Bwino

Hae booked for the Radio City Christmas show and for Straight No Chaser. Looking to go to an ice hockey game as well. Flights are booked and waiting to be confirmed. Just still working on accommodation. Very excited!

paula1470

BWino-10th Avenue used to be pretty bleak but in the last few years it has improved so I think it would be OK. However please don't stay in an apartment. I don't think we can stress that enough. I would book something soon as prices for Dec will just keep going up and up. The more reasonable accomodations fill up quickly as some people book them a year in advance. I know you are still looking at B&B type hotels and on those you might have to pay nights up front. But I would book a cancellable hotel room now as a back-up.

Aduchamp1

TC and BWINO

It is clear we all have our favroite cookies.
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Here is the NY Ranger Schedule:

http://rangers.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm

Tickets can be hard to get. Stub hub us a reliable alternative.

The New Jersey Devils arena is an easy hop from Manhattan but reaching the Islander's rink is a pain in the butt without a car.

As long time Ranger fan (50 years) games are unusual events with many rude rituals at Madison Square Garden. And if you can get tickets you would want to go an Islanders, Flyers, or Devils game. There is little added excitememt.

millie2112

Bwino, how exciting for you. I love booking things because I know that it is all happening.
For December I have booked, 'the Top of the Rock', and we have booked the theatre. I am so thrilled to be seeing Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice. I have also booked 'Real New York Tours'. So our days are filling up.
For accomodation I would also look at Travelzoo.com. They have specials for hotels. As it is only the two of you, you could get a very good deal.
I think that planning is definately half the fun of the trip!

Bwino

Thanks Paula, we will make sure we book a legitimate property this week.

Audchamp - I love the crunch of gold in my cookies We will try for a Madison Square Garden game, we want to go for the experience including the 'rude rituals' and will look for the teams you mentioned.

Millie, Wow, Al Pacino on stage, he is one of my husbands favourite actors. Just looked at getting tickets, certainly a treat at the prices I see, what site did you use to book your tickets for Merchant of Venice?

Aduchamp1

If you score tickets to a Rangers game, write on the board and I will explain the "etiquette."

Bwino

Thanks Aduchamp we will let you know if we get tickets.

millie2112

Bwino - I booked through "Telecharge.com". Prices are much better, and reasonable.
Let us know how you get the Rangers tickets. I think that my son would love to go.
Also, have you looked at priceline.com for hotels. I believe you can bid on prices. Not much use for me because there is 3 of us, but certainly an option for you to pick up a good hotel.

Bwino

Ok, so I am probably driving everyone here crazy for not booking a hotel yet but frankly we just do not want to spend 400 or 500 a night on accommodation or stay in some of the lower price hotels that do not look particularly inviting.

We are not about to rush out and book something where we are asked to Fedex money or pay a large deposit so rest easy we are looking very carefully. There must be some legitimate options that are nice and in our price range. If I am driving you crazy with this line of thinking please feel free to ignore my posts

So after that introduction for anyone who cares to take a look I have found this website - www.hoteltoshi.com - they have 150 apartments in NYC and payment is not due until arrival, at time of reservation only a credit card is requested for a deposit to confirm dates.

Any opinions on legitimacy? Please be gentle with me, we have done a lot of world travel and have our eyes very wide open.

Bwino

Aduchamp, there is a Rangers Vs Islanders game on Friday 3rd December at Madison Square Garden. I have looked on stubhub for tickets, there are a variety available. Can you recommend seating without breaking the bank?

Bwino

Thanks Millie, I am looking at tickets for The Merchant of Venice. I do hope Al Pacino is actually on stage for every performance.

Bwino

Ok forget my question about Toshi, they get very mixed reviews, I will not go with them.

Aduchamp1

You will pay a premium for an Islander-Ranger game.

Attached is the seating chart for a hockey game. We had seats for many years in section 310 and they were very good. I could see the puck being scored in both nets. You will the 300 sections in green which are center ice. Those will be good.

http://www.webtickets.com/Gifs/Madis...Hockey_ALL.gif

Here are some of the rituals:

You are encouraged to start screaming and clapping before the National Anthem is over. If John Amarante is singing he will give you a hand signal. You can tell it's Amarante because you will be able to spot his toupee from the nose bleed seats. It it is some stand-in they might get booed if they cannot sing. They often get confused when the crowd starts screaming before they finish and think it is for them.

Even if the Rangers are not playing the Islanders, you will suddenly hear someone whistle three notes twice, when he is finished you are commanded to yell "Potvin sucks." Thirty years ago Islander Denis Potvin (pronounced POT-van), the Hall of Fame defenseman viciously checked Ranger Ulfie Nilsson and broke his ankle. It has never been forgotten. Most kids who attend the game think his first name is Potvin and his last name is Sucks.

When the Islanders come to MSG, usually once during the game you will hear the chant, "Beat Your Wife Potvin, Beat Your Wife." Potvin was also accused of domestic violence years ago.

If the crowd thinks the ref made a call, or someone on the other team made a dirty play, you can join the chorus of "Bull-s--t, bull-s--t."

Then there is Crazy Larry. During various timeouts they will play music. During one tune Crazy Larry will stand in the aisle and start "dancing." He is simian in his appearance, and so is his dancing. Often the crowd will chant "Homo Larry, Homo Larry." MSG stopped playing the song because they did not want to encourage such taunts, but sometimes the guy who plays the recoeded music forgets and plays it.

One nice ritual occurs after a Ranger goal. The crowd will chant GOOAAAL. It is not the scream of the South American soccer announcers but a more sing songy refrain. GOAAALL will be repeated three times and then there will a Hey, hey, hey occupied by a fist pump. Rinse than repeat.

Try to eat before a game the price of food and beer is ridiculous.

Enjoy

Bwino

Aduchamp, would you mind private emailing me about the hockey game and booking tickets? jude at intergise dot com. If not that is ok I understand.

WWanderer

Wow, I had no idea this was such a high season, price-wise. I see the Fitzpatrick Grand Central where we stayed this spring asking in the $400 range!! We did spend a long weekend in Manhattan in early December a few years back. We are from a cold place (Canada) so the weather was no problem for us. But make sure you have a very comfortable pair of walking shoes, preferably ones that are also warm and waterproof. And take an alternative pair of shoes as well, or be prepared to buy a pair--your feet will get tired walking and make your life a misery.

As for warmth, think layers--long sleeved shirts, sweaters, waterproof, lined jacket. Scarf, hat or hood, gloves, don't forget warm socks.

Bwino

Thanks WWanderer, the cold will be a challenge for us coming from a tropical island but we will take all the advice we have received about clothing and shoes etc. Plus a girl just has to buy some new stuff in NYC

BrigitteinAustin

I don't know if you are aware, and not sure if you are interested, but the museums in NYC are 'donation'. The price that you pay is the donation that they suggest, but they will take much less, saving you money:

http://gonyc.about.com/cs/museums/a/museumdeals.htm

Aduchamp1

Not all museums are suggested donations. MoMA, for example, does not allow for negotiation.

On the other hand, The Met will take what you give as will Natural History.

Bwino

I am happy to pay to go to Museums.

paula1470

Bwino-Anything that is legitimate will NOT ask for a depost. And if someone is asking you to FedEx them money, that is most likely a scam. Looked at Hotel Toshi and even though they are calling themselves a hotel, they are apartments. So first of all that makes them illegal. Next of all I looked them up on tripadvisor and it was not good. There were two I liked the best. One said "disgusting and unprofessional" and the other said "Hotel Tosh-t". Thought that was funny. People are still trying to get their deposit back. I would run as fast as I could from this place.

You need to understand that the first 2 weeks of December are the busiest and most expensive time of year to visit. Getting a room for $300 a night which includes tax is a great deal. The reason I say to book something is that the longer you wait the more the prices will go up for what few places are left that have reasonable rates. By reasonable rates, I mean reasonable for that time of year.

I think your best bet might be to stay in Long Island City. It is not an attractive area but it's safe and you can be in Times Square on the subway in 10-15 minutes. Looking at Expedia and putting in some dates for the first few weeks I saw that the La Quinta Inn has a king room for $125 a night and it gets decent reviews on tripadvisor. The Comfort Inn Long Island City gets good reviews and is going an average of $180. The best deal seems to be the Fairfield Inn and Suites in LI City which is #2 on tripadvisor. They have a long term stay rate for $149 for a king which includes breakfast. They have a free shuttle to Manhattan which people complained about taking too long. Not sure why you'd take the shuttle when you can be in Times Square in 15 min via subway. I would BOOK this hotel now as a cancellable reservation. At least you'd have something.
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...anhattan-view/

I would contact the hotels directly for the exact dates. I was just using Expedia to see what was available. You really need to have someplace to stay. Looking through Manhattan Hotels in your price range there isn't much left and most of those don't get great reviews.