Manhattan in February
 

Any suggestions on what is best to do in Manhattan during February, What to expect as to weather, public transit, etc. Will be staying in Midtown Feb 8,9,10, just a getaway weekend. Thanks

Bring a winter jacket, hat & gloves. It gets pretty cold and windy in Manhattan in February.

I highly suggest taking the subway everywhere you want to go. It's very easy and goes everywhere.

Also, you might want to bring comfortable sneakers (and maybe snow boots) b/c you'll do a lot of walking.

Brrr! No maybe on the snow boots. It might not snow, but the odds are good that some truly vile form of precipitation will make its presence known, and boots will keep your feet warm even if it's dry. Normal highs are around freezing or a little better, but it could easily be ten or fifteen degrees either way, and if the weather decides to be really schizo it could be 3F (or 53F). The subway never shuts down for weather issues (or almost never, anyway), and it takes a lot to keep busses and taxis off the street (although it can hard to get a taxi when the weather is bad, due to demand). That said, it's a vibrant time of year to visit the city, and tends to be cheaper than most of the year. Have a great time!

Bring waterproofed and non-skid booties, a sturdy umbrella and gloves, scarf and hat as well as a warm coat.

Everything is running in Feb (and storms don't stop Manhattan - even blizzards - since subways and utilities are all underground).

And - given the odd weather we've been having lately - you may even get some good days for looking at Central Park.

I always tell people the worst months to visit NY are January/February and July/August.

Plan a lot of indoor activities. It is usually very cold especially at the begining of the month.

Bundle up! I was cold there in November!

I can't tell from your previous posts whether you have been to NYC before (seems there was a tripped planned last month, did that occur?) Here are some of my favourite things to do:

1. Visit any museum. I tend to avoid the hulking giant of the Met because I just get tired and it is so crowded and I don't like lugging my coat around for that long (yes you can check a coat but I am not so trusting). I like a smaller museum where I can see something in about 1-2 hours and not be exhausted from wandering long hallways, map in hand. Some of my favourite smaller museums are below. Check websites, many are closed on Mondays.

The Frick
1 E. 70th St.
btw Madison & 5th Ave
New York, NY 10021-4967
Phone: (212) 288-0700
Fax: (212) 628-4417
Website www.frick.org

My very favourite museum. It is in the former mansion of Mr. Frick which is beautiful in itself besides housing his extensive collection. He has one or two examples which are simply the best of each genre. I can imagine all of Edith Wharton's character's living in his house.

The Morgan Library
29 E 36th Street
New York, NY 10016
(212) 685-0610
www.morganlibrary.org
Another museum housed in an old "robber baron" mansion, this time old Morgan's library. There is a small changing exhibit here, usually easy to see in an hour. This is very nice located in mid-town. Nice gift shop too.

Whitney Museum
945 Madison Ave.
(at 75th Street)
New York, New York 10021
(212) 570-3676
Website www.whitney.org

A bit larger than the other two, lots of modern art. The Whitney also has an offshoot in the Philip Morris building at 120 Park Ave. (@ 42nd St.) where they have smaller special exhibits which you can see in an hour or less. They also have lunch time tours which might be a nice option.

Lower East Side
Tenement Museum 90 Orchard St.
New York, NY 10002
(212) 431-0233
www.tenement.org

The Tenement Museum is a very interesting museum offering a guided tour of a tenement house "restored" to its early 19th century condition. You can reserve tickets for a tour which is great, on fall and summer weekends you absolutely need them, for Feb you may be OK but if you know you want to go you should try to book). If it is not too cold, consider the walking tour they offer as well.
The lower east side abuts China Town, Little Italy, Soho, etc and is good for exploring, shopping and restaurants.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Two E 91st St. (on 5th Ave)
(212) 849-8400
Website http://www.si.edu/ndm/

This is uptown off Fifth Ave and not far from the Frick. It is a small museum the has unusual rather advent garde exhibits. You can usually see the entire exhibit in about an hour.

The Guggenheim
1071 Fifth Avenue
at 89th Street
(212) 423-3500
Website at www.guggenheim.org

A larger museum, again more modern art and more popular with tourists and bound to be more crowded on weekends. Check to see if special exhibits are running, if so you can usually buy timed entrance tickets which will help a lot.

Forbes Museum
Fifth Ave at 12th Street
212-206-5548
This is very small and has some great collections, including Faberge eggs and a toy collection. They are open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.. Admission is free. I could not find a website.

As for the giants like the Natural History Museum, the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum, etc on weekends in winter they may be a bit problematic as they are always crowded on weekends and then doubly so in the winter when there are few outdoor activities for kids. I don’t believe you can reserve tickets in advance for the Natural History or other museums, but check the websites. You can reserve tickets for the shows at the Hayden Planetarium (which is part of the Natural History Museum), which are very good. If you go to a one of the biggies, either get there very early or consider going as late as possible, as people from outside Manhattan begin to depart by 3-4 pm or so (never tried this way, but look at websites to see when the last admission is and maybe try for that.) The website for the American Museum of Natural History is http://www.amnh.org/. Website for the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum is http://www.intrepidmuseum.com/

If you do want to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it s open Friday and Saturdays till 9 pm, which can be a less crowded time to go, take a look at http://www.metmuseum.org/. They also have concerts, some free and some paid, see the website.

2. Walk. All the way up 5th from lower Manhattan is a great one, or as far as your legs and winter weather will allow. IMO if it is not snowing or sleeting and you are dressed for it, NYC is a great waling city, it is flat and laid on mostly on a grid so it is hard to get lost (come to Hong Kong and try it in 90 F heat and 90% humidity and Feb in 40 F on a sunny day looks very good). Wear layers, gloves, hat, and have good warm shoes. Stop frequently for hot drinks (booze helps). You can find books on walking tour, check to see if this Fodor site has reccos. There are also lots of paid walking tours, and two free tours you might consider:

New York Walks, tours by Alfred Pommer. Take a look at http://www.nycwalk.com. Historic old NY downtown walking tour 2-3 hours $100 – 150. I have never taken his walks.

Big Onion Waking Tours at http://www.bigonion.com. They do public and private tours. Public tours are $15 for adults. These are very good.

Gray Line Tours has a "Showbiz Insider" tour which includes a backstage visit to the New Amsterdam Theatre (home of the Lion King) theatre and Radio City Music Hall. May be a bit canned ("get to meet a live actor") but would get you inside at least 2 of the more famous theatres, which have been lovingly restored and maintained. Take a look at http://www.graylinenewyork.com

The Patriot Tour of lower Manahttan a tour of Revoluntary War-era sites, gets good reviews on this board. See http://www.patriottoursnyc.com/

The Downtown Alliance offers a FREE 90-minute guided walking tour, weaving together history, events, architecture and people of Downtown, stops include the U.S. Custom House, Trinity Church, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and other architectural and cultural sites. Every Thursday and Saturday at Noon. Go to www.DowntownNY.com

There is a free tour of Grand Central Terminal (and the tour usually spills out to the surrounding streets/buildings) given by the Grand Central Partnership, go to http://www.grandcentralpartnership.o..._free_tour.asp

3. The Performing Arts/Sports. There is always a TON of performing arts on offer any given night of the week. In winter, ballet, opera and symphony are in full swing, not to mention jazz and rock concerts all over town. Check ticketmaster.com, whatsonwhen.com or similar sources for a comprehensive list, also Lincoln Centre (http://www.lincolncenter.org) and City Center (http://www.citycenter.org) , Carnegie Hall (http://www.carnegiehall.org), Radio City Music Hall (http://www.radiocity.com/) and NY City Opera (http://www.nycopera.com/index.aspx) for starters. I assume you have already dismissed the idea of a Broadway or off-Broadway Play (strike notwithstanding) but take a look at playbill.com to get the full listing of all the possibilities. Chamber conerts at Lincoln Center are a nice way to have a quieter evening. Also try the Met for concerts.

For Dance, there are all sorts of dance performances on offer in NYC beyond Broadway. Check out what is on offer at City Centre (http://www.citycenter.org), Lincoln Centre,, the New York City Ballet (http://www.nycballet.com/nycb/home/), American Ballet Theatre (http://www.abt.org/), The Brooklyn Academy of Music (http://www.bam.org/), the Dance Theatre of Harlem (http://www.dancetheatreofharlem.com/) and the Alvin Alley Dance Theatre (http://www.alvinailey.org/ ) in terms of dance performances.

For sports, the NY Knicks have a home game against San Antonio on Feb 8. See http://www.thegarden.com/. This may be something you would enjoy. Most other sporting events will take place in NJ at venues there, if you are interested look at ticketmaster.com. By public transport it's not hard to get to Newark or the Meadowlands for hockey, etc.

5. Boat. Actually in winter, if you are INSIDE the boat and you get a clear day, a trip around Manhattan or up the Hudson would be quite pretty. Take a look at http://www.circleline.com and www.nywaterway.com for info

6. Eat. See previous posts of mine and others on this subject. Get the Zagats guide. See this site's reccos. See Frommer's reccos.

Cicerone-what a generous use of your time and knowledge.

I just spent the weekend of Sept 20 -22 in NYC with my family celebrating my Dad's 80th and we did walks, a few museums, hired a boat, etc. I had prepared this list when planning that party and it is very useful for things like this.

Cicerone has given you a great list of things to do.
I just checked the dates for Chinese New Year 2008 and it starts Feb 7th this year, so you might want to go to Chinatown to see some of that celebration. I second the suggestion of the Lower East Side Tenement museum which is close to Chinatown.

Cicerone, nice info & list! I'm sure this will be a nice resource for a lot of people visitng NYC.

Great post Cicerone.

Hi

For weather check out http://www.weatherbase.com :d

I went to NYC a couple of years back and here is my trip report with pictures http://gardkarlsen.com/new_york_city_trip_report.htm

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures