We could probably talk forever about where to get the best Chinese food! I like Famous Sichuan on Pell Street. For Dim Sum I like Mandarin Court.
The crime is really much less than before (having been in NYC in the terrifying 80s and then the pretty terrifying 90s and then in the 2000s and 2010s) while it’s a city, and so you want to have some precautions, it’s really remarkably safe.
Subways are much nicer and more predictable. Gone are the days of “Waiting for Godot”–standing on the platform and wondering if and when the train will ever come. For many stations there are signs that tell you when the next train is due. There are apps that tell you before you go when trains are due and buses. I recommend Citymapper app. Download before you go!
Every bus stop also has a code that you can text and find out when the next bus is due.
Forgot that the Met Museum has concerts sometimes on Friday evenings. You can listen to music while looking at all of that art.
Can someone help me remember where all of those cool Indian food places are located? They’re like on 1st Avenue . . the ones with all of the lights?
My wife and kids love it there.They visit frequently. I’ll pass now. Too crazy for me. I guess I’m more of an outdoorsy person. I totally get all the cool stuff going on and constant action, but I think that’s what I can’t deal with. I’d rather be on a mountain, beach, golf course,bicycle, boat etc all day.
I’m fascinated that people can spend their entire lives there. I really don’t think I’d make it a week, ha. I guess I’m just a bore, I don’t have a huge interest in going out to eat, plays,sporting events, theatre, bands, museums etc., especially when there are so many people around.
It is a very cool place, I wish I enjoyed it more. I can vividly remember the first time driving in as a kid and seeing the sheer amount of skyscrapers. It was an amazing site to take in, still in awe every time I go. @conmama Glad you had fun, nice report!
Let’s just say that isn’t my experience, as a native New Yorker and proud fast-walker. The only people who don’t walk fast and dawdle in the middle of the sidewalk, generally speaking, are tourists.
I don’t generally take the subway from midtown or downtown back up to Washington Heights after midnight or so, except maybe on Friday or Saturday nights. Until then, I have no hesitation. There are certain specific subway stations that I don’t like to wait at, at almost any time of the day, because they’re particularly deserted and kind of creepy, and/or the platforms are extremely narrow. (The 168th Street station on the 1 line – what I used to call the Broadway IRT – comes to mind.)
Dustyfeathers, you might be thinking of the Indian restaurants on 6th Street. Although some of them are pretty ordinary, I think – you have to know which ones are supposed to be good.
For Indian food we go to south of Murray Hill, blocks on Lexington Avenue around 28th Street are sometimes informally called “Curry Hill,” due to the current high concentration of Indian restaurants.
We’ve been to several and all were good. There’s one restaurant,(cafeteria style) that has many patrons who are cab drivers ( many cabs double park outside) to carry take outs there. Probably good, cheap eats.
It’s been awhile since we have made a trip to New York but I would like to take a weekend bus trip. (about 4 hours away) The last time we went we enjoyed good pizza, visited bakeries, attended a broadway show, and enjoyed the street markets. I look forward to visiting soon before it gets too warm but with a limited budget. I have heard good things about the botanical gardens over there.
I need to figure out the subway system over there and where to stay. I have seen the 4th of July fireworks from Hoboken and they were amazing. The thing is there is so much to see that we would have to see it one section at a time over multiple trips. I have heard the indian restaurants and shopping are amazing. (but expensive)
This is absolutely true. I visit several times a year and still never see everything! Usually get to 4-5 Broadway/off-Broadway shows, try a new restaurant or two while returning to my favorites, visit at least one museum if I can, visit with friends, and occasionally do some shopping but that is usually last on my list. The thing is, this could be what happens when I visit any large city, and also in my home city. I’ve lived in NY and love to visit but after a week or so, I’m ready to leave at this point in my life. And, yet, I’m always planning my next trip and what shows I’ll see!
The thing about New York is there is so many places to see and visit that you don’t need to go to the same restaurant twice. I try not to plan to much for one day because it is a lot of walking. Definitely a city which never sleeps. I am amazed to see restaurants full in the middle of the night. I would not find anything open past 10 pm where I live.
Very funny comment that New Yorkers walk slowly… several years ago an art student drew a line down Broadway and 23rd street and wrote NYers on one side and tourists on the other… to divide the slower walking tourists from those of us NYer’s who walk rather briskly…
We are also very helpful. On Wednesday night I helped two tourists locate their hotel on 50th Street & Lex.
The subway is perfectly safe at practically all hours. In fact if you take the L train at 3 AM you would think it was rush hour as it standing room only.
Someone said they had not yet been to the new Whitney… you should go, it is awesome exhibit space and open late on Friday night till 10 PM. It is a bit disconcerting to see some of the Whitney artworks you are used to seeing in different display … thinking about the Calder circus. Also the old Whitney, the Met Breur… very interesting opening exhibit…
When my daughter was visiting Columbia, her host and roommate told her that Columbia sat at the highest point in Manhattan. My daughter, having been to the Cloisters, knew this to be wrong. I invite everyone to make a trip to that part of the island. Fantastic architecture, wonderful view.
It’s been several years since our last visit, but see Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Visit the Strawberry Fields memorial and gaze up at the Dakota (Rosemary’s Baby setting IIRC). Ride the carousel ($3 a ride). Walk through FAO Schwartz (do they still have the piano from Big or am I dating myself?) and the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. Visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Take the subway up to 110th St and walk through Columbia’s campus, take a photo outside the Seinfeld restaurant, visit St. John the Divine Cathedral.
" Take the subway up to 110th St and walk through Columbia’s campus…"
Got to qualify that, LuckyCharms. Don’t want to send the people into a dastardly long walk across a hill-laden, park-interrupted metropolis.
Take the #1 train if you’re headed up that way. St. John the Divine is an experience, indeed.
I’m pretty sure they closed FAO Schwarz - can you believe it?! (Got it, Oldfort.)
