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Blood Red Mosquito

What are your thoughts on touring the Statue of Liberty. I looked on line and the tour that gets you up to the crown is already sold out. Worth it to go over and do the tour?

schapp

Blood Red Mosquito said:

What are your thoughts on touring the Statue of Liberty. I looked on line and the tour that gets you up to the crown is already sold out. Worth it to go over and do the tour?

The Pedestal access allows you to go inside the museum, which is interesting, and you could also visit Ellis Island. If you have plenty of time, it might be worth it to visit both. It will take you at least half a day though. If you are on a short trip, I believe there are better things to do in the city. Just my opinion, of course.

Suziemay

schapp said:

Blood Red Mosquito said:

What are your thoughts on touring the Statue of Liberty. I looked on line and the tour that gets you up to the crown is already sold out. Worth it to go over and do the tour?

The Pedestal access allows you to go inside the museum, which is interesting, and you could also visit Ellis Island. If you have plenty of time, it might be worth it to visit both. It will take you at least half a day though. If you are on a short trip, I believe there are better things to do in the city. Just my opinion, of course.

Agree that if you have time, it's worth a visit but if you are on a short trip, I'd give it a miss. I am a fan of the Circle Line cruise that takes you around the island, which also gives you a glimpse of Lady Liberty.https://www.circleline42.com/cruises-and-schedules/best-of-nyc-cruise/

Blood Red Mosquito

Suziemay said:

schapp said:

Blood Red Mosquito said:

What are your thoughts on touring the Statue of Liberty. I looked on line and the tour that gets you up to the crown is already sold out. Worth it to go over and do the tour?

The Pedestal access allows you to go inside the museum, which is interesting, and you could also visit Ellis Island. If you have plenty of time, it might be worth it to visit both. It will take you at least half a day though. If you are on a short trip, I believe there are better things to do in the city. Just my opinion, of course.

Agree that if you have time, it's worth a visit but if you are on a short trip, I'd give it a miss. I am a fan of the Circle Line cruise that takes you around the island, which also gives you a glimpse of Lady Liberty.https://www.circleline42.com/cruises-and-schedules/best-of-nyc-cruise/

This looks great. Thanks!

my2hands

schapp said:

wall232 said:

rssesq said:

Pizza
Lombardi's - little Italy so/ho
Grimaldi's- Brooklyn

Two great places for pizza. I prefer Lombardi's as its in the city and I'm not a fan of Brooklyn. The one exception would be Peter Lugers, good old fashioned steak house.

If in Brooklyn, I would go to Juliana's (owned by the original Grimaldi family), right next to Grimaldi's. If you have more time to spare, I would go to Di Fara's deep into Brooklyn, awesome experience! If reluctant to go into Brooklyn, there is a Grimaldi's on 6th avenue, but I've never been there.

I also know Roberta's is pretty famous as a hipster pizza parlor in Brooklyn, but I've never been there.

The last thing I want is a "Hipster Pizza"... just give me a good ol' fashioned pizza pie

my2hands

Anybody have the Costanzo guide to public bathrooms?

Jeremys Spoken

Go to Patsy's in Harlem. My favorite pizza ever.

Get_Right

If you really want to see the most popular tourist attractions I recommend this:
http://www.citypass.com/new-york
The only thing that i might change is the empire state building-booking the more expensive reserved tours seems to be worth it from what I have heard.

Suziemay

In case this helps anyone, I came across a "Genius" deal on Booking.com for Hotel Martha Washington on East 29th Street. $387 before tax for May 1-3 for Queen room, $334 before tax for Twin room. That's the price for 2 nights.

The hotel is ~10-minute walk from MSG, in a great area and it's a nice boutique hotel, not the dump that is Hotel Pennsylvania. It's on 29th street between Madison & Park, so it's near a few subway lines. It's also near Madison Square Park/Flatiron Building and tons of restaurants/bars. The restaurant in the hotel, Marta, is a Danny Meyer restaurant and has gotten rave reviews from the day it opened.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/us/martha-washington-new-york.html?label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggJCAlhYSDNiBW5vcmVmcgV1c19ueYgBAZgBMbgBBsgBD9gBA-gBAfgBAqgCAw;sid=e617c31cdd45e52d291bf37eb30a7590;dcid=12;checkin=2016-05-01;checkout=2016-05-03;dist=0;group_adults=2;room1=A,A;sb_price_type=total;srfid=902998c468fe97131f9194415c013c6d8934c940X6;type=total;ucfs=1&

Sarava

Blood Red Mosquito said:

What are your thoughts on touring the Statue of Liberty. I looked on line and the tour that gets you up to the crown is already sold out. Worth it to go over and do the tour?

I did the statue of liberty tour last summer when I visited NYC for the first time. We didn't go up the the crown or anything. But yeah, we enjoyed being there. It's certainly worth doing for a couple hours.

nycrats

Suziemay said:

In case this helps anyone, I came across a "Genius" deal on Booking.com for Hotel Martha Washington on East 29th Street. $387 before tax for May 1-3 for Queen room, $334 before tax for Twin room.

The hotel is ~10-minute walk from MSG, in a great area and it's a nice boutique hotel, not the dump that is Hotel Pennsylvania. It's on 29th street between Madison & 5th, so it's near a few subway lines. It's also near Madison Square Park/Flatiron Building and tons of restaurants/bars. The restaurant in the hotel, Marta, is a Danny Meyer restaurant and has gotten rave reviews from the day it opened.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/us/martha-washington-new-york.html?label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggJCAlhYSDNiBW5vcmVmcgV1c19ueYgBAZgBMbgBBsgBD9gBA-gBAfgBAqgCAw;sid=e617c31cdd45e52d291bf37eb30a7590;dcid=12;checkin=2016-05-01;checkout=2016-05-03;dist=0;group_adults=2;room1=A,A;sb_price_type=total;srfid=902998c468fe97131f9194415c013c6d8934c940X6;type=total;ucfs=1&

i live right by here and yes you can easily walk to msg and marta is solid. also recommend resto, cannibal, breslin all within a 9 iron of the hotel

nycrats

its actually between madison and park but thats semantics. very close..

nycrats

holy crap are hotels really that much? 387 is a deal? yikes..

rssesq

THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!

my2hands

$385 per night is not a deal... there are much better deals to be had... I snagged the herald square hotel, newly renovated room with breakfast included, for $200 per night all-in with a flash deal on hotels.com a few weeks ago

keep looking folks... I wouldn't spend more then $300 under any circumstances unless you're going for a 4 star

nycrats

my2hands said:

$385 per night is not a deal... there are much better deals to be had... I snagged the herald square hotel, newly renovated room with breakfast included, for $200 per night all-in with a flash deal on hotels.com a few weeks ago

keep looking folks... I wouldn't spend more then $300 under any circumstances unless you're going for a 4 star

i kinda think what they were implying is that if you want a decent hotel, thats a good price? im sure what you got will be fine for pj sake- but herald square isnt exaclty beautiful outside of your doorstep. but its spring in nyc, youll be out during the day and then coming to your room for 5 mins before going to the show

nycrats

ehh seems decent enough for 200 a night.. not too bad..

anywya my point is im completely out of touch with nyc hotel prices..

wall232

For food markets, check out the Urban Space locations. The one on Vanderbilt in near my job and is really good, it's right next to Grand Central.

http://urbanspacenyc.com/

Suziemay

Oops, I meant to say Madison & Park. Was multi-tasking And it's $387 for two nights, not per night.

my2hands

nycrats said:

ehh seems decent enough for 200 a night.. not too bad..

anywya my point is im completely out of touch with nyc hotel prices..

It's 2 blocks from msg... I'm not buying an apartment my friend, just need a clean hotel

Suziemay

nycrats said:

ehh seems decent enough for 200 a night.. not too bad..

anywya my point is im completely out of touch with nyc hotel prices..

For not a rat hole hotel in a good area with a Danny Meyer restaurant? Yes, it's a fantastic deal. I live in a shoebox so I have to get my parents a hotel when they come to visit, this is a hotel I would let my parents stay in and in the past, I haven't found anything below $250/night.

nycrats

ehh seems decent enough for 200 a night.. not too bad..

anywya my point is im completely out of touch with nyc hotel prices..

Suziemay said:

Oops, I meant to say Madison & Park. Was multi-tasking And it's $387 for two nights, not per night.

oh well that seems like a very good deal..

wall232

The Burger Joint is a great spot and if you're near the area go for it. I'd pass on Shake Shack, most city diners have better burgers then they do. If you're going to do a chain burger place, I would do Five guys, way better than Shake Shack. IMO.

my2hands

$200 per night for a decent hotel is as good as it gets for those dates

schapp

wall232 said:

The Burger Joint is a great spot and if you're near the area go for it. I'd pass on Shake Shack, most city diners have better burgers then they do. If you're going to do a chain burger place, I would do Five guys, way better than Shake Shack. IMO.

I agree with you. Shake Shack is a good burger, but not mind blowing, IMHO. Would take Five Guys over it any time. The Joint is good, Perhaps the branch at 8th st less crowded than the original one at Le Meridien.

my2hands

Five Guys is all over the northeast... I'll pass

samjam

schapp said:

wall232 said:

The Burger Joint is a great spot and if you're near the area go for it. I'd pass on Shake Shack, most city diners have better burgers then they do. If you're going to do a chain burger place, I would do Five guys, way better than Shake Shack. IMO.

I agree with you. Shake Shack is a good burger, but not mind blowing, IMHO. Would take Five Guys over it any time. The Joint is good, Perhaps the branch at 8th st less crowded than the original one at Le Meridien.

I didn't know they had another location other than Le Parker Meridian. Thanks for the info!

Blood Red Mosquito

Get_Right said:

If you really want to see the most popular tourist attractions I recommend this:
http://www.citypass.com/new-york
The only thing that i might change is the empire state building-booking the more expensive reserved tours seems to be worth it from what I have heard.

Good stuff. Thanks!

schapp

Blood Red Mosquito said:

Get_Right said:

If you really want to see the most popular tourist attractions I recommend this:
http://www.citypass.com/new-york
The only thing that i might change is the empire state building-booking the more expensive reserved tours seems to be worth it from what I have heard.

Good stuff. Thanks!

I'm not a fan of passes, but if so, some friends used www.newyorkpass.com and I believe it's far better than the citypass, as it gives access to many attractions, services and discounts. What I saw is that they were going from one place to the other like crazy to take advantage of the pass, not really stopping to enjoy the city. But hey! Everyone wants to experience the city in a different way, so I rather post it here and have people decide what's best for them.

I didn't scroll through all the comments here, but remember that the two most important museums, The Metropolitan and the Natural History Museum are donation-based. So the price tag is suggested, and not mandatory. In my opinion, I don't recommend going on the cheap side and donating 1 USD as museums are expensive to mantain, but donating perhaps 5USD to 10USD per person would be inexpensive enough and still helpful.

Most museums (except the obvious money makers, such as the Discovery expos, wax museum, Ripley's, etc, but discounts can be found on line and on street kiosk/hand outs ) are either free (like the Native American museum in downton), or have a time frame where they give access for free. It's gonna be crowded, of course, but it's a good option as well. Major ones I can remember now: MoMA is free on Friday evenings, 9/11 museum on Tuesday evenings (reservation through their website recommended), Guggenheim on Saturday evenings, the Frick is on Sunday mornings, you can research the rest if interested

ldent42

Anyone know a good spot with some non-dairy gluten free options near Irving Plaza? I was supposed to leave 15 minutes ago but I don't wanna be huddled in front of Strand looking at Yelp.