WOW!~ It was an amazing trip! We followed all our trip hints from the fodorites who responded and helped us plan our trip.
The sights and sounds of NYC amazed me and will be in my memory as long as my memory works! The tall buildings, the crowds, honking horns, foreign languages, accents, music, dancing songs and more crowds. Smiles, hurting feet, dirty subways, great food, money money money, homeless people on streets, families enjoying the history and the sadness of NYC, the flavors and happiness of the Big Apple! Not disappointed at all!
We started our day off in Detroit at 730 am and were in our hotel at the Affinia Dumont by 10am! The taxi was 30.00 from LaGuardia and very quick. Got checked in early as we had requested. Great hotel...7 rooms on each floor....lots of tall elevator rides!
Perfect staff!
Took a taxi ride to Pier 83 to take The Beast out in the Hudson River....lots of entertainment and 40 minute ride under Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the skyline of Manhattan. well worth the 22 bucks for a fun ride!
Took a Taxi back towards our hotel and walked around 5th ave, Macys (wow!) and back to hotel. The hotel had a nice market next to it where we could purchase whatever we needed in terms of soda (yes they do have diet dew!) and snacks etc. Murrays Market I believe it was called. We took the taxi again to eat ( steak house where steaks were 45 dollars or more a la cart! ...not good move on our part) We went to Mama Mia at the Winter Garden theater and enjoyed it very much! Took a walk in Times Square and experienced the crowds...the crowds...the crowds! Walked the long way back to hotel....homeless people lying smack in the middle of the streets..often wondered if they were alive ( kept things in perspective!)
Sat am took a taxi at 715 to Battery Park and arrived by 730. Very few people there!
Stood in line for the 8 am security check( we bought tickets ahead of time as advised...and thankful we did as when we got back at 11 or so the lines were wrapped around the park) Boat was crowded and had we known, we would have stood at sides to see the arrival to Statue of Liberty. We did not get off there but continued to Ellis Island. Not many people were there either so we had the building to ourselves and enjoyed a leisurely break by the waterfront cafe. Perfect weather and great views.
Since we did not want to miss anything we returned on the boat, journeyed down to Ground zero ( follow the orange cranes) and paid tribute to those who died. How tragic.
The taxis were just waiting for us to take us to Brooklyn to Grimaldis..worst taxi driver ever...not sure he had driven a car before.....got in line at Grimaldi's at 1135 for their 12 oclock opening ( mere coincidence) and were in the restaurant by 1205. The calzones were a bit of a surprise ( can you say scrambled eggs) and were not enjoyed by all....I guess they were good cold later that night after being hauled thru Brooklyn and China Town and on subway!
Taxi to China town! WoW!!1 This is where all the people were! If you want off market "jewelry" or "gucci" or "chanel" bags, there is no short supply of small people appearing at your side out of nowhere to "sell you some lady?" AFter kindly rejecting their offers the first three times, my response became "NO!"
Leaving Chinatown by way of subway back to our hotel......oh there were people on the subway too! Guess it paid to travel early in the day!
Back to hotel for rest, shower and plan for dinner. We had planned for everything but where we were go ing to eat and that was a mistake as we walked randomly and did not have good experiences with meals. The Barking Dog next to our hotel was one of the best and we discounted it cuz it was right there.....breakfast was 7 dollars!
Went to TOTR at 7 or so and watched the sunset partially then walked around Rockefeller Plaza, waited for a waitress at the cafe and decided to walk to The Burger JOint in the Meridian Plaza....great burgers and fries, passed homeless on church steps with their boxes ready to sleep ( brother wondered where they were going) ...no place to sit at Burger JOing but the lobby benches ( and dont try and sit in the real seats as the guy will tell youto move). Walked/taxied back to hotel for a welldeserved sleep ...and cold pizza for some!)
Woke Sunday at our leisure (which was 730 haha) Took subway to Grand Central and toured that prior to finishing the subway to 77th st to go to Central Park and rent bikes. Biked around Central Park for an hour at 9.00 each. Very nice enjoyable time....good temp, oh there are hills in nYC for those of you who didnt know....biking was challenging to us older folk at times.... but well worth it!
Walked around CP enjoying the street entertainment, up toward 59th st where the vendors and horses and such are waiting for your money. Street rappers and dancers were entertaining. Meandered toward E 34thst and back to hotel ( hot dogs at street carts for lunch were excellent).
WE went to THE VIEW for the appetizer buffet at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square area... This lounge opens at 530 on Sunday at the elevator on some random floor where we happened again to line up early. ATe their delicious if not expensive buffet ( and one drink minimum) prior to racing off in a cab to see the Altar Boyz! Highlight of my trip! Off Broadway..... it was excellent! Entertaining, funny, good dancing and a message to boot! My niece and I laughed for the whole 90 minutes. I would go back just to see this again!
Once again after this we found our way in Times Square on the night they decided to pilot a new traffic program! Taxis busses taxis busses cars confused and congested
everywhere! Not sure it is going to make those people happy!
The lights are exciting for about 5-10 minutes though I can see how one can get caught up in it!
Monday am we ate Breakfast at the Barking Dog ( yes your pet can accompany you I believe) outside and relaxed , then a quick trip to Macys and that area for last minutes souveniers before a reckless taxi ride to LaGuardia! Trip done!
Again, the perfect trip,planned but flexible, we saw lots of NYC but not nearly enough!
Guess we will have to go back.....and see the Altar Boyz again while we are there!
Thank you NYC! I

Sounds like you had a great weekend, you lucked out with the weather too, it was perfect for NY this time of year!

Nice report.

Glad it went well. Going to add Altar Boyz to our list.

I'm glad you got in at least 1 subway ride on your trip. Next time, save the taxi money for nice meals that you plan in advance. Glad to see you had a GREAT time.

NOOOO we got in lots of subway rides uptown and downtown but the taxis were actually cheaper for the short rides when we took into account all four of us on the subway. It was much quicker for the areas we were going to at the time. Subway was cheaper for Battery Park and China town..it was running slower than normal maybe cuz of the holiday or weekend. Anyhow...the cab drivers were "entertaining".

""homeless people on streets"" don't be so sure they are homeless.

Great trip report!

I'm also surprised at your mention of "homeless people". I live near Seattle, and I would say both that city and Portland,Oregon have far more serious problems with vagrants than does NYC. In fact, last time I was in NYC (two years ago) I don't recall seeing a single panhandler.

These men were sitting on a church step waiting with new boxes folded next to them at about 10:30 pm near 59th and 5th ave. There was one man sprawled on the sidewalk around the corner from them with his box covering his body and another man a ways down with a box under his head as he was sprawled out on his back ( i did wonder if he was alive but figured the box for the pillow was indication that he was ok)No pandhandlers and no one asking for anything except a couple encounters on subway from chinatown uptown. I have seen far more on MIll street in Phoenix!

Church steps are a place where lots of homeless sleep. The police won't make them move away from those spots. In warmer weather you will see more homeless sleeping on the streets. In the winter - more on the subways (it's warmer).

As native New Yorker, I'm glad you had such a good time. There's much much more to see. Hope you can come back another time or 2 or 3.

I would like to add some thoughts to my trip report as I think it would be helpful to first time travelers to NYC to hear this from a new comers experience.
Things I did correctly in planning our trip:
1) wrote for advice on this website...it was sooo helpful and precise info!
2) I made a notebook with notecards ( yes Im a teacher) for each activity we wanted to visit with address phone number and map location on it. This came in extremely helpful when we needed a cab or subway direction!
3) planned for each day with time for "whatever might happen time"It was nice to enjoy a soda at the cafe etc without worrying where we had to be all the time.
4) had a visual of the lay out of NYC as it is very easy to navigate if one has studied the areas!
5) planned casual dress.....it is accepted everywhere....or can dress up if one wants to do that!
6) stayed in area outside of Times square...the Murray HIll area was very close and easy to get to places from like subways and walking. ( personally the cabs were convenient)
7) as we were two families we had a travel (kitty) that one person kept track of in their pocket to pay for group incidentals..kept track of funds better and not worrying who paid for what all the time
8) PLAN IMPORTANT THINGS EARLY IN THE DAY SO YOU DONT SPEND THE DAY WAITING IN LINE FOR HOURS!! SOL AND EI WERE ESPECIALLY GLAD WE DID THIS FOR THESE SIGHTS! AND GLAD WE PASSED BY SOL AND WENT RIGHT TO EI.

Things I would do differently!
1) not do all the touristy stuff again
2) Plan for restaurants in each area with pre printed menus etc so one has an idea of where you can eat when you are in an area...we got done with Chinatown and Brooklyn Bridge area way earlier than we thought so it left us with a good part of an even ing and time to eat with no plans....worked out fine but again it would be nice to have planned a little more for that.
3)bring better walking shoes!
4) try to use the subway more but we really did enjoy seeing NYC out of the cab windows and it was quicker much of the time for our shorter distances. Met some awesome taxi drivers with great stories to tell!
5)get into some of the neighborhoods and try a deli (can you believe we did not even go in one!)

and most of all....remember the sights and sounds of NYC....

I left our window open partially one night and just listened.
The thing I noticed most when I returned to Michigan?
The vast skyline and no tall buildings...and feeling like I was in an elevator for the first 24 hours I was home! up down up down!Loved it there! Love it here! Guess that's why we call it traveling!

Oh just one more thing I would do more of....shows!

sunshinegirl, where did you find good prices for altar boyz? Thanks!