I'm heading to NYC for the very first time & I'm alot apprehensive. I've never been in a cab or been to a large city. Does it take long to get around? I'm interested in going to Chinatown for shopping is walking a possibility? I'll be staying near Times Square is the city safe? Sorry for such silly questions I'm just not sure what to do.

The city can be safe. It takes common sense and planning.
A. Get a good city map which includes the mtro systems.
B. Travel about during the daylight hours.
C. NYC taxis are remarkably reliable. Act like you know your way around. Have lots of dollar bills and five dollar bills on you. If the fare comes to say $6.25, give him $8or $9. To catch a cab, notice the direction you need to go and wave one down on that side of the street or get to the street that goes the direction that you need to. In other words, Fifth Ave is a south bound street so if you need to go north, get over to Sixth. The same would be true of the cross streets which alternate east and west.
D) As the time of day starts to get late, get back to the area of your hotel. Eat dinner near the hotel and retire to plan another day.
E) The NYC police have, in my experience, been very helpful. They are trained to be helpful in providing directions to tourists. Take advantage of it. There are many of them. Ask for help when you need it.
F) Try to study your map and determine your route of travel before you begin.
G) If you must ask a stranger for help, ask someone who is well dressed and in a hurry not a person who is standing around doing nothing.
H) Do not respond to people who approach you for money or anything else. If someone asks you for directions explain that you don't know and keep on walking.
I) The bus system is good for short distances but a cab is quicker and less confusing.
J) I think it is a good idea to keep your daily need cash separately in your pocket or purse so that you don't have to go digging through you wallet for cab fare or entrance fees. Keep you wallet tucked away.
Enjoy NY. It has a lot to offer.

I am life time NY'er and life in the East Village. No one can assure another's safety but statistically NYC is the safest large city in America.

Our neighborhood, for instance, has more people on the street from Thursday night to Sunday morming than any other time besides rush hour.

At night when in doubt walk along the north/south avenues and avoid side streets.If you need to walk across town use 14, 23, 34, 42, 57 Streets. They are well lit and except at the extreme ends of the island usually have people.

There are few cab drivers who were born in NYC, so be sure they understand where you want to go.

I would avoid parks after dark.

Subways during the day in Manhattan always have people in the cars and on the platforms. And the undercover cops on the trains are the best in the world. NY'ers have trouble spotting them. At night the stations around Wall Street can be quiet, but the express stops in the areas you want to visit will always people.

Times Square at night is crowded so often the streets are hard to walk.

Chinatown from Times Square is about a one hour 15 minute walk.

If you see what might be a dangerous situation walk in the street

There is no answer to the question does it take long to get around. It depends on where to where, the weather, and the time of day. If the President is in town, Christamas week, and Sundays from May to September when there is a parade or street fair take the train or walk.

New York is the safest large city in the country. But it is a large city. (The poplulation, including illegal immigrants is about 9 million - the metropolitan area is about 20 million people.)

Tourist sights are mostly in Manhattan - or islands in the harbor. Major sights are spread out over an area about 8 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide.

I suggest you get a good map - street and subway - and familiarize yourself with the area you'll be staying. And getting a hotel is your first task since reasonable ones go quickly. If you don;t have a hotel yet - get one now.

The best means of travel is feet (for shorter distances) and subway (for longer ones). Subways are safe, fast and convenient. You shouldn;t hesitate to take one at any hour.

Cabs can be good for getting to/fro the airport -depending on your budget and how much luggage you have. In the city they are often much slower than the subway - due to traffic - and the meter can really run up - since you pay for distance plus waiting time. If you take a cab the driver expects a tip of about 20% of the meter.

Many tourists stay in Times Square. I think this a very bad idea - since it's unlike most of New York - and is incredibly crowded, loud, garish and tacky. You're better off in Midtown East or Central Park South or the Upper West Side - depending on budget and what you want to do.

Walking to Chinatown from most places is a trek - I would probably do subway.

If you've never been to a large city, here are some baisc rules:

If something looks too good to be true it's a scam

The stuff that people sell on the sidewalk is worth what you pay for it - if you're lucky - never more

All of the fakes in Chinatown are - and usually very poor quality

If a stranger approaches you it is not considereed rude to simply ignore them and keep going - don;t get involved in people telling long compicated stories or with problems - just pretend you don;t see them (Yes, they are scammers)

Do NOT play 3 card monte - or any other game in the street

Keep you purse in your hand or on your shoulder at all times - never set it down and NEVER hang it on a chair in a restaurant of cafe

Now - get your maps and a couple of guide books - and figure out what you want to see/enjoy.

RIde the subway in the evening - everyone else does!

Take the subway to ge to places that are a far walk - much cheaper than a taxi and sometimes much faster too (trafic on streets holds up taxis.)

NYC doesn't close up after dark. HA!

Don't stay in Times Square. (Just an opinion - it's too damn crowded and prices too high for food. The ultimate tourist area.)

You will be fine. Follow what others say - it';s common sense for any city at night.

Just curious, why "shopping in Chinatown"? I don't think of NYC shopping being in Chinatown. There are SO many better places.

Don't know how long you're going to be in NYC for or if this still exists, but when we were there a few years ago we bought these subway passes that gave you unlimited rides for a week. Can't remember how much they were, but used them a LOT so it was a great deal. Only used cabs to get to and from the airport.

And as someone who was a tourist there I felt very safe. Like everyone else says just don't do anything you wouldn't do at home.

Where are the better places to shop in NYC? Going at Christmas and have been to Chinatown too many times.

Plenty of great shopping :

* 5th Avenue--from about 48th street going North.

* Macys 34th st between 6th and 7th aves

* Bloomindale 59th st and 3d ave

* Madison ave from 57th st north

* 57th st from 3d ave to 7th ave

These are only a few areas to shop.

Excellent advice from all - I too would recommend against staying in the Times Square area. I'm not sure why so many tourists do that, but it seems to me a particuarly bad idea for someone who's new to the big city.

A lot of the safety advice here can be summarized by the rule of thumb that if there are a lot of people around, you're safer than if you're in a deserted place. This also applies to subway trains. If you're traveling at night, and you're the only person on the train, that's not so good. If the train is mobbed, then you're in good shape, even if it is late at night. But I might suggest that a first-time visitor might have a more enjoyable time walking and taking buses and cabs, even though the train is usually the way to move long distances quickly.

Good shopping Broadway - 6th Spring and Prince and 5th Ave/Broadway from 23rd to 14th.

My husband and I were NY newbies, too. We just returned from a week-long vacation last night.

We were very wary prior to going, even tho we live in a large city. But, our worries were unfounded! We had a fabulous time....rode the subway constantly and never had an ounce of trouble.

Buy the $24 weekly pass. Trust me, you will use it!! They have good subway maps at the stations. Chinatown is WAY too far to walk. Just take the subway down there and you can spend hours walking and seeing the sights.

If you want to shop, go to Soho boutiques (if you can spend that kind of money). If you're bargain hunting, to to Century 21 near ground zero for some great bargains on name-brand clothing (and some couture).

Don't get in cabs as the traffic is too bad....they get stuck in it. Just find a good city map and good subway map and you're golden!!

Have a great time and exercise the common sense already stated above!!

Oh, I almost forgot. We stayed at the Algonquin and it was perfect! Perfect Midtown location near the 42nd St/Bryant Park subway and a couple of blocks from Grand Central Terminal. A gorgeous old hotel on a quiet, safe street close to many interesting things and sights!

we usually stay in Times Square area if we are going to the theater- no travel problems coming or going!

I live in NYC area, and I go in all the time. On a recent visit, people I was with were attending something for a few hours. I made a last minute to hope on a Grayline (www.grayline.com). You pay one price and can get on and off all day and just hop on another bus. Great shopping in Soho - walk down Broadway, south of Houston. You can walk down to Canal, make a left and head over to Chinatown or Little Italy from there.

SOHO used to be cool (10 years ago) but now it has lots of chain stotees and high end designers.

Try all the way west in SOHO -almost to 7th Ave. Or go East of BWAY (towards Little Italy). You'll get lots of little local funky shops that way.

There are many young designer/owners of shops between Ave A and 2nd Ave on the side streets of East 9th through 11th. They have original designs and reasonable prices.

There is a geat independent book store on the corner of Broadway and 12th called the Strand.

I wanted to reply to this not because I know any of the answers to your questions, but just to give you hope that it is possible for a person from a small town/city to go to NYC and survive because I did it!

The way you hail a cab is to step to the curb, look for the 'in service' light on the cab, then raise your hand as if you are in a classroom. sounds so simple to someone that is used to hailing cabs, but for someone like me I had no idea that is how you do it!

You will want to get a good map for when you will be walking to places, but if you are not used to walking a LOT you will need to learn the subway system (unless you have a lot of money and can take cabs everywhere). go to hopstop.com and pre-plan places you want to go. for example, I knew that I wanted to get from my hotel to Battery Park to do the ellis island ferry thing, so I used hopstop.com and printed out the directions before I went. it was so nice to be able to have the directions in my hand and not have to ask someone.

Oh and here is a tip that no one told me: every subway stop has 2 entrances, usually on opposite sides of the street, so if you want to go north and you see that the sign on the subway station says south, you want to look across the street for the north bound train.

good luck!

An unlimited-ride MetroCard is a must, and you can have a friendly resident take you around for free if you contact the volunteer organisation Big Apple Greeters. They won't accept any payment -- helping tourists is what these nice folks do for fun!

If you want a New York Greeter you have to organize as far in advance as possible since therre are more requests than therre are greeters. Typically they will spend 2 or 3 hours with their guests, showing them a particular poart of town (agreed upon in advance) as well as how som tings in New York.

These people are volunteers, are not paid and do not accept tips. However, if you stop for a drink or snack it is only polite that you pick up the tab for whatever they eat or drink.

I've been to NYC many times for both personal and business travel. I prefer the bus system to the subway only b/c I like seeing what is around. I saw many stores and restaurants that I later went back to visit and would have missed if I had been on the subway. The bus system is not very confusing. I had a good map and easily found my way all over the city. I even became really good at making transfers. When you get on the bus, ask for a transfer ticket. If I remember correctly, you can make one free transfer going crosswise from the direction you are traveling. In other words, if you are on a bus going north, you can then make a transfer going east or west. The bus system is slower than the subway but it is cheaper than a cab.I liked it but it all depends on your objective... speed, cost, view. Have a great time!