New York

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Spent 6 nights in April this year, stayed in Hyatt Place, 39th St and 8th Ave, it was the best value we could find for a family room. Was an expensive week between flights and spending money, but everyone had a brill time.  Did The Edge, Central Park, Times Square, the High line walk, the Village, Staten Island, Sunset cruise around the bay, plus a good few bars and restaurants along the way, some city.

Staten Island??

Yes, Staten Island ferry to head to the Empire Outlet stores, ferry was fine, stores weren't good.

The ferry should be on everyone's list.

Statin Island itself... not so much.

There is a very beautiful Buddhist monastery open to the public on Staten Island.  Not the time of year, but there are also some lovely beaches.  It's been a long time now, but the pizza joint at the SI ferry station used to do a great slice.

Well, we're talking "relative" value here. Is the monastery worth the hassle for the average someone in the city for a week trying to take in the essentials? Each to their own.

Fair enough.  Just pointing out that SI is not without its charms.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Btw, if you are taking the free ferry to Staten Island/Statue of Liberty, try to time it near sunset.  Sunsets in NY this time of year are a riot of fiery colours, and the city lights coming on during the ferry back to the city is a beautiful sight.

[take_yer_points]

Btw, if you are taking the free ferry to Staten Island/Statue of Liberty, try to time it near sunset.  Sunsets in NY this time of year are a riot of fiery colours, and the city lights coming on during the ferry back to the city is a beautiful sight.

Sunset from the edge last weekend. I've done empire state building and top of the rock before, thought the edge was the best of the lot...

You have to pre-book it if you're going to do it. Book early to get a sunset time

[nrico2006]

Btw, if you are taking the free ferry to Staten Island/Statue of Liberty, try to time it near sunset.  Sunsets in NY this time of year are a riot of fiery colours, and the city lights coming on during the ferry back to the city is a beautiful sight.

Sunset from the edge last weekend. I've done empire state building and top of the rock before, thought the edge was the best of the lot...

You have to pre-book it if you're going to do it. Book early to get a sunset time

What is the craic with Top of the Rock, One WTC, Empire State when it comes to going to the top if you pre-book tickets? Do you get up pretty quick or are you wasting lots if time? Just trying to weigh up which one(s) to do and weigh up how worth it they will be considering time will be something I don't want to waste there.

[balladmaker]

Also did The Edge in April this year ... fast up and down and spectacular views from the top as well as standing on a glass panel with a clear view to the huge drop below.  You can also pay extra and hang off the edge of the roof, but that wasn't for me ... https://www.edgenyc.com/en/cityclimb

[take_yer_points]

Btw, if you are taking the free ferry to Staten Island/Statue of Liberty, try to time it near sunset.  Sunsets in NY this time of year are a riot of fiery colours, and the city lights coming on during the ferry back to the city is a beautiful sight.

Sunset from the edge last weekend. I've done empire state building and top of the rock before, thought the edge was the best of the lot...

You have to pre-book it if you're going to do it. Book early to get a sunset time

What is the craic with Top of the Rock, One WTC, Empire State when it comes to going to the top if you pre-book tickets? Do you get up pretty quick or are you wasting lots if time? Just trying to weigh up which one(s) to do and weigh up how worth it they will be considering time will be something I don't want to waste there.

Long time from I've been up most of them, but the edge was 15 minutes from walking into the building to being up there, so not long. But I'd say it's quiet at this time of year.

Some of od depends on what you want - do you want to "do the empire state", etc... If you want to see those buildings (empire state, Chrysler, rock, etc...) then you can see them all from the edge.

As balladmaker says you also have the glass panel at the edge that you can sit/stand on and take photos looking down at the street from 100 floors up.

I'd say they all get a lot busier as summer approaches

[J70]

Was just checking One Vanderbilt (new skyscraper on 42nd beside Grand Central) and their "Summit" tickets are completely sold out today and tomorrow except for late evenings. I'd say whichever one you go with you might need to book in advance to be sure of getting in there.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/10/views-summit-one-vanderbilt/620330/

[BenDover]

Heading over the end of Jan with the OH for 4 nights. Besides completing the ESTA and having a COVID cert is there any other documents we'll need?
Managed to book this through work for Day 2: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionProductReview-g60763-d11455174-New_York_in_One_Day_Guided_Sightseeing_Tour-New_York_City_New_York.html
Thinking this would give us a good feel of most of the main sights and where to find them again from out hotel if we want to revisit and spend more time at them.

Is there anything else we should be including on our itenary as a must do/see?

[J70]

Heading over the end of Jan with the OH for 4 nights. Besides completing the ESTA and having a COVID cert is there any other documents we'll need?
Managed to book this through work for Day 2: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionProductReview-g60763-d11455174-New_York_in_One_Day_Guided_Sightseeing_Tour-New_York_City_New_York.html
Thinking this would give us a good feel of most of the main sights and where to find them again from out hotel if we want to revisit and spend more time at them.

Is there anything else we should be including on our itenary as a must do/see?

That's a lot of ground to cover in one day!

[BenDover]

Heading over the end of Jan with the OH for 4 nights. Besides completing the ESTA and having a COVID cert is there any other documents we'll need?
Managed to book this through work for Day 2: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionProductReview-g60763-d11455174-New_York_in_One_Day_Guided_Sightseeing_Tour-New_York_City_New_York.html
Thinking this would give us a good feel of most of the main sights and where to find them again from out hotel if we want to revisit and spend more time at them.

Is there anything else we should be including on our itenary as a must do/see?

That's a lot of ground to cover in one day!

Mainly the reason why I booked it for Day 2. Thought it'd give me a good idea of where a lot of the bigger tourist sites are so if I wanted to revisit and spend more time I'd have half an idea of how to get there.
Also booked the Frankie Legs Central Park Tour for the morning of Day 3.

[nrico2006]

Any advice on getting around to see the main places (central park, brooklyn bridge, wall street, empire state, twin towers site etc.), i.e. do you just walk it all or will you need the subway much, therefore if so, is it beneficial to buy some sort of pass?

[balladmaker]

Any advice on getting around to see the main places (central park, brooklyn bridge, wall street, empire state, twin towers site etc.), i.e. do you just walk it all or will you need the subway much, therefore if so, is it beneficial to buy some sort of pass?

Anything in midtown is all walking distance.  I'd recommend subway down to 911 memorial, 10-15 min, with stop right at WTC.  For getting around at night from here to there, I found Lyft app to be handy.

[J70]

Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, WTC are all downtown. You could walk to the midtown areas from there, but it will take most of an hour. I'd get the subway.

Central Park - depends on where you're going in the park. It stretches from 59th Street to 110th. A/B/C/D line runs up Central Park West. A/D are express and make no stops between 59th and 125th. B/C make local stops. To get to the east side of the park from the Upper East Side, closest subway is the 4/5/6 line which runs along Lexington. About a ten minute walk to 5th Avenue from there (5th Ave runs along the east side of the park). 6 makes local stops.

Subway map here - fairly easy to use if you know where you need to go.
https://new.mta.info/map/5256

If you have a chip card (contactless) you may be able to just tap it on the OMNY reader at the turnstile to get in. Or set it up on your phone. Otherwise you can buy subway cards ($5) in all stations and stick some cash in them.
https://omny.info

You pay to get into the subway. Once in, you can go as far as you like for as long as you like and make as many changes as you want.

Don't fall for the media hype about safety. More than 3 million people ride the subway every day. Just be sensible, keep an eye on who's about, move if you have to and don't stand at the edge of the platform. If you drop your phone down on the tracks, go find the attendant to help you get it back safely.

[balladmaker]

Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, WTC are all downtown. You could walk to the midtown areas from there, but it will take most of an hour. I'd get the subway.

Central Park - depends on where you're going in the park. It stretches from 59th Street to 110th. A/B/C/D line runs up Central Park West. A/D are express and make no stops between 59th and 125th. B/C make local stops. To get to the east side of the park from the Upper East Side, closest subway is the 4/5/6 line which runs along Lexington. About a ten minute walk to 5th Avenue from there (5th Ave runs along the east side of the park). 6 makes local stops.

Subway map here - fairly easy to use if you know where you need to go.
https://new.mta.info/map/5256

If you have a chip card (contactless) you may be able to just tap it on the OMNY reader at the turnstile to get in. Or set it up on your phone. Otherwise you can buy subway cards ($5) in all stations and stick some cash in them.
https://omny.info

You pay to get into the subway. Once in, you can go as far as you like for as long as you like and make as many changes as you want.

Don't fall for the media hype about safety. More than 3 million people ride the subway every day. Just be sensible, keep an eye on who's about, move if you have to and don't stand at the edge of the platform. If you drop your phone down on the tracks, go find the attendant to help you get it back safely.

Confirmed, very similar to underground in London, just tap at the barrier using contactless, very handy.

[JimStynes]

Heading in 6 weeks to do the New York marathon. Just need to make it in one piece to the start line! Heading on the Wednesday morning and then leaving on Monday around tea time so a decent amount of time. Has anyone any good tours they'd recommend? Id like to do a tour of Central Park or the likes of Ellis Island. Something that will have a few interesting stories. Don't think I want a rushed fly by tour of the city where you're only stopping at the monument or site for a quick photo. Looking to do the usual things like 9/11 tour, top of the rock, see a show. The Saturday is the day before the marathon so I'll be taking it easy that day and staying off my feet from about 7pm that night. Not a big drinker but will probably head out after mid town on Sunday night after the marathon for some food/drinks if anyone has any good bar/food recommendations.