New York in October different ages

[JonSnowsCloak]

So me and my DP (both 30) are going in October with my dad and his wife and my half brother (he will be 11 when we go) for five nights. None of us have been before, got a good idea of the main things we want to do but wondered about:

Pubs - is it true DB would only be allowed in places where they serve food? My dad is keen on visiting a few Irish bars as part of the itinerary...DB quite happy to sit in a pub for an hour as long as he has a diet coke and some Wi-Fi!

Same for restaurants- are they generally child friendly? DB is a fussy eater so will prob stick to hard rock or pizza type places during the day, but me and DP want to visit a couple of naice restaurants for evening meals and worried he wouldn't be welcome. (We don't mind going off on our own for tea!)

Is it best to book attractions in advance and are things like citypass where entry to various places worth the money?

TIA!

Book well in advance. I found out last week that Statue of Liberty tickets sell out months in advance. That also gives you a cruise around lower Manhattan with amazing views of the city.

Check out The Ride Experience for a fun tour.

Empire State Building
Central Park
Walk the High Line
Broadway Show
Ellen's Starburst Diner is touristy but fun.

Enjoy the Big Apple.

I live in the US, the advice re your underage DB and the pub is definitely correct unfortunately. And even if there is food he might still not be welcome in the evening, definitely not late anyway. Naice restaurants (if you mean like fancy Michelin star type places) will be fine for him to be there if he’s the type to sit nicely at the table although don’t expect them to do typical ‘kids food’. I find the US typically very child friendly though!

If they don't serve food underage persons can not be in the bar. The vast majority of bars in NYC serve food so underage persons can come in. They card everyone going into a bar so get your drivers license in your purse/wallet so you can show that as Id not your passport.

The drinking culture in the US is very different to that of the UK.

The legal drinking age in New York City is 21, as it is everywhere in the United States, and most bars and restaurants will ask you for your ID if you look like you might be under 21 (or even older). In most cases, people under 21 aren't allowed in bars, but they are allowed in restaurants where alcohol is served.

These articles may be helpful to you:-

www.tripsavvy.com/nyc-alcohol-laws-1613217

www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/may/15/10-best-irish-bars-new-york-city-dead-rabbit-claridges-london-popup

If you go on The Ride experience do book this well in advance online.

If you happen to like BBQ food then I would go to Virgil's which is situated just off Times Square.

Watching. We're off with 4 dcs in August (I know). 15,13,10 and 7.

Yank and New Yorker here. Timeout is a great resource for NYC tourist info. There are a lot of kid friendly venues covered here:

www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/attractions

Citypass is a good deal, but only if you want to visit most of the venues it gets you into.

www.citypass.com/new-york

I'm happy to answer specific questions if anyone has some.

I wouldn’t worry about the Statue of Liberty. We found a trip to Ellis Island was much better. You get to sail close enough to the statue so you know how immigrants felt when they first spotted it.

If you don’t want to be too 11 year old centric, there are autumn leafy walks in Central Park and on The High Line. Get lunch in Chelsea Market. The Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side is a hidden gem and a walk from Brooklyn back across the Brooklyn Bridge is evokative.

The underground in Manhattan is a bit of a rickety old fashioned affair with a lack of real time information. Manky stations and grotty trains. Getting on the wrong train is very easy. However, they have their uses if the taxi fares add up.

We also really liked Radio City Music Hall and the ceiling in Grand Central Station. Getting a view of the Chrysler Building is a must - it’s fantastic.

There are wonderful local cafes/eateries in SoHo. Your 11 year old plus the rest of you might all enjoy a meal out together. There are cobbled streets and it’s got a lot of atmosphere. We enjoyed staying there. It’s a great area to wander around.

Never been in a pub there so cannot advise. However I think you have good advice above. Diners appeal to me more!

The underground in NYC is a bit rickety, but we now have real time countdown clocks in every station:

ny.curbed.com/2018/1/2/16840622/mta-nyc-subway-countdown-clock-installation-finished

I adore Radio City Music Hall. If you can't make a show there, they have a fabulous back stage tour that's not terribly expensive and very well done.

www.msg.com/venue-tours/radio-city-music-hall

Pubs in NY are generally nothing special. We don't really have a pub culture the way you do. If you want to have one meal that's a bit upscale , try here

www.unionsquarecafe.com/

It's centrally located in midtown Manhattan (right by Union Square Park), very easy to get to and just a wonderful experience from start to finish.

By the way, the back stage tour at Radio City is great for kids and Union Square Cafe is pretty kid friendly for a nicer restaurant. And we love British tourists - you guys are the best!

DD lived in Manhattan when an intern and was still getting the subway train destinations wrong at the end of her stay. We did too! Still cannot work out what went wrong. Could they perhaps fix the leaking ceilings above the platforms?

We have just got back from NY.
Had a fab time.
We bought a citygo pass that gave us easy entry into lots of places.
I paid for 3 entries each from a long list.
We did the ground zero museum which was very well done.
ESB. No queuing with our pass.
Bike hire in Central Park. This was great fun and very easy to sort out.
We could decide on the day what we wanted to visit. No ore booking was needed and worked out at £20 pp per entry.

There was a long list of choices and I used an app that was scanned on entry. Very user Friendly.

We also did a food tour that was so good. We opted for Chelsea market and the high line.
It has great reviews on trip advisor. I would highly recommend it.

www.foodsofny.com/