Aibu to ask for your new York tips?

[MrsLaurac]

So im off to New York later in the year and am wanting to be organised as much as possible by making itineraries and budgets.
Thanks :-)
But there is just so much online! So wondering what recommendations and possibly tips people would have in regards to must dos and must avoids?
Also and I know this really is impossible for people to answer how much did you spend on food?
Also hubby is telling me shopping isnt that great out there what experience did you have?
Were stopping in the empire state area :-)

Oh, and for public toilets may I recommend the ones in Bryant Park. Spotlessly clean, flowers in vases, attendant in situ, classical music playing and free.

Do make sure you look up when you are walking round as the buildings can have beautiful Art Deco features/windows/doors. Seconding Top of the Rock, Moma, Statten Island ferry, Ellen's Starlight diner, Grand Central station - large food court there too.

Century 21 is a discount shop like TK Maxx and is excellent for buying branded products.

The Time Out guide for restaurants is surprisingly accurate and gives guidance for each budget.

Id also recommend the Upright Citizens improvisation comedy show. It cost around $20 and is quite funny.

Ellis Island and tickets to the top of the statue of liberty are also quite cheap and well worth the day trip.

If you want to do the Empire State Building don't queue round the block. It's open until really really late - I think I went in at 11pm. No queue!

Love NY - fortunately we get to go a couple of times a year. So great! Look for off broadway shows as these are super cheap and often really good. I love the shopping - especially Bloomingdales - my top tip is to take your passport and visit the concierge desk first as you can get a card which knocks off all the VAT as a foreigner. And no New York experience is complete without a manicure/ pedicure... walk into pretty much any local salon and get an amazing job for half the UK price.

If you want to walk across the Brooklyn bridge ,get the subway to the Brooklyn side and walk back towards Manhattan . Do a bus tour on the first day as it gives you a good sense of direction . The subway is cheap and easy to use . Take the most comfortable pair of shoes you own .
Newyorkers don’t dress up during the day so wear what’s comfortable . Central Park is a must . Do either the Rockefeller centre or the Empire State . We did the Rockefeller centre at night and had the most amazing view .
We stayed in Greenpoint ( when we went as a family ) , and are out in lots of the restaurants where the locals ate.
Also take the subway down to Coney Island and go for a walk along the boardwalk.

Unless you love shopping I wouldn’t waste a day going to a shopping centre . It’s more or less the same stuff as here . Spend your time taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the sights .

I've just come back, loved it. But found it very expensive and I live in London.

Things we did:

• top of the rock, booked online at home and just walked past the queues. Book an evening slot just before sunset. Fab views inc ESB and Central Park.

•walked the high line, coming down into Chelsea market.

•took the free statten island ferry, amazing views of manhattan and Statue of Liberty.

•hired bikes and cycled round Central Park, stopping off at zoo which is small but worth a visit.

•shopping, Macy's, Bloomingdales,
Apple Store, M&M store etc. The piano
from the film Big is in Macy's.

•eating and drinking can be expensive. Not many hotels in NY include brekkie. We ate breakfast in hotel the first morning - 75 dollars for two people!! Didn't do that again. Google delis and bagel shops off the main areas, there are some fab places. Rustic kitchen is one.

Tony's Italian restaurant near Times Square is busy, buzzing, have to queue, but fab food at a reasonable price with huge portions. Can put your name down and go for a drink nearby.

When I went we did our trips with city sight tours, there's a few companies and they will be dotted around on streets, as much as people think there only there to sell they do pay attention and help you out, they recommend to us that instead of doing Empire State Building to do the rockerfeller building (sorry about spelling) that way we could save money and see the Empire State lit up at night to me that was amazing.
Food wise we spent on average 50 dollors a night for 3 meals and drink, i love places like Applebee's and wing places, try an app called Pinterest they have loads of advice

Op i recommended the not for tourists guide book it has lots of info about New York that tourists won't know. We found so great restaurants and pubs in there.

I second the spotted pig also the cocktails were really nice. If your into music they have some great music venues on the lower east side and in Brooklyn.

Grand central station, Frick, Staten Island ferry ( which is free) to see Statue of Liberty, Top of the Rock because it has the best view and you can see the Empire State Building. If you go up Empire State book tix in advance for early morning or late evening. NYC public library - building is amazing. Walk the Highline. The Dead Rabbit is great pub. Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. You can do great boat tours that take you around Manhattan Island for skyline views - worth it. Or get the PATH from Christopher Street or ferry across to Hoboken for the classic view of NYC. The new 9/11 Memorial is really Good very very moving and understated. Eat big breakfasts to save money, look out for the A ratings for food quality- never eat at a C rated place! Don’t eat or drink in or around Times Square - crap and expensive. Look out for happy hours - all the bars have them on certain nights. Buy books at McNally Jackson in Soho, or go to the Strsnd book store to be amazed at how many books you can get in a store...

I recommend the High Line.

Visit Bath and Body Works!!

You might want to confirm this with Tangfastics but I think house wine means something different there. We were jetlagged on our first night. Had pizza and the house wine but meal for 4 was about $250. I think that while house wine in the UK is the bog standard cheapest in the US its the most special wine. The biggest tragedy was that we left half the bottle because we didn't like it!

Recommend doing the Circle line boat tour. Federal reserve tour is great, but tickets are available 30 days before and they go within minutes. If you want to shop consider going to a mall in NJ where you don’t pay sales tax or go up to an outlet center like Woodbury common. There are bus tours from NYC.
Lots of museums have a suggested donation instead of entrance fee, google “which museums are suggested donations”, so you can pay as little or much as you want. There are several Xmas craft fairs (holiday fairs) in NYC. The one in GCS is small but lovely, also there are ones at Union Square and Columbus Circle. Think they will be open by Thanksgiving.
The museum of Art and Design at Columbus Circle has a great little gift shop with some very different items as well as jewelry. You don’t need to go in the museum to get into this. Great view across the bottom of the park from the first floor windows(second floor, if you are in USA). First floor is the (uk) ground floor in most buildings.
For good steaks, try Quality meats restaurant near the park. Shake shake or bare burger are great and offer a choice of meats. So many good and different types of restaurants, except Indian or fish and chips.
Not sure about the folding chair to watch the parade. But the day before you can go and walk along the area where they are inflating the balloons. Still busy, but not as bad as the actual day.
Consider going to a Broadway show on the Thurs of Thanksgiving, will be very quiet and you will have more choice as most people will be visiting family.

the Frick museum was by donation on Wednesdays.
i like the food at Juniors

Take your passport to Bloomingdales. Go to visitor services first (through the doors and up on your right) and they’ll give you a discount.

If you like make-up visit a Sephora, preferably the one on 5th Avenue.

Oh, and yes to the High Line.

I live here (was in NYC for 5 years, now just outside of it for the last 2 years)

Shopping - tbh, 5th avenue etc is worth a look, but there's nothing out of the ordinary that you now can't find in the UK, unless you want specific US designers, makeup etc that might be hard to find at home. I find it expensive, especially for decent shoes - a lot of it will depend on what the exchange rate is when you come

Eating out - we eat out a lot here, usual price in a nice (not posh, just nice non chain) restaurant for 2 people with 2 courses and a bottle of wine is anywhere from $100 upwards and then tax and tip on top. There's obviously lots of places that are cheaper than this and you can get good deals - open table is a great resource for bookings and suggestions. There's also a ton of decent places for lunch places - build your own salad places and stuff are v popular, and its really easy to find gluten / dairy free or for vegans catered pretty much everywhere

Stuff to do - I think its worth looking at those bundled tourist passes they do for museums etc, as paying as you go can be very expensive (its about $20 each for MOMA etc) ellis island is worth a visit, seconding staten island ferry for a cheap way to see statue of liberty (just don't get off and actually go onto staten island, its an odd place. Take the first ferry back!)

Walking across brooklyn bridge is a good one (just go early as it gets rammed) and then DUMBO on the brooklyn side is great for a wander. Brooklyn Heights has a great park, and is also one of the oldest neighborhoods and worth a visit.

I love MOMA for its collection, the guggenheim is a great building but I never really rate the art there. Central Park is ok - its bloody massive tho and really easy to get lost and really its just a park (so shoot me...) I'd also recommend doing stuff like the tenement or transport museum if that's your thing.

Downtown where the world trade center and financial district is very very popular (and busy) but there's not really much to see, which sounds odd I know. You can't get near the stock exchange etc for security reasons, the WTC is a memorial but I find it quite disconcerting the amount of posing selfies that go on, given what happened there (personal opinion tho) Going up the top is a nice visit, but, like the top of the rock etc, it can be difficult to see what you're looking at.

Definitely narrow down what you're interested in and google discounts before you come, as there's always stuff on the cheap.

Get comfortable with the concept of tipping before you come, it can be eye watering, but the service is usually better as a result. $1-2 for each round of 'normal' drinks in a bar, slightly more if you get cocktails, 20% for meals out (i.e. where you get served at your table) and do this before they add the tax, 10% for taxis. Lots of coffee bars where you order up front etc have started being cheeky fuckers and putting a tip jar by the tills, but I don't tip unless its my regular place

I mostly agree with others about the shopping EXCEPT if you are plus sized, you'll definitely find it worth your while to look in places like Macy's. So much easier to get good clothes, especially things like jeans, at a reasonable price.

I loved Max Brenner's chocolate restaurant, Mood fabrics and the whole of the garment district, the Met, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, fresh pretzels and bagels, Posman Books, Grand Central Station and the Lion King. I wished I'd seen more shows, visited Central Park, had chance to go to more museums, tried more restaurants and been there for at least another week!

We got Ubers - found them not too expensive, and of course you know how much it's going to be in advance.

If you're on a budget, you can see the Statue of Liberty via the Staten Island Ferry which is free. The Ground Zero memorial is also free. Central Park is also free to walk around and there are various things to look at including the Alice in Wonderland statue and Belvedere Castle. If I remember rightly, I'm pretty sure that the New York library is free - has some interesting architecture and you can also see the original Winnie the Pooh.

We went to the zoo in Central Park and enjoyed that. We also enjoyed going up the Empire State Building. We even managed to see the Harlem Globe Trotters at Madison Square Gardens - which was great fun! Ellen's Stardust Diner was another highlight - food was fine, but the singing waiting staff make it a great evening.

Things I wouldn't bother seeing again - the Friends building and the Ghostbusters building - both totally uninspiring.

Dunkin' Doughnuts do a cheap breakfast and there are loads of them. Our teens loved visiting a Target shop (apparently You-Tubers rave about them) and also Sephora for exciting make-up brands.

I lived in NYC ( admittedly some years ago), but you don't need to stick to Manhattan. Take the subway from Wall St to Clark St station and this will drop you in Brooklyn Heights. Turn right on Henry Street a couple of blocks and there are some fantastic shops for a browse or for a general look round typical brownstone buildings. Also there is the Promenade in Brooklyn where you can get fantastic views of lower Manhattan and Statue of Liberty etc.

The piano from the film Big is in Macy's.
Really?
It used to be in FAO Schwartz until that closed (I used to love that store)