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Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - Lon - 12-04-2006
Hey folks,
I'm going to be treating myself to a day in NYC (my first) this Saturday. Will be arriving Penn Station at 11 AM and headed back home at 7 PM.
I don't want to do a bunch of touristy things, just a loosely planned out walking tour that includes a museum (Natural History or MOMA, whichever works out) something good to eat in either Chinatown or Little Italy, Rockefeller Center after dark, and naturally, any RJ points of interest within walking distance of Penn Station from the books up through INFERNAL. (Like... oh I don't know, maybe the steps where Vicks and Gia were attacked in ALL THE RAGE or something. Basically any neat locations from the books I could conceivably pass through in the time allowed.)
Never having been in the city, only through it, I have no idea if any of that is even doable from Penn Station, much less how to get from Point A to Point B without getting mugged while gawking at all the tall buildings.
Anyone here up to helping me plan the day and take in some RJ-related goodness along the way?
(Mods: if this is too far off topic, please accept my apologies and move the post to where ever it fits better.)
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - ccosborne3 - 12-04-2006
Unfortunately, nothing on the list is close together. Since you only have 8 hours you'd be better off skipping Chinatown and Little Italy and focusing on Midtown. Maybe save them for another trip. You can only do so much in a day.
Penn Station is on 8th and 30th. Head uptown. Times Square is a short ten block walk and well worth seeing. Bang a right on 42nd St. Take a left on 7th and you'll be in the thick of it.
From there I'd hop in a cab to the museum. Cabs are relatively cheap in NYC. Probably less than $10.
When you're done at the museum take another cab to the Plaza hotel on 5th ave. Walk straight down 5th past the high rent shops to Rockefeller Center. When you see St. Patricks on the left you'll know you made it. The rink and Christmas tree are on the right between 49th and 50th.
I coudn't tell you where to eat. I like hotdogs fresh from the cart.
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - HaroldDemure - 12-04-2006
go to Julio's and knock a few back. just make sure you get a booth at the back where you can keep an eye on the door.:p
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - NewYorkjoe - 12-04-2006
the subway is the only way to go. Buses and cabs get caught in traffic (and with cabs, that meter just keeps clicking away). But, before you get on the subway, be sure you know where you want to go and which trains will take you there. Suggest you research this in advance. Maybe the New York Transit Authority has a website or other information you can use. The New York Transit Cops are always helpful if you get lost (and it is very easy to get lost in the New York subway system, I did it all the time and I lived there).
Remember, uptown (street numbers increasing) is north, downtown is south, the East River is (you guessed it) east, and the Hudson is west. Central Park is in the center (hence, the name). Avenues run north-south, streets are east-west.
Along the East river, is the East River Drive, NYU hospital, and the site of a number of RJ scenes. Sutton Place/Square is nearby, close to the Triborough (or 59th Street) Bridge. Not far away, at 62nd St., just off 1st Ave. is Il Vagabondo, Italian food and bocce ball.
From Penn Station (and lead us not into Penn Station), you can easily hop a subway to Times Square. After visiting Times Square, hop back on the subway (take the shuttle) to Grand Central Station. From there, you are close to the Waldorf-Astoria, Empire State building, and Park Avenue and 5th Avenue. Walk around a little, then you can hop back on the subway and head uptown to Bloomingdale's at 59th St. and Lexington and walk from there (east) to Sutton Place/Square, the East River Drive, and Il Vagabondo (if you wish).
DON'T SIT DOWN ON THE SUBWAY, that's for marks and tourists. Stand sideways and keep looking from one side to the other, so no one can walk up on you without your seeing them first. Take your ID, credit cards, and cash out of your wallet and carry them in a neck wallet under your clothes or in your front pants pocket. You can carry an empty wallet in your hip pocket, one you can take out and drop/throw, then run, just in case (some folks put some pieces of newspaper cut-up to the right size, just to make it look real).
I always carry a walking stick in the city. It discourages muggers and also makes people move out of your way when trying to negotiate a crowded sidewalk. Don't look around and gawk while walking, you'll look like a tourist (mark) and people will try to bother you. Always walk/look straight ahead, like you know where you are going and don't want to be messed with. You look like a nice guy, with an open face and smile, and that will work against you if you let it; some people will waste your time, so keep walking, shake your head, and pretend you don't speak English (Entschuldigen Sie mir, aber ich verstehe kein Englisch!) If you really want to stop and look around, step out of the foot traffic and put your back against a building (beware of pigeons!).
But, above all, relax and have fun!
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - Sourdoughs - 12-04-2006
NewYorkjoe Wrote:the subway is the only way to go. Buses and cabs get caught in traffic (and with cabs, that meter just keeps clicking away). But, before you get on the subway, be sure you know where you want to go and which trains will take you there. Suggest you research this in advance. Maybe the New York Transit Authority has a website or other information you can use. The New York Transit Cops are always helpful if you get lost (and it is very easy to get lost in the New York subway system, I did it all the time and I lived there).
Remember, uptown (street numbers increasing) is north, downtown is south, the East River is (you guessed it) east, and the Hudson is west. Central Park is in the center (hence, the name). Avenues run north-south, streets are east-west.
Along the East river, is the East River Drive, NYU hospital, and the site of a number of RJ scenes. Sutton Place/Square is nearby, close to the Triborough (or 59th Street) Bridge. Not far away, at 62nd St., just off 1st Ave. is Il Vagabondo, Italian food and bocce ball.
From Penn Station (and lead us not into Penn Station), you can easily hop a subway to Times Square. After visiting Times Square, hop back on the subway (take the shuttle) to Grand Central Station. From there, you are close to the Waldorf-Astoria, Empire State building, and Park Avenue and 5th Avenue. Walk around a little, then you can hop back on the subway and head uptown to Bloomingdale's at 59th St. and Lexington and walk from there (east) to Sutton Place/Square, the East River Drive, and Il Vagabondo (if you wish).
DON'T SIT DOWN ON THE SUBWAY, that's for marks and tourists. Stand sideways and keep looking from one side to the other, so no one can walk up on you without your seeing them first. Take your ID, credit cards, and cash out of your wallet and carry them in a neck wallet under your clothes or in your front pants pocket. You can carry an empty wallet in your hip pocket, one you can take out and drop/throw, then run, just in case (some folks put some pieces of newspaper cut-up to the right size, just to make it look real).
I always carry a walking stick in the city. It discourages muggers and also makes people move out of your way when trying to negotiate a crowded sidewalk. Don't look around and gawk while walking, you'll look like a tourist (mark) and people will try to bother you. Always walk/look straight ahead, like you know where you are going and don't want to be messed with. You look like a nice guy, with an open face and smile, and that will work against you if you let it; some people will waste your time, so keep walking, shake your head, and pretend you don't speak English (Entschuldigen Sie mir, aber ich verstehe kein Englisch!) If you really want to stop and look around, step out of the foot traffic and put your back against a building (beware of pigeons!).
But, above all, relax and have fun!
Boyoboy. I really want to visit NY now!
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - Maggers - 12-04-2006
ccosborne3 Wrote:From there I'd hop in a cab to the museum. Cabs are relatively cheap in NYC. Probably less than $10.
DO NOT HOP A CAB IF YOU CAN WALK IT!
Take it from one who lives in the thick of it.
#1. Cab fares increased last week. It now costs twice as much in slow or stopped traffic as it did prior to the increase.
#2. The holiday traffic is NUTS! Midtown is like a parking lot.
If you've only got 7-8 hours, try to stay in one area and walk everywhere. Even walking is difficult because of all the tourists. I find it torture to get anywhere this time of year, but I go anyway.
Check out the Metropolitan Museum (5th Avenue and 85th Street) and you'll see a wonderful museum and the steps where "All the Rage" opened.
Or check out the Museum of Natural History (Central Park West and 81st) because it's fabulous and that is the neighborhood in which Jack lives.
In between those 2 museums is Central Park, where Jack has had any number of fix-its and events happening. You can walk through the Park from one museum to another, but if you do only those 2 museums, you'll be done for the day just about.
There are so many fabulous restaurants that you should just walk around and pick whatever you like.
I'll come back with more later....
But avoid the cabs, please.
I sit in the subway all the time and have never encountered trouble. The subways are fine, just be sure not to stand near the edge of the platform. Definitely take a subway ride so you can say you did. It's easy to take a train on either side of Manhattan to the tip of Manhattan, at Battery Park or South Ferry. You can see the area (much changed now) where Jack fought off Scar Lip and the harbor where the Rakoshi filled ship went down.
Manhattan is safe, these days, just extremely crowded in areas visited by tourists, which is nearly all of midtown. Go north a bit, say around Lincoln Center, and you'll get away from the crushing crowds.
You don't need weapons of any sort walking around the City. A smile will go a long way...
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - ccosborne3 - 12-04-2006
NewYorkjoe Wrote:the subway is the only way to go. Buses and cabs get caught in traffic (and with cabs, that meter just keeps clicking away). But, before you get on the subway, be sure you know where you want to go and which trains will take you there. Suggest you research this in advance. Maybe the New York Transit Authority has a website or other information you can use. The New York Transit Cops are always helpful if you get lost (and it is very easy to get lost in the New York subway system, I did it all the time and I lived there).
Remember, uptown (street numbers increasing) is north, downtown is south, the East River is (you guessed it) east, and the Hudson is west. Central Park is in the center (hence, the name). Avenues run north-south, streets are east-west.
Along the East river, is the East River Drive, NYU hospital, and the site of a number of RJ scenes. Sutton Place/Square is nearby, close to the Triborough (or 59th Street) Bridge. Not far away, at 62nd St., just off 1st Ave. is Il Vagabondo, Italian food and bocce ball.
From Penn Station (and lead us not into Penn Station), you can easily hop a subway to Times Square. After visiting Times Square, hop back on the subway (take the shuttle) to Grand Central Station. From there, you are close to the Waldorf-Astoria, Empire State building, and Park Avenue and 5th Avenue. Walk around a little, then you can hop back on the subway and head uptown to Bloomingdale's at 59th St. and Lexington and walk from there (east) to Sutton Place/Square, the East River Drive, and Il Vagabondo (if you wish).
DON'T SIT DOWN ON THE SUBWAY, that's for marks and tourists. Stand sideways and keep looking from one side to the other, so no one can walk up on you without your seeing them first. Take your ID, credit cards, and cash out of your wallet and carry them in a neck wallet under your clothes or in your front pants pocket. You can carry an empty wallet in your hip pocket, one you can take out and drop/throw, then run, just in case (some folks put some pieces of newspaper cut-up to the right size, just to make it look real).
I always carry a walking stick in the city. It discourages muggers and also makes people move out of your way when trying to negotiate a crowded sidewalk. Don't look around and gawk while walking, you'll look like a tourist (mark) and people will try to bother you. Always walk/look straight ahead, like you know where you are going and don't want to be messed with. You look like a nice guy, with an open face and smile, and that will work against you if you let it; some people will waste your time, so keep walking, shake your head, and pretend you don't speak English (Entschuldigen Sie mir, aber ich verstehe kein Englisch!) If you really want to stop and look around, step out of the foot traffic and put your back against a building (beware of pigeons!).
But, above all, relax and have fun!
I hate to disagree with a guy named NY JOE about getting around NY but I'm gonna have to
. Lon's gonna be in town for 8 hours and he doesn't have time to learn the subway system. It's intricate. Outside of Rockefeller Center and Times Square there wont be a hell of a lot of traffic on a Saturday. Cabbing it is the way to go!
Hey Joe! When did you live there? Pre Giuliani? It ain't that bad. You make it sound like He's visiting Ozwald State Penitentary
.
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - Maggers - 12-04-2006
ccosborne3 Wrote:Cabbing it is the way to go!.
No, cabbing it is NOT the way to go. It's even more expensive now and the traffic is HELLISH. See my previous post. Walking is the quickest way to get around at this time of year.
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - ccosborne3 - 12-04-2006
[QUOTE=Maggers]
But avoid the cabs, please.
QUOTE]
NY'ers hate cabbies, Lon. Don't let em fool ya!
This post was sponsored in part by the NY Cab Drivers Association.
Help me plan 8 hours in the city? - NewYorkjoe - 12-04-2006
The last time I was in Manhattan, I took three cabs and had to provide directions to the drivers (one Pakistani, one Salvadoran, and one Egyptian with a Russian name). Unlike London, where a cabbie must memorize a map and is tested for directions and routes, anybody who can reach the pedals and see over the dashboard can be a New York cabbie!
If the distance was less than 20 blocks, I'd walk. Buses take too long and cabs are too expensive (and slow). I can walk across town faster than a cab in traffic!
The Museum of Modern Art is just off 5th Ave., south of Central Park. The Monet Mural room was one of my favorite spots (huge murals of the water lillies). The Metropolitan is on the east edge of Central Park, uptown, not far from the Guggenheim (funny looking spiral, from Men In Black).
You could conceivably walk from Grand Central Station north, and stop at Rockefeller Center (the west side is Radio City Music Hall and the greatest number of seats in an auditoreum under one roof), the Museum of Modern Art, the Plaza, the Guggenheim, and the Metropolitan. Or, stop at Rockefeller Center on the way back, to see it at night. The Christmas Tree is up now, it's usually about 12 storeys tall, with ornaments the size of a Volkswagen!
Don't give any money to the "blind" guy with the yellow labrador on 5th Ave., he's been running that scam for 30 years!