The Golf Club Anderson

How many days does it take to see all the major sites in NYC in a shallow, touristy kind of way?

I don’t mean an in-depth look at the city. I’m not looking for hidden gems or out of the way places. I’m talking about seeing what people mostly associate with New York (ie. Times Square, Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, etc.). Thank you.

Hi….
This is something I copied and pasted from a previous question I answered, but it applies to you as well. I would allow yourself 2-3 days. Read on…..

For a good and memorable trip to NYC, here are a few pointers. I tell this to all my friends who are not from NYC, and anyone coming to visit:

Get a pair of comfy shoes. NYC is a walking city, and you will find yourself walking a lot.

Do not wear: plaid shorts, capri pants, pink golf shirts or bad shoes. That will immediately mark you as a tourist, and every con artist and pick pocket will have their hand in your pocket. Oh, and travel light! Be portable!

The first thing you want to do when you come to NYC is to get yourself a Metro Card. That is a fare card for the entire transit system. Get a one day unlimited card (called a fun pass) for $7. That will give you unlimited access to all the subways and buses. Always keep your MetroCard in the same place and have it ready before you approach the turnstyle (I keep mine in my left back pocket). Go online and check out the subway map: mta.info
that will give you not only an idea of how the subway works, but also how the city is laid out, and how you can get to the things you want to see.

If you are in mid town Manhattan 34th-59th Street, food will be expensive. If you walk west of 8th Avenue (to 9th) the food will be less and there are really nice restaurants, and their pretty reasonable.

Places to see:
Central Park; more that just a park, pretty amazing. They even have a lake where you can rent rowboats for $10 p/h. very romantic.
Right by there is The Boathouse, a nice restaurant/bar/cafe. It is a bit pricey.

How about all the way down to the battery (take the 1 train to South Ferry) you can walk right by the harbor. You can even take the Staten Island Ferry: it is the best boat ride in the harbor, best of all it’s free! you can sit out on the deck have a beer (the beer isn’t free) and watch Manhattan fade away in the distance, go right by Statue of liberty and Ellis Island. When you are at Staten Island, just turn around an go right back (unless you want to explore SI….kinda neat) While we are on the subject, keep in mind that if you want to go to Liberty Island, you will have to pay, wait in a very long line (at least 90 min) and since the statue is under repair, you will not be able to go up in her. Ellis Island is also a long, expensive wait, so unless you have a burning desire to go therre, too….
After you get back to Manhattan, you can walk the rest of the way along the promenade, and you will see signs for the Brooklyn Bridge. It has a pedestrian walkway and it is a nice walk, goes out to Brooklyn. (Wow, three boroughs in a few hours)
Back in Manhattan, you will probably be hungry after all that walking. At the South Street Seaport, there are places to eat, right out on the wharf.
if you want, you can walk up a bit to Wall Street (It is so narrow and the buildings are so high, it is like walking through a tunnel!), check out the Stock Exchange etc.

You are not far from the 4-5-6 train. You could take it to Grand Central, the largest train station in the world, even if you are not going anywhere, it is pretty amazing to look at, and has lots of shops and places to eat. Walk a bit east on 44th Street and you will walk smack into the United Nations. If you still haven’t eaten, you could go to the Delegates Dining Room for lunch ($25 per person, reservations required, jacket & tie for men, they close at 3PM). I work in the Catering department at the UN, so if you go there be sure to say hi to my buddies in the DDR. You can also take a tour of the UN. it is pretty impressive.

If you would like to see a show, take the M42 bus across town to Times square, where you will be in the theatre district, and you can see your pick of shows ranging in price fro $45-500. Keep in mind that on Mon & Tue, theatres are dark. You can also see lots of smaller, more esoterric shows (often better) but you have to look for them try theatremania.com
If you would prefer opera, take the 1 train (or you can walk) to 66th Street/Lincoln Center. There you will find the Metropolitan Opera House, and the New York State Theatre, home to the New York City Opera, and sometimes the New York City Ballet. If there is an opera you like, it might be playing there, and you will likely get a ticket ($50-500, depending where you sit)

You can also go uptown another 15 blocks (81st Street) to the Museum of Natural History. They have a planetarium and a space show, and lots of really neat stuff. Night at the Museum is based on Natural History. Directly across Central Park is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even if you had two weeks you would not see all the art there. They also have a rooftop cafe, which is very reasonable and has a great view of the park.

While we are on the subject of views, if you want to go up the Empire State building, keep in mind it is about $20, and the weit can be 2-3 hours. Early Wed morning is best for that, but it is still $20.
Try Top of the Rock, at Rockefeller Center (47-50th Street, B-D train), less expensive, less wait, only slightly lower than the Empire State Building.
Rockefeller Center also has some great resaurants. They are excellent! But they are also very expensive. I have worked at some of them and some of my friends work there as well. Try the Rockefeller Center Cafe, the Sea Grill, Tropicana, and I think there are a few more. There is also the Rainbow Room (I have worked there, as well), but good luck getting a reservation there.

If you really want to explore, take the A train to 190th Street and Check out the Cloisters. That is an old 14th century French Monastary that was brought to NYC by Nelson Rockefeller in the 30s, and reassembled, stone by stone. If you went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art that day, you can use your admission badge to get into the Cloisters free. It is on a gorgeous park, up on a hill with an excellent view of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. And the monastary itself is pretty cool. There is also a restaurant up there called the New Leaf Cafe. It is a bit pricey, but not bad. The food is excellent.

a short walk down from there is Dyckmann 200th Street. There you will find an Italian restaurant called Ristorante del Sole (excellent food, my girlfriend have never spent more than $80, including apetizers, entrees, wine, tip). Walk up Broadway to 207th Street (that’s where I live!), and you will find more great restaurants like Guadalupe (on 207th Street, just East of Broadway) and the Garden Cafe (justuptown of 207th Street, on Broadway).

If you like animals a lot, you can go to the Bronx Zoo (take a commuter train to Botanical Gardens, from there it is a short walk to the Zoo. If you like animals a little go to the Central Park Zoo (smaller and not as out of the way)

If you like to rollerblade, you can rent a pair of rollerblades at Chelsea Piers (C train to 23rd Street, M23 bus west to Chelsea Piers), and blade on the path that goes the entire lenght of manhattan along the Hudson. You can also rent a bike in Central Park.

couple of things:

Do not be tempted to take one of those open top tourist buses. They will get jammed in traffic and will only take you to the parts of NYC they want you to see.
The subway is better, it has its own right of way, so will get you from point A to point B faster.
We New Yorkers stand there and laugh at the tour buses.

There are a lot of people who, in their effort to do everything, end up doing nothing and are disappointed with their trip. pace yourself and do what you can. You wont do it all, and NYC will still be here the next time you come!

Do not mistreat homeless people/panhandlers. They were here first and their situation is worse then yours. Believe me, it is! Plus, you can always identify a tourist, because they mistreat panhandlers.

These are just a few pointers, a few things. The main thing is to enjoy your trip!

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