questions about visiting NYC

[DavidMn]

So anyway I'm going to be in New York in March for Fleetwood Mac, and I wanted to ask some of the NYC residents for some advice on visiting and how to go about it. First of all, I want to visit the Statue of Liberty and Elllis Island. I will probably be doing this on March 18th, the day off between the Albany show and MSG. I'll be staying in Albany and taking the bus down into NYC for the day and back to Albany in the evening. The main question I have regarding this is, is it better to buy a group package for both places, and if so should I do it in advance online or when I get there. Also being a food afficionado I will be visiting little Italy for a dinner. Can anyone reccomend their favorite or best Italian resturant there? Thanks everyone. Advice is greatly appreciated!

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

So anyway I'm going to be in New York in March for Fleetwood Mac, and I wanted to ask some of the NYC residents for some advice on visiting and how to go about it. First of all, I want to visit the Statue of Liberty and Elllis Island. I will probably be doing this on March 18th, the day off between the Albany show and MSG. I'll be staying in Albany and taking the bus down into NYC for the day and back to Albany in the evening. The main question I have regarding this is, is it better to buy a group package for both places, and if so should I do it in advance online or when I get there. Also being a food afficionado I will be visiting little Italy for a dinner. Can anyone reccomend their favorite or best Italian resturant there? Thanks everyone. Advice is greatly appreciated!

I admire your ambition, but your day off sounds like torture- Albany is at least 2.5 hours each way from NYC (without traffic, that is), which means you will be spending most of the day on the road. If I were you, I would spend the extra money and stay in NYC rather than Albany.

I know there is a one-day pass you can buy for $69 that gets you into pretty much all of the major attractions in the city, but since you are only hitting a couple of places, it's probably not worth going the package deal route. Also, I wouldn't bother with the Statue of Liberty- all you can do is stand outside at the base and look up at it. It's pretty and everything, but probably not the best place to be on a raw March Day. If you want a nice view of the city, Statue of Liberty and the NY Harbor, take the Staten Island Ferry, which is 100% free. And for 25 minutes you can tease up your hair and pretend like you're Carly Simon and sing "Let the River Run."

As for Italian food... definitely avoid Little Italy. It's strictly overpriced, low-quality fare for tourists. For recommendations I would go to yelp.com or do a search on eater.com.

[TrueFaith77]

I've lived here 5 years and I've never even seen the Statue of Liberty!

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

As for Italian food... definitely avoid Little Italy. It's strictly overpriced, low-quality fare for tourists. For recommendations I would go to yelp.com or do a search on eater.com.

I second that. Little Italy is the pits.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I've lived here 5 years and I've never even seen the Statue of Liberty!



I second that. Little Italy is the pits.

I went to the Statue of Liberty back in 1986, when you could actually climb the stairs to the observation "room" and peer out of the tiny openings in her crown. Haven't been back since! That same day I also visited the top of the World Trade Center for the last time as well...

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I've lived here 5 years and I've never even seen the Statue of Liberty!

Go to Battery Park and look South.. .you'll see it...

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I admire your ambition, but your day off sounds like torture- Albany is at least 2.5 hours each way from NYC (without traffic, that is), which means you will be spending most of the day on the road. If I were you, I would spend the extra money and stay in NYC rather than Albany.

I know there is a one-day pass you can buy for $69 that gets you into pretty much all of the major attractions in the city, but since you are only hitting a couple of places, it's probably not worth going the package deal route. Also, I wouldn't bother with the Statue of Liberty- all you can do is stand outside at the base and look up at it. It's pretty and everything, but probably not the best place to be on a raw March Day. If you want a nice view of the city, Statue of Liberty and the NY Harbor, take the Staten Island Ferry, which is 100% free. And for 25 minutes you can tease up your hair and pretend like you're Carly Simon and sing "Let the River Run."

As for Italian food... definitely avoid Little Italy. It's strictly overpriced, low-quality fare for tourists. For recommendations I would go to yelp.com or do a search on eater.com.

That's interesting that you mention that about little Italy. I read a review online by someone who said the resturants are not very good there for the most part. That surprises me.

[Ghost_Tracker]

I'm from Long Island and so I'm reasonably familiar with the city, but not really well enough to be giving suggestions for Italian restaurants, etc. But I'd like to recommend taking a Circle Line cruise, if you have the time for it. It's fun, you can sit down the entire time and still have a great view, and you get to see and hear about a great deal of the city. (It also passes near to the Statue of Liberty, although it doesn't stop there.) Empire State Building is ALWAYS great; but there's a long, long line. Rockefeller Center ("30 Rock") is a much shorter wait, and there's a great view of the city from "The Top of the Rock." If you're a fan of either show, Conan O'Brian or Letterman might be fun. I think you probably have to get tix fairly well in advance, though. (I don't remember at the moment how much longer Conan is continuing before he takes over for Jay Leno.)

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

I'm from Long Island and so I'm reasonably familiar with the city, but not really well enough to be giving suggestions for Italian restaurants, etc. But I'd like to recommend taking a Circle Line cruise, if you have the time for it. It's fun, you can sit down the entire time and still have a great view, and you get to see and hear about a great deal of the city. (It also passes near to the Statue of Liberty, although it doesn't stop there.) Empire State Building is ALWAYS great; but there's a long, long line. Rockefeller Center ("30 Rock") is a much shorter wait, and there's a great view of the city from "The Top of the Rock." If you're a fan of either show, Conan O'Brian or Letterman might be fun. I think you probably have to get tix fairly well in advance, though. (I don't remember at the moment how much longer Conan is continuing before he takes over for Jay Leno.)

Circle line cruise eh? is that something youd reccomend buying ahead of time online, and is that a trip that boards at Battery Park that you know of? Oh and I should mention on this trip I'll be on the bus so I wont be driving, forgot to mention that.

[bucklind17]

Circle Line boards at 42nd St., which should be convenient for you if you're taking the bus from Albany, since I'm assuming you'll be coming into Port Authority. Though count me in as one who thinks it would be easier on you to spend one of your nights in NYC, especially if you'll be traveling here two days in a row. You should be able to find some reasonable rates on a random March weeknight. I am pretty sure Circle Line has a boat every hour or so, and there's various cruises to take, varying in length and price, so you shouldn't have a problem booking the day off though you may want to look online. I also recommend the Staten Island Ferry for Statue of Liberty viewing. It's beautiful and FREE, which is always tops.

[HejiraNYC]

I walked past this hotel over the weekend. I know nothing about it, but it's in a very central location- a few blocks from MSG, Times Square, Macy's and Port Authority. And it's CHEAP (starting from $100 including tax) - probably as cheap as the place in Albany. It's on a fairly nondescript, grimy block in the garment district, but it should be just fine. Still, proceed at your own risk.

http://www.sentonhotel.com/index1.html

[LukeA]

While we're on the subject of hotels, if you know how to use (or, more precisely, exploit) Priceline, its an INCREDIBLE steal. I've only stayed in four star hotels ever since I started to regularly use the site (about six years ago), and I've never had to pay more than $100+tax (average price, around $70 a night for 4 star)- and often MUCH less. The lowest ever was actually for a Fleetwood Mac show I traveled to, in Madison, WI. Stayed at the same hotel as the band in a huge room overlooking the lake for $42+tax.

www.biddingfortravel.com is an excellent resource. If you travel a lot, you MUST educate yourself on this. I wouldn't do 10% of the traveling that I do if I couldn't use Priceline.

[DavidMn]

You guys, seriously, you have no idea HOW MUCH I appreciate this! With greyhound they have these tickets you can get for 7 days for $330, and 15 days for $485. I'm going to the following shows:

3-3, St Paul
3-5, Chicago
3-8, Detroit
3-10, Washington D.C
3-11, Boston
3-13, Uniondale
3-14, Mohegan Sun
3-16, Rochester
3-17, Albany
3-19, MSG


The 15 days pass on the bus will allow me to travel this entire trip on just one ticket. I always stay at Motel 6( I know, laugh) and there's one in Albany less than a mile from the bus station in Albany. Its only $35 bucks a night and i checked, and its in a good area. Now, here's a more detailed plan for my NYC activities. On the 13th, I'm coming in from Boston into the Port Authority, and I did some research and it looks like the LIRR from Penn station will take me to Jamaica, where I'll switch to another train that will drop me off at the Hempstead stop, and I can make my way to Nassau Colesium. Now that day my plan before going out to the show is to eat at Carnegie Deli( I know IM a tourist) then walk to where Studio 54 was and take a picture, then past the Waldorf, and over to Sparks Steakhouse(my friend is a big mafia buff) before headin out to the venue. Then on the 18th, I'll take the bus down from Albany into the city and arrive at about 10:30 AM to do my sightseeing. Ground Zero, the NYSE and Liberty and Ellis are all on my definite itinerary. I know for dinner that night I'm going to eat at Peter Luger's in Brooklyn before heading back to Albany. Then the day of the NYC show is when I had planned on the Italian meal. Sorry for the long winded response, but I've put a tremendous amount of time into planning this trip already, and I want to be able to get the best advice possible to utilize my time as best I can. THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

You guys, seriously, you have no idea HOW MUCH I appreciate this! With greyhound they have these tickets you can get for 7 days for $330, and 15 days for $485. I'm going to the following shows:

3-3, St Paul
3-5, Chicago
3-8, Detroit
3-10, Washington D.C
3-11, Boston
3-13, Uniondale
3-14, Mohegan Sun
3-16, Rochester
3-17, Albany
3-19, MSG


The 15 days pass on the bus will allow me to travel this entire trip on just one ticket. I always stay at Motel 6( I know, laugh) and there's one in Albany less than a mile from the bus station in Albany. Its only $35 bucks a night and i checked, and its in a good area. Now, here's a more detailed plan for my NYC activities. On the 13th, I'm coming in from Boston into the Port Authority, and I did some research and it looks like the LIRR from Penn station will take me to Jamaica, where I'll switch to another train that will drop me off at the Hempstead stop, and I can make my way to Nassau Colesium. Now that day my plan before going out to the show is to eat at Carnegie Deli( I know IM a tourist) then walk to where Studio 54 was and take a picture, then past the Waldorf, and over to Sparks Steakhouse(my friend is a big mafia buff) before headin out to the venue. Then on the 18th, I'll take the bus down from Albany into the city and arrive at about 10:30 AM to do my sightseeing. Ground Zero, the NYSE and Liberty and Ellis are all on my definite itinerary. I know for dinner that night I'm going to eat at Peter Luger's in Brooklyn before heading back to Albany. Then the day of the NYC show is when I had planned on the Italian meal. Sorry for the long winded response, but I've put a tremendous amount of time into planning this trip already, and I want to be able to get the best advice possible to utilize my time as best I can. THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

I hope you have a wonderful trip... I love NYC... I love shopping at Barney's NY... eating vendor hot dogs, visiting the Beacon, going to Monster Bar over on 7th and Christopher they have a piano upstairs.... visiting my friends there... etc... report back and let us know how it went...

[DavidMn]

You know, I really like this Staten Island Ferry idea, but how in the world can it be free? thats amazing to me.

[GODDESS6]

nyc is so fun, i loved going there & want to take my son now that he is older~ very fun exciting place. w/ something to do or see at all hours~