New York, New York

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New York, New York

Liam

hi friends :waves:
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Who's been? (I know Lora aka blackcinq has)

I'm going in December, travel tips and places to visit and to avoid would be helpful also just peoples experience in general.

Thanks

Liam
 
bloomfieldliam said:
Who's been? (I know Lora aka blackcinq has)

I'm going in December, travel tips and places to visit and to avoid would be helpful also just peoples experience in general.

Thanks

Liam
I've been, but it wasn't a pleasure trip so i can't help with the places to visit mate. But it is awe inspiring mate. Absolutely unbelievable, if you don't like heights then don't look up :D
 
get in early to the empire state, 2 hours q!
same for liberty island ferries, and wear warm stuff, man the wind seriously blows in off the river!
grand central is awesome, but a lot darker than it looks, get your cams set up right
times square is better at night than at daytime, and no the electronics on the square are not the cheapest, no matter what "lebanese phil" says
 
I was speaking to a fellow Hammer who's just got back from NY and he had a great time. He had to bribe a copper to let him go up the Statue of Liberty and he manged to secure a West Ham scarf to the torch :D
He also got to drop a West Ham beach ball from the Empire state building :D
Other than that he didn't say much else :)
 
Quailty post Ned - LOL @ Lebanese Phil!

I won't be buying electronics so I am safe.

So, your mate is a big cricket fan Mark?! LOL

Liam
 
Okay i have a feeling this will be a long post :p I have been twice now this year and last and both times it was absolutly amazing.

First trip visits:
Only stayed four days so was a bit of a rush job but this is what we did:

Empire state building during the day - amazing and feels so fake. your looking down as if your not really there and its just an image. It was just how i imagined it.
We had about a half an hour wait for this
Staten island ferry - this is the free ferry that you can see liberty island from. It wasnt the greatest thing but its free so why not :)
I wouldnt bother getting off to stay on the island theres nothing to do and its another hour for the ferry to pick you up, dont want to be wasting valueable time! Saying that you do all have to get off the ferry but just walk round and hop back on.
This is normally busy try going between 3 and 4 as no commuters and tourists go earlier :)
Times Square - rather a let down during the day there is a feeling of 'is that it'
Go at night you cant help but stop in the middle of the street and look up!
Central Park - let down for me - no joggers but there was lots of snow!
Ground zero - rather morbid to just go and see it but it has to be done.

Toys r us (times square) - i know rather sad but you have to go - it has a giant wheel inside.
Century 21 - this is a huge discount store located opposite ground zero. Definatly worth a trip.

Trip 2 - week visit
Empire state builing at night. i wouldnt choose it over going during the day - you cant see much but lights still cool though.
No queue.
Brooklyn Bridge - just a bridge to me but mum wanted to see it - we walked across it and got the tube back. Worth a day out i suppose if your running short of things to do!
Broadway show - highlight of the trip - doesnt matter what you see, i saw beauty and the beast (my fave disney movie) and it was brilliant. Go to the tkts booth in the middle of the square after 3 that day for the evening shows - you do have to queue but you save up to 50% of the tickets. We paid $80 for two tickets on the second row!
Rockafella ice rink - just an ice rink in a posh part of new york!
Central park ice rink - great fun and worth a visit.
Liberty island - you have to do this! Its not cheap but well worth it, we didnt go inside because we were too late that day. (they have a certain number of tickets for inside allocated.) i wanted to see the statue rather than the view from inside anyway.
I wouldnt bother with bird island or whatever it is :eek: (the one next to liberty and you catch the same boat to) its just a museum - i guess it depends what your into.
Can be busy in the mornings try heading down around 2 if your not bothered about going inside the statue. if you do want to go inside i advise going early!
Grand central station - not all that amazing but i can see why its popular!

Tips ;) Im sad eh!

Get a tube pass if your staying a week its $21 each and you can use it a million times - it was well worth the money!
Go to the shops opposite madison square garden. (theres a shopping mall called 'The Mall' has pretty good shops there!)
Get the guide books from inside the mall at the information point - theres loads of coupons for the sights as well as money off shops. When we went one of us went on the staten island ferry half price, we got a free t shirt and pen also.

Where are you staying Liam?
 
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Don't know yet, please feel free to add and recommend places you New Yorker!

Have a feeling you are considerably richer than me so go easy!

Liam
 
bloomfieldliam said:
Don't know yet, please feel free to add and recommend places you New Yorker!

Have a feeling you are considerably richer than me so go easy!

Liam

Lol - i used to drive a cinq too so i cant be richer than you ;)

I would recommend anywhere in the centre. And i mean the proper centre, on time square. Any further out and you'll really regret it.

First year we went to the Pennsylvania hotel (opposite madison square garden and on broadway.) The hotel was nice - close your eyes until you get inside though. The reception area is lovely with chandeliers etc but the rooms werent quite what we expected! Ours was a twin with a huge sofa, fridge and big bathroom. But it was all a bit dated. Clean though. We had the corner room so lots of windows and we were on the 13th floor so good view.
This hotel is quite cheap to stay in. :)

Second year we thought we'd splash out as it was for my 18th but if im honest it was a bit of a disappointment :(
We had to change rooms 3 times due to various problems but the room we ended up with was lovely as they upgraded us.
It was called St James and i wouldnt recommend it unless you want to stay right on times square.

Ohohoh! i forgot the most important thing!

Right i dont know if your booking online or through travel agents but either way do not get transfers unless free. And also dont just think 'we'll get a taxi' - you will, but you'll be waiting quite some time.
Anyway they run a bus from the airport to grandcentral station where you transfer to mini buses that drop you outside your hotel. Then the day before you want to go home - ring them tell them what flight your on and they're tell you what time they'll pick you up from the hotel. It was about £10 a person return so much cheaper than a taxi. The bus is to the left of the doors you exit the airport from :) Its called the airport shuttle service - the buses are shabby to say the least though.
 
Remember you are upper middle class Lora, I'm just scum!

Good tip on the hotels, will look into that. I'll be doing everything online.

What airport did you land at though?

Liam
 
bloomfieldliam said:
Remember you are upper middle class Lora, I'm just scum!

Good tip on the hotels, will look into that. I'll be doing everything online.

What airport did you land at though?

Liam

JFK, the flights are generally cheaper as its where most people fly to.

We booked the second trip online and it cost around £850 for the week for the two of us. We did book it a couple of weeks before we went though :p The flight and hotel was booked separatly as it worked out slightly cheaper.

First time was booked as a package through a travel agents - that came to around £700.

I went in February so im not sure if the prices are slightly cheaper then.Oh another tip i would give is try and get an early afternoon flight back - we made the mistake of thinking ohn it'll be nice to have a few extra hours there on our last day so got an evening one. But we found ourselves chucked out the room at 10 and basically trying to pass time until the evening.
 
Quality info again, well I'll le the cat ou of the bag and tell all the only reason I am going!

Basically, last week was in Blockbuster (The video/dvd rental place for those that don't know) and I bought three pre-owned dvds, when the lady asked me if I'm a member I said yeah, in Irvine but not here (Dumfries) so she said I'll put in these offers for you then.

Buy one flight to New York or Hollywood from London and get one free, bargain I though and too good to pass up so New York here I come!

Liam
 
Ahh right ;)

Accomodation is quite cheap so even you commoners can afford to go ;) :D

Do you have to buy the flight from a certain ridiculasly expensive company?
 
Erm, are you after an FF meet in NY chris? Are you a stalker? LOL

American Airlines Lora, should be around £300 for two!! Result and we might be staying at the Hilton! Hope I get to see Paris!

Liam
 
bloomfieldliam said:
Erm, are you after an FF meet in NY chris? Are you a stalker? LOL

American Airlines Lora, should be around £300 for two!! Result and we might be staying at the Hilton! Hope I get to see Paris!

Liam

just thought it would be good to see a fiat owner in NY (rare things fiat owners in america).
 
No worries, Chris I am always joking, just too lazy to use smilies thats all, beginning of Dec I'm going, will land in NY for my birthday!

Liam
 
bloomfieldliam said:
American Airlines Lora, should be around £300 for two!! Result and we might be staying at the Hilton! Hope I get to see Paris!

Liam
The hilton is slightly out of town isnt it?

And you tried to call me posh!

We went AA first time - great service. Second time went Virgin and it was a let down.They try to kill you from dehydration :)
 
I can highly recommend this place,

http://www.chelsealodge.com/

not in the centre of New York, but Chelsea is a really cool area and 10 minutes on the Subway will get you into the centre. BTW, I dunno if you have been before but Manhattan is a hell of a lot smaller than you think. And we arrived in the worst blizzard for years when we went there in December so bring some warm clothes :)

You can buy your Empire State tickets online, so while you will have to queue to get up there, you can beat the queue to buy tickets.

It's funny, but New Yorker's have a reputation for being unfriendly, but we had a warm welcome wherever we went and found them really friendly and helpful.

Also worth a visit....

http://www.bubbys.com/ for Breakfast
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org
http://www.rioc.com/
http://www.c21stores.com for Shopping (it's actually at Ground Zero)
http://www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com/tribecagrill/index.html for dinner

We did go to Ground Zero and it's wierd, looks like a big building site, then you look around and see the burnt out buildings around it, and pictures of the dead placed on the fences... then it starts to hit you what happened that day, was a very moving experience.

Our photos at http://groups.msn.com/TheWonderfulWorldOfLooPoo/usa2003.msnw?Page=1

Jonathan
 
im lazy and a 10min subway ride would get to me every day.

lol at pricing mistake ;)

Have you priced up the pennsylvania? I dont know what kind of budget your on. if you have a bit more to spend what about the milford plaza?

And if you win the lottery the time hotel :D
 
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