first visit to new york city
 

We arrive Friday tea time and leave Monday teatime. Does this schedule sound possible?

Friday evening Arrive at The Alex East 45th Street at about 6p.m. Visit Grand Central Station.
Saturday Go on bus tour of city which lasts about 3hours, go to 86th floor of Empire State Building in the afternoon, See Mamma Mia show at 8 p.m. and eat afterwards.
Sunday morning mass at St. Patricks Cathedral then take Staten Island Ferry to see Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. Walk to Brooklyn Bridge and Ground Zero site.
Monday Walk to Central Park.

Saturday is fine. Sunday may be pushing it - you may need to drop one thing. I'd skip the bridge (You'll see it on your city tour) . Cab to ground zero and walk back afterwards.... it's a healthy walk , remember those who ran on the same street escaping the carnage.

The ferry to Staten Island goes BY Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, but does not stop. It is a commuter ferry to the borough (towns/island) of Staten Island.

Since you are here for only the weekend, I'd skip the Empire State Building (the lines are usually VERY long).

You might want to spend a few hours at the Met Museum instead, since it really is the jewel of New York.

You might take the subway downtown and get off at City Hall so you can see some of the sites including the WTC rebuilding. Stop at St. Paul's Chapel for some of the pictures and memorial to 9/11. The WTC is right behind St. Paul's. From there walk down Broadway and see Trinity Church, Wall St and Battery Park.

Have a lovely time while you are here.

My family and I took the Ellis Island ferry to the Immigration Museum. We did enjoy the museum and would recommend it. We had lovely views of the SOL from the ferry but did not stop there. We were in line for the ferry for about an hour, and the whole trip took us about four or even five hours, as I recall.

Check out Top of the Rock for spectacular cityscape views. http://www.topoftherocknyc.com/ That might be an alternative equal to ESB that would take a lot less time.

NYC has so many great museums. I also recommend the Metropolitan Museum as it is such a really wonderful museum. It is my favorite place to visit in NYC.

Brooklyn Bridge is very cool to walk across, seeing the structural details and views, rather than just viewing it from afar, but since you have limited time, you will have to choose what appeals to you in the end.

First - do not do the ESB - the lines are awful. Instead, buy advance times tickets to the Top of the Rock. (And I like the views better.)

The Staten Island ferry goes only to Stanted Island (another boroug of NYC that is primarily resiential. t gos across the harbor so you can see Liberty and Ellis Island from a distance.

The only way to see Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is to get advance (as early in the day as possible) tickets for that specific ferry. there will still be along security line (lie airline security) and another line to get inside on Liberty Island, then you take the ferry on to Ellis Island. to do both sights you need to figure at least 6 hours - including ferries to and fro.

Not sure what you mean by tea time - but if you have to go through immigration at JFK or EWR - it will probably be around 3 hours from wheels down to arrival at your hotel (including getting a gate, immigration lines, waiting for checked luggage, customs and then travel into the City.

You don;t say when you're coming. Central Park may be beautiful - or in the winter very dreary. You should pick out what you want to see in advance (Central Park Conservancy web site) since it is enormous.

Also, agree it is a pity to come to NYC and not see at least a little bit of the Met.