I live in New York City - Ask Me Anything!

[allfurcoatnoknickers]

I see NYC advice threads popping up on the travel boards a lot - anyone got any questions for a current Manhattan and former Queens resident?

I'm also married to a born and raised New Yorker, and we're imminently about to have a baby, in case anyone's wondering what it's like to be pregnant in the US.

@MissConductUS I always, ALWAYS go in the wrong entrance. I don't know how I do it, it must be a gift. Need Amtrak? Obv I purposefully stride into the LIRR bit.

@shrinkinvi If you need a quick pre-train snack or to pick up something to go, there's a great food hall at Penn called The Pennsy. I am partial to the Cinnamon Snail stand in there.

@allfurcoatnoknickers or any others in the know - I don't suppose you could recommend a good hotel in Philadelphia?

@JaneyJimplin Only hotel I know personally in Philly is the Sofitel. It was lovely, but I was there on work's dime...

I have two recommendations for hotels in Philly. The higher end option is the downtown Marriott:

www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/phldt-philadelphia-marriott-downtown/

It's a lovely, modern, full service hotel in a great location.

If you want to save a few quid, I'd recommend the Fairfield Inn, which is another Marriott property and within walking distance of the first option:

www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/phlcc-fairfield-inn-and-suites-philadelphia-downtown-center-city/

There's no restaurant, bar or room service, but the rooms are fine, they put out a massive free breakfast at 6:00 AM and it is much cheaper.

I've stayed at both. If work is paying, I go full service. If I'm paying, I'd stay at the Fairfield.

Thanks, useful info. Cinnamon snails sound interesting

Misconduct & allfur - thanks for the tips. None of those options had shown up on my previous searches! The Fairfield inn & suites looks good - a suite is quite cheap. Just deciding whether to go for that or stretch to the sofitel.

Janey If you're worried about the lack of a restaurant at the Fairfield Inn, don't be. There are scads of them in that part of Philly. That part of downtown is the Little Italy district.

Not having to pay for breakfast is another big saving. I'm a really early riser and I was thrilled to discover that they put free coffee out overnight as well.

I went to NYC 3 year's ago absolutely loved it, 9/11 museum was very sad couldn't stop crying, top of the Empire State Building was amazing, i liked the way people make great use of Central Park many people doing different activities, when eating out couldn't believe how much food was on the plate! also did a few bus tour's a great way to see everything, felt a bit sad to seeing the apartment's where John Lennon was shot, Times Square is brilliant, we had a great time people were really friendly, when hearing my accent (scottish) people just wanted to talk.

people were really friendly, when hearing my accent (scottish) people just wanted to talk.

We love our UK tourists. You are so much more polite and easy to deal with than the bloody Germans and the French some others I could name. There is a sense of shared culture and history that encourages NY'ers to open up too.

I'm so pleased you enjoyed your visit but sorry that the 9/11 museum made you sad. I was working not far north of the WTC that day. What I remember most about it now was how we didn't panic, pulled together as a city and then rebuilt better than before. It was a trauma when it happened though.

@happyhillock You're about the 4th person who's brought up the 9/11 museum on this thread. I really should visit.

UK tourists do tend to be among the best - DH is adamant that the worst are generally from the US South/Midwest because the culture is so alien to them, but because it's still America they're not expecting it to be alien.

The big portions can be killer on the waistline, but you do get used to getting doggy bags, or learning to self regulate by eating less at other meals. Also, New Yorkers tend to be very skinny, so there's a bit of peer pressure not to overdo it.

I got ticketed in Central Park for drinking wine in Sheep's Meadow a couple of years ago not my finest hour.

You're about the 4th person who's brought up the 9/11 museum on this thread. I really should visit.

You're a New Yorker now, but I think that visiting the museum will give you a much richer understanding of what we went through during that time. There's also the modern classical composer John Adams' piece, On the Transmigration of Souls that does a brilliant job of conveying what it was like in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

I get a little teary listening to it.

Just want to say OP me and my partner visited New York last year and we loved it. Contrary to what we had heard New Yorkers were very friendly and helpful and the city felt very safe.

A weird one maybe - but most pps have asked my other questions:
Are you worried the New York accent is dying out? If you believe it is. A few locals we spoke to said it's become less and less heard of, which I think is a shame as it's such a great accent.

@origamiunicorn I'm so glad you liked it! New Yorkers are very friendly, they're just always in a rush and don't suffer fools gladly. A bunch of New Yorkers competing to tell a lost tourist the best way to get somewhere it a beautiful thing to see.

The accent is definitely becoming rarer. I think it would be a shame if it died out, but a similar, but not identical accent is still alive and well on Long Island. DH has lived here his whole life (he's 33) and while he says certain words with a thick NY accent (Dawg, Frawg, Cawffee, Beag, LonGuyland) otherwise he doesn't have an accent. His grandfather on the other hand...

Silly question...is this the right plug adaptor for NYC?

@AuntieMarys Nope! US only has two prongs.

Oh! Hotel has just said it is!

The three pronged plugs as pictured are the current standard in the US and have been since the late 1960's:

www.nachi.org/bbsystem/viewtopic.php?t=5220

The round prong is to attach to a grounding wire. Structures built earlier don't have three wire electrical cabling so there's no way to retrofit it short of replacing all of the wiring. My house, built in 1986, has all three pronged outlets, as does my work.

They do make adapters:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheater_plug

so that new appliances can be plugged into the older outlets.

allfur, do you live in an older apartment building?

AuntieMarys you will be fine with that adapter.

@MissConductUS I had NO idea. I do live in an old building - 1900 and all our plugs are 2 prongs only. Although, now I look under my desk at the office, I see that they have three my mind is blown.

Ignore me @AuntieMarys. Clearly your hotel is less of a fire hazard than my apartment building!

Is it true that employers are quite strict in that some staff are expected to work longer than contracted hours and not take their allocated leave / holiday? I love nyc. I've been 3 times but planning to go again in 2 years time. I get the marmite remark. I've had friends come back disappointed but I think it's knowing where to go and avoiding the big tourist traps imo.

I had NO idea. I do live in an old building - 1900 and all our plugs are 2 prongs

You and I make a great team on this thread allfur.

@Louise7777 Is it true that employers are quite strict in that some staff are expected to work longer than contracted hours and not take their allocated leave / holiday?

It totally depends on the industry, the nature of the job and the employer. If you're an auditor at a public accounting firm, you will put in a lot of overtime from January through June when annual audits are generally done. If you're an investment banker and you're working on an IPO, again, a lot of long hours. But those jobs are compensated accordingly, and there's more flexibility during the slower times. And at many, many jobs the hours are quite regular and not disruptive.

Unless you are a member of a union, most employees here at "at will" and not under a specific employment contract. In the last 20-30 years there has been much more emphasis placed on work life balance and employers treat people better in order to retain them. I'm in a fairly senior role and I have never been asked to forgo allocated leave (vacation time as we call it here, or paid time off/PTO). It's sometimes been hard to schedule, and if I can't take it all I can carry it over to the following January and use it then.

If I have an employee who is on salary and she works extra hours on a project, I give her compensatory time so that she can leave early or come in late when it's not busy. I can also let people in some roles work from home one day a week, saving them time on their commute. You have to treat people as professionals, and if you do, they'll have great loyalty to the organization.

Thank you :-)

Ah thank you xx

Having hysterics packing for next week. Cold, wet but then dry.
I am a crap packer

@AuntieMarys You need a lightweight rain coat and thin layers. I think it'll be colder at night, so pack a sweatshirt, but for the days, try t-shirt, cardigan, lightweight jacket over the top, lightweight scarf. Then you can just shove the cardigan and scarf in your bag if you get too hot.

@Louise7777 Second everything @MissConductUS says - it varies wildly by industry, job and employer. I'm in busy season right now, so I've got 2 12+ hour days this week and we're technically on a "vacation blackout" until the end of June. All that really means though is that now is NOT the time to spontaneously book 2 weeks away. I'm taking a day off next week and it's fine. Outside of busy season I work a standard 9-5 and can take vacation whenever I want, as long as there's someone to cover for me.

I've had a couple of horrible managers who've been weird about vacation days, but they'd be horrible no matter what country they were in.

I work in the same industry here, in a comparable job to the one I had in the UK, and the main differences I've noted are:

• In the UK my holidays were use it or lose it, here I can roll any unused days over to the next year.
• I've noticed taking 2 weeks off work at a time is more unusual here, tends to be that people take lots of shorter holidays/long weekends.
• I very rarely get time off in lieu for working late nights and weekends here, BUT in the UK I was never allowed to work from home, and I do all the time here. I worked late on Tuesday, then just worked from home until Wednesday lunchtime.
• I find sick days are less rigid here - if I have a cold, I can work from home, rather than having to either be in the office or take a sick day.

DH used to be in consulting and his hours were insane, now he works for a brokerage firm, and they're much more normal.

How long did it take you to start 'sounding american'? (I spent literally 5 days there and turned Yank)

All the English actors who spend much time there start to sound similar quite quickly imo. I put it down to the inclusive nature of the place - everyonr seems to be from everywhere. Interested to hear your views on it.