# New York - First time visitor, what should I do ?



## Newbie123 (Nov 25, 2002)

Ok,

I'm taking my first long-haul flight to New York on Friday (slightly nervous due to present circumstances) as it's my first time to the big apple, what are the best things to see & do ?, I will be there for 3 days.

BTW I'm going to see the Knicks play @ the Garden on one of the nights ;D

And a question to seasoned long-haul travellers, I'm flying BA cattle class so I'm expecting it to be fairly cramped, but being 6ft2" are there any recommendations on where to sit, common sense seems to tell me to get an aisle seat, but any general travel tips would be greatly appreciated.


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## jgoodman00 (May 6, 2002)

Look up your flight number on the ba website, then checkout the configuration of the plane you should be flying on. Lookup the exit seats <emergency exits, with lots of legroom>, & make note of the seat numbers.

At checkin ask for these seats. If you are lucky they will be available. The earlier you get arrive, the better your chances.

Regarding NY, one of my favourite places is the Empire State Building. Goto the top a short while before dusk. That way, you get to see the city in daylight, & <if patient enough> darkness. Both views are incredible if the weather is good.

Central park is great, if the weather is nice.

The natural history museum is really interesting, especially the space section. Make sure you watch the show inside the <Hayden I think> sphere.

Grand Central Station is huge, & I think really impressive.

To the best of my knowledge, you cannot go inside the Statue of Liberty at present. You can however walk around it, which is still pretty impressive. You also get some great views of the Manhatten skyline from Ellis Island.

Avoid taxi-drivers if possible, they are arses.

There's quite a big golf-shop close to where the WTC was, although it was not any cheaper than here.

Apparently you are meant to tip the maids everyday for making your bed etc. I did not know this ...

Where are you staying?


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## Lisa. (May 7, 2002)

> Apparently you are meant to tip the maids everyday for making your bed etc. I did not know this ...


You should tip $1 or $2 dollars per day, leaving the notes on your pillow.

Pack your toothbrush back in your suitcase before you go out for the day as maids are known to clean the toilet with it......... especially if you didn't leave a tip


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## Newbie123 (Nov 25, 2002)

> Look up your flight number on the ba website, then checkout the configuration of the plane you should be flying on. Lookup the exit seats <emergency exits, with lots of legroom>, & make note of the seat numbers.


Thanks for the tip I'll look into that tonight, I had heard that these seats get prebooked well in advance but I can at least give it a try.

I think our hotels fairly close to the empire state building so I'll make a note.

I'm staying at the Waldorf Astoria ;D, I booked it six months ago so I got a decent rate.

Can't wait to go, but as I say just getting a little nervous Â :-/


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## raven (May 7, 2002)

I went recently on holiday there for a few days. Flew BA cattle class, but actually got an upgrade on the way there - the flat beds are great ;D - but was surprisingly impressed with the cheap seats on the way back. I sat in the middle section on the aisle and was very comfortable. Oh, I'm 6ft3" as well.

As for sites to visit, if you like art, I would suggest the Frick museum. It's a large house just off Central Park where this art collector billionaire bloke lived, and you can do the whole house in about an hour - the range of art on show is incredible. You also get an MP3 type thing to walk around with, so you don't have to read anything to find out more about the paintings.

I would recommend taking the ferry to Statton Island (it's free!) as you get a great view of Manhatten Island, and seeing the gap where the twin towers once stood is actually quite a moving thing.

The museums are good, but massive, and almost daunting. The modern art museum is good (MOMA) although we didn't go there this time.

Don't expect to pick up any bargains shopping - I used to pick up loads of CDs / DVDs when in NY, but nowadays the prices seem to be much the same, if not more expensive.

Make sure you get hold of a restaurant guide - there is such a wide range of options, and some lovely places around the Soho area. And you feel a bit like you're on the set of Friends...!

Oh, I don't quite understand the comment about the yellow cabs - whilst the drivers may not know their way around, they are pretty cheap, and much quicker than waiting for a bus, and not much more expensive than a tube... :-/

Have a great time!


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## Nik-S3 (Nov 6, 2002)

Sorry if this is covered above, havent got time to read

but briefly....

take in a restaurant in little italy, look around the shops in china town, get to the empire state, central park, do the ellise island/statue of liberty boat trip, not sure if they let you go up the statues 'arm' into the torch anymore, but worth it if they do, theres a good boat trip that goes down one side of manhattan and up the other side under the brooklyn bridge etc, thats good, time square of course, macys, loads of nice shops, statten island ferry which is free, shame you cant do the world trade centre towers  that was a nice way to spend the morning and a great view up manhattan to the chrysler building and empire state

i've probably missed loads, but there is tons to do

have a nice trip!


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## sattan (Sep 10, 2002)

Do the circle line boat trip around manhattan, it's pretty cool and you see all the island...

was like 10 dollars or something, not much.....

total shame about the wtc, that was the best bit of my trip there, sadly they went 4 months after - we still have some amazing pics from the top... so sad :-(


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## Dubcat (Jun 10, 2002)

Take the statton island ferry about dusk time. It's really cheap - like a buck or two. As you leave you will see the sunset over the city and hopefully willl see a fiery red sky.. you will see the city lights coming on too - it's awesome. By the time you get to the other end it will be dark so you will see the city at night from the river.

Excellent photo opp's.

The tube system is dead simple - use it.

I'm dead jealous of you going to the nicks game 

Googenheim museam is good depending on what's on there when you go. When I went there was a motor car exhibition with cars getting newer and newer as you walked up the spiral walkway 

Have a great time -

phoTToniq


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## Newbie123 (Nov 25, 2002)

Thanks for the replys everyone.



> but was surprisingly impressed with the cheap seats on the way back. I sat in the middle section on the aisle and was very comfortable. Oh, I'm 6ft3" as well.


I'm glad to know this Raven, I thought I might need to be in traction by the time I arrived in New York,

So, I'll definately get on the statton ferry, the circle line boat tour, empire state building, ellis island, macys, saks, bloomingdales, Niketown ;D , museums and everything else........... phew I think I'm going to have to go back for a second visit to fit everything in 

PhoTToniq, I'm dead chuffed about the Knicks tickets, I thought of it a couple of months ago and checked "the garden" website and managed to get some good seats at mid-level, they are costing $80 each but it should be worth it ;D . BTW I checked if I could get courtside and was offered some but at $450 per ticket I had to say no 

I think the excitement is starting to overcome my nerves ;D, can't wait !


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

> PhoTToniq, Â I'm dead chuffed about the Knicks tickets, I thought of it a couple of months ago and checked "the garden" website and managed to get some good seats at mid-level, they are costing $80 each but it should be worth it Â ;D . BTW I checked if I could get courtside and was offered some but at $450 per ticket I had to say no Â


I had no inclination to go to the big apple until my company sent us there for our European Sales Kickoff event in 2001. What a fantastic city!

You should at least have a look around 5th avenue and Times Square as well! We went to a Knicks game - we had a blast, I am sure you'll love it! The Budwieser girls in the Budwieser bar were something else too !

You can only get 2 beers per person per visit though - although once the guy found out we were Scottish... "Hey you guys are Scaaatish? Cuelll. What the hell, youse kin git four beers per visit. Just don tell the caaps".

Oh, and don't try invade the court at the end of the game either, they can get a little funny about it... :


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## davidg (Sep 14, 2002)

Nick. just enjoy one of the best cities in the world do everything posted can't realy add any more .Walk time square at night


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## Antwerpman (Nov 4, 2002)

Couple of points-

The Gugenhiem is being restored at the moment so there is a VERY limited exhibition (speaking as of February). You cant even walk up the spiral staircase. I was there a few years ago and this time it was very disappointing.

MOMA - this is located in Queens now due to the main site being refurbished. I did not go but my colleagues did and they said that this was also very disappointing

World Trade Centre - nothing much to see anymore except a hole in the ground and a load of sick touts selling memorabilia of the incident. Kind of got the impression that a lot of what was there was perpetuated by them in order to keep business good. Still worth a 5 minute visit just to get an idea of the scale of the thing. What amazed me most was how little the surrounding area had been damaged.

'The View' - excellent bar/restaurant at the top of the Marriot hotel (I think) in Times square. It is a big revolving bar/restaurant which takes about an hour to do a complete circle and gives spectacular views of the NY skline. $6 pp cover charge and expensive drinks but well worth it.

Ellis Island - years since I did it but great to see

Times Square - avoid the cheap electronics stores like the plague - there will be compatability issues, lack of warranty, grey imports and other scams to rob you of your money.

Tips - perhaps the most shocking thing is that you end up paying sales tax on the prices you see, plus tips in restaurants and bars (15%-20% was the advice of my US colleagues) so the prices you see displayed ona menu can be inflated by 20%-30% by the time you have paid all of the 'extras'

Limos - I take a limo from the airport to the hotel and it costs about $5 more than a cab but you get to ride in comfort in a car that you feel safe in rather than feeling terrified in some old heap. You wont get this price if you go through the taxi desk though! You need to find an independant that you can trust. Unfortunately I do not have the telephone number of good (and cheap) companies to hand, but they are there

I'm off there on Sunday (unfortunately not for pleasure) so I hope the weather is good!!!


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

If you have time and are that way inclined, there's a fantastic designer clothes village a little ways out of town. You can get the bus from the Port Authority bus terminal (takes about an hour), but unfortunately the name of the outlet escapes me at the moment. :-/

The only other thing I would say is that if you are going to do the Empire State thing, it pays to get there early. Allow a good couple of hours to get to the top otherwise. Queues everywhere. :


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## PeteDolan (Jul 19, 2002)

Empire state and Statue of liberty get very busy so I would do both first thing in the morning. At the empire state if you pay to go on the ride as well (it's crap but not much more expensive) then you don't have to queue to go up - you get to push in!!!
I'm ashamed to say I spent 8 months working in New York and didn't make the most of it although I did do most of the touristy things.
The places I liked (that haven't already been mentioned) were South Street Sea Port (downtown) and the long road towards china town where you can buy all the fake goods you will ever want. Times Square Brewery. Grenwich Village - great for bars and restaurants and just hanging out. Just sitting in Central Park and watching the world go by (and the skaters) is great if the weather is good - but be careful of the hot-dogs (and what they boil them in  )


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## sattan (Sep 10, 2002)

the ESPN sports bar off times square was pretty cool too.... big fatboy armchairs and more screens than you could ever watch at the same time... showing everything... and beer service to your chair 

nice.

tipping just confused me & state & misc. sales tax. WTF? why not just show the feckin' price you are supposed to pay and have done with it.

oh, and avoid 'european' beers in bars.... they're about 10bucks more than the US (weak) variety...

although who goes to NY and drinks carlsberg, err... I'll get me coat!


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## giles (May 6, 2002)

wow - seems you guys have summed most of it up.

Amazing city and for years never wanted to go.

Went and loved it.

One of the best cities visited.

Nuff said.

TIP: Walk everywhere......easy to find your way around, good for you and you get to see everything.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Woodbury Common - the name of the designer village.

Came to me this morning.


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## Monique (Jun 11, 2002)

Antwerpman was spot on.

Eat at the Stage Deli. Chicken in the pot is prepared the Jewish way and is the Whole chicken. Wonder why many Yanks are soo fat?? :


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