Visiting New York City - What to see? (1 Viewer)

[Bob Movies]

Hi Everyone!

My girlfriend and I are going to New York City from August 5 – 8, 2004. I searched and read all of the previous “New York” threads, which gave me a really great starting point for planning the trip.

We’re flying into Newark at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday (because we got a crazy-discounted $1 flight!) and I think that we’re going to take the train into Penn Station, unless there’s a better way to get there. The busses / taxis seemed to be slower and more expensive.

We’re staying at the Habitat Hotel (at Lexington + 57th). I’ve stayed there before, and while it’s not the fanciest place in NY (ha!) we’re just going to be sleeping there, so it’s not a big deal. The price was also right!

Here are a few of the things we’re planning to do:

- See the Statue of Liberty, which just re-opened. (Unfortunately, the toll-free 1-800 number to reserve tickets can only be called from the United States, and there’s no other number to call! Since we’re in Canada, we might miss out on this since we won’t be able to call until we arrive on Thursday morning.)

- See De La Guarda. Has anyone seen this? It looks fantastic!

- Visit the Met and the Guggenheim.

- See a Broadway show. We’d like to see Avenue Q, but the ticket situation is not the best (most seats are near the very back and still cost $100). I think we might see Phantom of the Opera instead, since there are better seats available. Are there any shows that are better? (We’ve seen Mama Mia, The Producers, and The Lion King.) Any interesting off-Broadway shows we shouldn’t miss?

- See FAO Schwarz (This is still open, right? I know that there were corporate problems, but from what I understand, the NY store is still operational.)

- Go up the empire state building.

- Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

- Walk through Central Park

- See Times Square

- Eat lunch at the Carnegie Deli

Besides the Carnegie Deli, we don’t really have any other restaurants in mind. Is there a good listing (online, or a book) that recommends some good restaurants that have decent prices? What are people’s favourite places? We’re going to go easy on the breakfast / lunch and spend a bit more on dinner, but (as you can tell from our flight and hotel!) this is kind of a budget trip.

I know it’s not possible for us to see everything, but we want to see as mush as possible!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,

Bob

 

[Michael Reuben]

If you're limiting yourself to musicals, Avenue Q is the best thing around. Your list of shows you've seen doesn't include Rent, which is also a possibility. You're just a few weeks too late to catch the revival of Assassins, which was my single favorite show this year. The revival of Little Shop of Horrors is still playing, I think, and it's a good production. I can't vouch for Wicked personally, but it's been popular and was the Tony favorite, until Avenue Q stunned everyone by winning.

If you're willing to consider non-musicals, I could offer a few other suggestions.

M.

 

[Denward]

If you're into any type of ethnic food, eat it in NYC because it's fantastic. The quality of ingredients is great and it's usually dirt cheap. My favorites are Little Italy, Chinatown, and some great Thai restaurants.

For Broadway shows, I suggest musicals. I think they give you the best spectacle, and after all, you're on Broadway. Check out the TKTS booth www.tkts.com in Times Square and another location I can't remember. Some people call them Twofers because you can get 2 tickets for the price of 1. These are tickets that are in less demand, and the selection will be best on weeknights, but you never know what's going to be there. I think they only accept cash. Of the shows that are still playing and you haven't mentioned, I've seen Rent and Beauty and the Beast and loved them both. B&B is not just for kids. It's great spectacle (ala Lion King). Rent is a good story and good music, although it's a sparse production. Just to give you an idea of my tastes, my favorite shows have been Les Miserables, Music Man, Rent, Lion King, B&B. Least favorites: Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera. Others I've seen: Cats, Chorus Line, How to Succeed in Business, Kiss Me Kate.

I could spend days at just the Met. You could also check out Soho galleries.

If you can't get into the Statue of Liberty, you could ride the Staten Island Ferry and get a decent look at it for just a couple of bucks round-trip.

 

[CalvinCarr]

We took the double decker bus tour that goes through uptown and midtown. I think those are the way to see the whole city and get a glimpse as to what you may wnat to visit later in the evening.

I heard the FAO was going out of buisness?

There are a ton of hole in the wall places to eat with incredible food. We walked fromour hotel ( hotel pennsylvania) to the bowery and found a ton of places just in that small area.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i never thought about going to a broadway show, but my gf is the drama advisor for the high school she teaches at, i chaperoned a trip last year to nyc to see rent, i thought it was great.

CJ

 

[Mark Shannon]

One thing I regret doing was going to the Carnegie Deli when I went in May. I decided to return to the hotel instead with half the group, not knowing where the other half was going to eat.

As far as I know (and waht my tour director said), FAO Shwartz is out of business, but I could be wrong.

When you go to Times Square, be sure to visit Virgin. They have quite a few good deals, and even if you're not buying anything, the size of the place is still pretty impressive.

I would have loved to go up the Statue of Liberty during my stay, but it was closed then. We did at least go to Liberty Island.

Lastly, a trip to the 86th floor the of the Empire State Building is a real treat. The view you get from up there is breathtaking.

Have fun on your trip.

 

[Claude M]

Don't forget the planetarium and museum. Carmines is a nice Italian restaurant by the theater district. You can also take a boat ride around the island (the circle liner). Or have dinner on a dinner cruise (world yatch,about $90/person). The empire state building has a nice view of central park. The Intrepid air craft carrier museum. If you want one of the best places anywhere for a steak, try Peter Lugers (call them, they can tell you the best way to Brooklyn).

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

See if you can squeeze in a couple of hours to take the tour of Radio City Music Hall - a marvellous look at the type of venue that just doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Yeah, one thing I really liked was when the wife and I went over to Little Italy and just picked from one of the endless Italian places that line the street.

Our pick wasn't the greatest Italian I've had, but even still it was fun just to be on the sidewalk with all the nightlife and atmosphere.

Empire St building definitely near the top of your to-do list.

Central Park was great and we only saw a bit of the southern end (ran out of time).

All day subway passes were running $7/person when we were there and that's another strong recommend. Being in Indy with lame public transport I really enjoy stuff like this. Feels very NYC, though not as nice as the London or Paris subways.


I don't know what the movie theater situation is like in Toronto, but we went to the Astoria (Astor Plaza) just off Times Square and it was awesome. Classic, huge single screen theater ala Mann's Chinese or Cinerama Seattle. Not really a NYC thing, but something that's harder to do outside of NYC/LA. Plus its a real NYC/Chicago thing to have the theater a few levels down underground.

Plus, a friend of mine got me on the "see a film on vacation and that film will always remind you of the vacation" thing.

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's been sold and will be closing right around the time Bob comes to NYC. The last film scheduled to play there is The Village.

M.

 

[Bob Movies]

Hi Everyone,

Wow, thanks for the great replies! We've been reading travel guides to learn more about the different areas of NYC, and I still can't get over how many different places there are.

Michael, I'm very interested in non-musical theatre, so any suggestions you have would be more than appreciated.

We saw "Signs" on opening night at Mann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, so maybe it would be fitting to see "The Village" at the Astoria before it closes. Such a shame to see the old theatres being shut down :frowning: In Toronto there are a bunch of good screens (the new stadium-style seating) but my favourite theatre, the Uptown, was closed a short while ago. It was one of the majestic old movie houses, with 900+ seats. Such a shame.

Please keep the suggestions coming! Thanks guys,

Bob

 

[Scott W.]

Don't know if this one's been included, but try taking a tour of the United Nations. That was a blast!

Scott

 

[Patrick Nevin]

You could also take a tour of the world most famous arena Madison Square Garden. When I go out to NYC in November I wanna take a tour of that place. For me as a wrestling fan there has been allot of great moments at the garden which is why I wanna see it in person and just be in awe.

 

[Holadem]

That sucks.

--
H

 

[Gui A]

I think the second TKTS booth is in Battery Park. I'm not sure where exactly it is, but I heard it's also a lot less crowded there.

 

[Scott_lb]

On one of my trips to NYC I took the tour of the Statue of Liberty and walked all the way to the top. What's funny about it is that when I reached the top, my thoughts weren't regarding the fact that I was actually inside of one our nation's biggest landmarks. Instead, I was thinking, "Dude, there's no way there would be enough space up here for Wolverine to fight Sabertooth."

 

[LewB]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All nice stuff. Wanna 'experience' NY ? Take the subway to a baseball game.

 

[Angelo.M]

I'd take in the MOMA as opposed to the Guggenheim.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Based on current offerings:

• After the Fall: revival of Arthur Miller's play loosely based on his marriage to Marilyn Monroe; I won't see it until next month but have heard good things about the production; starring Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) and Carla Gugino (Spy Kids, Karen Sisco)
• Frozen: tough subject matter but brilliant drama; Bryony Lavery's play is mostly a series of interlocking monologues by a child murderer (Brian O"Bryne, in a Tony-winning performance); the mother of a victim (Swoosie Kurtz in a performance that should have won); and a psychologist/academic who has written a book on forgiveness (Laila Robbins, also top-notch); frightening, deeply moving, and the kind of thing that only live theater can present
• I Am My Own Wife: Doug Hughes' Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a real person who managed to survive both Nazism and Stalinism, even though he lived openly as a transvestite in East Berlin; a story that would be simply unbelievable except that it really happened; a one-man show starring Jefferson Mays (also a Tony winner) who plays over 30 parts, including the playwright
• Sly Fox: star-studded revival of Larry Gelbart's update of Volpone; Richard Dreyfus hams it up as a wealthy man who pretends to be dying so that he can enjoy watching his friends fawn on him for the inheritance; with Elizabeth Berkley, Eric Stoltz, Bronson Pinchot, Rene Auberjonois and Peter Scolari; the plot's a bit creaky, but the performances are what make the evening
• Fiction: a perfect example of what off-Broadway can do: three actors, minimal props, no set to speak of, but the actors convey an entire world; two married writers read each other's journals, with surprising results; anchored by the performance of Julie White, who is mostly known for supporting roles on TV (Grace Under Fire, Six Feet Under) but is IMO one of the great stage actresses of our time

You're sadly too late for the revival of A Raisin in the Sun starring Sean Combs a/k/a P. Diddy and featuring Phylicia Rashad (of The Cosby Show), Audra MacDonald and Sanaa Lathan. Rashad and Macdonald both won well-deserved Tonies, and the production became an event because it drew huge numbers of first-time viewers to Broadway. At first they came for the novelty of seeing P. Diddy act (which he did acceptably), but later they came because the word-of-mouth was that this was an experience not to be missed, thanks to the three female leads and a play that was being rediscovered as one of the great American dramatic works of the 20th century.

M.

 

[Shane Martin]

Unless they have reopened it, FAO is closed or was when I was there(early May).