I am attending an event in NYC on a Friday evening. I plan to get there by train that arrives in mid afternoon. Any good place to kill time for about an hour or two? Preferably between the train station and Central Park where the event is held.
Do you like museums? MOMA is at 11 West 53 (just off Fifth). Shopping? Check out Saks. Views? Top of the Rock (better than Empire State building IMO). Is it tomorrow or next Friday? Next Friday is the parade before the marathon which can be fun to watch.
Arriving at Penn Station? It could take you an hour to amble your way up to the Central Park area.
If it were me, I would head to Rockefeller Center…lots to do there…food, shopping…and I agree Top of the Rock is worth seeing.
Penn or Grand Central? Either, if I only had an hour or two, I’d just walk and look. Get over to 5th, check out the NY Public Library’s lions, in front. Window shop, people watch, get the vibe. You can look at Rockefeller Center and/or St Patrick’s Cathedral. It may be cold. At some point, if you run out of time, cab it to your destination.
Was going to ask the same Q-- Penn or Grand central? And where in Central park are you headed? Tavern on the Green??
If you have an hour, I agree, walk up 5th avenue! Window shop, go to St. Patrick’s cathedral, the library, or heck spend an hr looking around grand central and eating cheesecake downstairs!
Real NY cheesecake! Gawd, I love the city and am headed there twice in November. Just walking is a big part of it.
An hour isn’t enough time to do justice to MOMA. You can possibly make it to Top of the Rock. While ambling is a good idea, it may depend on what time you arrive…ambling up 5th Avenue when everyone is getting out of work and rushing home might not be as pleasant as strolling on the Upper West Side.
Where near/in Central Park is the event? (Central Park is a big place; depending if it’s in the middle of the park or on east side or west side or Central Park South, I can come up with a more specific plan (the zoo or the boathouse, perhaps?) Or art galleries around Madison? Can you take an earlier train?
No one in NYC ambles!!
But they know how hustle seamlessly through the crowds, lol. Not like, say, DC, where the tourists stop and start and you go nuts.
@jym626 - how true! (That’s why I was trying to steer OP out of midtown and up to the UWS or UES or into the park where ambling is at least within the realm of possibility).
Well…depending on which Friday, it could actually be pretty dark by the time this poster gets off the train and onto the streets.
Where near Central Park is the event? Depending on the location, you might just need the hour to walk to the event venue…with maybe some window shopping.
Penn station. The event is at SE side of the park. I thought about MOMA but the line may be so long that I may use up the hour in line. No shopping, been to the cathedral. I could amble over to Grand central and eat cheesecake or late lunch.
So the event is near the zoo? Walk east on 34th Street then north on Fifth Ave. Stop in the NYPL to view the brand-new main reading room. Just reopened after a few years of renovation. It is grand. Then continue walking p Fifth Ave to your destination. That will fill the time.
Carnegie Deli is about to close at the end of the year. Its an institution. Go grab something to eat there before you miss the opportunity. http://carnegiedeli.com/
Walk from Penn…head toward Bryant Park. (I have no idea what will be there when you will be in NYC, but there may be something.) Wander over to Grand Central, stopping at 42nd & Madison to see an unusual sight.
"It takes a lot to get New Yorkers to linger on tourist-clogged 42nd Street. Yet lately, the corner of the thoroughfare and Madison Avenue has drawn almost as many gawkers as Times Square. People are there, staring, pointing, snapping photos and marveling at something that has never been seen: the western side of Grand Central Terminal.
Until last month, five fairly anonymous buildings next to the station filled an acre-size block bordered by 42nd and 43rd Streets, and Madison and Vanderbilt Avenues. Some had stood for a century, opening alongside Grand Central."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/17/nyregion/tower-grand-central.html
Then continue making your way north to the park. That’s a half hour walk at a decent clip, and that assumes you hit the lights and don’t get stuck behind tourists.
One hour? Walk around Central Park.
To be honest…I do not think you will have time to get to, and eat at Carnegie Deli if you are arriving at five on a Friday…and only have an hour.
They NYPL is right adjacent to Bryant Park, isn’t it? You can grab a bite to eat at the cafe in the park next to the library. The library itself is worth seeing. Do that and walk up 5th to your event. My bet…that will take more than an hour!
I had eaten at Carnegie Deli in the past. I am still full from the meal I had there 5 years ago. NYPL sounds great, get a bite and look around. I wasn’t planning to walk. It will be too cold. Mahatton can be so cold. If I am shrewd enough to get a cab, I’ll ride. If not, bus or subway.
Oh…unless it is raining, walk! That is the best part of NYC. I worked near Penn and next door to the library, and would walk home to UES or UWS.
If you are arriving at 5pm on a Friday, traveling on surface roads via bus or taxi will be a frustrating trip. You could take the E from Penn Station and exit at 53rd & Lex and then walk up to SE corner of park. Or the A or C to Columbus Circle and just walk along CPS to reach the other corner of the park. Either of those options only requires one subway ride, and both are available on the 8th Ave side of Penn Station.
Thank you for the subway info. I’ll do that. I can walk if not too cold.