New York with teens on a budget

[TheMotherChip]

Would love to visit New York with the DCs next year after DDs GCSEs. Have never been before so quite clueless. Need to know:
Safest areas to stay in that are easy distance (preferably walking) from sights.
Best hotels for lowest price. Something like a Premier Inn in the UK would be fantastic, ie basically clean and good size but not paying for luxury.
Where best to go? DCs like to be active so cycling, roller skating, swimming would be good. Also like modern art. Are there any free galleries like in London? DD likes shopping, not expensive stores but high street shops and markets.
Ideally how many days would we need to do it at a nice pace, not rushing?
Are there any day trips outside of the city which we could do?
Would October half term be better than summer weather wise?
Sorry for all the questions but thanks!!

We did a week at Xmas and it was a good amount of time. A good day out was new York water taxi which is a ferry that goes from one of the piers down to the financial district, Brooklyn, right up near the statue of liberty so you can get great pics and then one other stop which I can't remember. It's not too expensive and you can ride as many times as you like in a day. I really enjoyed wandering around Brooklyn. The staten island ferry is free - not sure what there is to do over there but there's great views of the city. Central park is huge and lots to see there. The museum's often have a suggested donation as entry and many people day you can pay as much as you like but I didn't feel comfortable asking! I found so much time was spent walking around with so much to see we didn't spend loads except on food. I think top of the rock is cheaper than the empire state which is very expensive.

Oh Chelsea market is good for a wander around. We liked the lower half of the city - Greenwich, meat packing district etc - the most. Times square is awful in my opinion - crazy busy.

I think New York and budget don't really belong in the same sentence. Hotels are not cheap, and airbnb is illegal there. Also you need to factor in sakes tax and tips.

Times Square is both disappointing and sleazy. Great if you want to have your picture taken with a woman wearing only body paint but otherwise just a crowded area of pavement. I’m not sure what I was expecting, probably a bigger version of Piccadilly Circus, but it’s just a nothing really.
Top of the rock is good, fantastic views. Under the Rockefeller Centre there are some reasonably priced restaurants as well.

I was just looking at this article, which might help. www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-6097545/The-10-best-budget-New-York-hotels.html

Quite a lot of trendy NY hotels like having budget bunk rooms and they might be worth looking at - like the Ace or the Freehand - they'd be a lot more fun than a Howard Johnson (Premier Inn equivalent) and probably cheaper. The cheapest time to visit NY for accommodation is usually August (and late January) so it might be worth delaying until then.

Some musuems do free entry on some evenings such as MoMA on Fridays (I think). The Lower East Side is great for shopping - Economy Candy is always a hit (great t-shirts for $10)

The thing is, those “budget” hotels are still likely to come in at >£200 a night, but that still is pretty cheap for Manhattan.

I agree that NY and budget, don’t really go together, however.....

For a cheaper hotel look outside Manhattan, somewhere on the outskirts but with a subway station close by. You will be able to make it into the city in under half an hour.

Food - restaurants in NY are expensive. However there are plenty of street food stalls and burger chains which will fill you up for $5.

There is loads of free stuff to do, just have a google and see what’s happening when you’re there.

Times Square is both disappointing and sleazy

I disagree (sort of). Yes it’s crowded, full of crap shops and overpriced chain restaurants, but it’s still a fantastic sight. If you’re in NYC you really should see it. You’re going to be near it at some point so it’s definitely worth a look!

Air BnB isn't illegal there - some of their properties are legal (those that conform to the law of 2 apartments in one dwelling with the owner present in one of them), some aren 't (multiple apartments, no owner present). Currently they're negotiating with the authorities who want the addresses of all their Owners & offering millions to charities but as it's hard to tell from their site what's kosher & what isn't & whether this will get resolved, you'd be chancing it. We're going to stay in Brooklyn next year - the hotels in our price range in NY look grim so we're going to book an apartment through booking.com who assure me they've checked out the legal status of the properties.

My DD was in NYC for four days last week and spent a total of $50, most of which was on a trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands.

She was mostly on her own, so just ate street food as she wasn’t going to sit in a restaurant. She did free things, such as walking in Central Park and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

She stayed for free with a cousin in a very gentrified and safe part of Haarlem.

My DS stayed in an AirBnB in Brooklyn a couple of years ago.

If I were going, I would choose the summer - especially if you are able to go in June after the GCSEs. The weather will be nice then, and not oppressive. October can be iffy, and could still catch a hurricane, and Christmas is just cold (manageable for a couple of days).

In the summer, Jones Beach and Coney Island are good days out. If you want to go further afield, a train to Philadelphia or Washington is not too mad.

I stayed in an airbnb place last year, in Brooklyn. It was very good value and much more interesting than staying in Manhattan.

The only expensive thing we did was Top of the Rock - strongly recommended if the weather is good, go at sunset.

Museum of modern art was free on Friday evening, I think other museums have certain times when they're free.

Thank you for all the messages! Some really positive info there, sounds like quite a few free activities which is good because my family enjoys wandering around exploring, they are not so keen on organised sightseeing, they’d love walking across Brooklyn Bridge and getting the ferries. We’d be happy to get street and deli food too, when we’ve been to the USA before we didn’t tend to eat in formal restaurants anyway as they told up too pricey.
The main sticking point seems to be the accommodation, I’ve looked at holiday inn express but they are all around $300 per night so we might have to consider further afield. Brooklyn sounds good, is this generally safe? Would it be ok to travel back there at night?

I’ve just googled Colney Island, that looks like a perfect place to go to escape the city for a bit! Great suggestion!

Brooklyn is known as Manhattan's bedroom as a lot of people live there and travel into Manhattan (it will probably take around 30-40 minutes to go into Midtown). I would also have a look at what is on the NJ side accommodation wise as it can be cheaper and you can commute in via the more modern PATH system. If you keep your wits about you and not leave your common sense at home you should be fine whatever area you stay in. You could also seek advice from the hotel staff.

I would look at hotel accommodation all the same; trying to find a legal apartment rental is about as easy as finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. NYC is expensive anyway in terms of accommodation due to visitor demand (a LOT of people visit there all year round and there is really no low season now).

Coney Island is nice, if you like hotdogs eat at Nathan's.

Manhattan is actually quite small so perfectly possible to walk the lenthht of it in a day. We just walked and walked. Even just getting a coffee is fun. It s a brilliant place, exactly as it appears in the movies.

Another person mentioned travelling further afield say to Washington or Philadelphia. Unfortunately that can be very expensive also particularly if you use the Acela express trains and even if you do not. It can also take around 2.5 or so hours to travel from NYC into Philadelphia each way. Given the choice of the two cities for the day I would go to DC over Philadelphia.

We went at Easter and after loads of research we found BA to be the best value with a combined flight/hotel booking.

We booked through Trailfinders and got a deal with flights where the hotel was practically free - just had to shuffle planned travel dates by one day. It was very central - two minutes walk from Radio City Music Hall - and on a par with a Premier Inn in terms of room size, comfort etc.

As PP have said, New York on a budget really doesn't work. In my opinion what you save on a cheaper hotel further out, you'll spend in travel to get into the city and you also have the worry of how safe the area is.

If it were me, I'd rather go to somewhere cheaper and be able to do all of the things I wanted when I was there. I just think DCs will be disappointed if you walk them around New York but can't pay for them to do the things they want to do there, everything in NY costs money, going up empire state etc you have to pay entrance fees.

If you have your heart set on NY why not wait a year and save up? I went for 5 days and felt that was more than enough time, also was at the start of November and very wintry weather

That depends on the person surely. We do all cities on a budget and have a fab time with our teens- Paris,Amsterdam,London,Copenhagen. Planning on doing the same for New York with 3 teens.Most of the stuff we are interested in is free. Will do any museums on free/ cheap days or not at all. My kids aren't used to eating out much anyway so won't feel deprived if we only have one proper meal out and street/ fast and brunch food. I'm trying to find accommodation with basic cooking facilities which is what we always do in cities,then cook pasta,take cereal etc. I even take my stove top coffee maker and packs of Lavazza coffee. Really helps cut cost as we all love coffee. We'll have a couple out but don't need it everyday. Teens have their own spending money and enjoy helping us find cheap options in supermarkets etc. My teens have to buy own snacks/ice creams( we buy the odd one and provide all meals)It's a good life skill, they'd far rather have stove top coffee then spend their own pocket money on their beloved Starbucks. If you only travelled when you could throw money at it many of us would miss out on loads. I also think it's important to save some things for kids to do as grown ups. The Martin Lewis site seems good to help work out daily travel versus location of hotel. We're going for a week before a big month US trip next year,all will be on a budget. They know that and can't wait( neither can I).

Going to budget for a couple of expensive activities. For us it will be Statue of Liberty/ Ellis Island museum and top of the rock. If we can get in any museums free or donation great,if not so be it. We'll be back. Going to have enough to do as it is- Brooklyn,Brooklyn Bridge,Central Park,High Line, Staten Island ferry...

In went over Easter and booked a package with BA, hotel+flights was not much more expensive than just flights and we stayed in a decent hotel.
We only went for 4 nights and there was still so much more we could have done. We did a lot of walking which kept the costs down and was a great way to see the city. Also the subway is cheap and easy to use.

Place marking as I'm planning to do the same with my DD next July

Flights booked and paid for already

We would love to see a Broadway Show or go to a music concert while we are there but not sure if this is best booked in advance or whether we are likely to be able to find cheaper last minute seats?

I disagree that you can't do NY on a budget. I paid £150 per night for a 3 bedroom apartment. Eating out was pretty cheap - we did cafes/fast food rather than restaurants.

shagged the TCKTS booths can be v good and it might be fun to try some of the lotteries. The odds aren't good for shows such as Hamilton but for others it's far more likely. And don't forget Shakespeare in the Park, which is free and often have big name actors (I once saw Meryl Streep do Ibsen there) www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/shakespeare-in-the-park

More great suggestions thank you! I just wanted to clarify that when I said on a budget I didn’t mean that we would have literally no spending money or not be able to afford accommodation, just that I wouldn’t have free rein to throw £££££ at the trip! We would still be happy to pay entrance fees etc for the things we really want to do and see, but it is also nice to have the option of some cheaper or free activities so that we are not constantly spending! Likewise with accommodation, I don’t want to pay for unnecessary frivolity/luxury, I would rather have something decent and more basic and save some money. We’ve just got back from Florida so I’m well aware about how restaurants, tipping, taxis can tell up!
Penny your trip sounds exactly like what we want to do - I’m going to check out Martin Lewis’ site.