OT: An Englishman in New York

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
26,028
12,127
UK
Don't worry, this post isn't about Sting or indeed The Police.

So seeing as I have been around on these boards for coming on ten years now and I have had some great conversations with many of you wonderful posters, I figure it's about time you owe me for being such a loyal and dedicated foreign Devils fan. :D

I will shortly being marrying the love of my life and as part of our honeymoon, I will be coming to the colonies to visit the big apple.

I will be arriving with my new lady wife on the 13th of September. :handclap:

Can any of you lovely people lend this humble Englishman any tips for visiting the most famous city in the world?

Mods, if you feel this isn't worth a thread feel free to move to the TAN.
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
the local in me says stay away from times sq, but you should visit it. you won't be mobbed by people in knock off elmo suits anymore (supposedly) so that's always nice.

what dates are you coming?
 

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
26,028
12,127
UK
We're staying at The Row NYC, just off times square haha.

13th till the 16th. Then we fly to Antigua for 8 nights in the Caribbean.

Yeah, it's expensive but screw it.

Can anyone recommend an airport pick up company? I'd like to book something in advance, but not sure where to start....
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
We're staying at The Row NYC, just off times square haha.

13th till the 16th. Then we fly to Antigua for 8 nights in the Caribbean.

Yeah, it's expensive but screw it.

Can anyone recommend an airport pick up company? I'd like to book something in advance, but not sure where to start....

oooh caribbean nice! what airport are you flying into?
 

ForeverJerseyGirl

Registered User
Dec 14, 2014
11,854
35
New Jersey
Some ideas for NYC sightseeing:

1) Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island-Can take a ferry out to both islands.

2) Central Park-beautiful and free.

3) Metropolitan Museum of Art-Nice variety of pieces.

4) Chinatown and/or Little Italy-good ethnic communities to walk through and eat.

5) Guggenheim Museum-Cool collection of modern art.

6) American Museum of Natural History-Neat stuff and easy to walk through. Always a fun spot to check out.

7) Bronx Zoo--Very large zoo with a variety of animals.

8) Brooklyn Botanical Gardens-Absolutely gorgeous.

9) Broadway is always awesome if you can afford it.
 

Devil X

Call me Nostradamus
Jul 9, 2007
5,987
1,739
Bergen County
First time, you should go see all the normal tourist places. Times Square, Empire State building, Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty. Believe that all goes without saying. Other things people like to do is go to a Broadway show there are some really good ones depending on what you and your new bride like.

In addition a walk threw Central park or maybe the Bronx Zoo. All very popular things. Natural History Museum or any museum is also pretty good.

Good luck and have fun! There is plenty to do, more then you can possibly fit into the time frame you will be here for. Enjoy!
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
could also do a picnic w booze in the park. a lot of people drink up there, and no one really cares. plus you're visiting, so even if a cop did swing by, you could legit play dumb.

an additional site you'd want to check out: http://www.events12.com/newyork/september/

if you want food recommendations/cocktail bar recommendations (if that's your thing), feel free to ask, or ask about types of restaurants too - budget, cuisine, theme, etc
 

JRZ DVLS

Try Brubag*****
Feb 21, 2007
4,445
6
NC,ILL,NorNJ,Roch
www.brubag.com
When I lived in NJ, I had to always give a quick day tour to my wife's family and/or friends ofthe city. I started to really hate it, but figured it was pretty easy to do a figure 8 sort of thing and going up and down 5th ave and broadway. Got to see all the midtown atytractions in one day. Literally drew on a map wht they should see and found the least walking to do so. MSG/Penn, Herrod sq, rock center, time square, saks.....all the way up to south end of Central Park. It was a decent 5-6miles of walking but was do able in a day easily.


The one thing I actually liked was to take the circle line boat tour around the city. Not sure they still do it, but it was like $30 and It was very informative. Went down the Hudson, and up the East river to Harlem River and back to norther part of Hudson. It went under all the bridges, gave a history and architectural lesson, went by Liberty also. I would totally do this again, I have some great pics from it. https://www.circleline42.com/not sure if it was the landmark or Best of NYC
 

Zajacs Bowl Cut

Lets Go Baby
Nov 6, 2005
71,813
44,235
PA
we just did the 9-11 memorial and museum this past weekend for the first time

really depressing but also really interesting. you go down and see the foundations of both original buildings, the slurry wall, etc.
 

Smitty426

Registered User
Jun 25, 2006
4,343
846
Jersey
Don't worry, this post isn't about Sting or indeed The Police.

So seeing as I have been around on these boards for coming on ten years now and I have had some great conversations with many of you wonderful posters, I figure it's about time you owe me for being such a loyal and dedicated foreign Devils fan. :D

I will shortly being marrying the love of my life and as part of our honeymoon, I will be coming to the colonies to visit the big apple.

I will be arriving with my new lady wife on the 13th of September. :handclap:

Can any of you lovely people lend this humble Englishman any tips for visiting the most famous city in the world?

Mods, if you feel this isn't worth a thread feel free to move to the TAN.

Congrats and welcome to the US!
Statue of Liberty (technically in Jersey waters) can I think a visit to lower Manhattan to see the twin towers area and take in everything down there (buys tix in advance). A decent 20 min walk or an Uber up to Little Italy (you can buy knock off high end brands on any corner nearby) The feast of San Gennaro runs from Sept 15th -25th so your in luck! Streets are closed to auto traffic and people walk the streets. Chinatown is 5 min from Little Italy

St Patricks Catherdral is just a bit north of LI/CT

SoHo is a 10 min west of this area with all the galleries and artsy types

Greenwich Village is a little north of this (Christopher and 7th).

The Highline, an old elevated train line that has been concerted to pedestrians is a cool way to see it from another perspective.

That crappy arena is at 34th and 7th (you can catch a train to jersey underneath it to see the real arena in Newark!)

Empire State Building is east of MSG on 5th Ave. take in the higgh end shopping too

Walk north up 7th to Times square for pictures

North of that is the theater district.

At 59th st starts Central Park which runs up to 110 St

I'm sure others can backfill this with more info but there is a start and I am sure I am missing a ton

Enjoy your trip over the pond!
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
don't be too intimidated to use the subways btw. most ppl are nice enough to help and the subways have maps that are pretty clear on what to take to get where. google maps is also a lifesaver. and yelp for food/ most definitely yelp.
 

Jersey Man

Mad Dog
Oct 20, 2008
14,776
50
New York, NY
Don't fly in or out of Laguardia (LGA). Don't know if the summer construction will end by September but hearing awful traffic issues recently.
 

None Shall Pass

Dano moisturizes
Jul 7, 2007
15,379
11,597
Brooklyn
There are various airport shuttle companies that will take you for like $20 each way. I don't know any specific names but if you do some Googling (airport + "shuttle van" or something) you'll find them. I used one once. Not bad.

If you're flying out of JFK you can take the LIRR from Penn Station which is by far the quickest way there (Traffic has caused many a missed flight) and as a bonus it's right below MSG so you can urinate there. It's also only like $5 and it takes 20 minutes from Penn to JFK's airtrain.

Get good pizza.

I'm still on coffee #2 so when I get to 3 or 4 I'll be better at this.
 

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
26,028
12,127
UK
Some great info. Thanks guys!

Subway doesn't scare me. I am a fairly frequent user of the London Underground. I've seen some **** man.

Also thanks for the heads up on LGA. We fly out of there, may be an idea to make sure we get there early. Pretty sure we have an early flight out.
 

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
26,028
12,127
UK
we just did the 9-11 memorial and museum this past weekend for the first time

really depressing but also really interesting. you go down and see the foundations of both original buildings, the slurry wall, etc.

We actually get married on the 11th (venue availability). The memorial is definitely near the top of our must see list.
 

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
26,028
12,127
UK
There are various airport shuttle companies that will take you for like $20 each way. I don't know any specific names but if you do some Googling (airport + "shuttle van" or something) you'll find them. I used one once. Not bad.

If you're flying out of JFK you can take the LIRR from Penn Station which is by far the quickest way there (Traffic has caused many a missed flight) and as a bonus it's right below MSG so you can urinate there. It's also only like $5 and it takes 20 minutes from Penn to JFK's airtrain.

Get good pizza.

I'm still on coffee #2 so when I get to 3 or 4 I'll be better at this.

Wifey is a coeliac. I can't remember the last time I had pizza... Haha. Will definitely be treating myself.
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela

Nubmer6

Sleep is a poor substitute for caffeine
Sponsor
Jul 14, 2013
13,713
17,781
The Village
I learned (learnt?) a couple things when some relatives came to visit this summer.

There's an open-top double decker bus tour that goes to most of the major sites. You buy a 1 day ticket and can hop on and off them at each site. It seemed like a good and convenient setup.

If you're going to the Statue of Liberty, you have to buy tickets to go to the top months in advance. The ferry lines to the statue were ridiculously long from NY, but were almost empty from Liberty State Park in NJ. If you had a way to get there, it could save you some time.
 

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
26,028
12,127
UK
We have bought two NYC passes. Seems like a really good deal, with all your entries to the major attractions included.

Is there anything I should avoid? How are cabs for legitimacy? Does yellow cab immediately mean legit?

The reason I ask is that there are lots of dodgy taxis in London. Should imagine there will be some in NY too.

Will I be able to walk around with a decent camera in my bag/hands during the day quite safely?
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
I learned (learnt?) a couple things when some relatives came to visit this summer.

There's an open-top double decker bus tour that goes to most of the major sites. You buy a 1 day ticket and can hop on and off them at each site. It seemed like a good and convenient setup.

If you're going to the Statue of Liberty, you have to buy tickets to go to the top months in advance. The ferry lines to the statue were ridiculously long from NY, but were almost empty from Liberty State Park in NJ. If you had a way to get there, it could save you some time.

can confirm: http://www.reservenewyorkcity.com/d...ttractions&utm_content=openloop&rdid=rnyc1232
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
We have bought two NYC passes. Seems like a really good deal, with all your entries to the major attractions included.

Is there anything I should avoid? How are cabs for legitimacy? Does yellow cab immediately mean legit?

The reason I ask is that there are lots of dodgy taxis in London. Should imagine there will be some in NY too.

Will I be able to walk around with a decent camera in my bag/hands during the day quite safely?

stay away from the black cabs if you're hailing them. they'll rip you off. yellow cabs are all legit, its just tough bc that ticker can screw you over if you're stuck in traffic. you'll be fine to walk around during the day just fine. there are many many tourists and most new yorkers/cityfolk will just pass you by. if you don't want to piss them off, stand off to the side if you choose to stop while walking, vs in the middle of the sidewalk - they are cranky people
 

Group Chat Legend*

Guest
Perhaps try and arrange a fly over tour of the city... (Do those exist?!)

There is plenty to do in the city - especially if you like to drink. Shopping for her, drinks, museums, memorials, etc.

Just watch where you walk at night. NYC is pretty safe but some parts can become sketchy once it is dark.

Oh and watch out for bikers - they are everywhere
 

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