Hi there,
I will be traveling to NYC the week of Nov 12-17 on business. I have a class on Water Street in the Financial District Wed, Thur, and Friday, arriving at La Guardia on Tues at 4:30 pm. Am bringing my husband with me and he will be exploring the city during the day while I am in class (lucky guy!). We are staying at the Regent Wall Street Tues-Fri evening, as it is convenient to class and seems like a nice hotel. I am thinking about moving to a mid-town(?) hotel on Saturday so we can do the "tourist thing" over the weekend, (we are flying out Sunday evening) and the Regent seems like it's too far from the things I want to do on the weekend - which is mostly to see Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am looking at moving to one of these hotels: Crowne Plaza Times Square, Mariott Marquis or The Roosevelt. Can you tell me if these hotels would be convenient to Central Park, The Met and restaurants or bars? Can you recommend any over the others? The Mariott Marquis looks really nice, but is pretty spendy. Also, my husband would like to take a tour of Yankee Stadium, but I haven't been able to find any information on doing that. Any help?
Also, can you tell me about any cool pubs or bars in the Water/Wall street area? During the week while we are in the financial district, we would like to accomplish the following during the evenings after class:
1.) See the Statue of Liberty - is it true that I should just take the Staten Island Ferry and how do I do that?
2.) Walk accross the Brooklyn Bridge and have dinner and ice cream (Ice Cream Factory)? on the Promanade - any hints?
3.) See the Empire State Building - do I have to take a cab or subway or can I walk from Wall Street - any hints?
I would like to get those things out of the way and then concentrate on Central Park and the Met on the weekend. I have also heard the Frick Museum is pretty cool - any thoughts on that? Also - any fun places you can recommend on Saturday night for clubs/live music type place that will be near the hotels I mentioned. Not really interested in the broadway show deal - just some nice jazz club would be cool!
Okay sorry for the long message, but I have been cruising this site for about a week and you guys always say - BE SPECIFIC - and - TELL US YOUR INTERESTS! ha ha
Okay - my husband and I are both late-30's, in good physical condition and don't mind walking. We like history -esp. American history, art -esp. modern American art and live music -esp. jazz and rock. And one last question - where can we get NYPD or NYFD souveniers (hats, shirts), and of course I'm going to have to get one of the obligatory I (heart) New York t-shirts!!! ha ha
Please be kind - I'm just a Bumpkin from Boise!
p.s. Along the Bumpkin line - I was told that I should have "mug money" on hand while in NYC. Is that true and if so - how much do you carry?
Thanks!

To build on your question, does anyone have familiarity with NYC hotels available through Priceline or other discount agencies? What is a target price for any suggestions offered. We would be staying 2-3 nights over Thanksgiving weekend. I would think discounts should be available.Thanks.

Hey Jak from Boise, I'm originally from Spokane, so I've got the country mouse/city mouse thing down. I've been in NYC for over 4 years now, so maybe I can be of some help. My mom stayed at the Roosevelt this spring, and I was pretty impressed. Good location, close enough to Times Square but not in it. All of the hotels you named are in a very convenient area. I do think the Regent will put you too far away from the action. A friend used to live in the area and always felt lonely and forgotten.

John St. Bar is pretty cool. They used to have $2 Tuesdays, not sure if they still do. Check out newyork.citysearch.com or newyorkmetro.com for bar info. Smalls, a jazz club on West 10th, isn't close to the hotels, but it is very good.

To catch the Staten Island ferry, take the 1,9,4,5,N, or R trains to their last stop in Manhattan. For the ESB take the 1/9 or 2/3 up to 34th St. My only hint for walking across the bridge is to bundle up. It gets really windy.

And mug money? Never heard of it, never done it. I generally take cabs if it's much after midnight, I don't wear a backpack and I don't use bags without zippers or latch closures. I only know one person who has been mugged, and they got it because they were being stupid. Just pay attention and you will be fine.

If you have more questions, you can e-mail me by replacing the xxx with jd409. Have a great trip.

Suzanne,Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest in NYC--don't count on "discounts". In fact, availability will be scarce at some locations. Look at Biddingfortravel.com for lots of details of what hotels people have gotten and what they've paid. Make sure to read the hotel FAQs really carefully before you bid!

Jak,The Regent is one of the high end NY hotels--I hope you're traveling on someone else's dime!

In no particular order:

The Empire State Building is about 2-3 miles from Wall street area. Easy to take a subway up there, but the area of the Regent is kind of dead at night so you may want to take a cab back.

If you want to go see the Statue of Liberty in the evening, you would have to see it from the S.I. ferry since the ferries to the statue stop at 4 or 5 pm. Besides, you can't go into the statue anyway, so save the bucks and take the free romantic ferry ride instead one evening.

Half of Wall street seems to converge on the restaurants and bars at South Street Seaport after work (as opposed to weekends when it's strictly touristy)--follow the crowds...

Look on the Yankees website www.yankees.com for tour info. Only available on non-game days, I think.

Don't need "mugger money" these days--just be normally cautious and don't flash cash, jewelry, don't leave purse dangling from chair in restaurant, etc (but it goes without saying that the "rule" anywhere in the world is if someone's threatening you with a weapon, give him all the money, jewelry, etc, right????).

If you can fit it into the schedule, Go to the Met on Friday or Saturday evening (open till 8:45 or so) for a more realxed atmospher, drinks and music in the balcony over the Great Hall or in one of the indoor gardens .

Souvenir t-shirts are cheapest on Canal street--includes the I love NY (don't pay more that $3 each). If you wany NYPD and FDNY, you have to decide if you want to go the counterfeit/cheap (but not $3) Canal street route or buy the officially licensed ones direct from city agencies.

The idea of staying in a midtown hotel seems sensible. Wall Street is dead on the weekend, and you'll be sick of the are by Friday night anyway.

You might want to look at Priceline for hotels for the two nights

Jack,

So that you are not disappointed, be aware that The Regent is one of the best hotels in the City and far surpasses all the hotels you did mention. That being said, if you don't mind moving down in hotel quality, going to midtown would be fun.

Jak,
The Brooklyn Ice Cream factory is a the end of Old Fulton Street on the pier, NOT on the Promenade. I highly recommend the strawberry!!

PS walking down Old Fulton, you will also see Grimaldi's pizza, the BEST pizza in NYC! Stop by for lunch if you can (there are long waits at dinnertime). You can even order a pizza inside the restaurant and bring it down to the pier and have a little picnic - I do it all the time.

Hi there,
You guys are awesome! Thanks for all the great tips. Just to follow-up a little:

Hi Jess! - Thanks for the info. from one Westerner to another! ha ha Do you miss Spokane? Pretty city for sure. Can I ask you where (general area) the John St. Bar is (probably on John Street - but where is that from the Regent?). Also, thanks for the info on the web sites. I will definitely check them out. Smalls on West 10th sounds really cool. What's the area like? Could I get a cab or take the subway there? It would probably be from The Roosevelt hotel, because I think that's where we will move to on the weekend.

Hi Janie - Yes, I will staying at the Regent courtesy of my employer and I know it will be much nicer than any hotel I will move to on my own dime! ha ha My company is putting me up at the Regent through Friday night, and then I want to move, both to save a little $$, and also because I think I will be too far South for some of the things I want to see/do over the weekend. Question: Can I walk to ESB from the Regent - or would that be too far? If too far, I will figure out subways/cabs per your advise. Probably wouldn't want to walk back to the Regent either way. Also, how do I get to the Staten Island Ferry from the Regent? Can I catch that at Battery Park? I am going to take your advise and just do the SF cruise instead of actually going out to Liberty Island. Also, where is the Southstreet Seaport from the Regent? Thanks for the tips on the yankee stadium tour for my husband and I think the tip on visiting the Met is right on the mark for me. I was planning on going Saturday afternoon - but think I will change that to Saturday evening now. Also - can you tell me how to get to Canal Street (generally, what area is it in?) Thanks so much for all your good info.

Hi Suzanne - Thanks for the correction on the location of the Brooklyn Ice Cream factory. Question - can I walk to the Brooklyn Bridge from the Regent and, once I get across the bridge, is it pretty easy to find Fulton Street and the Promenade? I am an Ice Cream fanatic and I will definitely try the strawberry, and the chocolate, and the vanilla and the ........ha ha!

Okay all you helpful New Yorkers - one last question for now - What do you guys think about the Frick Museum? Worth visiting and what area is it in?

Thanks again for your time and I can't wait to visit New York. I hope everyone there is as nice as you guys are.
JAK

Glad you found my info helpful so far.

The Frick is a few blocks south of the Met, on 5th avenue at 70th street.
It's very different from the Met in that
is often referred to as a 'jewel'--small and precious. I would say look at their website (www.frick.org) and see if you're interested in the collections they have--it's much more focused (and limited) than a place like the Met which has something from virtually every time period. I'm more of a modern art fan, so I frequent other museums more, but if the collections interest you, the Frick is in a lovely mansion.

There are other small museums in the area that you might want to consider as a second stop--

The Neue Galerie at 5th and 86th is also in a restored mansion and focuses on the German and Austrian art (e.g. Klimt) collection of Ronald Lauder. The museum also has a viennese cafe with sandwiches, and, I'm told, desserts to die for...

The Cooper Hewitt on 5th and 90th (91st?) focuses on decorative arts rather than fine arts. I always find this place fun. Usually some great exhibit on graphic design, jewelry, furniture and housewares, etc. Take a look at their exhibition schedules too.
ALso in a beautifully restored old mansion with grand mahogany staircase, a little mini plant conservatory between two of the small gallery rooms, and a great garden out back (but probably closed off in November)

There are even more, but you get the idea!

I think the walk to the Empire State Building from the Regent, especially in the evening, would be not particularly exciting and a bit long (it's at 34th street near 5th avenue and the Regent is at Wall street, right? Wall street is about 20 blocks (one mile) south of Houston St (which is like 1st street--confusing, until you look at a map). 34th street is another mile and a half north so you're talking about 2 and a half miles total)
Just pick up the subway (2 or 3 line--Wall street stop--stops a block or two away , I think) and zip up to 34th street. The ride itself is only about 10 minutes and it will leave you right near Macy's, about 2 blocks away from the ESB. I thnk the time is better spent walking in other neighborhoods, rather than to or from Regent/ESB.


http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=437
This map, from the NYC vistor's website, gives a rough idea of lower Manhattan streets. In this oldest part of town, our nice street grids get all
jumbled , and you often end up going diagonally to get places quickly. Take a look at any good Manhattan street map and you'll see that South Street Seaport is about a 5-10 minute walk from Wall Street (going north-east)

Staten Island Ferry Terminal is on the very southern tip of Manhattan on the west side (left side of most maps). The subway station there that had been closed for a year is now open again so there is easy access if you're coming from the west side or Midtown--from the Regent, just walk (about 10 minutes). The ferry runs 24 hours/day, about every 15 minutes at peak hours, only about once an hour during "the wee hours".

If you look on the same map I linked to above, you'll see Canal street as a big horizontal/diagonal line across the top third. For shopping, you'll want to be in the area marked Chinatown, especially around Mott street and 3 blocks or so in either direction (and the smaller side streets too)

Have a great time in NY--can you tell we New Yorkers LOVE to talk about and give advice about our city ?

ttt

Jak, we will be staying at the Roosevelt in late Oct-we'll let you know how it is. All reports on this website and Travelocity were favorable, especially the location. Got a rate of $126 thru Expedia because we are staying 4 nights.