lisas

My boyfriend & I are traveling to New York City May 20-25. I was wondering if $100-$125 dollars a day in spending money is realistic. We don't really care about eating at very posh restaurants & plan on seeing the typical tourists places. We are also staying at the Milford Plaza, which I have been told is very close to Times Square. Does anyone have any close restaurant recommedations? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

GoTravel

If you use a shuttle to and from the airport or public transportation you should be able to make it on that amount. Utilize the subways or buses. Either $4 per day or $17 for the week. Eat at ethnic restaurants or local delis (not Carnegie). Stay out of places that have any name recognition. Take the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. It is free. Central Park is also free. If you want to see a play, go to the TKTS booth but keep in mind, the tickets will still be at least $40 a piece. You can walk the Brooklyn Bridge. The museums have free nights. In other words it can be done but I'm not sure I would want to do it.

Owen_ONeill

The Milford gets mixed reviews but it is in a convenient location for tourists and also close to the abundance of restaurants on 9th Ave in the 40's and 50's (some on 8th also but an abundance on 9th). yes get the Metrocardf and grab a copy of the Village Voice when you arrive - it lists activities and events for the week and has a "cheap or free" listing. As already pointed out, stay out of touristy areas (Times Square as well as many parts of Soho and Tribeca) and away from high rent areas (Midtown east business district) when looking for dining options. Lots of clubs in town with cheap or free music including Arlene Grocery and the Living Room (both on or around Stanton Street on lower East side). Cherap meals on 9th Ave, at many places on lower East side and way cheap in Chinatown. You can definitely do lots on the cheap in NYC and have plenty of fun.

HowardR

You can eat much cheaper if you stay away from the midtown area. Chinatown, Little Italy and Greenwich Village restaurants are much kinder to your pocketbook!

nyer

just one update
Transit fares are scheduled to go up May 1st so adjust your budget accordingly.
One day Fun Passes will be $7, weekly passes $21, single fares $2.00 (but there will be a 6 rides for $10.00 card)

4khansen

We just ordered week long Metro cards to use in August, they should still work despite the price increase? Just wondering? I understand the time starts the first time we use it.

methinks

You can definitely do New York on $100 a day for a couple.

For Breakfast, hit a local deli (watch for people dressed in work clothes going in and out quickly at places that look like green grocers - don't go near a deli that looks like a restaurant.) You won't be able to sit and eat in all these types of places, but you can sit in a nearby park and eat and people watch or one of you can get it and bring it back to the room.

For Lunch - any local chinese restaurant will have lunch specials for under $6 - again look for people dressed for business going in and out. Or just eat from a street vendor.

That should leave you about $50 a day for use at night.

Also, consider jumping off a bus as you pass a supermarket or go to zabar's and buy some food to keep in your room to knosh on. Also, you can do a picnic in the park.

If you want to sit in decent places and eat, then it will cost about $12 for breakfast at a diner or one of the pizza places in midtown. Lunch will be about $20 in local diner type places (I think Manatus on Bleeker is a good place for lunch specials - a diner, but alittle more upscale). You can do dinner for about the same, if you leave the area of your hotel and don't drink alcohol.

My recommendations for cheap eats:
1. Eastern European places in East Village (1 st to 14th st between 2nd Ave and Ave A)
2. Indian Restaurants on 6th street between 1st and 2nd Ave
3. Chinatown
4. Greenwich Village/East Village/West Village has some good hole in the wall places.

sleepycali07

$100-125 a day is realistic if you really think about it. You can enjoy yourself a lot one day for like $50 one day which will mean you'll have more to spend the next day and so on. I dont know what you enjoy but broadway shows dont fit your budget really well but you shoudl atleast see one if you never have. In that case you shoudl go to TKTS in time square which are half price. The museums are like 12 each and happy hour is huge in NYC so if you are going to drink, find a good happy hour. Also, if you get a zagats for $13 you'll find a lot of good restaurants and the really nice one's that have take out places next door. Zagats will basically tell you anything you need to know. also, a lot of the nice restaurants have pre-fixe dinners for pre-threatre. These posts are usually reliable so I recommend them and you can have fun in the city for free, just ask unemployed people in the city who do that for a living. Enjoy what the city has to offer, not all of it costs money.

Newsie

If you walk up Nineth Avenue from the theater district (starting at 42nd Street) to about 55th Street, you'll find lots and lots of inexpensive restaurants and a wide range of cuisine, from Italian to Chinese to Indian. Even one of the best burger joints in the city is there. Most of the restaurants post their menus on their windows so you can check their prices before you go in.

Greenwich Village also has a wide range of restaurants to choose from, some of which are in your price range. It's actually quite easy to eat inexpensively in New York.

Museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and several others are publically owned. Their admission "prices" are actually donations and, if you read the small type, you can actually pay whatever you want to get in at any time. I usually pay one dollar, but that's because my tax dollars already go to fund the museums. All are fine museums.

I'm sure you'll want to "splurge" on certain things, such as the Empire State Building. But by taking public transit and eating modestly you'll be able to afford a fun trip to the NYC.

TKTS is a good suggestion -- especially Tuesdays, when there tend to be more shows posted (Tuesday is an off-night for the theater).

Your Metrocards will be good once the fare goes up. Think of the Metrocard as a debit card for the subway. You'll just get fewer rides than you would have, because each ride will cost more.

nyer

Update on ordering metrocards for use after fares rise in May:

There are notices now appearing on Metrocard vending machines that clarify some things.

Unlimited cards, including one day funpass, one week, and 30 day cards will have "grace periods" during which they will still be honored for the time period indicated, but I don't think any of them will be valid past late May or June. In other words, if you buy a one day pass for $4 now, it will NOT be valid as an unlimited card in August. I don't know whether you will have to get a refund or whether it will just be used as a $4.00 card which would then get you just 2 rides (at $2.00 per ride , the new fare)

The shorter the time period of the card, the shorter the "grace period" (e.g. one day cards will be honored for a week or so after the fare increase, but one month cards will be valid till June) Don't remember the exact dates, but the messages on the machines were very clear--you can't stock up on unlimited ride cards now for use later.

If you're buying a regular "pay-per-ride" card, they will of course be valid for the dollar amount you put on it--you'll just get fewer rides for the same amount. Don't know how they're handling the card values for cards over $15.00 (which now give you a 10% bonus--$15 gives you $16.50) when that program is discontinued.
The new bonus plan will be 6 rides for $10 (vs. $12 at the new regular rate)