Ask me anything about New York and Manhattan (NYC)

[CoffeeAddict]

Food around Times Square and the Empire State Building is pretty dismal. I'll have a look at home tonight in my guidebooks to see if they recommend anything but I tried not to spend too much time in either neighborhood unless I was just walking through.

You're close enough to Koreatown though which might be of interest
Go south one block from the empire state building, look west. you'll see korean signage indicating you're in koreatown 32nd street is known as Korea Way and I had some decent korean food there.

Closer to Times Square is Restaurant Row which is on 46th street between 8th and 9th ave. It's just ot the west of times square.

The streets are super simple to navigate in NYC after you explore it on foot a bit. Basically north of houston the cross streets increase in number and these are streets e.g. 1st street, 2nd street. The North-south streets run from east to west in numbers.

20s, is sorta anchored by union square, 30s is sorta midtown, 40s you can think of as 5th ave, 50s is central park. It's sort of like ages.... south of houston is super hip and young and trendy. you go north and the streets sort of mature until you way up on the upper east side and rich and old and in a museum

[jcoltage]

Do you know any cheap location to buy a expensive watch for real cheap in New York? and are their any shuttles from Newark into the island (flying porter)

[CoffeeAddict]

An expensive watch for real cheap?
If you want a REALLY cheap expensive watch, i have no idea
One of the dealers on broadway might be able to help you out if you ask nicely and with a $5 bill in your handshake (i'm not being sarcastic here! but it's also pure speculation)

If you wanna get a super nice watch at a cheaper price you might wanna try the diamond district (just google it. It's famous!).

If you want a middle of the road watch i would just shop around.... it's hard to say there will be a specific place that will have watches on sale.

As for transport from newark, just take a cab. It's SO worth it.
If you want other options here's a list:
http://www.panynj.gov/COMMUTINGTRAVE...portation.html

[fruchick]

Re: the Newark shuttles, I made the mistake this past Saturday afternoon of taking SuperShuttle into the city. Once they finally picked me up, it was an hour and a half before we reached midtown. Traffic was awful. I'm told that the train is a MUCH better option. I hope to never have to fly into Newark again to find out!

[CoffeeAddict]

I've never been caught having more people in the room than was stated. I don't think the hotel REALLY cares that much. Having said that, in NYC the hotel rooms are smaller than usual for North America. Fitting 4-5 people in a room will be a VERY VERY tight fit.

If you're that budget conscious and it's 5 of you I think it would be better to get into a hostel with a shared bathroom. It'll probably end up being cheaper and you'll probably be more comfortable depending on your view of hostels.

Personally I think squeezing more than say 3 people into a typical nyc hotel room is pushing it for comfort but that's just me.

[deity307]

I'm heading to New York with my family in two weeks. Where's the cheapest place to stay in the New York area? I heard New Jersey (which is across the river) is the cheapest place since anything in New York itself is pretty expensive.

[CoffeeAddict]

Stay in New Jersey if you want a proper hotel with more space and don't mind the commute in and out of Jersey. I believe htoels in Jersey go for around $100-$125 a night for the 4 star ones in Jersey although I think i remember them going for around $75 a night on the low end. These prices are of course through priceline.com "name your price".

There's a LOT of info on how to bid on hotels on www.betterbidding.com
support their site by bidding through their links.

[deity307]

Hmm I wonder, is the commute from Jersey to New York that far? I heard there's an underground train that connects the two cities. And are the hotels in New York really crammed and expensive?

[ggs]

any areas to avoid (safety) in NYC?

[CoffeeAddict]

new york city is one of the safest cities around. Well mahnattan island anyway. I believe last time I checked, the crime rate in Manhattan south of central park was comprable to that of Toronto or Vancouver. It is VERY safe if you keep your wits about you (i.e. don't stroll down braodway at 2am by yourself waving your ipod around and wearing a big Louis Vuitton bag).

As for the New Jersey communte I don't think it's that bad personally but I'd prefer to stay in Manhattan proper. And the hotel rooms can be small but they're not europe small either.

[arctic]

Thanks for the replies. We decided to get a bigger hotel room.

I was wondering if the central park zoo is worth a visit.
We'll be traveling with 2 kids under the age of 15.
And how many hours would it take to see everything in the zoo?
Would an hour be enough?
Thanks~

[bolthead]

Hey, I plan on hitting NYC in late August for probably 3 or 4 nights. I'd like to stay in midtown, but I just was thinking maybe somewhere uptown would be alright if it were a decent (clean, reasonably priced) chain hotel, or any really.
Reason being I want to go to a Yankees and Mets game in the final year of their respective stadiums. So I'd be going to the Bronx, and Queens. Also being a baseball nut, I'd like to see a couple minor league games, there's the Staten Island Yankees, and the Brooklyn Cyclones.

So my question would be what would a reasonable price be to expect if I were to bid on priceline.com, for midtown, and say maybe uptown somewhere. I'd like to try and keep prices down if possible. Even staying in a hostel if I had a private room may be acceptable, but preferably a hotel. Alright, thanks!

[ggs]

new york city is one of the safest cities around. Well mahnattan island anyway. I believe last time I checked, the crime rate in Manhattan south of central park was comprable to that of Toronto or Vancouver. It is VERY safe if you keep your wits about you (i.e. don't stroll down braodway at 2am by yourself waving your ipod around and wearing a big Louis Vuitton bag).

As for the New Jersey communte I don't think it's that bad personally but I'd prefer to stay in Manhattan proper. And the hotel rooms can be small but they're not europe small either.

I'll be away from Manhattan and in the Harlem/Bronx area by Columbia University - is that area okay?

[CoffeeAddict]

Harlem/Bronx is a bit rougher than anything south of central park but I think you'll still be very safe. Harlem and the Bronx have been going through a renaissance in the last decade and are getting gentrified. I personally haven't been up there and have only read about it.

I heard Spanish Harlem is a little bit rough and should be avoided but it's only residential apts there. Nothing a tourist would go check out anyway.

From what I hear the Bronx is uber-trendy these days. Lots of stuff happening around there

I'll be away from Manhattan and in the Harlem/Bronx area by Columbia University - is that area okay?

[CoffeeAddict]

you should definetely stay uptown. You'll be looking at around $75-$100 per night depending on availability during your stay in the harlem/bronx for a really decent 3* place. I'm not sure there's any 4* up in that area unless you go farther south to the upper east side.

If you wanna do the easy thing, and don't mind the hostel, just book at the YMCA harlem. I believe there are private rooms there off the top of my head but they're all shared bath i think.

Hey, I plan on hitting NYC in late August for probably 3 or 4 nights. I'd like to stay in midtown, but I just was thinking maybe somewhere uptown would be alright if it were a decent (clean, reasonably priced) chain hotel, or any really.
Reason being I want to go to a Yankees and Mets game in the final year of their respective stadiums. So I'd be going to the Bronx, and Queens. Also being a baseball nut, I'd like to see a couple minor league games, there's the Staten Island Yankees, and the Brooklyn Cyclones.

So my question would be what would a reasonable price be to expect if I were to bid on priceline.com, for midtown, and say maybe uptown somewhere. I'd like to try and keep prices down if possible. Even staying in a hostel if I had a private room may be acceptable, but preferably a hotel. Alright, thanks!