Yes, you want to be on the west side of the island for Columbia etc. so take the red line up to Morningside Heights.
Can’t believe both toy stores are gone! Guess time goes faster than I realized…
Most tourists feel like they need to go to little Italy. I wouldn’t really recommend it only because there are better places to visit. But if you must, go to Rubirosa for pizza. It’s where New Yorkers go. So good.
If they want an old fashioned Little Italy, Arthur Avenue in the Bronx is the place.
^agreed. And you can visit Fordham, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Botanical Garden at the same time.
I had to laugh at the comment that New Yorkers walk slowly. My D moved to Manhattan and within weeks had converted from tourist to native, adopting the fast NYC walking pace and seething with impatience every time she got stuck behind a tourist meandering down the street and gawking at this or that. BTW, one reason Manhattanites walk so fast down avenues is that if you pace yourself properly (and it’s a fast pace), you can hit the green lights at all the intersections. (But one poky tourist can throw off your whole game!)
We also were discussing how patient and helpful New Yorkers are, especially walking in that sea of humanity up 8th St. during rush hour in midtown. We had one nice older gentleman approach us on the subway as we were discussing something we were confused with and I asked several people for help, all were very kind. I found I seemed more impatient on the streets with the crowds than the natives.
We did a 6 day walking tour with a guide. I found that invaluable, telling us tidbits of stories and interesting facts as we toured. It made NY come to life in a way it couldn’t have on our own. Real New York City Tours is the name of the company. They do several different types. My advice would be that 6 hours was too long. I would split it into 2 days for sure! By the 5th hour, I was too tired to care what I was seeing, I just wanted to get off my feet, as did the rest of us. The tour is nice if you are a subway virgin, as you take it several times and learn the basics from the guide. Then we could do it on our own and not be so anxious. Use Citymappers. It will tell you which train to take, what station to get on, how many stops until the street you are to get off. That was a great app. I actually didn’t like it on my phone. I wrote it all down from my iPad and used that. We covered so much territory those 4 days, and I feel just scratched the surface.
Good to hear the actual reputation of New Yorkers is accurate. Sometimes the helpfulness is not so obvious. For example:
During the late 80s (Crack, anyone?) I worked in Rockefeller Center and would lunch outside on nice days. There was rarely a day someone didn’t ask me how to get somewhere, or to take a picture, or if I had seen David Letterman around (I hadn’t) ;-). I was always happy to help and everyone was nice without fail.
One day a very nice German family held a map out to me and pointed to a neighborhood that in 1987, you just didn’t want to go to (it’s much better now). I don’t know why they needed to get there, as my German is poor. But I would not tell them, as I did not want to read about them in the NY Post the next day.
I am sure that family wonders why I didn’t help them, and maybe they think I was rude. But I stand by the decision!
Re “Nam Wah” yeah, I guess I am kind of like that, I remember the old days. I started going there back in the early 80’s, I used to cut Linear Algebra (boring course, taught myself) to go to lunch there with my wife (she was my girlfriend back then), we would stuff ourselves and the check would be like 9 bucks. It was falling apart back then, and when we went it wasn’t crowded, to there would be a group of old chinese guys sitting there playing cards and smoking while we were eating, which for us was a fun floor show besides the dim sum, because they used to get excited and were yelling at each other over something that had gone on. We never got sick and it was delicious, and the couple running it were really, really nice (you should have seen the old woman trying to teach my wife to use chopsticks, she finally gave up lol).
I also laughed when you mentioned being helpful in subtle ways. I can remember people wanting to go places, like alphabet city, east harlem, and of course the ultimate draw, the sleaze zone in Times Square, and I would be like you sure you want to go there? One of the things that amazed me back then was I would get tourists, judging by their accents, that probably back home claimed that NYC was a modern day soddom and gomorrah or something, and they would want to know where the red light districts were and such, and that happened a lot.
As far as NY’ers walking slow, no way, NY people usually have two speeds, fast and faster, and one of them is usually broken, and it is usually fast lol. It is the tourists, they are the ones walking down the sidewalk with linked arms, looking up at the buildings and gawking, and having worked in Times Square back in the early 00’s, when it had already become a disneyfied Tourist mecca, it was impossible to walk, I used to eat at my desk rather than go out it was so bad. I once wrote a suggestion to Bloomberg when he was mayor that we sell tourist hunting licenses, that allowed them to hit tourists in the butt with a bb gun firing rock salt for blocking the sidewalk discussing where to find the nearest Olive Garden (don’t get me going on that, I heard a group of tourists debating where the Olive Garden was in the Times Square area, when there were probably 10 Italian restaurants within a couple of block walk that would have been cheaper and real food), but I never heard back lol.
@donnal-
You are showing your age, knowing that is the Broadway IRT lol.
Last year, when my wife and I visited Manhattan, I told my wife, I can see myself getting too old to walk the streets of Manhattan. (We walk up to 15 miles a day when we visit). The residents walk so fast, its dangerous. I can get walked over.
Times Square is one of my least favorite areas of Manhattan. When we visit, Its nice to see Times Square for a minute and then get the hell out of there.
@dstark:
I almost agree with the actor Chris Noth (Sex and the City, Law and Order), that I preferred Times Square in the old days, as squalid as it was, that it was more real. These days it is a giant tourist paradise, complete with the naked cowboy, the Elmos and the like extorting money from tourists, with all the theme restaurants and such. And it is impossible to walk there, even in the morning, if I walk from the PA to where I work on the east side in the 50’s, It is hard even walking up 8th avenue and over.
^^ Agree 100% I misspent so much of my youth in those game arcades and other unmentionable places :-B
Ok. What does PA stand for? 
Yep…your reasons are reasons why I dislike Time Square.
The last time we walked thru Times Square, the solicitors were annoying at best and aggressive at worst.
Yet, Times Square is unique so I like to walk thru it when we visit Manhattan.
Last time we visited, we stayed in the Union Square area. I could go to Breads, the bakery, every day. If I lived near Breads, I would get fat.
Port Authority Bus Terminal
There’s Veniero’s for old fashioned Italian pastries too. On 1st Ave and 11th street.
@skieurope, @Dustyfeathers, thanks.
Veniero’s looks good. I think we will go there the next time we visit NYC.
Veniero’s is amazing - a friend’s family is connected to the bakery and the most-anticipated part of any gathering at her house is the array of desserts!
" I don’t know why they needed to get there, as my German is poor. But I would not tell them, as I did not want to read about them in the NY Post the next day."
Incredibly rude.
Someone mentioned upthread the guy in Times Square that carries the “free” hugs sign around. Well on Friday it was reported that there were some Canadian tourists taking pics and he jumped into their photo. The women decided to humor him and gave him hugs. When they went to walk away he became enraged that they did not tip him. He ran after them and punched one of the women blackening her eye. He was arrested.
So yes, avoid Times Square. It is unfortunate that tourists are drawn to that area. I think they leave the city thinking this is what NYC is all about. Really Times Square is one of the dumpiest parts of the city where the game is simply to rip off tourists every which way they can.
That is awful about the so called “FREE” hugs guy incident.
Yes, Times Square is for tourists (and it is by the theater district), and it is not the best thing by far that NYC has to offer. But if a person has never been to NYC and is a tourist after all, I think it is at least worth seeing briefly, as it is an iconic landmark all lit up (particularly at night) and a scene. The crowds can be a bit much though. You can see it for some minutes and take in all else the city has to offer the rest of the time. And try to take in a show!
Dear CC. Please try to install a reply option to each thread ( like Facebbok) I would like to respond, for instance, to many entries I have seen on this thread a day or two after posted. That may mean 6 or 7 pages away. My reply may not make sense or seem irrelevant. Just sayin.
In reply to #28. Other places to see on Staten Island. Probably not if visiting for a week or less. But a definite consideration if staying longer or a frequent visitor or someone who lives in NYC.
SI is given a bad rap. The dump closed over a decade ago folks. It is becoming a park.
It also has a few gems. One is Richmondtown, an historic town with authentic old buildings including the oldest elementary school in the US, c. 1695. The second is the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, luckily located near Richmondtown. It is just up the hill to Lighthouse Hill. Lighthouse Hill is also home to an authentic lighthouse that had been guiding ships into the NY harbor for years.