeless numbers growing, and extra strong crystal meth becoming common - which seemingly turned harmless people into shivering, shouting, psychotic wrecks. So I would guess similar has happened in NYC..? Property prices must be crazy.
NYC has always had weirdos, mind. Last time I went pre-Covid we were worried we wouldn't make it back to JFK as someone went and sat on the bars that connect subway carriages, so really someone/we should have let the driver know. But then what if them emergency braking made it worse?
Anyway, my tip would be to look up some of your favourite TV and movie sites.
Plenty of homeless issues in Canada. I don't know if it's quite as bad as in the US as we have more in the way of publicly funded supports, but look up the East Hastings neighbourhood of Vancouver. It's a problem that has only been exacerbated by the economic hardships COVID brought on some people.
Copied from the "Holidays 2022" Thread where there was quite a lot of content on New York...
"A new touristy thing to do is The Edge. It will give you a new and unique perspective on the city skyline. A bit pricey but absolutely worth it.
A short walk from there is the High Line, a repurposed elevated rail track (CAFC pornfest) that takes you on a pleasant walk down to the Meatpacking district.
We also went to Citi Field for a Mets game. Tickets with a decent view at $25 and the games are frequent if they are at home. Baseball is an intensely boring game and we left after 2 hours to miss the crowds but it was a great American experience.
If you haven't done it before, 911 Memorial Museum is a must for a bit of reflection.
And finally, try and ignore the smell of piss, shit and weed which was fairly frequent - NYC has gone backwards a bit in the last few years... "
Done the circle line during the day wish I'd done the night one as well.
I done the circle line in the evening, so the outward journey was in daylight and the return after the sun went down and you could see the lights of NY.
Went last November, it's full of trash and weed shops on every block now, is 1000x dirtier than London for example, and the crazies and homeless there are on another level.
With that out of the way, obviously it's a fantastic place to go, with a lot to see.
Do however many observation decks as you please, they all offer something a little different, but the Empire State is the most central and iconic of them all.
The Twin Towers monument, Wall Street and all of the lower end of Manhattan can be covered in an afternoon, best thing to do is get a subway out to Brooklyn in the morning, walk back over the bridge and do it all in one day.
Do a boat trip around the island of Manhattan if you can, play close attention to the tides though as when it's high tide they can't go all the way around and have to turn back after a while (though almost all the sites are seen around the lower half anyway)
Go to Central Park for a breather, away from the endless traffic, people and lights and noise of everything else. The zoo is tiny and not worth it, Bronx Zoo is much better but a lot further out.
Catch a game of anything if you can, August is tricky I think only Baseball is happening at that time of year, but they do sports very differently to us and it's interesting to see.
Broadway show is a must, avoid the singing diner place though, it's shite and the queue is about 3 hours long, not worth it at all.
Times Square is more like Times District now, covers about 8 blocks of constant adverts, American Consumerism at its worst/best depending on how you see it.
Chelsea Market is nice to amble around in and is at one end of The High Line, which Americans think is a long walk but it's really not.
Walk as much as you can, you see loads of cool things and it's cheaper than cabs and subway.
Oh and none of the yellow cabs look like yellow cabs anymore, they're all hybrids!
Great summary - I love the place, well used to but since they legalised weed the place has literally gone to pot (sorry couldn't resist)
All very dirty and seedy now
How to kill a golden goose springs to mind
Genuine question - has the same happened in Canada and other countries and cities where it was legalised?
I looked into this sort of thing recently as parts of really central San Francisco are not places you'd want to walk, even in day time. The best explanations I could find are people being priced out of housing, homeless numbers growing, and extra strong crystal meth becoming common - which seemingly turned harmless people into shivering, shouting, psychotic wrecks. So I would guess similar has happened in NYC..? Property prices must be crazy.
NYC has always had weirdos, mind. Last time I went pre-Covid we were worried we wouldn't make it back to JFK as someone went and sat on the bars that connect subway carriages, so really someone/we should have let the driver know. But then what if them emergency braking made it worse?
Anyway, my tip would be to look up some of your favourite TV and movie sites.
Plenty of homeless issues in Canada. I don't know if it's quite as bad as in the US as we have more in the way of publicly funded supports, but look up the East Hastings neighbourhood of Vancouver. It's a problem that has only been exacerbated by the economic hardships COVID brought on some people.
Hopefully Toronto is still good, I really liked the city when I went there.
New York is a place I've always wanted to visit and still will one day when the little one is bigger.
What Sam says is pretty much what all the Americans tell me. It’s gone right down hill especially since covid. It’s dirty, crime is on the rise etc and avoid the metro as it’s full of weirdos as well as it stinks of weed. I'm told to visit Boston instead.
I always wonder if the people who say these things actually live in city. Its crime rate is pretty flay, but it’s safer statistically than America as a while, significantly so for violent crime. It’s always been dirty, and always will be until they actually pick up trash more regularly. As for weed, it smells, but in my visits I’ve not really noticed it, and the crazies have been and will always be there, just like the homeless. Cities provide services they can make use of (hostels/food pantries/medical) which are less accessible in rural areas, so naturally cities draw people in who need these services, and it becomes their problem.
The main problem I have with New York is that everything is so dispersed, so it becomes more problematic to just walk around and see stuff. Figure out what you want to see and then book a hotel fairly central to most of those. Use the subway for the rest - it is not full of crazies.
Boston is worth a visit. Although it’s smaller than NY, it is not St. Albans, unless St Albans is the home to six major universities, four major sports teams, more than a few excellent breweries, and is one of hte main biotech hubs in the US. Bostons very walkable, but it’s not going to keep you up at night. The bars an open until 1, but business is sparse after 10 unless there’s something going on.
The dirtiness of parts of New York was something that surprised me when I saw it.
Particularly the subway, which feels very old and run down. The stations themselves look like they haven’t been cleaned in years. Makes you realise how well the London Underground is kept in comparison.
Also found the subway quite tricky to navigate. The station names and signs are quite easily mixed up and hard to read to someone new.
Comments
small things n all that :D
With that out of the way, obviously it's a fantastic place to go, with a lot to see.
Do however many observation decks as you please, they all offer something a little different, but the Empire State is the most central and iconic of them all.
The Twin Towers monument, Wall Street and all of the lower end of Manhattan can be covered in an afternoon, best thing to do is get a subway out to Brooklyn in the morning, walk back over the bridge and do it all in one day.
Do a boat trip around the island of Manhattan if you can, play close attention to the tides though as when it's high tide they can't go all the way around and have to turn back after a while (though almost all the sites are seen around the lower half anyway)
Go to Central Park for a breather, away from the endless traffic, people and lights and noise of everything else. The zoo is tiny and not worth it, Bronx Zoo is much better but a lot further out.
Catch a game of anything if you can, August is tricky I think only Baseball is happening at that time of year, but they do sports very differently to us and it's interesting to see.
Broadway show is a must, avoid the singing diner place though, it's shite and the queue is about 3 hours long, not worth it at all.
Times Square is more like Times District now, covers about 8 blocks of constant adverts, American Consumerism at its worst/best depending on how you see it.
Chelsea Market is nice to amble around in and is at one end of The High Line, which Americans think is a long walk but it's really not.
Walk as much as you can, you see loads of cool things and it's cheaper than cabs and subway.
Oh and none of the yellow cabs look like yellow cabs anymore, they're all hybrids!
All very dirty and seedy now
How to kill a golden goose springs to mind
With the sport, I went three times in the 90's always in November. Then they play basketball, NFL and ice hockey. Perhaps baseball and the MLS is on.
The outlet shops were ridiculously cheap, although I do not know how it compares to now.
If you like Blondie, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Hotel opposite Madison Square Gardens there was a pub called The Blarney Stone, this was used for the Heart of Glass video.
All in all, if you like London you'll love New York. Imo, one of the top 3 cities in the world, along with Rio and Sydney.
Have a great trip.
La Boucherie in Greenwich Village
Sparks Steakhouse, East Midtown - hasn't really changed since Paul Castellano & Tommy Billotti were whacked outside in 1985. You can pop into the Perfect Pint just round the corner for a "pre-match" beer.
IL Cortile, Mulberry Street, Little Italy - have a pre-dinner pint in The Mulberry Street Bar at No.176 where Sopranos's fans will notice the rear area, which served as the New York Mob's hangout. IL Cortile itself was the place an outgoing Sopranos' cast-member (probably about to be whacked) would be taken by the other cast members for their "final meal!"
What Sam says is pretty much what all the Americans tell me. Its gone right down hill especially since covid. Its dirty, crime is on the rise etc and avoid the metro as its full of weirdos as well as it stinks of weed. I'm told to visit Boston instead.
New York is dirty, smelly and magnificent.
Mrs robinofottershaw would expect me to give a shout out for MoMA.
All of the main things have been covered, but I would definitely recommend booking the Statue of Liberty in advance so that you can go up into the crown.
About 8 years since I went, but two things we did that I particularly enjoyed:
Took a tour on a sailboat where they also serve craft beer
New York Boat Tours | Manhattan by Sail
And we did an interactive mystery tour thing, through the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Soho. We did it through these guys although it doesn't look like they offer the same tour we did anymore although they have one for Greenwich Village. I think there are quite a few companies that offer similar things.
Accomplice the Show | Interactive Shows in NYC
Make sure you do the whole New York deli thing for some of your meals. I second the advice to walk as much as you can. The subway is a great way to get around (and worth riding on just to say you have), but north side of Central Park down to the southern tip of Manhattan Island is only about 8 miles and there's something to be seen on every almost every street/corner. Because it's so familiar from films/TV I kind of felt like I'd been to New York before, even though I had not. I absolutely loved the place.
Not sure how late in August you're there but the US Open Tennis start at the end of the month. We took that in during our visit and had a great time. Much cheaper and easier to get tickets than Wimbledon. We booked for two sessions in advance but, on a whim, we were able to get tickets for Arthur Ashe, the day before, for an extra session that meant we got to see Murray play Djokovic.
Cafe Lalo | The most famous cafe in NYC
"A new touristy thing to do is The Edge. It will give you a new and unique perspective on the city skyline. A bit pricey but absolutely worth it.
A short walk from there is the High Line, a repurposed elevated rail track (CAFC pornfest) that takes you on a pleasant walk down to the Meatpacking district.
We also went to Citi Field for a Mets game. Tickets with a decent view at $25 and the games are frequent if they are at home. Baseball is an intensely boring game and we left after 2 hours to miss the crowds but it was a great American experience.
If you haven't done it before, 911 Memorial Museum is a must for a bit of reflection.
And finally, try and ignore the smell of piss, shit and weed which was fairly frequent - NYC has gone backwards a bit in the last few years... "
Also found the subway quite tricky to navigate. The station names and signs are quite easily mixed up and hard to read to someone new.