Hey everyone!
Me and four of my fraternity brothers are taking a trip down to New York City in May, and we decided to take two days down there to let them all see the sights.
This means it's going to be somewhat expensive. I havn't been down to NYC in a few years, and this time we are staying the night there.
So I need some help. What kind of bargains have you experienced down in NYC?
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
RE: Bargains In New York City
lol... a textbook oxymoron if there ever was one.
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- fbgdavidson
- Posts: 3922
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RE: Bargains In New York City
You get a great feel for NYC just walking around the place. You don't need to spend a lot of money there to have a good time. Take in Central Park, go up the Empire State Building (go right to the 102nd floor for an even better view) and take the Staten Island Ferry (doesn't cost anything) out from Battery Park to get a great view of the Statue of Liberty.
Avoid Manhattan hotels if price is a real sticking point and look at Pricelining somewhere in Jersey City. There is a Hyatt right above the PATH station which takes you into lower Manhattan in a matter of minutes. A couple of years ago I booked late and it happened to be the weekend of the Marathon so everything but the absolute dives were $600+/night in the middle of the city. I chose to stay across the Hudson in NJ at a reasonable Hilton for $180/night and took the ferry. Got a magnificent not often seen by tourists view of the skyline. That was pretty cool but I wouldn't do it routinely unless the savings were amazing.
Avoid Manhattan hotels if price is a real sticking point and look at Pricelining somewhere in Jersey City. There is a Hyatt right above the PATH station which takes you into lower Manhattan in a matter of minutes. A couple of years ago I booked late and it happened to be the weekend of the Marathon so everything but the absolute dives were $600+/night in the middle of the city. I chose to stay across the Hudson in NJ at a reasonable Hilton for $180/night and took the ferry. Got a magnificent not often seen by tourists view of the skyline. That was pretty cool but I wouldn't do it routinely unless the savings were amazing.
RE: Bargains In New York City
You can get 1-day 'fun passes' for the NYC subway and busses for about $8. Use student discounts if into museums. Go for lunch in Chinatown - decent quality, good sized servings for relatively cheap prices. Yes, especially if the weather is nice, take the Staten Island Ferry - a harbor cruse for free and with awsome views of the city. Do stay in New Jersey near PATH or busses. Prices are about half, parking is cheaper and fares into the city are cheap. Do visit the WTC site. Walk around the Wall Street and artsey areas. Find a good club to go to (A free newspaper, the Village Voice may give you some ideas) or maybe a good Irish style pub.
RE: Bargains In New York City
You might want to look into staying at the Vanderbilt YMCA if you're on a budget. I stayed centrally locatedonce about 20+ years ago and it was clean, had cable tv and lots of pretty European girls staying there. The only drawbacks were that you had to go down the hall to use the toilet and shower. But the Vandy is centrally located on the eastside within walking distance to lots of sights. Oh and for cheap eats just go into any mom & pop pizza place. NYC has the best pizza. Mmmm
lex
lex
RE: Bargains In New York City
Lots of bargains to be found. Good food is cheap. In a city this size there are tons of free/cheap activities to do.
http://traveler.nationalgeographic.c.../2007/05/free-city/new-york-text/2
http://www.freenyc.net/
http://www.clubfreetime.com/new_york.asp
http://gonyc.about.com/od/freestuff/tp/free_attraction.htm
You can also go to a show taping. Like SNL. Standby tickets are available.
I second the guy who said to priceline a hotel. If you are going with a group it is often cheaper to get a moderate hotel room than it is to pay for a hostel.
http://traveler.nationalgeographic.c.../2007/05/free-city/new-york-text/2
http://www.freenyc.net/
http://www.clubfreetime.com/new_york.asp
http://gonyc.about.com/od/freestuff/tp/free_attraction.htm
You can also go to a show taping. Like SNL. Standby tickets are available.
I second the guy who said to priceline a hotel. If you are going with a group it is often cheaper to get a moderate hotel room than it is to pay for a hostel.
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- asuflyer05
- Posts: 2126
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RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting Fbgdavidson (Reply 2): Avoid Manhattan hotels if price is a real sticking point and look at Pricelining somewhere in Jersey City. There is a Hyatt right above the PATH station which takes you into lower Manhattan in a matter of minutes. A couple of years ago I booked late and it happened to be the weekend of the Marathon so everything but the absolute dives were $600+/night in the middle of the city. I chose to stay across the Hudson in NJ at a reasonable Hilton for $180/night and took the ferry. Got a magnificent not often seen by tourists view of the skyline. That was pretty cool but I wouldn't do it routinely unless the savings were amazing. |
I actually recommend taking the ferry over to the Jersey side even if you don't stay over there. Crossing the Hudson is something else and the view from the other side is incredible. Do it towards dusk so you get the view during the day, sunset and evening. Then hit one of the bars or restaurants in Hoboken. Lots of cheap eats down there including a great cuban place, thai food, and a bunch of others.
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- L410Turbolet
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RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting Superfly (Reply 7): Check out Hotel Carter. http://www.hotelcarter.com/ |
Larry, any personal experience with that hotel?
I will be for a weekend in NYC in mid-June (NW's Easter deal 160 EUR for a r/t Berlin-NY and opportunity to fly KL 744 combi was simply too irresistible).
All I need is a clean place to crash for 2 nights.
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting L410Turbolet (Reply 8): Quoting Superfly (Reply 7): Check out Hotel Carter. http://www.hotelcarter.com/ Larry, any personal experience with that hotel? I will be for a weekend in NYC in mid-June (NW's Easter deal 160 EUR for a r/t Berlin-NY and opportunity to fly KL 744 combi was simply too irresistible). All I need is a clean place to crash for 2 nights. |
Larry has said here in the forum that he doesn't have a problem with the place, but read the reviews of it before making your decision:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/dirtyhotels
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- TylerDurden
- Posts: 369
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RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting L410Turbolet (Reply 8): I will be for a weekend in NYC in mid-June (NW's Easter deal 160 EUR for a r/t Berlin-NY and opportunity to fly KL 744 combi was simply too irresistible |
Screw the 744 combi, Berlin-NY alone for 160 euros is irresistible enough (assuming a 1 euro=1.5 dollar exchange rate, that's cheaper than the average roundtrip ticket between Dallas and LGA).
New York is getting cheaper, especially with the recession hitting it especially hard , so deals should abound.
As others have noted, the subway is one of the best bargains in the city (and takes you everywhere), the Staten Island Ferry is a free harbor tour with great views of both the Statue of Liberty and the East River, chinatown is cheap as hell, and there are plenty of happy hour specials for drinking.
All depends on what you want to do--if you plan ahead, you will always be able to save some money.
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting KstateinALB (Thread starter): So I need some help. What kind of bargains have you experienced down in NYC? |
Burger Joint "hidden" behind a velvet curtain and under a neon hamburger in the lobby of Le Parker Meredian (56th and 57th between 7th and Ave. of the Americas) is a great atmosphere, reasonably inexpensive (IIRC, cheeseburger, fries, drink were ~$8.00) -- the textbook definition of "Hole In The Wall".
| Quoting Fbgdavidson (Reply 2): You get a great feel for NYC just walking around the place. |
Ditto! I've only actually had time to wander the Manhattan once but it was amazing. Aside from lunch and the B'way ticket I bought it was all I did -- and I wish I had time for more. I loved getting out of the theatre at 10:30-ish, being half way back to Grand Central Terminal and passing a sidewalk pretzel vendor who was still open -- and doing brisk business.
It's also a great city to be spontaneous. I literally got into GCT at 3:00 in the afternoon with no map, no plans (even getting into the city was a spur of the moment decision) and a few hundred bucks (most of that wound up being cab fare to and from the Metro North station outside the city) and I felt so alive.
| Quoting Tylerdurden (Reply 10): I know you have to be kidding. It was named the "Dirtiest Hotel in America" for three straight years. It is bad, even by New York standards. |
When the City of New York stops putting up homeless people in a place because of its standards or lack thereof you know you have issues...
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting L410Turbolet (Reply 8): Larry, any personal experience with that hotel? |
Yes I have.
DLO21 & CastleIsland picked me up from that hotel at the A.net meet in 2005.
| Quoting L410Turbolet (Reply 8): All I need is a clean place to crash for 2 nights. |
Then DO NOT stay at the Hotel Carter!
The place is a dump!
| Quoting Tylerdurden (Reply 10): I know you have to be kidding. It was named the "Dirtiest Hotel in America" for three straight years. It is bad, even by New York standards. |
Well KstateinALB was looking for a "bargain" in New York City.
At $85 a night in Times Square, that is certainly a "bargain".
The cheapest & cleanest hotel in New York that I liked is the Saint Marks Hotel located in The Village.
Their rates are $102 per night or $60 for two hours.
http://www.stmarkshotel.net/
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting IAirAllie (Reply 5): I second the guy who said to priceline a hotel. If you are going with a group it is often cheaper to get a moderate hotel room than it is to pay for a hostel. |
I'll third that, I'm staying overnight on April 25th, went on Priceline a couple weeks ago and got a room at the Sheraton Times Square for $126 with taxes and everything.
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- MadameConcorde
- Posts: 9265
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RE: Bargains In New York City
Go visit Concorde G-BOAD and the Intrepid aircraft carrier
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/getdoc...4c2-50fa47d77106/The-Concorde.aspx
Maybe you will be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of the Cunard Ships, the Queen Mary 2 or the Queen Victoria when you are in the Big Apple.
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/getdoc...4c2-50fa47d77106/The-Concorde.aspx
Maybe you will be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of the Cunard Ships, the Queen Mary 2 or the Queen Victoria when you are in the Big Apple.
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting KL642 (Reply 4): You might want to look into staying at the Vanderbilt YMCA if you're on a budget. I stayed centrally locatedonce about 20+ years ago and it was clean, had cable tv and lots of pretty European girls staying there. |
I work across the street from there!!! I use the gym there almost every day. I can vouch for it being clean, and filled with lots of hot German and Dutch Eurobabes.
New Jersey is a good option to take PATH. If you are just looking for a clean place to crash, and it could be a sort of motel you'd stay on off the Interstate, then take the 7 a few stops to Sunnyside and stay at one of the La Quinta chains. You know it will reasonably clean, if not exactly hip. Plus Queens is the most diverse place in the planet and endlessly fascinating. *
Probably closer to midtown than parts of the Upper West Side.
* I am from Queens. I am a major Queens booster. I bleed Queens blood. Even I have to admit it is really, really ugly. Queens many charms are not architectural, let's leave it at that
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 15): |
Yes, definiately a good suggstion. I'm surprised it didn't come up earlier, and we're supposed to be an aviation board?!
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- DocLightning
- Posts: 22346
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RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting KstateinALB (Thread starter): So I need some help. What kind of bargains have you experienced down in NYC? |
THE ABSOLUTE BEST INDIAN/PAKISTANI FOOD *EVER* is a restaurant called HAANDI. It's at 28th st. and Lexington Av. on the southeast corner. A full meal (more than I could eat even right after swim practice) is $8 and $7 for vegetarian version.
It's a hole-in-the-wall, but it's totally nom. OMG it's so nom. In fact, I wanna get on a plane right now and go there.
Did I mention that it's nom?
RE: Bargains In New York City
As someone who lives in the neighborhood, where do these eurobabes hang out at night?
I'm too damned old for them to tell me
I'm too damned old for them to tell me
RE: Bargains In New York City
| Quoting LTBEWR (Reply 3): Go for lunch in Chinatown - decent quality, good sized servings for relatively cheap prices |
If Chinese food is your fancy, I adamantly suggest Wo Hop's...17 Mott Street in Chinatown. The prices are extremely reasonable (a large bowl of won ton soup is $4.50...an order of shrimp lo mein isn't even $6, and I can almost guarantee that you will end up taking some home). If you go, there will likely be a line, as the restaurant is tiny. IT IS WORTH THE WAIT! I was just there tonight. Also, you don't have to go there for lunch or dinner. It's open 24/7.
Marc