New York City!! About This Page:

[kelleigh1]

My husband and I are heading to NJ in a few weeks for his niece's wedding.

We're heading down (from MA) a few days before the wedding and planning to head into NYC on a Thursday. I've only been to NYC a couple of times, both during December. Hopefully we'll have some really nice weather in mid-September.

I need some ideas on things to do and places to go. Of course we're planning a visit to World of Disney. Does anyone have any recomendations on where to grab some lunch in the area of midtown? Any suggestions on things we should try to get to?

How difficult would it be to get from Midtown to the Statue of Liberty?

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!!

[DopeyGirl]

It's been a while since I have been there, but I know the one time we went and only had one day to do anything, it was really hard to do too much.

From midtown you should be able to easily hop on the subway and ride it down to Battery Park, which is where you can get your ferry tickets to go over to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

[DyanKJ130]

We haven't been to the WTC site in years, but that might be worth a visit.

If you decide on a broadway show, you can always get tickets at the half-price ticket booth. We've had some luck there, even though they aren't for the 'popular' shows.

If you are a baseball fan, a tour of Yankee Stadium might be fun. (We were hoping to get back there for a tour this summer, but never got there - saw a game in late June, but we wanted to go back for a tour when the Yankees were away. When they're away, you can get into the Yankee's clubhouse, most of the time.) The tour is $20

Not sure of places to eat. My brother always takes us to little places - there are some really great bakeries around too! I'll try to e-mail him and see if he can recommend some places.

[bsblady01]

I would try and go to yankees stadium and I would go to the world trade center site and go to central park. juts go and enjoy the city. for lunch I would go to tavern on the green they have really good food.

[DyanKJ130]

Received an e-mail from my brother, Bob. Copying and pasting direct from there:


For dining in midtown, I recommend Joe Allen's on W. 46th Street. You can catch local celebs eating there, too. I've been there when the following celebs were eating there: Lucy Liu, Rosie O'Donnell, Charles Kimbraugh, Peter Dinklage, Penny Fuller, Peggy Pope, and others that I can't recall offhand. Here is their website: http://www.joeallenrestaurant.com/NY_home.html Be sure to make reservations!

If you've got three hours to spare, the Circle Line cruise around Manhattan is truly spectacular ( you ride pass the Statue of Liberty, the U.N. and under the many bridges of Manhattan): http://www.circleline42.com/

If it's raining, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (on East 82nd Street & Fifth Avenue) always has a wonderful collection as does the American Museum of Natural History on West 79th Street.

If you are looking for an interesting theatrical event, I highly recommend a one-hour show titled FUERZABRUTA it's in Union Square and you can see scenes from it on my website: www.NewYorkHotFlashes.com.

Oh... and XANADU was one of the most fun shows I've seen on Broadway in years...

Hope this helps!!

[disney]

Originally Posted by kelleigh1

My husband and I are heading to NJ in a few weeks for his niece's wedding.

We're heading down (from MA) a few days before the wedding and planning to head into NYC on a Thursday. I've only been to NYC a couple of times, both during December. Hopefully we'll have some really nice weather in mid-September.

I need some ideas on things to do and places to go. Of course we're planning a visit to World of Disney. Does anyone have any recomendations on where to grab some lunch in the area of midtown? Any suggestions on things we should try to get to?

How difficult would it be to get from Midtown to the Statue of Liberty?

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!!

me and valegirl5292 are planning a mini meet at the world os disney and here are some things we came up with to see and eat , after visiting the world we would head to times square they have , madam tousos wax museum , hershey times square , m&m store , espn cafe to eat, toys r us if you have kids they have rides there . besides hitting one of the show perfer disney ones . besides so much more good luck and have a really nice trip to the city and a beatiful wedding.

[kelleigh1]

Thanks for all the tips! I'm going to look into these - and I think I'll have to plan another trip into the city sooner rather than later.

We're thinking of avoiding Ground Zero simply because we'll actually be in the city on 9/11 and I just think that it may be a difficult day and I'd rather let the victims families have some private time without another tourist being there gawking. (And we actually did go over there on our trip last Dec.)

I did a little research yesterday and am thinking that we may hit Chelsea Market. I love food - cooking and eating, so I think I'd have a good time there. Now my husband wants to take the train into Penn Station since it's not too far from Chelsea Market and that way he'll get to see Madison Square Garden again because he hasn't been in so long. (He's a huge Rangers fan.)

I thought about the Yankee Stadium tour, but tickets are all sold out for that day. We'd actually thought about catching a game, but the Yankees are off the day, and it might be tough to get from downtown to Yankee Stadium all in a shortened afternoon. Thankfully though, I have been there for a game (in 2004 and the Yankees haven't won a WS since, much to hubby's dismay.)

[yalibrarian]

NYC is huge and is composed of so many diverse neighborhoods. But you can use the web to sift through some of the many possibilities. Try the official visitors' website: This is New York City™ You can also borrow some current guidebooks from the library.

I second the Circle Line suggestion, particularly if you only have one day and the weather is nice. Go to a market area or museum (so many great ones to choose from), take in a show, visit Macy's big Herald Square store, etc. There is so much to choose from in the way of food that I suggest deciding on a type of cuisine and price range and searching for places that way (and be aware that the prices will make even a Disney diner choke). Or just see what looks good as you are walking around! I have snacked so much from the great bakeries that I have run out of room for dinner...

Have fun!

[mcc0313]

As Dyan's brother recommended Xanadu was a great show...very lively and we really enjoyed it. There are also so many little resturants in the theatre district that are just amazing...

Carmine's on 46th has great Italian food (reservations are usually good here), there is Zuni's on 8th avenue between 47th and 48th - southwestern cooking but not waht you would expect (no tacos or fajitas here) and some great drinks. There are also some great Irish pubs in the Times Square area as well as the Heartland Brewery on 43rd...some great micro brews and good food.

If you are planning to go to the Statue of Liberty you should be fine jumping on the train downtown as well.

[LBAK]

I second Carmine's. The food is good. Virgil's BBQ is good if that's what you like. If you're going to be in the city 9/11 I'd avoid downtown altogether. It's very crowded that day.

[kelleigh1]

We're back from our trip to Jersey and our visit to NY. We actually went into the city on 9/11, but (a) we went late morning and (b) we stayed away from Ground Zero.

We took the train from Penn Station Newark to Penn Station New York. It was so fast and easy. I take the train to work in Boston everyday and found NYC was pretty easy.

From Penn Station, we walked down to Chelsea Market. They are doing a lot of work on it and it wasn't nearly as big as I thought it would be. I'd wanted to grab some lunch there, but actually only ended up getting a bagel because there was just too much to choose from and I always want a bagel when I'm in NY. Hubby bought a couple cookies at another little shop and we saw some cupcakes that were to die for, but we didn't want to carry them around the city all day.

After Chelsea Market we actually stopped at the Whole Foods store in Chealse because hubby used to work for Whole Foods and wanted to check it out. I know, not your average tourist stop. Then we walked back uptown and stopped at Nathan's for hubby to grab a couple hot dogs. We walked through Times Square and saw a Marine band playing right in Times Square. It was pretty cool. I took tons of pictures.

Then we walked over to 5th Avenue to hit the World of Disney. We bought a bunch of pins and a new antennae topper for my sister since someone stole hers.

After WoD, we walked back to Penn Station to catch the train back since we were meeting up with the in-laws for dinner.

Yes, we did lots of walking. I think we walked about 25 miles that day. It was equivalent to what we usually walk at Disney - and good prep for the Juvenile Diabetes walk that I'm doing next month.

Oh....and does anyone watch Food Network? I'm a huge foodie, so I watch a LOT. We actually saw them filming while we were on our way to WoD and I've got a few pictures. Hopefully some of you recognize this person. My MIL had no idea who it was and apparently nobody I work with is as addicted to the Food Network as I am. We were pretty excited about our "brush with greatness", but others seem less impressed. (Picture in next post.)

[kelleigh1]

We're not sure which show they were filming. We were walking up the street (45th maybe) and we saw all these cameras. They were filming at a street vendor. At first I thought maybe Obama or McCain was there getting something since they'd been in NYC for 9/11. But then I looked into the food cart and saw Bobby Flay. I couldn't believe it. I took a bunch of pictures but he moves fast and he was out of the shot by the time the camera clicked. We don't know which show they were filming, but I'm guessing it might be part of a Throwdown. I wonder if they'd tell me if I emailed the Food Network and told them.

[disney]

Originally Posted by kelleigh1

We're not sure which show they were filming. We were walking up the street (45th maybe) and we saw all these cameras. They were filming at a street vendor. At first I thought maybe Obama or McCain was there getting something since they'd been in NYC for 9/11. But then I looked into the food cart and saw Bobby Flay. I couldn't believe it. I took a bunch of pictures but he moves fast and he was out of the shot by the time the camera clicked. We don't know which show they were filming, but I'm guessing it might be part of a Throwdown. I wonder if they'd tell me if I emailed the Food Network and told them.

were you able to say hi or did you just take the pictures. bobby flay i think lives in ny with his wife stephine march (law and order svu) she just did a grill it with him she made fun of some of the words he said and he did the same too . she is a new yorker , he is a southern boy .

[Colexis Mom]

How great to see Bobby Flay!!! Glad you had a great time in NYC

[kelleigh1]

He was very focused on what he was doing, so it didn't seem like the time to try and approach him. So we didn't meet him. I didn't see anyone approach him either, other than the people working with him, and I'm not the type to just walk up to someone.