"Pilot Guides"

[Danielle]

Oh man - New York is just full of wonderful things. While it definitely is an expensive city, there are also many wonderful gems that are free or very cheap. Also, summer is really the best time to get the most bang for your buck while in the city, because a lot of the best free stuff can only happen outside during the summer, like free New York Philharmonic Concerts in Central Park, etc...

First off - when you get to the City pick up copies of the Village Voice and Time Out NY, that way you'll be sure to know what's going on (that the locals enjoy) while you're staying there.

Let's see, some of the "must see" things while in NY (in my opinion) are:

Going to a Yankee game. Tickets aren't actually that expensive, and as long as they're not playing the Mets or the Red Sox (or post-season), they're pretty easy to get. I would advise against sitting in the budget friendly ($8) bleacher seats, however, since it's full of HARD CORE Yankee fans. Go for real seats in the upper deck, usually between $18-20. Also keep in mind, you can save money by bringing food into the park, but you're not allowed to bring any bags in that aren't clear plastic.

TKTS. You absolutely MUST go see a Broadway show! The best way to go, esp if you're flexible and haven't seen a lot of the shows out there, is to get 1/2 off tickets at the TKTS booth. It's located at 47th St and Broadway. You can't miss it - there's a huge line of people and the infamous red and white TKTS signs. The booth opens at 2pm, but I recommend getting there between 12pm and 1pm for the best selection. Once the line starts moving, it moves quite fast, so don't worry. Also, bear in mind they only accept cash! I saw 3 shows this past year like this. $50 to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, $50 to Little Shop of Horrors, and $35 to Cabaret. You're not guaranteed amazing seats, but Broadway theater's are so good it doesn't really matter if you're in the nosebleed section anyway or not. You're also not going to get the hottest tickets in town, as those will most likely be sold out months in advance, but you really can't go wrong with anything on Broadway! They also sell tickets to Off-Broadway shows and other events.

Boats. Manhattan is an island, so the best views come from boats of course. You have 2 options here - the Staten Island ferry carts commuters back and forth from Staten Island to Manhattan. It's free, and you'll get great views of the city. If you're willing to spend a little more, I highly suggest the Circle Line. The tours last 3 hours, and you get some wonderful views and information about the city. Sit on the left side of the boat, since it goes around Manhattan counter-clockwise.

Gray's Papaya. A New York legend at 72nd and Broadway (they have other locations in the city as well, but I'm really only familiar with this one). Only some of the best hot dogs in the city. They still have what they call the "Recession Special" - a remnant of the 1970's. 2 dogs and a drink for $2.45. And man are they yummy! I highly recommend their Orangeade drink too. Keep in mind that they don't have any tables, so you can either stand at the counter and people watch on Broadway, or my personal favorite is to walk a few blocks east and enjoy them in Central Park. 72nd street is my favorite part of the park as well. It's the part right by the Dakota Apts with the Imagine Circle tribute to John Lennon, Strawberry Fields, Belvedere Fountain, the lake, and bow bridge. Very pretty. Get stuck there in a mid-summer rain shower and you'll think you died and went to heaven.

Koronet's. Little known pizza restaurant on the Upper West Side Broadway between 110th and 111th. Best value pizza in town. And mighty tasty. The slices are HUGE - seriously, the biggest you've ever seen. Only $2.25 a slice - a slice the size of 2 1/2 "normal" slices. It's a real local haunt near Columbia University, great place to see "real" New Yorkers!

Midsummer Night's Swing. A GREAT program put on by Lincoln Center every summer. For about a month they have bands come and play outside in the plaza. People pay to have dancing lessons and dance, but you can just sit on the fountain and listen to world class music for free. A GREAT way to spend a summer evening.

Restaurant Week. Also during the summer. For 1 week a ton of world class restaurants (Tavern on the Green, etc...) offer discounted prix fix prices. I'm pretty sure for lunch it's $25, dinner $35, something like that. A great way to sample some of the best restaurants the city has to offer.

This message is getting insanely long, so I'll continue with other information later...

In the meantime, some websites to check out...
www.newyorkmetro.com/urban/guides/nyonthecheap/pleasures/walkingtours.htm
www.newyorkmetro.com/urban/guides/nyonthecheap/
www.theinsider.com/nyc/index.html
www.smartnewyorker.com/

[Danielle]

Unfortunately, I'm not very much help on the Hostel situation here on the city. Thankfully I've never had to worry about that, one of the perks of having tons and tons of family in the area and living on campus. I can however tell you if an area is decent or not if you tell me cross streets of places you might consider...

I would say that NYC is definitely quite safe. Of course any large city is going to have its share of problems, but I have never once felt unsafe this entire past year. One of the best things I ever learned during orientation was that the numbered lines are safer than the lettered subway lines. Just something to think about... Keep your wits about you, keep your hands on your bags the entire time, walk fast, and act like you know where you're going... Also - to calculate the best value for your metrocard... If you're going to make more than 3 trips in a single day, go for the 1 day fun pass. If you're going to make more than 10 trips in a week, go for a weekly pass. Trips are $2 each (unless you have an unlimited pass), and you get one free trip with every $10. So round trip anywhere is $4. You get free subway to bus, bus to subway, and bus to bus transfers though. If you're making a return trip within 2 hours of first swiping though, use subway one way and bus the other - this saves you $2!

All this being said, I feel I must give you some tips on how to not annoy native New Yorkers and not be one of those annoying tourists we love to complain about.

Long again, I know. Read it or don't read it, up to you, but here are some recent comments from a CU Community journal - very interesting, I think, and hopefully will be a conversation starter:

~ tourists. who hates em? i do!

~ if it's called tourist season, then why can't we shoot at them?

~ they don't know how to jaywalk.

~ they walk too slowly!

~ tourists in times square make me want to puke on them when they stop in the middle of the sidewalk. that's what doorways are for, people. watch out or i'll spew on you.

~ oh and was anyone in the city on 4th of July? when i took the 6 downtown i swear to god, every single person on the train was a tourist with a map, a fannypack, and bright white sneakers. do you know a SINGLE person in new york who owns bright white sneakers. i didn't think so.

~ I hate them. They walk slowly. They wear "I heart NY" t-shirts and carry backpacks and fanny packs. They're always staring at the sky. And they're always taking pictures. And they're always clueless as f*** on the subways. And there don't know where anything is. I had a tourist ask me on 125th and Lexington where Times Square was.

~ i think you're just hating on stupid tourists, which i can totally understand. but there are those occasional smart tourists, you know... the ones (i'd expect) those of us commenting here would be when we're on vacation somewhere... the ones you don't notice because they go with the flow of traffic, and step out of traffic if they need to find directions or stare at some shiny object in the sky. that beign said, i don't think there's a single "smart" tourist who wears a fanny pack and white sneakers.

~ waniel: judging from the overwhelming presence of so-called "stupid tourists," i'd have to conclude that the vast majority of tourists fall into this category and are eligible for my impatience, contempt, and outright hatred. and of course, since i only think in sweeping generalizations, this is a good justification for my so-called "hating on" tourists in general. so there.

~ fair enough. in that case, i hate them just as much as you do, despite the fact that i probably qualify as one since i only arrived here two weeks ago and have yet to explore manhattan. i *have* learned how to use the subway system, though: keep moving.

~ mr. dong: the people you refer to as "smart tourists" are not actually tourists at all. they are merely travellers, going on their merry (and intelligent!) way. "tourist", at least to the minds of such cosmopolitan folks as we are, is an inherently negative word. that said, everyone makes mistakes, and even the smartest travellers can act like stupid tourists at times. times square seems to bring out the Confused, Directionless Idiot in any traveller.

~ You're right about Times Square. Everytime I end up in that part of town I want to shoot everyone in sight. I love how so many people just assume that everyplace in the world is the same as it is at home... And when it's not, they spazzzzz! Big time! People should be given a test before allowed to visit New York. If they can't keep up with the flow of traffic, or if they stop in a big clump in the middle of the sidewalk blocking traffic, or if they actually wait for the light to change before crossing the street, they should be banned from the city. Or, alternatively, we could offer "how to survive in New York" lessons to those people who fail the test. Good plan?

~ most of my friends that are actually from nyc see columbia students as tourists. i don't necessarily agree, i thought i'd just throw it out there.

~ goodtimes: i'd totally agree. we ARE tourists. but after about 6 months (give or take some time) we at least learn to act like normal people when we're out in public. and after 4 years, if you haven't caught on to the basic behaviors of the general nyc population,...well, you're just stupid so you shouldn't be at columbia anyway. so maybe most CU people would fall into waniel's "smart tourist" or melisa's "travellers" (or some kind of "non-nativized resident") category? whatever, most of us are not as awful as the corn-fed nebraskans i trip over in times square.

~ well all I know is that when I walk somewhere, I'm walking somewhere..I have pretty much cut Times Square out of my chillin' diet cuz of the stop and go foot traffic..it gets me so fustrated..

~ Ugh Tourists. Gawking at everything.

~ i don't understand the problem with tourists in times square. times square is a world tourism capital. you know exactly what you're getting yourself into.

~ ok fine, goodtimes. then take anywhere else. soho. the f***ing meatpacking district. TIFFANY'S, for god's sake, and fifth avenue in general. i actually GO to these places often (which i can't really say about times square) and there are tourists with maps and fannypacks everywhere. i mean, come on; what possible reason could a tourist have to be in the meatpacking district, just wandering around.

~ oh carrington beat me to it. and true about the meatpacking district. like what the hell? i was there for brunch the other day with my father and (besides seeing julianne moore with her little boy) we stumbled across many a lost tourist. in the f***ing meatpacking district.

~ the meatpacking district didnt actually become hip until recently... and you can still see vestiges if you look closely... there is the occasional pig-hanging-in-window. but i much prefer the restaurants (pastisse and markt... highly recommend!!... in pastisse once we saw gwyneth paltrow and steven spielberg... on the same day. and markt's beer, fries and mussels are unbelievable)

~ oh tourists are cute.

As a New Yorker I can attest that Times Square is the absolute worst - I try to avoid walking on Broadway or 7th down there like the plague. Everyone moves at a slow crawl, and, unlike in the rest of the city, actually obey the walk/don't walk signs. If there's one think I cannot stress enough - if there are no cars coming, GO!!!

[Danielle]

Shopping - New York has some of the best shopping in the world. 5th and Madison are VERY upscale and expensive. Keep in mind that NYC sales tax is 8.something%! My favorite discount shops are Century 21 (a New York legend! AMAZING deals if you look hard enough... Last month I bough a pair of Italian shoes, orginally $96, for $20! www.c21stores.com/), Loehmann's (http://www.loehmanns.com/), and Gabay's (http://www.gabaysoutlet.com/).

Museums - I'm not a huge museum person, but Ellis Island is amazing! I feel like it's overlooked a lot, but it's an absolutley wonderful museum. I'm not sure what kind of enterance fees there are... You have to take a ferry to get there, it's the same ferry that goes to the Statue of Liberty. Just take the 1/9 subway line to South Ferry. I also really love the Museum of the City of New York. It's really cool, and not one of the big draws, so you'll have it all to yourselves. I've never been, but I've heard great thing about the Lower East Side Tenament Museum. Also the Museum of Television and Radio. And the Transit Museum. The Met is definitely a FULL DAY, but worth it if you're into art. Smaller art museums are the Whitney, the Guggenheim, and the Frick. Lastly, if anyone is traveling with kids, the Natural History Museum is amazing! I personally love the gem stones exhibit. You also get admission to the Planetarium there, which is also really fun. I could be wrong, but I think the last time I went admission fees were "suggested" - meaning if you couldn't afford to pay you didn't have to, or you could only paid what you could afford. I think I paid the full amount anyway...

The best days I've had in NY have just been spend wandering. I'm a big wanderer. Anyway, I have a lot about my favorite NYC days (along with other journally things) posted on my Xanga... Feel free to PM me for the addy if interested.

If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to post!

[Danielle]

Actually, now that I come to think of it, I did go to see a jazz concert at what turned out to be a hostel a few months ago. Of course I didn't see any rooms, etc, but where the concert was (looked to be like where the guests ate?) was actually quite nice. The Upper West Side location is pretty good (bear in mind that a few blocks futher north you are in Harlem though). We walked there from Columbia at around 9/10pm and didn't feel unsafe (in a group). Might be worth checking out. Also, the midtown location is quite a good area... It would have easy access to the 4,5,6 subway line and is 2 blocks from Bloomingdales.

www.jazzonthepark.com/

[jennifer]

Wow, you're on fire with info!
Great!

[Danielle]

Lol. I'm at work and my boss is on vacation for 2 weeks. She left me about an hours worth of work for those 2 weeks, so I haven't really had much to keep me busy... Idle hands. ;D

[Kim]

Wow, that's AWESOME info! I'm busy taking notes!

We are going to try to get to New York next year - cross you fingers for me.

What area do you recommend staying in? Close enough to walk to everything but still decent..

Kim

[Eagle]

DANIELLE, Thank you for the very complete list of sightseeing ideas for NYC!!! What a comprehensive list! I have printed out all of your Posts on the subject, and will add it to my travel files. Your comments have certainly increased my interest in visiting NYC!

The Hot Dogs sound great (and the price is certainly good)! Both people watching and going to Central Park sound like good options, as does a Broadway show. However, based on the comments in one of your Posts, it sounds like a lot of native New Yorkers don't have much patience for tourists. Some of the people who commented seem to consider them an "annoyance". I suspect the people who complained weren't business people who rely on tourist dollars?

Hopefully your Boss won't be reading your Posts, as you can be sure more work will be assigned the next time he / she goes on vacation! Incidentally, there was a small article in today's paper that stated that 43% of large / medium companies monitor all E-mail sent by their employees. Not sure if this applies to web postings or not?

KIM, Thanks also for the info. on the WestJet flights. I haven't really been following their new destinations, but figured it wouldn't be long until they added NYC. I suspect the low price is just an "introductory offer" and the regular fare will be much higher.

Thanks again for your comments. Cheers!!!

[WillTravel]

I missed those low WestJet prices! Great!

I wonder when I can justify going to New York, given I just got back from this trip ;-).

[Danielle]

Kim - I'm not really sure what you're interested in, but I can definitely say with certainty that the West Side has more to do than the East Side, and is generally a little bit less expensive as well. I'm not sure that you would be able to walk "everywhere," but generally when you walk along an uptown or downtown avenue (5th Ave, Broadway, etc...) 10 blocks is a mile. Those are known as "short blocks." Walking along the crosstown streets (34th street, 42nd street) you'll find yourself on "long blocks" - I believe 5 of these blocks make a mile. It's really hard to say 1 specific area of the city to stay in. Midtown is definitely the best location, but is probably also the most expensive. Midtown, Greenwich Village, SoHo, and Upper West Side are all great neighborhoods. Upper East Side is mostly residential and just OOZES money. GENERALLY I would say that everything SoHo/TriBeCa north to 96th street are decent areas. Prime sight-seeing is from about 66th street to about Prince street. It would probably be easiest for you to do some research and then I could tell you about the area it's in and what it's close to, and pros/cons.

Eagle - Haha! New Yorkers don't have a lot of patience for a lot of stuff! ;D And, you're right. They're all college students at Columbia! ;D Don't get the wrong idea, there's absolutely nothing against tourists. People don't hold grudges or anything. It's just that Times Square is just the worst bottleneck in the city, and it's b/c of the tourists. I love it and I think it's a definite "must see" - but you seriously can't walk more than 5 steps without having to dodge an entire group of fanny pack wearing grandmothers stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. It's kind of like if all Americans went to Germany and started driving 25 mph on the Autobahn while taking up 2 lanes of traffic - I'm sure sooner rather than later Germans would start getting pretty ticked off by us! People on this sight are different. We do our homework BEFORE we go. You'd be surprised how clueless some of these people are. And for the average New Yorker, just trying to walk from his/her job to Penn Station, dealing with it everyday takes a toll.

I'm actually working in the English Dept at my school, so it's not really a huge deal. I'm just going to cherish these last few boss-less days! I must say I'm jealous, she's on an archeological dig in Mallorca, Spain!

[Kim]

Sounds great. I looked a bunch of hotels the other day but it was hard to figure out where they were in relation to everything.

Don't worry about the tourist thing - I live in a touristy city and downtown drives me crazy in the summer. I was just down there this morning and the one that bugs me the most is when you are walking behind someone and they stop dead! Or decide to read their map in the middle of a side walk - it's a toss up.

So what month would you recommend? We were thinking probably spring or fall to avoid the heat. Yes no?

Kim

[Marie]

Coming back to the old subject, I think the show with the blond girl trvelling aournd the world id called "My Global Adventure" with a canadian girl named Asia, on Life Network. I love that show!

In Queébec we have Canal Évasion and I seem to have become addicted!

BTW, how does one go about getting a job like that???

[Danielle]

Fall/Spring sounds great. As long as you avoid July and August it won't be too hot, most likely. June is still pretty bareable temperature wise. May is quite pleasant, as is late September. The seasons change mighty quick in the Big Apple though. Last fall, one day I was walking around in tank tops and the next I needed a sweatshirt! I'd say April/May are good and late Sept/Oct. The only thing is, there won't be nearly as many fun outdoor freebies as in June or July.

[jennifer]

Ah yes, Canal Evasion, but I don't get that channel! Oh well!

How does one get such a job? By being a lucky one out of a billion! I dream and long and fantasize of having a travelling job!
Oh well, let's keep dreaming!

[Marie]

Now I've just finished writing down all the info on NYC. I've been twice but just for a day or two each time.

A friend and I (living in Montreal) visit an other friend who goes to Princeton and take the train to NYC for the day. But next time, probably during canadian thanksgiving, I'd like to stay over night, gonna try researching and get back with ideas.

Last time we managed to see the guggenheim, climb the empire state building, eat in litlle italy and see Rent in one day (btw: Rent is AMAZING: tkts = 50$)

Danielle, now I'd would like some more info on where to shop, if you don't mind, cause when you don't know where to look New-York is really big! Plus I don't want to bust my budget cause the canadian dollar !! But I love to shop and hide it in my luggage and through out the car when I cross the border!