Travel tips for New York City

World Trade Center Tragedy

We wish to express our sincere condolences to all of those affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. We are sorry that these magnificent buildings are no more, but that is nothing compared to our sorrow that the lives of thousands of innocent people are no more. We grieve with the friends and family of the missing in their time of sorrow. We thank all those involved in the rescue and recovery for their tireless work.

It's the best place to see shows and a taste of culture you won't soon forget. Some people think it's a hassle, but if you follow our simple tips, you can make trips to New York inexpensive on your wallet and your nerves.

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Why you shouldn't take Amtrak and how to drive yourself to New York City without getting annoyed.

Places to stay

How to get around without problems.

Some tips on show tickets.

Good places to eat and places to avoid

Where we like to shop

Sightseeing

HIRSCHFELD

Why you shouldn't take the train

It's just too expensive. On a recent business trip, we found out that Amtrak from Union Station charges $128 round trip for the regular train and $228 round trip for the Metroliner. Forget it. That's pretty steep to save only 1 1/2 hours of drive time (from Washington, D.C.). Follow our easy directions listed below, and you can spend that money on theatre tickets instead!

Directions from the south: The best way to approach New York from most states south is via I 95 and following the New Jersey Turnpike once you cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge. If you take our advice and stay at a hotel outside of New York (Save $$$) then you'll want to get off on one of the exits in New Jersey for the hotel areas, such as East Brunswick or the Meadowlands. (The Meadowlands exit is past the exit you'll need for New York City.) If going straight to New York, take exit 14c and follow the road until you can actually see the Holland Tunnel *DO NOT TAKE THE HOLLAND TUNNEL*. At the intersection just prior to the tunnel, take a left (Jersey Avenue) then take a right at Eighteenth street. Follow Eighteenth street until you pass the Path station on your left and make a U turn at the next intersection. Park at the lot next to the PATH station and enter it. It only costs $1 each way, and parking in the garage there is lots cheaper than any New York garage. The Path train takes you to the New York subway system just around Macy's (33rd Street).

Restaurants on the NJ Turnpike: Whatever you do DON"T eat at the Roy Rogers restaurants on the turnpike. They have a monopoly, since they're located at rest stops on a road with very few exits. We paid $14 for 2 2 piece chickens, some fries and a couple of sodas. If we hadn't been so hungry, we'd have told them where to stick their food. Now that we know better, we pack a picnic lunch and eat while we're driving.

Parking at the Path Station: How much it costs depends on the day you park there. When we parked there on a Friday afternoon, it costed us $15.00 (good for up to 12 hours) by the time we got back to the car. Saturday was $10.00 for the whole day.

Where to stay during your visit to NYC

If you're driving yourself up and are on a budget, or just play it smart, like we do, DO NOT stay in Manhattan. Hotels such as Days Inn, Holiday Inn, Motel 6, and other chains are really reasonable and close to PATH stations in New Jersey. Cities in New Jersey we frequently stay in are East Brunswick (about 1/2 hour south on I-95), the Meadowlands (around Giants Stadium), and Newark, near the airport.

PATH Train and the famous New York City Subway

When you get to the Pavonia/Newport PATH station you're on your way to the city. A stunning view can be seen from outside the station and that gives you a pretty good idea where you are in relation to Manhattan.

The PATH train costs $1 and when you get to the platform take the train that takes you to the attraction you want to see. To get into Midtown Manhattan, take the 33rd St train and get off at the end of the line.

To get to the NEW Times Square (it's completely different from just a few years ago) you'll want to take the N or R trains toward uptown once you get off the PATH train. To get to lower Manhattan will be a little more difficult. We're not sure how well the subway is operating as you get to where the World Trade Center used to be, and obviously the Path no longer goes to that part of town, so check with the New York Transit Authority for more information on how to get where you want to go once exiting the 33rd Street Path station. Tokens for riding the Subway are 1.50 each. If you think you'll be using the subway 3 or more times in one day, your best bet is the "Fun Pass". Available at any Hudson Newsstand and a few other places, it only costs $4 and you get unlimited rides for 1 day. If you're not sure where to buy them, ask a station attendant and they'll direct you to the nearest place. (Even though their website says the subway stations sell them, not all of them do.) The 42nd street/Times Square stop takes you to the middle of the theatre district. The 55th St stop takes you just a couple of blocks from the famous chain restuarants (see dining) and Central Park. The 5th Ave stop takes you near the Margo Feiden Galleries, 699 Madison Avenue, home of the Hirschfeld collection.

Tickets to Shows in New York

If you're like us when you go to New York, you'll want to take in at least one show. There's more theatre in a 8 block area than in most of the world. When it comes to quality productions and a good time, New York Theatre can't be beat.

We've been fortunate enough to be able to plan our trips by purchasing our show tickets in advance. This can be very expensive (for good seats, about $150 for a pair of tickets.) There is another way, it's the way I started seeing theatre in New York and it can save you 50% on normal ticket prices.

TKTS is a kiosk that sits in the middle of Times Square (literally!) what you have to do is show up at about 10am for matinees and at about 5pm for evening shows. This works best with 2 people so you can rotate standing in line and get a chance to use the restroom etc.. The ticket windows open at 12pm and 6pm (?) and while you're standing in line, have your partner run up to the outer board to see what's available. (I recommend picking up a New York Times for current shows.) When you get to the window they'll ask you what show you want and how many tickets. They'll then tell you what's available and show you where that is in relation to the theatre. For the more popular shows, these can be nosebleed central, but for some shows that have been running for a long time you can normally get some great mezzanine seats.

DON'T USE A TICKET BROKER! You could pay at least $20 more than you need to for tickets which are readily available through Ticketmaster or the theatre box office. I saw someone on a newsgroup saying they paid $95 each for tickets to "Chicago"! Why?? If they knew they wanted to go, they could have gotten the same tickets for $75 (the normal price) by picking up a copy of the New York Times, calling the number in the show's ad, and ordering them with their credit card. Or, if you feel comfortable using your credit card online, you can go to either Ticketmaster Telecharge or Playbill, where they have online ticket services for all the shows.

Places to eat and places to avoid

There's more places to eat in New York than there are subway cars. The trick is, finding food, service and prices that are acceptable.

Theme Restaurants

Always a good choice, you can't beat the food and the prices. Around Christmas, lines tend to form, but most other times we've been to them, it's been pretty easy to get a table.

ESPN Zone If you're a sports nut, this is the place for you. The place is chock full of tv screens showing just about every sports event happening, as well as other sports related programming. The food is good-try the Baby Back Back Back Back ribs-they're yummy. The Atlantic Salmon was very good too. The portions are huge and the prices are reasonable. Fast and courteous service.
The Hard Rock Cafe Rock and roll memorabilia.
The Harley-Davidson Cafe If you want to see a great collection of Hogs, this is the place. The food is really good, too. Last time we were there, they had a Filet Mignon dinner for $20 and boy was it good.
Planet Hollywood Hollywood memorabilia and great food. The Captain Crunch chicken fingers can't be beat.
Television City For the lover of the Boob Tube. A new entry in the world of the theme restaurant, this one is still working out the kinks. The food is good, but nothing really out of the ordinary, unlike other theme restaurants that have some wild and crazy dishes. When the restaurant first opened, they had little machines at each table where you could take part in surveys, but they were gone when we went there recently. When they finally get this one through it's test phase and start making it cool, it will surely take off like a rocket. UPDATE AS OF 11/99 - Not sure that it still exists.

Planet Hollywood, Jekyll and Hyde Club, and Hard Rock are all around 57th street, while Harley Davidson, and Television City are both near Radio City Music Hall. The All Star Cafe is right in the middle of Times Square.

Other Restaurants

Bloomingdale's East 60th Street. The other famous New York City department store has a few restaurants-we haven't tried them yet, but you can never go wrong with department store restaurants-they usually have quick service and good food.

Broadway Joe Steakhouse On West 46th St, between 8th and 9th. This is a great place! The food is fantastic, and the service is super quick, without making you feel rushed. The sliced prime filet mignon w/ bourgonaise sauce was so moist and tender, it melts in your mouth. The grilled filet mignon without the sauce was just as tender. Your best bet is to stick to what the waiter says when it comes to cooking time-he suggested medium rare, when we usually order medium-well, and he was right-it was perfect. There are side orders listed separately and they are HUGE-definitely enough for 2 to share. We ordered one side order of onion rings and it was even more than the 2 of us could finish. The desserts are excellent, as well-the chocolate grand marnier cake was sinfully delicious. This is an absolute must-do restaurant. Here's the best part-as great as it was, they made it even better by putting discount coupons all over the place, including their own website click here and the playbills you get at the theatre. Dress is casual.

The Carnegie Deli If you like the Deli experience, there's only one place to eat. It's on 10th avenue and is world famous! (I recommend the reuben sandwich, it could feed a family of four.) There is a minimum charge for eating there, but if you purchase practically anything, that's not a problem.

Encore In the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Broadway & 44th. Another example of how convenient all the hotels are. Our motto is-When in doubt about where to eat, walk into a hotel and see what they've got. We got lucky here. The food is great and the prices are very reasonable. There is an a la carte menu as well as a buffet. The great thing is you can go 3 ways with the buffet. The full buffet includes all you can eat salads, dinner entrees, and desserts for around $20. The "Tony" buffet is a chance to just do the dessert buffet for $9. The best deal is the "Encore" buffet, which includes the salads and the desserts for only $10 if you order an entree off of the menu, which is what we did. We both ordered the broiled halibut on bay shrimp risotto, which was excellent. The halibut was flaky and moist and the shrimp risotto was yummy. The salad bar was just fine-a few salad selections, as well as peeled shrimp and lunchmeats. The dessert bar was delicious, with lots of choices to please every taste.

Gallagher's Steak House 228 W. 52nd Street. A casual restaurant that has the best steaks around. You can even see the thousands of pounds of steaks they keep on hand through the window of the aging room. For appetizers, the crab cake was big, meaty rather than bready, and very good. The oxtail soup was excellent-it tastes like beef. For entrees, the filet mignon was moist and juicy and perfectly done, and the veal loin steak was even better-very juicy and melt in your mouth tender. Sides are a la carte and big enough to share. The service is very good-we'll definitely be returning.

Macy's If you're around Macy's (34th Street) and want something to eat try one of their 2 restaurants. The one we used to eat at, Ottomanelli's in the Cellar was closed and the space was used to enlarge Macy's pseudo-grocery store, called Eatzi's. There's also a McDonalds on the floor where the childrens department is.

Serendipity 3 In business for 40 years, this restaurant is located at 225 East 60th Street (near Bloomingdale's) and well worth the extra time it takes to get there from the theatre district. Super sandwiches and out of this world desserts!

Streeter's New York Cafe In the Sheraton New York, 811 7th Avenue. Close to all the action, this casual restaurant has a nice view of 7th avenue. We've recommended hotel restaurants as being a good alternative, and this is no exception. This one is quiet, roomy, and the food is very good, as well as inexpensive.

Texas Texas Great barbecue, located in Times Square (Broadway at 48th Street). Big portions and reasonable prices. The pulled pork sandwich was huge and really good, served with garlic mashed potatoes and cole slaw. The chicken and ribs platter was also very good, served with french fries and cole slaw. One tiny drawback is that they don't give free refills on sodas, so keep that in mind if you're thirsty.

Yellow Fingers/Cibi Cibi On 60th Street near Serendipity 3. Another great little place to eat. Their menu is small, but everything is good. We had the flat bread pizzas. They're huge, but since it's flat bread, you'll easily finish the whole thing, but be sure to leave room for dessert. Yummy! We think they've changed owners since we last ate there, but the food is still really good. The roasted shrimp salad had big shrimp and was very tasty, and the chef's salad was also very good.

The Broadway Grill Located in a hotel near Times Square, this was something we stumbled upon. While standing in line at a theme restaurant, it occurred to us that nice hotels have restaurants, too! And there probably isn't a line, either. Next stop, a nice hotel, and sure enough, they had a nice restaurant where there was no wait to get into. The food was fantastic. There's also entertainment periodically-all of the waiters here are actors between Broadway jobs who sing popular Broadway faves. They've also got a cool collection of Broadway show memorabilia on display here, too. UPDATE: We've eaten here a second time and it seems that they've changed owners or something. The menu is much smaller and less fancy, but the service and food are still good.

Use your judgement if you want to grab a quick bite while running around. I haven't had a bad experience foodwise from some of the small pizza type places, or fast food restaurants. Keep in mind that real estate in Manhattan is at a premium, so seating in these restuarants is limited. (Meaning very cramped-the tables sometimes are so close together you can't help sticking your butt in someones face to sit at one. Yuk.)

Now a word about where not to eat

RIESE RESTAURANTS
Apparently this company bought a variety of chain restuarants in the area and some of the staple places to eat (Leo Lindy's, Charley O's, and most of the chain restaurant types of places are in this group).
The last time we went to Lindy's to eat our waitress was so useless that I almost started to serve myself. We had finished eating for 30 minutes and had wanted to eat dessert. Our waitress passed our table and when I tried to get her attention, she would make as if she was coming our way and then go elsewhere. When I did finally pay my bill (w/o dessert) she was standing over me and saw as I put a big fat ZERO on the tip portion of the receipt. Good service is rewarded, great service is applauded, lousy service is punished.
We refuse to patronize this company because when we complained to the manager about his waitress, he practically ignored us. Now we're not the type of people who wear designer outfits, but we can choose to eat where we want, and if they want our money, they'd better listen.

The Jekyll and Hyde Club
We never actually ate here and here's why: It looked like a neat theme restaurant, with lots of audience interaction. According to their website, everything that goes on around you seems to be in the theme of the story of Jekyll and Hyde. When we got there, there was a little line outside. The guy said we'd wait 8 minutes outside, then 10 minutes inside. When we finally got to the top of the stairs inside they then said it was actually a 40 minute wait. First of all, it was quite cramped in the bar area (where they make you wait-presumably to spend money on drinks). Second of all, they lied to us while we were waiting in the first line. We don't like being lied to, and we didn't have that kind of time, since we had show tickets. Besides, no theme restaurant is worth that kind of wait, so we left.

B. Smith's
We never actually ate here either. B. Smith's has upscale southern style food, which was quite good in the Washington, DC franchise of this restaurant. When a group of 100 people precluded us from getting into Broadway Joe's, we went across the street to B. Smith's, and there were plenty of empty tables when we walked in. We were told they were all booked up. When we asked why there were so many empty tables, the girl said they were being held for reservations that were made. Baloney. This is the same treatment we got the couple of times we walked into Emeril's in Orlando and Las Vegas. If there were supposed to be people at those tables, they would have been there. If they were late, then tough noogies on them, we should have been seated. Our NYC trips are not important enough to plan what we want to EAT months in advance and make reservations. If we can't walk into a place and get seated, they don't get our business. There are plenty of places that will seat us WITHOUT reservations.