My husband and I will be staying at the Hilton Penn Station in NJ and want to go into the city for pizza at Lombardi's. What would be the best transit to get from the hotel to Lombardi's? Thanks in advance!

I can't help you on the NJ side... but once you're in the city, you have a number of subway options within a few blocks of the restaurant.

Lombardi's is on the south side of Spring Street, basically just west of the corner of Mott Street (between Mulberry & Mott).

If you arrive at:
- New York Penn Station (i.e., NJ Transit train): walk out the 7th Ave exit, cross 7th Ave and walk 1 long block to Herald Square. The MTA subway station here has the N,R,Q on one line and the B,D,F on another within the same station.
- 33rd Street PATH station: follow the signs within the station for the MTA subway mentioned above.

You can take:
- The downtown N or R (local) train to Prince Street. Walk 4 blocks east on Prince, turn right on Mott, walk down one block to Spring Street.
- The downtown F (local) train to 2nd Ave; the back of the train will put you on 2nd Ave at Houston. Walk 3 blocks west on Houston, turn left on Mott, walk down two blocks to Spring Street.
- The downtown B or D (express) train to Grand Street. Walk west 3 blocks on Grand Street, turn right on Mott, walk up one block to Spring Street.

Definitely look at the area on Google Maps to get a feel of where these subway stations are in relation to Lombardi's. Also if you zoom in to where you can see which way the traffic goes on the street, that will help you to determine the cardinal directions on the ground. (For example, traffic runs west on Prince, so to follow my directions above, you will be walking against traffic.)

Mmm, mangia!

A faster alternate would be to take the PATH train from Newark Penn Station to World Trade Center and then take the N or R from Cortlandt St (service is possibly being restored in some directions) uptown to Prince St or walk a few blocks and take the 6 from Brooklyn Bridge to Spring St.

Google Maps will actually plot the different routes for you. I input "Hilton Penn Station, NJ" and "Lombardi's Pizza, NY" and it knew the exact locations and routes.

Yes, well that shows how well I know how to take public transit from NJ! But I know the MTA much more intimately.

As I just wrote on the Christmas Markets thread, the N/R *uptown* has been restored for quite a while -- so the PATH to WTC then the N/R at Cortlandt Street will work.

If you want to take the 6 instead (since it's the closest subway stop to Lombardi's), rather than walk all the way up to the Brooklyn Bridge station, get on the uptown 4/5 at Fulton Street (or Wall Street), and transfer across the platform at Brooklyn Bridge for the uptown 6 train. (If you'd rather do the Union Square market first, stay on the 4/5 -- Union Square is the stop after Brooklyn Bridge on the express.)

thanks for the insight on Google Maps. Didn't realize that that was an option!

While you are in the neighborhood, you might want to take a break from the crowds and visit here - (especially if you were ever a MAD Magazine or New Yorker (cartoon) reader)
http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...rtoon-art.html

We arrive on a Friday afternoon and plan on spending all day Saturday touring (WTC, Statue of Liberty, Tenement Museum, Katz Deli, etc.) before heading back to the Prudential Center for the Andrea Boccelli concert.

suzski, is Saturday the day you'll also go to Lombardi's? If so, how about this for a plan:

1. Go to the Statue of Liberty *from the NJ side*. From all accounts, getting to Liberty Island from NJ is a much better experience than from Manhattan! And in any event, you'll want to do this as early in the day as possible (I believe the ferry starts at about 8am), because the lines and crowds can be terrible, especially on a weekend.

2. Then take the ferry to Manhattan (instead of back to NJ). Walk north along the Hudson through Battery Park City. When you reach the boat marina, cut through the Winter Garden -- you can get a snack or a cup of coffee in the food court -- and across to the WTC construction site.

3. Take the uptown N/R at Cortlandt Street to Prince Street to eat lunch at Lombardi's.

4. Walk to the Tenement Museum, which isn't far from here.

5. Finish with an early dinner at Katz' Deli. From here, since you will be fairly far east, it might be easiest to take the F subway at either Delancey or 2nd Ave uptown to 14th Street, where you can switch to the PATH back to NJ.

...As you can see, I haven't figured out how to fit in a Christmas Market (yet!)...

To include the Union Square Christmas Market, how about this:

3. Take the uptown N/R to 14th Street/Union Square. If you're at the front of the train, you will exit at the north end of the park, and into the farmers' market, which is in full swing on a Saturday. The Christmas Market is at the other end of the park (back end of the train when you exit).

3A. Take the downtown 6 train from Union Square -- the main entrance for this line is on the southeast side of the park -- 3 stops to Spring Street for your lunch at Lombardi's.

[Then do steps 4 & 5 above!]

I'm a little concerned about fitting in the Tenement Museum, since it operates by guided tour only. Instead, you could see the museum SueNYC mentioned. Or if you're interested in contemporary art, The New Museum is very close by on the Bowery. www.newmuseum.org

I think if you get an early start and don't spend more than an hour or so in any one place, you should be able to do it all in one day! I just hope you're not so exhausted that Andrea Boccelli ends up as a lullaby.

Sorry for not being clearer....the plan is to go to Lombardi's and the Christmas Market on Friday afternoon/evening. Saturday will then be devoted to locations listed in earlier post.

Bookmarking.

the tenement museum is really a must see,especially if you had relatives come thru NY from 1860 thru 30s--the tours take about 45 minutes,but you do need reservations--hope you go there.There is a protocal at Katz's too, if you want table service-go to the wall on the left--the waiter will be there quickly--the ohter tables are for those going to the counters.When you walk in the door, there'll be what looks like a sea of humanity,but theres actually 5 0r 6 guys making sandwiches.For some reason, folks always stay to the right,but there actually lines for each cutter--so look and see if there are shorter lines to your left.Tell the cutter if you want lean or fat meat,Im a lean person myself,and drop a tip in their jar,he'll give you more food.Its a cash deal,and dont lose the ticket they give you--thats how you pay at the end--if youur not familiar with NY Deli cusins,i lawys tell folks to get an agg cream and potatoe pancakes as well as a sandwich--its unique

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$1.00 -- that's all that's required to get a sandwich twice the size, but make sure he sees you do it!

I will just add one thing to the post above--the NYC tradition is not to get an egg cream with deli sandwiches.

We drink Dr. Brown's soda--either Cel-Ray or Black Cherry. Some people drink beer.

Egg creams are not a traditional deli item.

This is the famous place for egg creams:

http://nycfoodguy.com/2010/05/05/gem...est-egg-cream/

i was born and raised in the Bronx and since i dont live there any more,and cant get an egg cream where i live, i always get one there at Katz's when i visit every year. I agree,when i was a kid, we would get them at the corner "candy store", but theyre so good, does it matter where you get one, or what you eat with it, really.In fact i also get a beer,and make the egg cream my dessert

Agree that an egg cream would make a delicious dessert!

And, since those local candy stores have now been replaced by Duane Reades, banks, and nail salons, any place that makes an egg cream these days is a good place to indulge!

Katz Pastrami Sandwich (with $1 tip to preparer) and Egg Cream are now on my "must do" list. Thanks!

OMG, I'm salivating!

ekscrunchy said: "I will just add one thing to the post above--the NYC tradition is not to get an egg cream with deli sandwiches."

Myself, I think some traditions were made to be broken.

Though will agree that getting a Dr. Brown's soda is a terrific idea. Love all their flavors. Heck, I say get the sandwich, an egg cream, and a Dr. B's -- live it up.

And I know some folks get their pastrami (on rye) at Katz's lean. Just putting out a plug to get it "juicy," which is the not so lean version. It's the best sandwich I've ever had.