New York City Thread II

[aquacharly]

A bit dreary for a walk along the river.  But I guess today is better, it's suppose to rain the rest of the week I guess.

You're right.  We drove along West St.  & viewed the Hudson that way. - --   to my relief that was enough Hudson viewing for him. I don't  look forward to walking the parks along the Hudson.  (I average 50 long blocks per day in NYC, and that's all I can manage.    )
Then we  ended at the Financial District.   Walked an hour around the NYSE, Wall St.

Sunday,  we were at the Twin Towers Memorial (he wanted to see the progress since we saw it last a year ago).  Well, I  didn't really enjoy that & the long walk involved.  So, I tell those who inquire: Don't go. IMO, there are better sites to explore/view

We come to NYC at least 3x a year.  That is part of our annual sched for a few more years.
So, we don't  rush around doing the usual tourist stuff.  But neither are we New Yorkers with the luxury of time to discover out-of-the-way  restos, sites, etc. 

Btw, we were in London last week, and the weather there sure  was much colder than NYC's yesterday & today.  I love  the weather just as it is today. .   I get enough sun in Manila, so today was just perfect.  Haha

MAMASQUEAK -- I always reserve a Delancey SUV for trips back to JFK.  The charge is the same as that for yellow cabs.  Delancey SUVs/salon cars are always clean & the drivers drive smoothly. 
Actually, during peak hours -- I prefer reserving Delancey --  the pre-agreed upon rate from pick-up to destination  remains unchanged, even if traffic becomes terrible.  Unlike with yellow cabs, the meter keeps on adding to your bill.   

[mama squeak!]

@junetwentythree, thanks sis! We're taking it easy lang on this trip. We went walking around Chelsea yesterday, nice area. After two weeks in Paris, it was a relaxing and enjoyable walk not having to worry about stepping on some unmentionables. Hay naku how the French love their dogs! 

Walked the High Line, grabe na-frozen lang naman kami. Lakas ng hangin and malamig na nga talaga. Before going back to our hotel, dropped by Chelsea market and tried Los Tacos' food. Sarap! Daming nice shops and restos pala there, would love to go back and try everything!

@aquacharly, thanks for the airport ride tip. We're leaving via LGA this time since domestic flight lang kami. The hotel recommended a town car service that their guests use. Flat rate of $56 including toll but gratuity not included yet. Pwede na rin since there's three of us with big bags! Ayayay! The baggage fees we have to pay!

[junetwentythree]

aquacharly I've not been downtown in awhile. My boyfriend used to work in the area but in general we're just not big fans of the vicinity. Walking the west side span is really nice during the the warmer months.

I'm curious...why do you elect to use Delancey car service when you mostly stay Midtown? There's quite a bit of livery cab services that might be closer to your location. I'm not quite sure if they're charging you more since they're coming from the Lower East Side, but just thought I'd point that out. Might be faster too if you get a closer service? I dunno Just a suggestion.

mama squeak! Even cooler today  I'm afraid I'm getting sick nga It's about that time when everyone around is sneezing and coughing. So be careful! But I'm glad you're enjoying the trip

[sandd]

Hello hello! Reading about the cold weather, yikes! I can imagine how cold it will be in November! Has anyone been to the Bowery Ballroom for a show? I would love to see Rudimental play there however it's General Admin, no seats etc. I am quite short and I'm worried I'm not going to enjoy standing there looking at people's back instead of the stage and worse, get pushed around. Any one?

[junetwentythree]

^ Bowery Ballroom is a small but great venue. There's a small balcony area that you might be able to park yourself at and watch the show (there's a bar up there) if you get there early enough. Or if you want to be closer, again get there early enough and you'll be up front. Definitely check it out, I'd recommend it

[sandd]

Thanks june, i saw that small balcony and I did think that would be a good spot for me - thanks for the tips. I've also managed to book an apartment right on the crossroads/streets of chelsea, meatpacking and greenwich. It's getting so close now! Hopefully the Statue of Liberty will be accessible by then. How is by the way with all the government offices being shut down?

[sandd]

June23, I was on the process of buying tix, however, i have few selections such as GA0, GA1 and GA. Noted it's a "position yourself wherever" but the prices vary. Safe to get a mid priced one? I tried getting it from viviseats.com as the browery is sold out.

[melvel]

Any recommendations for a nice, centrally located hotel that's not too expensive?  Maybe my maximum is US$200 a night? I'll be in NYC for a couple of nights in June of next year, and I want to stay in the city center naman.

[junetwentythree]

Sis sandd I'm not sure why some are more expensive than others. They're all the same GA tickets. I've never bought from vividtickets.com so I googled it and found this article http://blog.tickpick.com/vivid-seats-legit-or-scam/. It's more the couple of review at the bottom that I found disturbing  I mean I guess there's no real worry since they're GA tickets but maybe the more expensive tickets come from "guaranteed" sellers.

Oh and the government is still shutdown 

melvel Instead of a hotel, maybe you can try renting an apartment which can be more reasonably priced. Check out airbnb.com or back read a bit and see what sites has been posted.

[mama squeak!]

Last day in NYC! We had a very short but enjoyable and relaxing trip. Walked everywhere! Katuwa talaga weather ngayon. Forecast yesterday was rain but di naman umulan, maybe early morning after that okay na. Malamig nga lang din but it got kinda warm around 6pm or sa dami lang ng tao kaya uminit? Lol!

You were right, junetwentythree! Halos lahat makasalubong namin bumabahing. My sis had to pick up something at the pharmacy and I noticed mabiling-mabili yung mga cough/cold meds. Lol! Good thing I'll be heading back home in a week's time. Back to humid, wet weather! 

Oh, hope you're feeling better! Thanks for the tips! 

[sandd]

Hey junetwentythree! I didn't even get the chance to read reviews etc. Your link sell tickets as well. Have you tried buying from tickpick? IF yes, then I'll it from there..

Hope you're better! Keep warm!

[junetwentythree]

mama squeak Bf and I had the day off today to attend the NY Comic Con. So I actually got to sleep in and rest a bit at least before we headed to Javits Center. Only lasted a couple of hours though before I started to feel bad again  weather was odd too, windy but had a thick air of humidity, felt like rain but again, nada. I'm glad you had a great trip!

sandd I've not bought from tickpick either. I've only bought from stubhub. You can try there thanks, sis! Yep, now home, comfy in my pjs

[aquacharly]

 

aquacharly I've not been downtown in awhile. My boyfriend used to work in the area but in general we're just not big fans of the vicinity. Walking the west side span is really nice during the the warmer months.

I'm curious...why do you elect to use Delancey car service when you mostly stay Midtown? There's quite a bit of livery cab services that might be closer to your location. I'm not quite sure if they're charging you more since they're coming from the Lower East Side, but just thought I'd point that out. Might be faster too if you get a closer service? I dunno Just a suggestion.

When I have a set itinerary -- I call Delancey a day in advance.  Like if  it's set I am gonna have dinner at x place -- I estimate the time I should be getting back  -- so, I reserve both ways.   From JFK, we take cabs coz Immigration is unpredictable & with Delancey, the rider must appear on time. So, for returns to JFK, then we do Delancey.
 I like Delanceys -- they're so much cleaner than all cabs. 
But I do take yellow cabs too.  But given a choice, and a firm itinerary -- I'd go Delancey.

At 7, after an early dinner -- had Delancey drop us off at Brooklyn Bridge.  We walked to the mid-point, back, through the Federal Plaza, then through that Chinatown small park to Wonton Garden at Mulberry St.  After 40 min. there - a Delancey arrived as called in to bring us back to 47th. No more cab search.

Delancey fees are approx the same/even cheaper when traffic's  heavier than usual. BUT if you pay with a credit card, there is a 20-30% additional charge. So, one must always have cash on hand.

I  have gotten stranded too in places like Soho during peak hours & all cabs are taken. I call Delancey to bail me out.



MAMASQUEAK --  serendipity! Oct 10 afternoon:   -- caught the pop-up concert of Paul McCartney at Times Square.  .
Will follow you to SanFo & San Jose.  .

[junetwentythree]

^ If Delancey works for you that's good , but when I talk about "livery cab service" I don't mean yellow cabs, I mean car services, similar to Delancey, who's bases are closer to midtown where you seem to stay often. I agree, taking a car service to and from the airport is much, much better because of the flat rate and you don't want that meter running when you're stuck in traffic. By the way, a 20-30% mark-up for credit card payments doesn't sound standard to me, at least from none of the car services I've used and I almost always use credit cards.

There's also a service called Uber now. It's great actually. Quite fancy with the you being able to actually GPS track your driver as he comes and fetches you, typically in nicer vehicles. We got to talking to our Uber driver when we gave it a whirl one night when we were all nice and toasted. He gave us a run down of how it works. It's really easy actually, all pretty much paid for up front almost when you set up the account.

[sandd]

junetwentythree, for comparison purposes, how much does a cab ride from say Chelsea to JFK considering mid heavy traffic at 1pm on a weekday? How long in advance do you have to book for Uber? I've heard and read about it however not much about the mechanics. Might give it a go. Less than two week now! Getting so excited!

[junetwentythree]

^ Sis sandd I'm not even sure but I would imagine somewhere near the 60$ vicinity, without tip. This, however, http://www.worldtaximeter.com/new-york/jfk/chelsea+Manhattan, gives a more modest estimate, but I'm a bit skeptical about that waiting in traffic time of 8 minutes  It's hit or miss with the traffic. I use this car service http://lescarservices.com/ and they're pretty good. I call them and they have a car ready for me in about 10 minutes (when I fly out, I call them a day in advance).

Uber is a bit different wherein you set up an account ahead of time. You just call for a car with an app on your phone and your car can will be enroute to you right away. It took our driver about 20 minutes to get to us, but like I mentioned, we had the GPS tracking on him the entire time.

Yay! Have a great time while you're here!!!

[mama squeak!]

@sandd suggest get a fixed rate airport car service so you don't have to worry about the meter running during traffic. If I'm not mistaken the town car company given by junetwentythree is the same one we used to LGA (the company was recommended by our hotel). 

@junetwentythree, yup we saw a lot of Comic Con attendees checking in at our hotel. Katuwa nga talagang in complete regalia sila. Sayang we missed it. Hopefully we can go to San Diego next year for that.

@aquacharly, finally back home in sunny, humid Manila! Good to be home even with the horrible traffic and pollution LoL!

 

[sandd]

Thanks for the info mama squeak! & junetwentythree, we'll sort out pick to the airport in advance through the car service suggested.

Glad the shutdown has been lifted and everything is back to normal. OK, is it worth hiking up the crown of liberty? I read several mixed reviews but 75% leaning towards "do not do it". Allocating 3-5 hours is a bit much. Also, I've been looking for tickets for that hike up at statueoflibertytickets.com, tickets don't seem to be available for the dates we are in NYC, but i could be wrong.

One more for today, has anyone tried Sleep No More? I am very interested.. Sounds like a very unique experience. I say a must do when in NYC?

[sandd]

Is it easy to get catch a cab from JFK? Is it best to book pick as well?

[junetwentythree]

Hiya sis sandd The climb up to the crown is not for the faint of heart  the higher and closer you get to the top, the narrower the stairwell gets. And if my memory serves me right, as this was back nearly 2 decades ago, the climb was really steep. And when you get up top and you just get a few seconds there before you gotta keep going cuz of the line of people right behind you waiting to go. Oh and the climb is not like you're going up the stairs and you're done, it's more like you're moving slowly in those set of stairs slowly ascending, cuz there's a line in front of you and behind you. So it's safe to say it's an experience I'll skip if I'm asked to do it again  so suffice it to say, do not recommend   

I didn't even know they still did this after 9/11...

I've not done 'Sleep No More' but I have heard some people talk about it. That it is quite an experience. I would recommend it more so because it's not quite your typical thing like Broadway or whatever...something a bit different. 

You'll see a cab queue right outside of the baggage pickup area. The line may take awhile but it moves along and is efficient. That's how you get a cab and they charge you the flat rate.