New York tips

[NYCbound]

Hi, I’m going to New York for 5 days. Can anyone share any top tips/must dos/great restaurants etc to go to with two kids (8&10)? Thanks

If you want to go to lots of sightseeing things I would recommend something like a new york pass as it does save money! The ferry to staten island is cheap and you get a good view of the statue of liberty, plus it's a fun trip for kids. Central park is massive - you could rent bikes, take a picnic etc. Do you like theatre? I'd say Broadway is a must if so. We saw The Lion King there and WOW.

Groupon has a good deal on New York passes just now also there is cash back on top cashback too. I’ve saved about another £80 on our passes via top cash back.

if you are on Facebook join NYC the place to be.

what hotel are you in?

what do you want to see?

A pedicab tour of Central Park is good for the whole family please don’t touch horse and carriages. They ought to be banned

The Staten Island ferry is free and gets quite good views of the Statue of Liberty, and amazing views of Manhattan. The ride each way is approx 25 mins. You must get off at the Staten Island side but you can walk round to get immediately back on the ferry, so it is possible to spend an hour for the round trip. It runs 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, at 30 minute intervals. Night rides are beautiful, but it’s harder to see the Statue of Liberty. Avoid rush hour!
The 9/11 Museum is amazing but I’d probably give it a miss with children that age.
Walk across Brooklyn Bridge. If possible, walk both ways if your dc aren’t too tired. You could stop at the other side for pizza at Juliana’s (must be the best pizza in NYC!). There’s also a lovely little carousel nearby which my DC suddenly felt they weren’t too old to ride!
The Intrepid Air and Space Museum was a huge hit with my 9yo DS.
My DC also enjoyed eating at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, hot chocolate at Max Brenner and The Meatball Shop in Hell’s Kitchen (surprisingly one of the best meals we’ve ever had in NYC).

Great tips, thank you. We are staying by Grand Central. Is it quite easy to get around on foot? I’ve been told to avoid the subway as it’s quite grim??!

It’s a big place. You’ll need to use public transport at some stage over the 5 days if you want to make the most of your time there. Yes the subway is grim but take hand gel, avoid travelling at rush hour or late at night and embrace it as part of the experience!

To give you some idea….. from Grand Central to Brooklyn Bridge is over 3 miles. And that’s before you’ve even been across it! You could use the buses - they’ll eventually get you close to most things you’d want to see but they’re slower, sometimes painfully slow.

@Fivemoreminutes1 oh wow, we’ll definitely need to get the subway then! I feel very unprepared for the trip as it’s all a bit last minute ( we are going next week). Normally I would have spent quite a bit of time planning the week properly. Do I need to book a table at Juliana’s or is it a take away place?

Following for tips, going next week as well 🙂

Katz's Deli (When Harry Met Sally). Sit at the waitress service tables. Order the Reuben. Best sandwich in the world.
Never had a problem on the subway, also, cabs are cheap. It's a very walkable city...take comfortable shoes.
John's Pizzeria..there's one in Greenwich Village and one in Times Square.
As well as being mind-blowingly beautiful Grand Central has a lot of food places in the basement. Junior's for cheesecake.
Walk over Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side at dusk. You get to see Manhattan lighting up.
If it's fine..a trip out to Coney Island is lovely. It's right at the end of a subway line and is like time travel. We were there at the end of October and the funfair was still open and it's amazing to be in NY and at the seaside.
There's a 'secret' burger joint in the lobby of the Parker Meridian Hotel (56th St I think) it's behind a curtain.

Just remembered! FAO Schwartz, the massive toy shop from Big. They have the huge piano on the floor.

We enjoyed the high line. And top of the rock.

Highly recommend the color factory. A break from sightseeing and great fun colorfactory.co/

You need to plan an itinerary. Don't just wing it. Choose things you want to do and then group them close together.

Something like,

Day 1 - 9/11 memorial (not museum), charging bull, battery park, Staten Island ferry, Juliana's, walk back over Brooklyn bridge.

Day 2 - Times Square (early morning - it's hell on earth otherwise and Ellen's is a shithole IMHO). Empire State Building, the library, Rockefeller centre and top of the rock. Picnic and games in Bryant park.

Day 3 - Central Park, picnic breakfast, strawberry fields, Alice in wonderland statue, boating on the lake. Subway to TriBeCa for ghostbusters firehouse. Walk through soho and little Italy, eat each course of dinner at a different place as you go

Day 4 - the high line, Chelsea market, subway to Coney Island

Buy passes for the subway, well worth it.

The New York pass wouldn't have saved us a penny but it depends what you want to do.

Also, how are you getting from the airport? Join the official yellow cab line. Do not be swayed by anyone trying to pull you out of it. The air train is good value though if travelling light.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis island are a must. You need to book a fair amount ahead (I booked 3 months) and book an early ferry as it's a full day. (Book via the national parks service website and they don't charge for the statue in fact)

The subway is absolutely fine, buses are good too, we didn't both with cabs, they are expensive. There's ferries too.

There's a good free jazz museum in Harlem walking distance from Central Park

Following as going end of March,

Come back OP with an update.

Zone your days so you’re not spending ages travelling

subway is fine

NYC ferries are WAY better than Staten Island one - we got one from E34th to Dumbo $2.75

Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo gorgeous

Prospect Park nice for some greenery - we preferred to Central Park

much less weed in Brooklyn bits we went to than Manhattan

loved the High Line and 9/11 memorial

Was also going to say Ellen's Stardust Diner. My DC loved it.

States Island Ferry, obviously. And we loved the Empire State Building. Central Park and the subway.

We also did a Film and TV location bus tour. We watched lots of films set in New York before we went, then visited the sites. The tour showed various clips before we arrived at them then we saw for ourselves.

Pre-New York Advice - Make a list of kids' films set in New York and watch one a night (one a week if you weren't going with such short notice). It really helped my children get excited about what they wanted to see

Ghostbusters, Enchanted, Big, Stuart Little, Spider-Man films, Night At the Museum, Elf, etc etc - there are loads of them.

The actual Winnie the Pooh, Piglet etc are in the New York Central Libraryn children's secret, which is alway nice to visit. (It's also the opening scene in Ghostbusters, which my kids appreciated) film)

Eat downstairs at Grand Central Station because the tiled Oyster Bar (they have other stuff too) is gorgeous and the cheesecake places is unbelievable.

Caliente Cab Company (7th Avenue and Bleeker) is great fun if your family likes Mexican food - thay make the guacamole and salsa at the table. Great margaritas, by the way.

My now-23yo still remembers riding the ferris wheel inside the Toys R Us at Times Square when he was 10, so that proved memorable.

The CIrcle Line Cruises at Pier 83 are a nice way to see the sights while resting your aching feet - the 90 minute one hits all the main attractions for kids with shorter attention spans, although the dusk cruise watchign the lights come on in the city is lovely too.

Be prepared for lots of weed being smoked in NYC! It was everywhere!

have you got your ESTAS approved OP and I take it the adults over 18 are double jabbed?

Has anyone mentioned the DUMBO area and the time out food market yet? We took a subway down to Brooklyn and then spent a very enjoyable morning in DUMBO- there’s gorgeous views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge, a lovely park area for the kids with a beautiful traditional carousel and an amazing food market. That was probably my favourite bit of New York. The High Line and Little island were good too. The kids loved the uptown shopping - Lego store, FAO Schwartz and then head into Central Park. You could spend a whole day just in Central Park though!

SummitOV was my favourite observation deck

Another vote for Katz Deli. Amazing sandwiches. Walk the High Line, come down at Chelsea Market, and eat ALL the things. Don't do The Ride - it's shite.