Saw Book of Mormon last month…don’t think I’ve stopped laughing yet!
While in NYC you can do a lot of very expensive, wonderful things, there are so many things you can do for free or for very little money, it is one of the things that makes NYC an amazing place. One of the things that makes NYC a fun place is with the subway, you can go a long way (for me, the Subway has always been an attraction itself)…and speaking of the Subway, the Museum of Transit is in Brooklyn Heights, and is a wonderful experience that wasn’t that expensive last I checked. There also is the waterfront, thanks to a concerted effort (and no thanks to the buffoon currently running for president, who tried to make the NYC waterfront walls of high priced housing, no commoners allowed), there is a waterfront park that basically girds much of the Island, you can walk along the waterfront, bike and so forth, it is an amazing view, and I have many pleasant meals (chinese takeout, a sandwich, a hot dog) sitting by the water.
The South Street seaport, while touristy, is still kind of fun. You can’t go on the ships without paying admission (though it wasn’t that expensive last I checked) but you can wander around the area, it is a glimpse of old new york.
In terms of music, one of the nice things in NYC is the churches often have music programs, for cheap admission or free, and thanks to the plethora of high level musicians in the city, these are not cheesy performances. St. Thomas Church on 5th have has regular music programs (their own Boys choir is amazing), Trinity Church on lower manhattan has music as well, as does St. John the Divine and a variety of other churches have programs, too.
The Financial district can be an interesting walking tour, though the NYSE no longer offers public tours, it is still an iconic building. The federal reserve offers free tours, and is kind of fun.
One of the neat thing in NYC is people watching, while because it has become so gentrified it doesn’t quite have the feel it once did, there are still some interesting people watching. The Village used to be, but it has become so gentrified that while it is a beautiful walk, in terms of people watching you will see pretty much the same thing. Chelsea has gentrified a bit, but there still is an interesting vibe there, from when it was one of the centers of gay culture in the city. The East village still maintains some of its rebel/punk background, while it like other places has become very expensive, it still retains some of the vibe. Some of the ethnic neighborhoods are wonderful, Chinatown is still a fun walking kind of thing (besides the food, of course!) and there are still some interesting stores in the area, not just the gee gaw stores for the tourists, but things like clothing stores and the like. Flushing, a ride on the 7 train, is even more the center of Asian New York, lots of restaurants and a bit more diverse than Chinatown in Manhattan.
Another great place to visit that isn’t expensive is the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx, it is a quick train ride from Grand Central on Metro North (about 20 minutes) and the park is right there. Admission isn’t that expensive, and it is one of the wonders of the city, it is some of the last native forest in NYC and the conservatory is gorgeous.
Another fun place to go to is Coney Island, you can take almost any subway line there. For years it was in decay, but in recent years it has become a much better experience. The NY Aquarium is there, plus there are amusements there, including one of the older and more famous roller coasters, the Cyclone. The original Nathan’s is there (the hot dog place) and the hot dogs are very different there. There also is a wonderful boardwalk and beach, and in some ways is a trip back in time.
The Upper Manhattan/Inwood area is interesting, it is at the end of the A train. The neighborhood is a quiet one, there is Inwood park there and the cloisters. If you are brave, you can walk down to the waterfront under the GW bridge, and visit the little red lighthouse, the hero of a classic children’s book. Some great views of the hudson river, too.
Someone else mentioned walking across the brooklyn bridge, I recommend that highly as well, on a nice day there is nothing like it.
From Coney Island, walk down to Brighton Beach and Little Odessa. You could swear you’re on the Black Sea.
The Botanical Garden in Brooklyn is also wonderful, and it has the Japanese cherry blossom festival if you visit in the spring. Check the website because they show which trees are blooming. You can find out when the trees are at their peak. Brooklyn art museum is often not appreciated because of the many other amazing museums on Manhattan.
NYPL main branch has the famous reading room, and the lions out front (for anyone who ever saw the PBS show “Between the Lions” you may want your kids to see them! Their names are Patience and Fortitude) Bryant Park outside often has free things to do or to watch, and (expensive) places to get snacks.
Grand Central Station is worth walking through if you’re in the area.
In Queens the Noguchi Museum is unique. Apparently Noguchi put his studio out there were the stone was offloaded from ships for buildings. He would buy his stone and work nearby. I don’t think it’s very cheap but it probably has a free period when you can enter.
The Fashion Institute of Technology has a museum that often has interesting shows. When I visited there was a show about fashion and the fairy tale. Really cool! (FIT is a hidden gem IMO)
The New York Hall of Science is great. It’s in Queens and there are real rockets outside. Inside there’s a free two-hour period for entry on Sundays (I believe) and there are great exhibits. You can stop in Jackson Heights for Indian Food while you’re out there or go all of the way out to Flushing for Chinese or Korean food.
The criminal justice system of NYC is also open to the public on Centre Street. It’s near Chinatown–for lunch–and the Brooklyn Bridge for a walk. The arraignments used to go 24 hours, but now they stop for a few hours late at night. You can ask where the trials are being held and go watch some often very famous trials that are going on.
Great list @Dustyfeathers. We live downtown and I whole heartedly agree with the Staten Island Ferry suggestion. For an afternoon I would first stop at the World Trade Center memorial. It’s very moving. Then I would walk over to the Hudson River and stroll down the Battery Park City Esplanade to Pier A for a great waterfront meal. Then it’s a quick walk through Battery Park to the SI Ferry. Wear comfortable shoes! It’s a walk you will never forget.
And NYC street markets are a wonderful. Here’s a link that guides you by date:
Thanks to all of you posting ideas. We are finally entering the empty nest years with DD heading off to UT Austin in August. We will have 2 years of Columbia football game weekends and I can’t wait to be able to go in Fridays and do some of these great things. My goal was to get to know NYC beyond the touristy level by visiting some of the boroughs and neighborhoods. I will keep a list from these posts. Last spring, my girlfriend and I visited the 9/11 memorial and booked a tour. It was so worth it. We bypassed a long line and learned so much about the planning and thought process that went into it. Truly inspirational.
As they used to say on David Letterman – it’s The Greatest City in the World.
PSA from Staten Island Ferry riders to tourists:
Please remember that the ferry isn’t Circle Line - it will leave you on a whole other island than the one where you boarded, so you will have to actually return on another trip to get back where you started.
Please also remember that this is first and foremost a method of commuter transportation and be considerate. For security purposes, the return ferry can’t board until every person has disembarked, so please don’t stand there for ten minutes taking pictures - you will make thousands of commuters miss their connections. It’s not cute to play hide and seek with the counter-terrorism unit of the NYPD - they really will find you. It’s also not cute to get drunk and seasick, which is fairly common, and it’s even less cute to allow small children to play unattended near the chains on the docking ramps.
When you are disembarking, please walk quickly in single file so that commuters can make their connections - you may not know it, but Staten Island is larger than Manhattan and people getting off the ferry often have long commutes whose connections will be missed if you walk slowly, three across or with a huge stroller next to you will not make you popular.
Please also be aware that there are some very nice things to see on Staten Island - you can take in a minor league baseball game right next to the ferry terminal - with some of the best views you will ever see. In that same area is a gentle, private and deeply moving memorial to those we lost on 9/11. Very different from the one in Manhattan and well worth your visit. There is a botanical garden with the US’s only official Chinese Scholar’s Garden, a children’s museum, galleries, and restaurants in walking distance of the ferry. There is also a very nice zoo with one of the world’s largest reptile houses, and one of the largest parks in New York City, coming in at twice the size of Central Park and completely untouched. And my personal favorite, which is a military installation dating to before the Revolutionary War, which is incredibly beautiful.
So please ride the ferry, come visit Staten Island, but also please have some consideration! Thanks!
A walk on the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights and some time in the relatively new Brooklyn Bridge Park. A walk in Central Park is absolutely free and wonderful. Someone else has suggested looking at the hours and free time for museums including some not as well known as perhaps The Morgan Library which is free on Friday night (so is MOMA but a very long wait to get in) the Jewish Museum which is free on Saturday, the NY Historical Society which is free on Friday night.
For free tickets in Shakespeare in the Park people start getting on line at 6 AM when Central Park opens and the tickets (you are limited to 2) are distributed beginning at noon. Lots of folk online for tickets are professional line standers although both my daughters have done, maybe not on line at 6 AM but closer to 8 and have scored tickets.
The TKTS booth in Times Square moves more quickly for drama/plays and usually you don’t have a problem getting tickets for plays.
I like to walk through the different areas of Manhattan. Walking is free.
West Village is different than the Lower East Side which is different than the Upper West Side, etc.
Looking at all the different buildings, residences, businesses, restaurants, people etc, walking through Manhattan is like walking through a living museum.
You can go see Kelly Ripa.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
This is a great thread. I’ll be printing it for my trip next month. Hubby has business, so I just roam on my own.
This really is true – BUT – there are still great bargains in NYC too… just far fewer than there used to be.
Agree 100%. The greatest of the newer additions to NYC. Stop off at Chelsea Market for some great cheap food. I recommend Los Tacos #1, worth the line and best tacos in NYC.
Agree 100% again. I lived off CP for many years and there is free entertainment of some kind most days in summer. Like Met Opera shows, famous people at the bandshell, etc. SITP is the best if you can get in. The single highest thing I recommend, and free as in beer.
Other restaurants I recommend:
Eleven Madison Park – call 28 days out and you need 4 hours, pricey and worth every penny
Pizza - Johns of Bleecker, or one of the various Grimaldis
Katz’s of course. Don’t be intimidated, they won’t yell at you. Pastrami.
Wo Hop in Chinatown after Midnight. Cheap and fun. AFTER MIDNITE ONLY.
Nam Wah Tea Parlor - food is actually kinda gross, but the atmosphere is great and it was the first dim sum place in the city, and looks like it hasn’t been remodeled since.
Del Posto - my favorite place in the world. Arrive hungry. Babbo similar but a bit cheaper.
Upright Citizens Brigade does free shows at their location. You have to wait but it is awesome, and at the main theater you will see people you recognize from TV and film.
When looking at museums, don’t forget MOMA, nice double up with B’way show. I hear the new Whitney is great but haven’t been yet. Tenement museum is cool.
There are free concerts in the financial district in summer too.
There are also free events in Grace Plaza (across from Bryant Park) - among other things, there are large TV screens set up with chairs and tables to watch the US open of Tennis and even movies in the summer. It’s very fun!
Wo Hop. Bad Chinese made trendy (in a good way). It’s better when you’ve been drinking all night. 
I wished my family lived somewhere else. I do not like NYC. We walked Brooklyn bridge many times. It is very crowded and everybody walks very slowly in NYC any way. The reason that we walked is that because driving is close to impossible, you can get stuck in traffic in your car for a very long time. After it happened to us, we just do not drive from Brooklyn to Manhattan anymore. I am so used to complete freedom of being able to hop in a car at any time of day or night and drive anywhere I wish. I feel so restricted in NYC and so concerned with the surroundings in the later hours. I had to walk the dogs with my granddaughter, they did not want her to go by herself in the evening…we had fun though! We do not go to the late shows anymore either after we could not get a taxi one time in the late hours. We were forced to take a subway and I made everybody to walk very fast home. It was a scary walk from the station after midnight. No more late shows in NYC! Please, be careful, do not repeat our mistakes!
@miamidap:
I can appreciate you don’t like NYC, but some of what you say is dead wrong. Driving in NYC is difficult, but when you have a subway system as good as the one in NYC, you don’t need to drive much, it is faster by subway. As far as the safety of being out at night, unless your granddaughter lived in East New York, Bushwick, the South Bronx or other areas, that image of NYC is about 40 years out of date. The crime rate in NYC is lower than any other big city in this country, it is at historically low levels, and as someone who experienced NYC at late night during pretty bad times (I used to commute at 2am to where i was living in the Bronx, through the South Bronx when the murder rate in NYC was 2500 people a year), you might be safer in most places in NYC then in many rural areas these days that are experiencing a surge of crime and murder thanks to crystal meth, gang activity and other problems shrug.
The subway is fine at night, traffic is ridiculous in Manhattan at all times. To whom is that a surprise? If I were asked, I would suggest that visitors choose to take the subway at night because it’s always easier and faster. But don’t get me started on MetroCards!
“Nam Wah Tea Parlor - food is actually kinda gross, but the atmosphere is great and it was the first dim sum place in the city, and looks like it hasn’t been remodeled since.”
I don’t know if you have been there in the last couple of years, the nephew of the guy who had been running it took it over several years ago, and it is very different. They no longer serve the dim sum on trays, you order them, and it is a lot more modern than it was, they accept credit cards, and the back wall of booths is no longer bent over at a 45 degree angle, and the bathrooms are usable…but it still is charming and cheap:). That actually is a fun place to work, the place is on Doyers street with is a branch off of Pell, it connects with the bowery. Many of the buildings along that street have front and back entrances, and there are tunnels through the basement, that date back to the 1920’s when Tong wars were raging in the Chinatown district, and you can imagine yourself there walking there.
Wo Hop is a trip, we used to go to dinner there when I worked nights in the financial district, and many a night I got takeout from there when my wife was getting her master’s at Pace University and I picked her up at night. They have one of the most fantastic hot and sour soups around, it has a tomato base versus the standard brown one and for me is to die for (they used to use jalapeno rings years ago, by the evening when it had sat for a while, they could have called it dragon soup lol).
Obviously, I haven’t. Thanks for the tip; i will check it out again, so I will have the privilege of complaining how they ruined it! lol…