Anyone been to New York recently and loved it?

[Crushed23]

I went in 2017 and fell in love with it, and was planning to go again this year, but with it getting quite a few mentions on the ‘overrated’ thread, I am worried it might have deteriorated a lot in the last 7 years? 😩

I went in December and I would go again tomorrow if I was able. I loved every minute, it can be expensive but I knew that before going so I was prepared.

It was my first time so I don't know if it used to be even more amazing but my husband has been several times and he did not mention it seeming to have gone down hill.

I did not notice everywhere smelling of cannabis, I noticed it sometimes but no more so than in my UK home city (this could of course be relative if you live somewhere different to me maybe my city has more brazen cannabis smokers than elsewhere in the UK) but it was December so perhaps people are less likely to be outside smoking in winter.

At no point did I feel unsafe when wandering about, yes some parts of the city were a bit scruffy but this is true of most cities and the subway did feel dirtier than the tube but it does run 24/7 so that probably makes it difficult to keep clean.

I had a fabulous trip and if you end up near Union Square there is an amazing Taqueria and Tequila Bar right by it that was not overly expensive!

We went in Oct 2022 and December 2023, as well as several times pre covid.
Yes, I think it's now scruffier, dirtier (huge piles of rubbish bags waiting for collection in the street, actually saw human faeces on a subway platform), there are more homeless, and it does smell of weed almost everywhere!

But it's still a great city to visit - and I still want to go back.

I went last December. Haven't been before so have nothing to compare to.

I expected it to be incredibly busy, noisy, dirty, seedy in places, and with homeless people - just from some basic research and everything I see in TV and movies. Not sure how people can go there and be surprised or disappointed by any of that!

I still absolutely loved it and had an incredible time. Maybe the weather helped, beautiful blue skies every day. Never felt unsafe. I don't remember seeing rubbish or poo anywhere it shouldn't be!

Yes the food is expensive and yes you smell weed a lot.

The smell of weed is everywhere.
Everything is insanely expensive.
BUT it's New York! There is so much to see & do.

I can imagine the smells really ramp up in summer, I'd avoid that.

One more thing (sorry, I really did love it and can't shut up about it).

If you are foodies, follow John Barr (herebeBarr) on YouTube for ideas. He has loads of videos about every food district in NY including the boroughs. Lots of advice about cheap street eats, and others on finding the best versions of NY classics like pizza. We went many blocks out of our way for the best rated hotdog stand based on his advice! He always mentions prices.

I was there in February last year. The only place we smelt weed was time square.

Loved the place. Can’t wait to go back. We stayed in the financial district.

We did stop for lunch one day at Bryant Park. 2 fish and chips, a club sandwich, 2 diet cokes and 4 Budweisers was just under $200 for 3 people. So expensive to eat there but you can obviously do cheaper.

Great shout with the Instagram page, just lost 30 mins watching his videos!, thanks 🎉

What’s the name of the taqueria and tequila bar please? 👀

$200 is £157… so that’s quite expensive for lunch and two rounds of drinks for 3. But perhaps it was somewhere touristy? A bit upmarket?

I also think prices reflect the much higher wages in America, a bit like prices in Switzerland (I know it’s also the weak pound!)

We are going in October half term but haven’t booked a hotel yet. Great thread

Best food we had wasn’t cheap but worth every penny for the vibes and quality:

• Cecconis by Dumbo - table outdoors (we were there in the summer)
• Serra by Birreria at Eataly Flatiron. Never had a better panzanella in my life. Still dream about it!

Even the bagels were about £8 a pop but then they are HUGE. All the food really was £££ but all top notch. We had lunch one day from Whole Foods - their salad bar is the best I’ve ever seen…..

How could I forget Bryant Park? Loved it there, had a wonderful few hours chilling there after a look around NY library. One of those lovely pockets of the city. One of the most “New York” feeling places we hung out iykwim?

I want to avoid Time Square- going in October too but am so confused with Hotels and i would prefer Brekfast included as my kids age 15 and 12 are fussy eaters bur we will still go out to a diner a couple of mornings- going for 5 nights

I can’t say I noticed a smell of weed anywhere but then again I don’t think I would know what weed smells like!

Even though I didn’t really enjoy this last trip it is still a city I would love to go to again. In fact I’d love to go on my own for a couple of weeks and just do what I want to do. Every time I have been I’ve been with people there for the first time and ended up doing the same things each time. I did at one point have a plan to go and stay in NY for a month on my own. Would love to feel like I was living there. It’s a bit expensive to do that now though.

This last trip was very short tagged onto a trip to Washington. So it was a bit rushed.

We loved Washington by the way. Would go back there for sure too.

We loved going to diners for breakfast. Try and avoid the touristy ones. Places like the tik tok diner, Ellen’s star dust etc. if you are in the financial district we can highly recommend George’s diner. Loads of locals eat there on their way to work. Brilliant and massive breakfast menu.

@Crushed23 Flats Fix Taqueria & Tequila Bar. We sat outside in their little seating shelter (it was heated) and really enjoyed ourselves.

I love it, yes there was the smell of weed every now and again but I didn’t notice it all the time. We didn’t go near Times Square apart from when we went to see a show. It’s always been a bit of a shithole tourist trap so I’ve never been a fan of it there. Eating out is really expensive though, and we try to avoid touristy places. Glass of wine $15 easily then tip on top and it’s not a big glass. But that’s the shit exchange rate as well. I actually found cocktails were around the same price so just drank them! We found a couple of lovely places in the Village and love wandering about there. Also love a wander in Brooklyn

I went in December and loved it. Yes Times Square was very weedy, but I’d gone thinking th whole place would stink but it really didn’t. I felt very safe including on the subway…what really struck me was how friendly everyone was-not what I’d been expecting at all!

I went 12 years ago and went back in October last year. It was definitely different this time but I absolutely loved it! Yes there are areas like with any city that aren't great but overall I had an amazing time and would go back in a heartbeat.

@Radyward We were there in Oct 22 half term, it was great time to go! Our DC were very similar age too.

See if there’s Le Pain Quotidien near your future hotel, they offer a cooked breakfast unlike in the UK and it was fairly ok price wise too.

When we were there, I didn’t smell any weed but maybe I just didn’t notice! I loved our trip there, just as much as I did in 2006 and 2009. Apart from the high cost of everything obvs!!

I’m now obsessed with this instagram page! Thank you 😃

I love all the bagel recommendations and PP is right, they’re HUGE. They would definitely fill me up and some of his recommendations are as cheap as $4.50!

I really love New York! I was last there in 2022. It does smell of weed now though.

Time square has always been a dump, and IMO the Highline is nothing special (so not sure why people rave about it). It does seem so much more expensive than it used to (although i think that’s everywhere).

All that said, it is still one of the most remarkable and incredible cities in the world, and will always be exciting to me. I absolutely love it!

I loved NY! I want to go back already!!

The weed smell was strong in most places where people congregate, a lot of small parks stank of it. I saw a lot of homeless people but no more than London I’d say and despite feeling a bit iffy in Chinatown one night I felt quite safe walking around. As a pp mentioned I was also quite surprised at how friendly everyone was in helping us out when we were a bit lost.

if you fancy a spa then head over to the one of governors island, lying in the pool watching Manhattan was very cool!!

This looks great - was it a heated pool?