Our 7 Days in New York
Sep 25th, 2010 | 06:25 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 313
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Our 7 Days in New York
Many thanks to the New York experts posting on this board. I was more of a lurker here in the New York forum while planning for this trip. Got a lot of useful info that came in handy while we were in NYC.
Some Background on this Trip:
Husband, late teens daughter and I flew in from Toronto, after a short visit to the Niagara Region. Flew in to EWR and stayed in NYC from Sept 6-13. My husband and I have been to NY many times but this is our daughter's first. My daughter's been to many places in Europe and Asia but had always looked forward to going to NYC. Im sure Gossip Girl and Sex in the City have something to do with it.
Our trip coincided ( intentionally on our part ) with Fashion Week, Broadway On Broadway and 9/11 Anniversary. This is the best use of my Hilton Honors Free Night cerificates and HHonors points because our room at the Doubletree in Times Square during this time was going for more than $400/nt. It always feels good to score some fantastic deals.
Just like in my Canada/Ontario post, Im just going to report on the hotel where we stayed, restaurants and attractions we visited, and some serendipitous moments.
Airtrans transfer from EWR to NYC - fast and easy. this is how we decided to get to the city from the airport. the airport has signs everywhere to get to the Airtrans train-it is difficult to miss. The train dropped us off at the Penn Station. We decided to hoof it, instead of taking a cab, since it was a very nice day and we didnt have too many bags, which will change at the end of our 7 days here. 14 short blocks and we were at the revolving doors of Doubletree Guest Suites on 47th and B'way.
On our way to our hotel, the spectacle of NYC began with some interesting vendors in the TS area. There's the very funny condom vendor at the corner of 44/45th St, who sold latex named after some celebrities. He had the Obama condoms which he claims to be the "ultimate stimulus package", the tiger woods "protect your goods, buy tiger woods". im not very good at remembering good jokes, he also had sara palin and george bush but i can't remember the tag lines for them.
The lcd display was sensory overload for my daughter. I was watching her reaction and awe more than the neon glitz of TS. We stopped several times to admire and get a better look at the huge neon signs - the hershey store and forever 21 with the livecam on TS were particularly interesting. The look on my daughter's face was priceless. Yey, there's a B of A in TS. I can use the ATM. Even B of A has a nice neon display!
Doubletree Guest Suites - we were given chocolate chip cookies upon check in, something i've read about at tripadvisor. Indeed, the chocolate chip cookies were very good even for someone like me, who's not into choc chip cookies. The hotel lobby is on the 3rd floor, at the ground level there were 2 doormen who checked our names on their guest list. The 3rd floor location of the hotel lobby gave the place a sense of calm, away from the TS madness. By the time we got to 3rd floor lobby, it didnt feel like we were in the TS area.
Our room was on the 42nd floor, facing the TS. we can see the activities at the TKTS "booth" and Duffy Square from our windows. The room was spacious by NYC standards. It consists of a sitting room with the sofa bed, writing desk and its own flat screen tv. There's also a tiny wet bar and empty fridge, which we used for leftover desserts and drinks. This will be my daughter's bedroom for the next 7 days.
The included breakfast was very good. Breakfast is at Gingers Restaurant on the 5th Floor. They had a good spread of made to order omelet, lox, a variety of cheeses, fresh fruit, oatmeal, bacon, ham, corned beef hash - all the usual b'fast foods you'll find at a decent b'fast buffet. We made good friend with the chef, Steve who is an immigrant from Nigeria. Every morning, he'd personally prepare my husband's all white egg omelette with my husband's fave toppings and we'd chat for a while about his family, his job, stuff about NY, etc. I hope we didnt get him in trouble for spending too much time with us. One morning, he gave us a present of 2 tins of Doubletree's choc chip cookies.
Front desk staff was also very helpful and friendly. I highly recommend this hotel, specially to those using HHonors Points. It's pricey but i think it's well justified given the location and type of accomodation and guest service.
Ellen's Stardust Diner - our first meal in the city is a late lunch here, around 2 pm after we got settled in our room. i know this place is very touristy with matching touristic prices and so so food. but hey, we're tourists and would like to do some touristy stuff. the waitstaff singers were good, sang a lot of old b'way favorites. food is so-so diner food. we were hungry, so everything tastes good at this point. we ordered chicken noodle soup, hamburger, cheese sandwich, caesar salad. the bill came out to be over $70 including tip.
West Side Story-our hotel is next door to the Palace Theater where WSS was showing. They were raffling off 18 same day orchestra seats for about $26 a piece. We dropped our names in the hat and scored 2 first row orchestra seats. I bought 1 extra ticket at TKTS for about $46.50. Great musical about gangs and immigrant life and love in NYC in the 50's or 60's (?) Not so happy ending, though. The stars' exit door is next to our hotel. We stumbled upon them after the show and my daughter managed to get authographs on her playbill from the main stars and some of the cast.
Katz Deli-great pastrami. cash only with the unusual "turn in your ticket" sytem to pay before you leave. they had very interesting bathrooms that looked like portolets from outside but inside, opens out to a large bathroom with powder and sink areas. pretty clever.
Century 21 Dept Store near WTC site-we checked it out but didnt see anything that called out to us. as always, it was packed with shoppers. i think this place is a hit or miss.
J & R Store-bought a digital camera here after i accidentally dropped my camera and ruined it for good. thank goodness, the memory card was intact and still had all the pictures in it. their prices seem very competitive, as i checked online with amazon, best buy and target the price of the model i purchased. the store is in park row near the city hall and had a separate entrance for cameras, computers, household electronics, etc.
truly everything here in NY is grand and massive.
Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty tour-the lines werent so bad. we bought tickets on line the night before so it saved us from waiting in line to buy tickets. one of the good things about bringing a laptop or phone with web capability is you can book restaurants, shows, attractions and taxi on a fly.
to be continued . . .
Some Background on this Trip:
Husband, late teens daughter and I flew in from Toronto, after a short visit to the Niagara Region. Flew in to EWR and stayed in NYC from Sept 6-13. My husband and I have been to NY many times but this is our daughter's first. My daughter's been to many places in Europe and Asia but had always looked forward to going to NYC. Im sure Gossip Girl and Sex in the City have something to do with it.
Our trip coincided ( intentionally on our part ) with Fashion Week, Broadway On Broadway and 9/11 Anniversary. This is the best use of my Hilton Honors Free Night cerificates and HHonors points because our room at the Doubletree in Times Square during this time was going for more than $400/nt. It always feels good to score some fantastic deals.
Just like in my Canada/Ontario post, Im just going to report on the hotel where we stayed, restaurants and attractions we visited, and some serendipitous moments.
Airtrans transfer from EWR to NYC - fast and easy. this is how we decided to get to the city from the airport. the airport has signs everywhere to get to the Airtrans train-it is difficult to miss. The train dropped us off at the Penn Station. We decided to hoof it, instead of taking a cab, since it was a very nice day and we didnt have too many bags, which will change at the end of our 7 days here. 14 short blocks and we were at the revolving doors of Doubletree Guest Suites on 47th and B'way.
On our way to our hotel, the spectacle of NYC began with some interesting vendors in the TS area. There's the very funny condom vendor at the corner of 44/45th St, who sold latex named after some celebrities. He had the Obama condoms which he claims to be the "ultimate stimulus package", the tiger woods "protect your goods, buy tiger woods". im not very good at remembering good jokes, he also had sara palin and george bush but i can't remember the tag lines for them.
The lcd display was sensory overload for my daughter. I was watching her reaction and awe more than the neon glitz of TS. We stopped several times to admire and get a better look at the huge neon signs - the hershey store and forever 21 with the livecam on TS were particularly interesting. The look on my daughter's face was priceless. Yey, there's a B of A in TS. I can use the ATM. Even B of A has a nice neon display!
Doubletree Guest Suites - we were given chocolate chip cookies upon check in, something i've read about at tripadvisor. Indeed, the chocolate chip cookies were very good even for someone like me, who's not into choc chip cookies. The hotel lobby is on the 3rd floor, at the ground level there were 2 doormen who checked our names on their guest list. The 3rd floor location of the hotel lobby gave the place a sense of calm, away from the TS madness. By the time we got to 3rd floor lobby, it didnt feel like we were in the TS area.
Our room was on the 42nd floor, facing the TS. we can see the activities at the TKTS "booth" and Duffy Square from our windows. The room was spacious by NYC standards. It consists of a sitting room with the sofa bed, writing desk and its own flat screen tv. There's also a tiny wet bar and empty fridge, which we used for leftover desserts and drinks. This will be my daughter's bedroom for the next 7 days.
The included breakfast was very good. Breakfast is at Gingers Restaurant on the 5th Floor. They had a good spread of made to order omelet, lox, a variety of cheeses, fresh fruit, oatmeal, bacon, ham, corned beef hash - all the usual b'fast foods you'll find at a decent b'fast buffet. We made good friend with the chef, Steve who is an immigrant from Nigeria. Every morning, he'd personally prepare my husband's all white egg omelette with my husband's fave toppings and we'd chat for a while about his family, his job, stuff about NY, etc. I hope we didnt get him in trouble for spending too much time with us. One morning, he gave us a present of 2 tins of Doubletree's choc chip cookies.
Front desk staff was also very helpful and friendly. I highly recommend this hotel, specially to those using HHonors Points. It's pricey but i think it's well justified given the location and type of accomodation and guest service.
Ellen's Stardust Diner - our first meal in the city is a late lunch here, around 2 pm after we got settled in our room. i know this place is very touristy with matching touristic prices and so so food. but hey, we're tourists and would like to do some touristy stuff. the waitstaff singers were good, sang a lot of old b'way favorites. food is so-so diner food. we were hungry, so everything tastes good at this point. we ordered chicken noodle soup, hamburger, cheese sandwich, caesar salad. the bill came out to be over $70 including tip.
West Side Story-our hotel is next door to the Palace Theater where WSS was showing. They were raffling off 18 same day orchestra seats for about $26 a piece. We dropped our names in the hat and scored 2 first row orchestra seats. I bought 1 extra ticket at TKTS for about $46.50. Great musical about gangs and immigrant life and love in NYC in the 50's or 60's (?) Not so happy ending, though. The stars' exit door is next to our hotel. We stumbled upon them after the show and my daughter managed to get authographs on her playbill from the main stars and some of the cast.
Katz Deli-great pastrami. cash only with the unusual "turn in your ticket" sytem to pay before you leave. they had very interesting bathrooms that looked like portolets from outside but inside, opens out to a large bathroom with powder and sink areas. pretty clever.
Century 21 Dept Store near WTC site-we checked it out but didnt see anything that called out to us. as always, it was packed with shoppers. i think this place is a hit or miss.
J & R Store-bought a digital camera here after i accidentally dropped my camera and ruined it for good. thank goodness, the memory card was intact and still had all the pictures in it. their prices seem very competitive, as i checked online with amazon, best buy and target the price of the model i purchased. the store is in park row near the city hall and had a separate entrance for cameras, computers, household electronics, etc.
truly everything here in NY is grand and massive.
Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty tour-the lines werent so bad. we bought tickets on line the night before so it saved us from waiting in line to buy tickets. one of the good things about bringing a laptop or phone with web capability is you can book restaurants, shows, attractions and taxi on a fly.
to be continued . . .
Sep 26th, 2010 | 11:35 PM
#6
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
continued. . .
Chicago-another score for rush tickets. this was easy. i went to Ambassador Theater's box office around 4 pm and asked about same day discounted tickets. the clerk asked how many tickets i need. i said 3. he countered he can only seat 2 together, the other person will be in a different row but still in center orchestra. i said DEAL! the tickets were $36.50 each, very good seats all in center orchestra.
john o'hurley ( of seinfeld and dancing with the stars ) played the lawyer, Billy Flynn. By now, my daughter had caught on on collecting Playbill and getting them authographed. So after the show, we waited outside the cast exit door and my daughter met and got the autographs of the lead stars and had her picture taken with them. they're all very friendly and accomodating. i asked john if he's going to be in DWTS this coming season, he said he'll be in the audience because his friend Michael Bolton is one of the dancing stars.
john's pizza- for our Chicago pre-theater dinner. it looked like a hole in the wall from outside, but opens out to a cavernous dining room inside. reminded me of katz deli's toilets. there's also a nice stained glass round sunroof in the middle of the main dining hall, similar to the stained glass dome at gallerie lafayette in paris. the thin crust pizza was very good. the 2 other pasta dishes we ordered were also quite good. the portions are big and service is brisk and efficient.
carnegie deli-( on broadway and around 54th St )for post-Chicago theater treat, we bought a takeaway slice of NY cheesecake with the strawberry topping. it was about $8 per slice. the slice was big, enough for 3 people to share which is exactly what we did. after picking up our starbucks coffee from the store in TS, we planted ourselves in one of the coffee tables in the middle of pedestrian only TS and enjoyed our cheesecake.
Diamond District-kitty corner from our hotel on 47th and 5th-6th Ave. there's an interesting lampost at the beginning of the "district" on 47th and 6th Av, that's made to look like diamond set on prongs. dizzying array of diamonds, colored precious and semi precious, gold and pearl jewelry. jewelry mart type arrangement of several individual vendors who rent several glass cases to display their goods, all sharing the same address. there were a lot of contemporary designed jewelry "inspired" by big fashion houses like bulgari, cartier, et al. i bought a gold brooch to remember this visit to NYC by.
fashion's night out on friday 9/10-many stores participated in this event. Rock Center was decked out and had a red carpet area on the slope walkway that looked like it was going to be a runway for models. lots of news teams and cameramen filming an anchorperson against the backdrop of Rockefeller Center and the golden statue of Prometheus that's going to be the setting for the night's big fashion event. there's a table that handing out free cloth bags with coupons, flyers and small giveaways to anybody who wants one. by the prometh statue, a band was setting up. the place was abuzz and one can feel the excitement in the air.
many stores on 5th Avenue participated by way of special sales and serving hors d'oeuvres and cocktails to everyone who walks into their store. we were coming back from a visit to the Met and MoMA, got off the cab and snacked our way back to Rockefeller Center on 5th Ave. Henri Bendel, Juicy Couture, Bergdorf Goodman got our votes for serving the best hors d'oeuvres.
henri bendel store-got a good chunk of our shopping $$$. the purses are very reasonably priced in relation to other designer bags. price point similar to coach bags. ( this is IMO ) the striped cloth dust bags for the purses are some of the nicest.
gossip girl tour-my daughter enjoyed immensely. she booked before we arrived in NYC. the tour took them to gossip girl locations including dylan's candy store, butter, tory burch store, vera wang boutique. at the end of the tour, she received a 20% discount coupon for all purchases at the Henri Bendel at the 5th Ave store, which we put to good use later. in a way, the tour ( around $40 pp ) more than paid for itself.
the Met and MOMA - impressive collection of modern masters-van gogh, picasso, monet, et al. pay what you can admission.
the van gogh collection was busiest. we went here while our daughter was with her gossip girl tour group.
reunited for dinner with our daughter at the Rockefeller Center, can't remember the name of the restaurant below street level of Rock Center. i remember the menu was american/italian and white linen, somewhat formal service.
our shopping bags looked awkward and a little off for the restaurant's ambience. oh well, we're tourists...
to be continued ...
Chicago-another score for rush tickets. this was easy. i went to Ambassador Theater's box office around 4 pm and asked about same day discounted tickets. the clerk asked how many tickets i need. i said 3. he countered he can only seat 2 together, the other person will be in a different row but still in center orchestra. i said DEAL! the tickets were $36.50 each, very good seats all in center orchestra.
john o'hurley ( of seinfeld and dancing with the stars ) played the lawyer, Billy Flynn. By now, my daughter had caught on on collecting Playbill and getting them authographed. So after the show, we waited outside the cast exit door and my daughter met and got the autographs of the lead stars and had her picture taken with them. they're all very friendly and accomodating. i asked john if he's going to be in DWTS this coming season, he said he'll be in the audience because his friend Michael Bolton is one of the dancing stars.
john's pizza- for our Chicago pre-theater dinner. it looked like a hole in the wall from outside, but opens out to a cavernous dining room inside. reminded me of katz deli's toilets. there's also a nice stained glass round sunroof in the middle of the main dining hall, similar to the stained glass dome at gallerie lafayette in paris. the thin crust pizza was very good. the 2 other pasta dishes we ordered were also quite good. the portions are big and service is brisk and efficient.
carnegie deli-( on broadway and around 54th St )for post-Chicago theater treat, we bought a takeaway slice of NY cheesecake with the strawberry topping. it was about $8 per slice. the slice was big, enough for 3 people to share which is exactly what we did. after picking up our starbucks coffee from the store in TS, we planted ourselves in one of the coffee tables in the middle of pedestrian only TS and enjoyed our cheesecake.
Diamond District-kitty corner from our hotel on 47th and 5th-6th Ave. there's an interesting lampost at the beginning of the "district" on 47th and 6th Av, that's made to look like diamond set on prongs. dizzying array of diamonds, colored precious and semi precious, gold and pearl jewelry. jewelry mart type arrangement of several individual vendors who rent several glass cases to display their goods, all sharing the same address. there were a lot of contemporary designed jewelry "inspired" by big fashion houses like bulgari, cartier, et al. i bought a gold brooch to remember this visit to NYC by.
fashion's night out on friday 9/10-many stores participated in this event. Rock Center was decked out and had a red carpet area on the slope walkway that looked like it was going to be a runway for models. lots of news teams and cameramen filming an anchorperson against the backdrop of Rockefeller Center and the golden statue of Prometheus that's going to be the setting for the night's big fashion event. there's a table that handing out free cloth bags with coupons, flyers and small giveaways to anybody who wants one. by the prometh statue, a band was setting up. the place was abuzz and one can feel the excitement in the air.
many stores on 5th Avenue participated by way of special sales and serving hors d'oeuvres and cocktails to everyone who walks into their store. we were coming back from a visit to the Met and MoMA, got off the cab and snacked our way back to Rockefeller Center on 5th Ave. Henri Bendel, Juicy Couture, Bergdorf Goodman got our votes for serving the best hors d'oeuvres.
henri bendel store-got a good chunk of our shopping $$$. the purses are very reasonably priced in relation to other designer bags. price point similar to coach bags. ( this is IMO ) the striped cloth dust bags for the purses are some of the nicest.
gossip girl tour-my daughter enjoyed immensely. she booked before we arrived in NYC. the tour took them to gossip girl locations including dylan's candy store, butter, tory burch store, vera wang boutique. at the end of the tour, she received a 20% discount coupon for all purchases at the Henri Bendel at the 5th Ave store, which we put to good use later. in a way, the tour ( around $40 pp ) more than paid for itself.
the Met and MOMA - impressive collection of modern masters-van gogh, picasso, monet, et al. pay what you can admission.
the van gogh collection was busiest. we went here while our daughter was with her gossip girl tour group.
reunited for dinner with our daughter at the Rockefeller Center, can't remember the name of the restaurant below street level of Rock Center. i remember the menu was american/italian and white linen, somewhat formal service.
our shopping bags looked awkward and a little off for the restaurant's ambience. oh well, we're tourists...
to be continued ...
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Sep 27th, 2010 | 04:23 PM
#9
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 317
Likes: 0
Regarding J&R. It's the best place in NYC now to buy records(LPs) and CDs and DVDs. Now that Virgin on TS is gone, replaced by Forever21(which I saw for the first time today), the only other place that carries CDs is Best Buy in Brooklyn.
Once B&H opens again, I suggest you check it out. Too bad it's way out there on 9ave, but their display of cameras is unbeatable. Prices often match J&R's. However, J&R has sales more often. I just got a 4gb SD from J&R for $7.99.
Once B&H opens again, I suggest you check it out. Too bad it's way out there on 9ave, but their display of cameras is unbeatable. Prices often match J&R's. However, J&R has sales more often. I just got a 4gb SD from J&R for $7.99.
Oct 2nd, 2010 | 09:20 AM
#10
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
last installment ...
Saturday, Sept 11 - stopped by WTC area to pay our tribute to the heroes of 9/11 attack. new WTC memorial/small museum. i think it opened that day, to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary. it's a small museum with memorabilia from the WTC and a photo mural of the iconic picture of the damage - the one with a portion of the vertical window panel detail standing amid the rubble. there's a video with some commentary that's playing continuously. one of the most touching memorabilia was a receipt for breakfast purchased from a deli counter in one of the twin buildings that had a time stamp of a few minutes before the first plane hit. other exhibits include mangled part of the plane (largest piece retrieved, damaged nyfd uniforms, melted keys and interesting articles found in the site that miraculously survived the devastation.
there were a lot of activity in the wtc, wall st area. we saw a few mosque protesters, demonstrators with political sentiments for and against a particular issue. a lot of the streets in the area were closed to car traffic.
peter luger steakhouse - steak was very good. we had NY steak with the usual sides of creamed spinach, potato, etc. tip: bring lots of cash, they don't accept credit cards. despite this minor bummer, the place was packed.
metropolitan museum store-one of my favorite stores for small gift items for the pet sitter, house sitter or the helpful co worker. their merchandise is reasonably priced. they have some wonderful, well made costume jewelry that are reproductions of byzantine, egyptian, indian jewelry. for me, these are the best buy from this museum store since i dont see them elsewhere. i wish i had bought more of the mouse pad and coasters that looked like miniature persian rugs. they're cute.
melania trump sighting - very attractive woman. QVC opened a store just for the fashion week, around Rock Center and she was there to promote her line of merchandise. ( according to the store clerk at the Met Museum store )
broadway on broadway - from a makeshift stage on TS. kelsey grammer emceed. we watched from outside our hotel, there was also a jumbotron near duffy square people can watch from. lots of songs from both old favorite b'way musicals as well as some from the new and newer shows. the free show lasted just a little over an hour and packed with people.
in the heights - scored rush tickets again, good orchestra seats. just like with chicago, i didnt have any difficulty acquiring the tickets. went to the box office an hour before the show. i liked this show best, among the 3 we saw. great songs. jordin sparks of american idol was in the cast. my daughter got authographs on her playbill again while my husband and i shared a cheesecake with our coffee at junior's. tip: if you're flexible with shows you're willing to see and are in the TS area in the late afternoon, you can get better seats for better prices going to the theater's box office instead of standing in line at the TKTS booth for discounted same day show tickets. the lines we saw at the TKTS booth were intimidatingly long. try the theater box office first. however, this may not work if you're really wanting to see very popular shows like wicked, lion king etc. NY residents and experts reading this, please chime in to correct this info if inaccurate.
dial 7 - the recommendations i read from this board were spot on. the car arrived on time, the driver called me a few minutes before pulling in to the front of our hotel as i had requested since the hotel lobby is actually on the 3rd floor.
our cabbie was polite and professional and knew his way around. we were picked up around 3 pm, no traffic yet so we made it to LGA in about 30 minutes.
for when we return to NYC which is a big possibility in the spring of 2011, these are the things we didnt get to see or do, that are on top of my list:
1. Frick collection - broadway on broadway won over this
2. High line park
3. NY Philarmonic - wherever they're performing
4. NY Ballet
5. Dizzy's Club
6. a Comedy Club - your recommendations are most welcome, if not sought.
Hope somebody reading this finds this report helpful.
Saturday, Sept 11 - stopped by WTC area to pay our tribute to the heroes of 9/11 attack. new WTC memorial/small museum. i think it opened that day, to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary. it's a small museum with memorabilia from the WTC and a photo mural of the iconic picture of the damage - the one with a portion of the vertical window panel detail standing amid the rubble. there's a video with some commentary that's playing continuously. one of the most touching memorabilia was a receipt for breakfast purchased from a deli counter in one of the twin buildings that had a time stamp of a few minutes before the first plane hit. other exhibits include mangled part of the plane (largest piece retrieved, damaged nyfd uniforms, melted keys and interesting articles found in the site that miraculously survived the devastation.
there were a lot of activity in the wtc, wall st area. we saw a few mosque protesters, demonstrators with political sentiments for and against a particular issue. a lot of the streets in the area were closed to car traffic.
peter luger steakhouse - steak was very good. we had NY steak with the usual sides of creamed spinach, potato, etc. tip: bring lots of cash, they don't accept credit cards. despite this minor bummer, the place was packed.
metropolitan museum store-one of my favorite stores for small gift items for the pet sitter, house sitter or the helpful co worker. their merchandise is reasonably priced. they have some wonderful, well made costume jewelry that are reproductions of byzantine, egyptian, indian jewelry. for me, these are the best buy from this museum store since i dont see them elsewhere. i wish i had bought more of the mouse pad and coasters that looked like miniature persian rugs. they're cute.
melania trump sighting - very attractive woman. QVC opened a store just for the fashion week, around Rock Center and she was there to promote her line of merchandise. ( according to the store clerk at the Met Museum store )
broadway on broadway - from a makeshift stage on TS. kelsey grammer emceed. we watched from outside our hotel, there was also a jumbotron near duffy square people can watch from. lots of songs from both old favorite b'way musicals as well as some from the new and newer shows. the free show lasted just a little over an hour and packed with people.
in the heights - scored rush tickets again, good orchestra seats. just like with chicago, i didnt have any difficulty acquiring the tickets. went to the box office an hour before the show. i liked this show best, among the 3 we saw. great songs. jordin sparks of american idol was in the cast. my daughter got authographs on her playbill again while my husband and i shared a cheesecake with our coffee at junior's. tip: if you're flexible with shows you're willing to see and are in the TS area in the late afternoon, you can get better seats for better prices going to the theater's box office instead of standing in line at the TKTS booth for discounted same day show tickets. the lines we saw at the TKTS booth were intimidatingly long. try the theater box office first. however, this may not work if you're really wanting to see very popular shows like wicked, lion king etc. NY residents and experts reading this, please chime in to correct this info if inaccurate.
dial 7 - the recommendations i read from this board were spot on. the car arrived on time, the driver called me a few minutes before pulling in to the front of our hotel as i had requested since the hotel lobby is actually on the 3rd floor.
our cabbie was polite and professional and knew his way around. we were picked up around 3 pm, no traffic yet so we made it to LGA in about 30 minutes.
for when we return to NYC which is a big possibility in the spring of 2011, these are the things we didnt get to see or do, that are on top of my list:
1. Frick collection - broadway on broadway won over this
2. High line park
3. NY Philarmonic - wherever they're performing
4. NY Ballet
5. Dizzy's Club
6. a Comedy Club - your recommendations are most welcome, if not sought.
Hope somebody reading this finds this report helpful.
Oct 2nd, 2010 | 12:07 PM
#12
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
sandy, yes i bought the tickets directly from the theater box office a few hours before the show. i checked the shows that are available thru tkts first, to assess probable ticket availability then i went to the theater box office directly for the shows i wanted.
in the case of west side story at the palace theater, the available tickets are raffled off at 6 pm, you have to be there when they announce the "winners" at 6:30 pm. your odds of "winning" $26 front row seats are better than good, imo. 2 ticket maximum per "winner" and you have to pay cash.
in the case of in the heights and chicago, there are no lines, you just walk up to the ticket clerk-it's either they have rush tickets or they don't and you can pay with a credit card.
in the case of west side story at the palace theater, the available tickets are raffled off at 6 pm, you have to be there when they announce the "winners" at 6:30 pm. your odds of "winning" $26 front row seats are better than good, imo. 2 ticket maximum per "winner" and you have to pay cash.
in the case of in the heights and chicago, there are no lines, you just walk up to the ticket clerk-it's either they have rush tickets or they don't and you can pay with a credit card.
Oct 3rd, 2010 | 12:39 AM
#15
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,930
Likes: 0
Yes it is LauraLF; see http://www.dial7.com/
Oct 3rd, 2010 | 12:48 AM
#16
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 26,710
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J & R has a terrible return policy and the adults at B & H are more patient and they will sell you what you need rather the kids at J & R who will sell you what they know.
It is hard to recommend a comedy club because people's tastes are different. There is everything from Carrot Top to Lewis Black. You must see who is appearing when in town.
It is hard to recommend a comedy club because people's tastes are different. There is everything from Carrot Top to Lewis Black. You must see who is appearing when in town.
Oct 3rd, 2010 | 05:23 PM
#17
Joined: Jan 2003
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Enjoyed your report - very helpful. I'm planning a spring trip to New York, and need all the information I can get. My main interest is the Metropolitan and other museums, so I'll be staying on the Upper West Side probably for proximity to those, and Central Park. I'll be solo, not interested in much night life ( I'm much older than you!), so I don't want the frenetic Times Square area. I've been -there- done -that many times, many years ago! You said that the Met is "pay what you can". I didn't know that -thought it was $20 (or $15 for seniors). As I definitely want to go there several times during my visit, that's interesting. However, I hate to sound cheap, and not do my fair share!! Any opinions on this??
Oct 3rd, 2010 | 06:40 PM
#18
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 10,265
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The Met has a "suggested admission" of $20, which means you can pay what you wish at all times but they hope you will pay $20. The times I have paid less--sometimes a good deal less--than the suggested admission, the cashier didn't blink. Just be clear how many people you are paying for.
Oct 9th, 2010 | 08:50 AM
#19
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 313
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ellenem, the frick collection/house also has a pay what you want admission on Sunday from 11 to 1. free chamber music on some sundays around 5 pm. i was really bummed out about not seeing this place. they're closed on Monday.
