Tell me wonderful peeps! We are heading to New York in September. Where should we stay? *We aren't afraid of public transit if that's easier and saves some money. *We will have a car since we are driving that will need to be stored. *It's an overnight. Previous Delaware, next Boston. *Want to sees: - Statue of Liberty - 9-11 Memorial - ???? I do want to take munchkin to Times Square again of course. Gotta get a now photo to go with his first visit! I don't know if we are better off staying in Jersey and riding the train in or staying in the city. Any thoughts from those in the know?!?!
We went in March and stayed at Sheraton Times Square. It was pretty close to everything we wanted. We just took the subway to catch the ferry to SOL. I didn't want to pay extra to stay on the upper floors, but there was a problem when we tried to check in, so they gave us an upgrade to the 40th floor. So glad I was up there because the streets are LOUD at night. lol Have fun!
I live near-ish to NYC. If you want to stay in the city and get a good location, try Priceline. (I know that's a little odd.) We have used it, and stayed at Sheraton Times Square and it was super cheap, and I booked 2 rooms. Otherwise, Airbnb and VRBO might get you some easy places to stay right in Manhattan. You could try staying in Jersey City. The waterfront is fun, and not scary. A boat trip or quick PATH ride to various parts on NYC make it an easy place to stay. I don't really know much to offer for JC, but it's super close, and cleaned up really nicely in recent years. Hoboken is nice too, and is also a PATH ride away from the city. My cousin came out late last year, and I sent her this list: 9/11 Memorial/Museum, One World Observatory (I think this needs reservations) Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park (has a zoo, bike tours, carousel, oodles of playgrounds, Amazing Race Scavenger Hunt, etc.) Rockefeller Center (near St. Patrick’s Cathedral and you could try to visit Top of the Rock), Empire State Building, Staten Island Ferry (great views and goes by Statue of Liberty and free, I believe) Chelsea Piers has been re-done and has a lot of sports and entertainment, indoor ice rink. South Street Seaport Museum (boats and ships) Gulliver’s Gate – everything is miniaturized. (https://gulliversgate.com/) Roosevelt Island and Tram – ride over the East River and leads to a park/Lighthouse. (https://rioc.ny.gov/302/Tram) NY Botanical Garden Bronx Zoo Times Square - Dylan’s Candy Store, M&M Store, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Walk the Brooklyn Bridge Coney Island (45 min subway ride from NYC) The Ride (https://experiencetheride.com/) Take a peek, supposed to be awesome! Depending on what you decide, you might want to look into a CityPass or the New York Pass. I think you can save money, and get passes for 1-8 days, and it can be used at a load of places. (https://www.newyorkpass.com/) It might be sticker shock up front for a bunch of days, but better than buying individually at each place. Check out the web and what would be included that you guys would want to visit. OR Look what might be included in the Explorer pass… that might be a good option to narrowing down what you’d like to do. I’d show your family the list and see what you all agree on! (https://www.smartdestinations.com/new-york-attractions-and-tours/_d_Nyc-p1.html?pass=Nyc_Prod_Exp) It’s a mix of fun, museum, and tours. Uber is great for getting around if you’d rather not use the subway. (I personally like riding the subway and seeing all the people, downfall is the smell!) Try Broadway Roulette (https://www.broadwayroulette.com/) for Broadway tickets… and TKTS (right in Times Square or South Street Seaport) in person for shows that day. Restaurants: Rockefeller – Sea Grill (fancy), PJ Moran’s (Pub, normal, Irish/American), Tri Tip Grill (quick, counter) Chinatown… Ping Seafood, Spicy Village. NoHo – Atla (Mexican), The Smile (Mediterrean/American), Gato (Bobby Flay’s restaurant), Mile End (Sandwiches) East Village – Superiority Burger – inexpensive veggie burger joint. Supposed to be really yummy. Chelsea/West Village – Los Tacos No. 1. YUM. There is also a Time Square location. Chips & Guac = MMMMM Near 9/11 – O’Haras (yummy bar, normal), Eataly, Trinity Place Restaurant (literally in a bank vault), Majestic Pizza (regular counter pizza). Central Park – Tavern on the Green (touristy), Good Enough To Eat (family/American). There is also a Ninja restaurant on Lower Manhattan, Japanese. Ninja New York. Supposed to be fun and good. I’ve had friends go, but we haven’t been. I say if there are any restaurants that you really want to go to, use opentable.com or make a reservation. You can always cancel. If you have time, we could meet up! Sometimes NYC is tricky to meet with people, cause they have so much to do and see that it's a time crunch!
In addition to Jenn's great suggestions, I would recommend the circle line tour. It's a relatively inexpensive cruise ($30/passenger) where you can see all of the sites from a boat. They have varying durations, routes, but we really enjoyed this. They have an indoor area, serve beer/wine (if that's your thing) and you can see the SoL, Manhattan, all of the major bridges, etc. https://www.circleline.com For lodging, you can also look into VBRO - though, that may not be the best option for a short stay. I've stayed in the Hilton Garden in at mid-town and was very happy with price/location - though parking is going to be horrific anywhere in NYC. The other times I've been to NYC were either > 10 years ago or for business (financial district). If you're interested in seeing a show, I would consider going to the box office vs. buying from someone on the street. We are actually taking our boys on a surprise trip from NYC to DC next spring. Here are some of "notes" from a visit a few years ago: MIDTOWN WEST (NEAR / JUST SOUTH OF CENTRAL PARK) – near “Broadway” and the shows -http://www.parkermeridien.com/eat/normas/ -Rue 57 -Momofuku for cereal milk ice cream -Plaza Hotel basement food hall or afternoon tea -MoMA -Top of the Rock – better view than Empire State Building (Rockefeller Center) Shopping: head over to 5th ave: Saks, Henri Bendel, Tiffany’s Flagship Store, Bloomingdales (59th and 42nd on 5th ave), also check out Rockefeller Center Public Library and Bryant Park You can walk from here towards Times Sq CHELSEA AND MEATPACKING DISTRICT -Chelsea Market (like the pike place market of NY) and HighLine (art galleries all around here) -Brooklyn / Williamsburg (Bedford Ave is the main drag) directly from the L train near Chelsea Market, could try Shalom Japan and Aurora (Italian restaurant), Peter Luger best steakhouse in NY -Bleeker St – Murrays Cheese shop, lots of cute dessert shops and shopping (Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors), Big Gay Ice Cream, Bleeker St. Pizza -Dinner: Tao or Buddakan -Lounge: Gallow Green ALL NEARBY UNION SQUARE -NYU, Joes Pub for live music -Macys -Empire State Building -Eataly – food hall / Flatiron building -Soho for shopping -Littly Italy -Chinatown World Trade Center - ? It’s in Lower Manhattan HOTEL: ½ PRICE AT LONG ISLAND CITY, 2 TRAIN STOPS TO MANHATTAN Other food: Lombardi’s Pizza, Katz Deli brisket sandwich, Try Brooklyn Lager beer!!!
It seems like you're focusing on the southern end of Manhattan? I was thinking about this, and from Battery Park you could walk to the NYSE to see the charging bull and the girl statues. IDK if that's something you guys are interested in, but just pointing it out. DH and I did that last year. It was easy to hit the statue on our way back up town to Times Square. And it's an easy place to pick up the subway if you want. Oh, and I haven't been to it, but I've heard that the Statue of Liberty museum is wonderful.
I totally forgot about those statues! Thanks for the reminder! I adore people watching, and subways are my absolute favorite place to do it! Thanks @jk703 and @SeattleSheri for all the ideas! It's been some years (9!) since we went to NYC as a family. It was Christmas and our focus was the Tree and the windows. So I appreciate the ideas!
Lots of great hints here...now I wanna go ...but not until there's frost on the pumpkin! Have a great time!
Man! I'm coming back to this thread whenever I get to go to NYC next! This is full of great info! The last time I went was about 14 years ago when my first born was just over a year old. We ended up staying in a Super 8 and it was a half a block from Times Square. This was before there were so many places online to search for hotels, so we basically got really lucky. We picked it for the cheaper price and we stunned to get there and see how cool the building was and how close we got to Times Square. Who knows it that's even still a Super 8 or not.