New York - suggestions for how best to see it in one day/night

[Miss Jolly]

We are an Australian family of 4 (2 young teenagers) who will be fortunate to have a 3 night stopover in New York in early August on our way to Europe. We will be staying at The Milford Plaza Hotel which is at 48th Street and 8th Ave. Our first day will be spent at a game at Yankee Stadium and a Broadway show at night - we have our tickets for both.

We would like to spend the next day (Sunday) doing as much sightseeing as possible. With time being short, careful planning is important so as not to waste time retracing steps unnecessarily. We don't fly out until just after 5pm on Monday but would like to keep that day spare for shopping if possible. On Sunday we would like to take the 2 hour "Semi-Circle" Harbor Tour (still tossing up between this & the 3 hour full island cruise), visit Central Park and take a horse drawn carriage ride there, visit Ground Zero to pay respects and reflect, visit Wall Street and visit Grand Central Station. We have tickets to the Observation Deck of the Empire State building but can't decide when it would be best to go. My husband and I like the idea of the night lights but think that the children would get a better perspective in the daytime. We would like to spend time in and around Time Square at night. Are the various shops nearby (e.g Toys'R'Us) open on a Sunday night? Apparantly we need to get some cheesecake from Juniors and eat at Carmines.

Could someone PLEASE take the time to best sequence these places for us. Any specific directions would also be welcome.

Of course if you have further suggestions of places to visit.we would love to hear of them.

Thank you.

Jennie:)

[madelinerose]

My opinions working your way from Downtown to Central Park:

 

1. 2 hour Circle Line harbor cruise

2. Ground Zero

3. Wall Street - just a street with buildings - the NYSE will be closed.

4. ESB - in August (whew, it will be hot) most people don't vacation in NYC, so your wait may be a short one 1-2 hours. Friends were there in March and there was a 3.5 hr. wait to get to the top...they said forget it.

5. Skip Carmine's......very loud atmosphere w/mediocre "Italian" food you can get anywhere.

6. Toys R Us may be open, but it's just a huge toy store w/a ferris wheel.

7. Times Square is always alive.

8. Central Park

9. Assuming you've had lunch/dinner, taxi it back to the hotel either to freshen up or collapse. :-)

 

Good luck. You are certainly going to have a jam packed day and after dealing with all the walking and the heat, you'll be exhausted. ;)

[reallyitsmema]

That is a very ambitious schedule for one day in my opinion. We live near Boston but go to NYC every year or so. We were just there in February. Empire State Building is easily a few hours. The harbor tour is 2 or 3 hours for the tour alone plus you need to add time getting there and waiting in line. Ground Zero isn't neat Central Park at all so that is a bunch of travel time too.

 

You might want to look at the attractions map here http://map.mapnetwork.com/usatoday/newyork/ Personally, I would make a list of priorities and see what you can fit in. I realize you are coming a great distance and are trying to get it all in but that is a lot for one day.

[momthecruisedirector]

This is long but here is what we did....it seems overwhelming but it worked. We stayed post cruise after our cruise on the Princess Crown.

 

We stayed on 42nd and 7th post cruise at the Casablanca Hotel. After we got checked in we went to the NYC Library, the Caswell-Massey drug store (America's oldest drug store), walked into the Waldorf Astoria and then to St Patrick's cathedral. Then to the live webcam by TGI Fridays so we could call our son and tell him to get online and we waved at him!

 

The next day - up at 6:45 to take our first subway ride to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (pre purchase your tickets), then After we left we followed our New York Street Map cards to Wall Street from Battery Park. We saw the Fraunces Tavern, the first paved street in NYC (Stone Street), Delmonica’s Restaurant and the New York Stock Exchange, there was so much security there – swat teams and police besides the guards outside the building. We stood on the steps where George Washington was sworn in as President. We went to the cemetery at the Trinity Church and then into the church – beautiful. We walked to the World Trade Center site. We went to the Burger King and went up to the second floor which had a great view of the site. We took the “1” back to 42nd Street. We went out and walked down to Macy’s on Broadway. We found Madison Square Garden by accident.

 

next day: We got on the ‘6’ subway going uptown to the Museum of Natural History. We got there a little early so we walked into Central Park. We walked up to Belvedere Castle and went inside, the view was beautiful. The castle is used as the weather station for NYC. We walked through the Brambles, which is the best place in the U.S. for bird watching, to go to the Museum. After three plus hours in the museum we walked down the street to see the Dakota and across Central Park, past Strawberry Fields, the “Pond” and many statues. We walked up Fifth Avenue past the Pulitzer house and then down to Park Avenue where we admired the buildings, wondering who lived in them. We caught the subway on 47th and Lexington to Little Italy. We had lunch at Paizano’s, which was established in 1910. After lunch we walked through China Town. Got back around 5:00 and after a short rest we took the subway to the Empire State Building. It’s a dramatic ride to the 80th floor where they walk you through a photo op before going up to the 86th floor for a breathtaking view of the city and the outskirts. We saw Yankee Stadium, Long Island, New Jersey, Times Square, Central Park….We stayed up there for a couple hours – watching the lights come on. It was beautiful.

 

 

NYC Day 4

 

We got up at 5:45 and were out the door by 6:30 to get to the Today Show, stopped at Fox News first for a free gelato. After three hours standing in the same spot watching the taping of the show we went to the Soupman. We walked down Fifth Avenue, and into the Disney Store where we met Minnie Mouse and Goofy. Back to the hotel to take a nap before heading back out to Times Square.

 

 

NYC Day 5 – last day

 

West to Madame Toussards Wax Museum, it was fun and the wax figures were very life like, went to Midtown Comics then had a long, long lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

Sooooo.....it was well planned out with room for sponteniety! And we can't wait to go back. A big help were the City Walk cards that we bought from Amazon.com, they give you a route and include history of the blocks you are walking in. Each card leads to the next card as you walk around different areas of the city.

[willysgrandma]

Forget about Carmine's - try Tony's Dinapoli on 43rd and Broadway. The food is fabulous, it is served family style. I'd suggest making reservations, as it gets busy around dinner time due to the Broadway shows. I have yet to have a bad meal there.

 

Here is their website:

http://www.tonysnyc.com/

 

Toys R Us is open until 9 PM on Sundays. Make sure you look for the dinosaur and the Lego buildings.

 

I also agree that the Empire State Building is better during the day - you wn't be able to see much of the City at night, but you can see plenty during the day.

 

Stop at Rockefeller Center too - they also have an observation deck at the top of Rock Plaza.

[Budget Queen]

I also agree that the Empire State Building is better during the day - you wn't be able to see much of the City at night, but you can see plenty during the day.

 

Stop at Rockefeller Center too - they also have an observation deck at the top of Rock Plaza.

 

I disagree- Empire State Building is fantastic at night with EXCELLENT viewing. I often go after 10 pm for the short lines. Even in August, you can easily run into a 2 hour wait in line during the day. BE sure not to get into the ticket line, since you have already purchased them. Superior during the day is ROC, since the tickets are timed and this is a poorer viewing option at night, since the north views are dark Central Park.

[Miss Jolly]

With us being short on time, do you all still recommend that we do both Empire State Building (which we already have tickets for) plus the rock?

Jennie

[reallyitsmema]

Personally, I would do one or the other due to your time constraints and the overall cost of it. We chose not to due the Empire State Building because of all the bad reviews I had read about the overall experience. I really had no desire to be yelled at by the people who work there. We did do Top of the Rock in February during the day. We got $5 off coupons right beside the ticket booth and got timed tickets for right away since there was no wait at that time. The elevator actually has a glass roof and there is kinda a light show us you go up and down. I was kinda neat looking up the elevator shaft as you went up. The views are beautiful, there are 3 different levels to view from, some indoors and most outside. You can sit and relax on padded benches and take your time. The viewing area is surrounded by glass not bars like at the ESB. There are gaps wide enough between the panels to stick a camera lens out and get pictures without the glass reflextion.

 

You really have to decide if you want your Sleepless in Seattle experience or not. You are coming a long way and you don't want to second guess yourself when you get back home. Many that have done the Empire State Building rave about it, I might go up next time we are there but for us, Top of the Rock is good for now.

[Sandyrella]

You are staying just a few short blocks away from Times Square. I would get up fairly early on Sunday morning and buy some tickets on the Gray Line Bus Tour downtown loop. It stops everywhere and you can hop off and hop on. There is never one far behind so if you get off and want to catch the next one, it is just a few minutes wait.

 

Here is the link:

http://www.coachusa.com/newyorksightseeing/

 

An example of where they go:

 

Madison Square Garden

Empire State Building

Macy's

Ground Zero

Wall Street

Soho

Greenwich Village

Chinatown

United Nations

Rockefeller Center

Central Park (lower part)

and much more.....

you can also get off at Battery Park and go to Ellis Island but the Staten Island Ferry is free and goes right by the Statue of Liberty. If you don't need to get off, take the ferry, save some money and time and still get some great pictures. Just make sure you get the schedule of the ferry. We missed one by thismuch and would have had to wait an hour for the next one. We chose not to because we were also on a strict schedule

 

 

I wouldn't do both Empire State Building AND Rockefeller observation decks...kind of redundant.

 

Have a great trip!