Rain on my NYC Itinerary!!??!!
 

We are going to NYC next week arriving Wed evening and staying at the Doubletree Times Square. I checked the forecast at Weather.com today and there is a 60% chance of rain on Fri and Sat. My itinerary was:
Thurs a.m. explore Times Square and Central Park or maybe double decker bus tour. Thrus afternoon shopping at H&M (16 year old daughter's first trip to NYC) Bloomingdales and maybe Macy's and Saks. Thur evening we have tickets to Wicked, plan pre-theater dinner but haven't chosen a restaurant. Friday was our big outdoor exploring day - first ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, subway to Brooklyn, pizza at Grimaldi's, walk back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge, have reservations for Lower East Side Tenemant Museum Tour at 2:30 or 3:00 then planned South Street Sea Port, World Trade Center Sight and Empire State Building. Saturday a.m. I'd taken Fodorite's suggestion to take bicycle tour of Central Park. We have tickets for Lion King Sat afternoon and no plans for the evening. I think I can move my Friday schedule to Thursday with exception of tenemant museum (there was no mention of rain chances on Thur.) We can shop on Friday a.m. instead of Thur. Need suggestions for Saturday a.m. (no art museums, I'd enjoy but DH and DD would not). And what about Central Park if it's raining. Do the horse-drawn carriages have tops to keep out the rain? I'd planned to walk most every where, even to the theater, but it doesn't sound nearly as appealing in the rain. Also, heard it's hard to catch a cab in the rain. Any tips? Of course we'll pack the raincoats and umbrellas and hopefully can enjoy ourselves even when it's raining.

The weather around here is never predictable that far ahead. Seriously, if it says it's going to rain five days from now, more often than not it will be sunny. Check the weather again on Tuesday.

If it's a light rain, I wouldn't do the carriage, the bike ride, or a double-decker bus tour but everything else is certainly doable & won't be ruined by the rain.

LOL at checking the weather a week in advance -- they're lucky if they can get it right 24 or even 12 hours ahead!

Rain in NYC is usually not a big deal - sometimes in August there are thunderstorms where it just teems - but the rest of the time its usually fairly light and sporadic - if it even rains at all when you're here.

My advice - wear a jacket with a hood (umbies are too much trouble unless the rain is heavy) and just ignore it.

Prepare for rain, but the forecast may very well change. I've been checking the forecast for this coming Saturday for a week and a half. Until this morning, rain, thunderstorms, high winds were predicted. Just check and forecast is for partly sunny, no rain, though much cooler.

Dear Paige.
As not to rain on your parade (lame joke).
Its getting very cool in NYC.
Some rain,nothing to stop you from exploring.
This is a very ambitious itinerary.
Double decker tour sounds good.
I dont know about that subway to Brooklyn.
Take a cab.
You might need advance tickets to
Liberty.Check.
Look into Union Square/14 st.
Try pre dinner at Candella.
Walk broadway to Houston st. if you have time.
Cross over to SoHo for an hour or 2.
Have fun.

Huh? Why wouldn't you take a subway to Brooklyn? I do it every day. So do tons of tourists. I'm always giving people directions to Grimaldi's/River Cafe/Ice Cream Factory as they exit the subway.

I agree the weather forecasters are useless. I also think at this time of year I wouldn't start rearranging schedules unless there's a downpour. The only thing you really can't do comfortably in the rain is walking the Brooklyn Bridge and sit upstairs in the open double decker.

On a separate note, if you want to go to a museum, DO IT and send them elsewhere. I can't imagine your daughter wouldn't love the costume section of the Met and DH might quite like arms and armour or the temple of Dendur or the scultpure court. Then there's always, when in doubt go
s h o p p i n g.

captbuzz, why not subway to Brooklyn? I want to ride the subway some while in NYC, are you just saying not to Brooklyn? Tell me a little more about Candella, location, cuisine, pricey??

I was really looking forward to walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and I think that is the activity that will most likely get nixed if we have rain. Along with my Central Park bike thing. How is the ferry to Ellis Island in the rain? I assume you can stay indoors. I was planning on staying on board at Liberty Island stop and getting off for Ellis Island only. What about Staten Island Ferry instead if we just want to go for the views?

Take a water taxi to Brooklyn - then Grimaldis is 3 walk from the pier!

Sorry - finger trouble! 3 minute walk to Grimaldis!

just a quick comment.
I took captbuzz's comment about
"I dont know about that subway to Brooklyn" to mean that he/she just is not familar with the specific train line/directions, just "doesn't know"--not as a negative comment like "you shouldn't go that way"!

annethered - do you catch water taxi in Battery Park?

There is a planned Battery Park stop on the Water Taxi route, but it's not open yet. You'd have to take it from either Pier 11 (a few blocks south of South St Seaport) of from the World Financial Center. Though it's a beautiful, quick ride, it's expensive and there are very few boats that stop in Dumbo (where Grimaldi's is). Look at www.nywatertaxi.com for schedules & prices.

There's no indication on that website Suzanne that Battery Park isn't open yet. It's on the maps, the drop down lists etc.

You're so lucky to be going to Wicked! I saw it a couple months ago. Best Broadway show ever! My advice - save dinner for AFTER the show. Have a drink and appetizer before. Hit Orzo afterwards (walking distance) and talk about the show. You'll be all keyed up and NYC is jumping after the theatre!! Have fun!!

Dear Paige.
There is a limited amount of tickets available to Liberty.
Get yours early on.
Candela is on east 16 st. they have a great pre fixe dinner and you can visit Zen Palate down the street to get your celebs watching out of the way.
Also good place to for a bite in the nabe is MESA GRILL(bobby flays joint).
Dont miss ABC store for cool shopping visit. You can get your subway ride out of your system that way.