Random NYC trip questions
 

1. We want to walk the Brooklyn Bridge toward Manhattan. Did anyone feel like it was scary? I mean the height? Or is it a solid type surface without holes looking down? We will have our 10 year old with us and don't want her to freak out half way across.

2. We will be driving back to Newark airport area rental car lot to drop off car from Pine Bush, NY. I want to schedule car service to pick us up and deliver us to hotel in Manhattan. Do I guesstimate time of arrival or wait until we get there to call?

3. If we only have half of one day for a museum, which should it be? I think too much art would get boring for girls. Natural History? Does the MET have all the artifacts from Egypt, etc? (sorry for my ignorance) We are planning to go to Brooklyn Botanical Garden, is the Brooklyn Museum worth the time?

4. Should I buy each person a Metro Card or could we share 2? I noticed it said that if we put over $10 on each, you get a little bit of bonus.

Thanks everyone!

1. I'm scared of heights and bridges, but I walked across the BB without a problem. Loved it.

2. Don't know.

3. The Met has arms & armor, and an extensive Egyptian collection. Also Tiffany and the American wing are great -- not just "art" as in paintings hanging on a wall. That would be my choice, although the AMNH is fantastic as well.

4. I am under the impression that up to 4 people can share one metro card if it's the pay-as-you-go kind. Each person has to have their own if its the unlimited kind.

1. The pedestrian walkway is a boardwalk, but you are above the car traffic. It's pretty solid but if you have a child who freaks out easily I'm not sure this is a good thing. Instead try walking halfway out from the Manhatten side. Much easier and faster. Same view. The walk from Brooklyn is over a mile, another consideration.

2. Make a reservation for the car service with your best guess at the time. Get back over to the baggage claim level of the terminal and then call for the actual pickup. A car will be dispatched in a few minutes.

3. The Met has a wide range of stuff including a giant Egyptian exhibit. If you get bored its also within proximity of many other sights and museums. But the Natural History museum does have an IMAX theater and a great planetarium show (though they both cost extra).

4. If its one adult and one child, you can easily share a single card, but you have to swipe twice everywhere. Two adults should get their own cards.

Four people can share a single card but that is a huge pain for both you and NYC commuters.

Take a look at the bridge walkway photos on the interwebs:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/br...bridge/?page=2

I see kids on the walk all the time, but if your child is afraid of heights, than I'm not the best judge of how appropriate it is. The photos might tell you more. The ground is solid concrete, no holes.

The subway, the noise and the cars might be an issue, but that's the full on NY experience.

One thing you could mention is that the BB is the sight of many comic superhero fights in the movies.

And the bonus on a $10 card is 70 cents. It's not worth the effort. Too bad they got rid of the one day pass - that was perfect for visitors.

The Brooklyn Museum has a wonderful Egyptology Department otherwise it is the poor sister of the better Manhattan museums.

A few yaers ago, it was the object of much criticsm in the art world for its poor exhibitions and choices for their permanent collection.

"The ground is solid concrete, no holes."

That is true for part of the walk, but the majority of the walk is on a wooden boardwalk as doug described. Yes, if you really, really try hard there are points where you can see between the wooden boards and see water, but you really really have to be looking for it. The walkway is between the lanes of traffic and elevated from traffic level. There is so much to see around you--the view, the structure-- that I don't think you should be concerned. My 7- and 9-year-old nephews walked across without a concern about the height, and one of them is usually concerned about such things.

The bonus IS worth the effort if you put a lot more than $10 on the card, which I assume you will do if you have 2 or 4 people sharing, since $10 will get you only 4 rides and $1 change. But, yes, in order to get the bonus of a full $2.25 fare, you need to put at least $32 on the MetroCard. May or may not be good for you.

With kids I would start with natural history - which has all the dinos you could ever want to see, a wonderful gems/minerals exhibit and an incredible human evolution presentation. Also IMAX movies.

I think the Met is also great for almost everyone - but I've been going since I was a small child - and remember my 5 year old brother trying to get into one of the sarcophagi - since he wanted to being home his own mummy. Also look at the Temple of Dendur, arms & armor, the Costume Institute and the Impressionist paintings (about as accessible as art can get).

BUT - you could easily spend several days in either place so definitely go to the websites and pick out what you want to see in advance - and how to get there - which floors you need to be on.

ok, why go to Brooklyn but not take the kids to Coney Island? huh? Kids usually dont go for modern or impressionism art; but do for rides.

DO NOT share with 4 adults! I've seen cops give tickets for double dipping. Do get $10 each; then when they run out just combine left overs unto single card.
Also, you have 2 hours for a free bus to subway transfer.

It's not double-dipping -- sharing is permitted on a card that deducts per ride. (and an unlimited ride card gets locked out after each use for something like 18 minutes)

POMAH, most "modern" kids who have grown up at Disney World, Universal, etc., find Coney Island very, very "lame". How sad to take kids away from the glorious sites and wonderful museums of New York City so that what they remember is that "run down park with lame rides". If the 10 year old has never been to a real theme park, then perhaps he'd be fascinated.

1. Good answers above.

2. Do you need a car service? A taxi will also make the trip and you need not worry about timing.

3. With a ten year old, I would absolutely pick Natural History over the Met. I love them both, but the NH is a better choice for this outing. What about adding the Brooklyn Zoo to your Brooklyn excursion?

4. I agree, 3 or 4 cards work much better and add the benefit of bus transfers for all.

TC, taxis from EWR into Manhattan are significantly more expensive than a car service. It will cost the OP at least $30 more that way. So not a good choice.

Everyone gets a bus transfer even if they are sharing a card. In the bus you actually only have to swipe once when you are receiving a subway to bus transfer. All the transfers are recorded at the same time.

Every car service I've ever used tracks the flights and knows when to show up at the airport. It's their problem, not yours.

You might consider the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. They have a spectacular display now through October 21st on Monet's Gardens. http://www.nybg.org/ Take Metro North from Grand Central -- twenty minutes.

Sorry if I misinformed. Doesn't the OP say she is "driving" to Newark rental car lot? I thought they were worried about making an arranged time schedule. Just thought of taxi as a no-hassle alternative even if the cost is slightly more. Car service will charge extra for wait time if they are late arriving in their rental car, so cost could be the same or even less.

Didn't know about the bus transfer, Doug. I thought it was somehow linked to the card. I do agree that swiping 4 times at each entrance is a big pain, though.

My fault for stopping at "airport"!

<<<I do agree that swiping 4 times at each entrance is a big pain, though>>>

Me three. I also don't see the point, but I didn't want people to think you were doing something illegal :-)

the walk is fantastic, safe and not a problem... may be very hot however.. go late in afternoon??

most car services will charge a few for wait time

s/b a "fee for wait time"

1. Keep in mind that the BB is undergoing renovations, so part of the bridge is covered over for painting. The temporary walls don't rise up as high as the pedestrian walkway (which is higher/above the cars), and being on the outer part of the bridge don't come close to the walkway in the middle. Nonetheless, they *will* interfere with some of your views and photo ops. The painting/walls area has now moved closer to the Manhattan side than the Brooklyn one, where they started.

2. I'd make the reservation as others have suggested, then call the car service from your cellphone as you approach the rental check-in point.

3. Sadly, IMO the Brooklyn Museum's best element is the "new" glass-and-steel addition to the front of the building. When you go to the BBG, certainly take some time to admire the adjacent BMA. There are some fountains on the left side designed for kids to play in. www.brooklynmuseum.org

Please take the time to look at the websites for the Met and the AMNH (metmuseum.org and amnh.org). Each will give you a good sense of what they show! sf7307 is right that the Met is so much more than paintings. It's also the setting for one of my favorite books as a kid, "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler". As for the AMNH, it's so much more than dinosaur bones! A huge suspended whale, lifesize dioramas, a newly renovated evolution area, and the gorgeous Rose Center - to name a few. My niece and nephew both loved both from the time they were small. Up to you to figure out which would interest your kids more.

4. Yes, it is legal for the pay-per-fare card to be swiped up to 4 times at any one time. Yes, you get a free subway/bus and certain bus/bus* transfer within 2 hours of initial swipe; if on that first ride you swiped the card twice, the transfer will automatically be for two as well. The MTA has a good description on their Fares page: http://mta.info/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm

* Bus to bus transfers cannot be in opposite directions, e.g., riding the M4 uptown to the Met and then the M1 down to midtown.

<i>most "modern" kids who have grown up at Disney World, Universal, etc., find Coney Island very, very "lame". How sad to take kids away from the glorious sites and wonderful museums of New York City so that what they remember is that "run down park with lame rides".</i>

Neo, while I would never suggest a trek all the way out to Coney Island to the OP who has stated she has limited time, I am pretty appalled at your outdated and erroneous statement.

For starters, there is a brand-new Luna Park with top-rated rides; this is only the third summer it's been open.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_Park,_Coney_Island
http://www.lunaparknyc.com/

I know plenty of "modern" kids who find Coney Island anything but lame. And that's despite having been to "modern" parks all over the country. In addition to Luna Park, the historic Cyclone and Wonder Wheel are quite thrilling to ride, which may be why they are still in use with people queuing up for them every summer weekend.

Is the Coney Island neighborhood pristine? Certainly not. But the boardwalk is timeless; the beach cleaner than it has been in decades; and the subway stations renovated and efficient. In fact, the whole thing has the stamp of Mayor Mike on it as much as the parks along the Hudson or Brooklyn Bridge Park.

ggreen, maybe you missed my point, or perhaps I didn't make it very clear. First of all I'm well aware of what Coney Island is like today. While I haven't been there this season, I was there just last May. While spending a month in New York, I love a trip out to the boardwalk, a hotdog at Nathan's, a visit to the aquarium and yes a ride or two. Sure, kids living in New York would love it, and even if they have been to Disney World, something in their own "backyard" and easy to get to would be wonderful fun. But there's no way to even begin to compare the rides to "World of Harry Potter" or "Expedition Everest.

But we're talking about a family traveling to New York City from another part of the country for a very limited time-- somewhere that offers a lot of wonderful treasures that can't be matched anywhere else in this country. To go there and spend a day of the very limited time by going to Coney Island just seems like such a bad idea -- unless you really want to protect and shelter a 10 year old from any great learning or cultural experiences that he can't at home.

By the way car services do not charge for waiting time at EWR if you don't ask them to meet you at the gate. That's why they ask you to make a reservation and then call when you are ready. You might wait 5 more minutes (occasionally 10), but you don't pay for the wait time, just the ride. But you do need to know the approximate time you want the car to pick you up and to use that for the reservation.

In this case, the OP calls after arriving back at the terminal from the car-rental facility, not upon dropping off the car. The point is to be ready to meet the car when it arrives, and you need to be at the baggage claim level of the terminal to do that. I really doubt that a car would meet someone at the car-rental lot, but it's possible. They should call and ask.

nstevey, actually, if you go all the way across the Brooklyn bridge it is NOT solid concrete, it's boards with spaces in between that you can see down into the water through. I'm not afraid of heights but that did kind of creep me out, so I stopped looking down! My kids noticed too but it didn't bother them.

Doug, while I've never done it at Newark, I have had a car service both pick me up and take me to car rental agencies. It's the best way for a situation like this as it avoids talking one form of transportation to the airport then another to the rental agency. In fact, I recall one driver telling me how much he liked that as it's so much easier for them to get to and pick up a passenger at the car rental place than at the regular arrivals hall.

Neo, I prefaced my statement with "I would never suggest a trek all the way out to Coney Island to the OP". I voiced my opinion because, from your comment of a "run down park with lame rides", there was zero indication that you'd been there in the last 3 years, since neither is currently true.

FWIW, I wasn't including "kids living in New York" in the ones I know who love to go there - though I too could have been more clear. Actually, the kids I know who live in NYC don't like to go out there as much as the visiting ones do! (Things in one's own backyard seldom seem as fun or exotic...)

I don't think anyone compares the rides at Coney Island to ones at huge amusement parks. It's just a very different experience, fun in its own way, and a nice respite for kids who aren't into spending all their time in museums. (I repeat that I don't think the OP should trek out there on this trip - but she did say "I think too much art would get boring for girls.")

<i>unless you really want to protect and shelter a 10 year old from any great learning or cultural experiences that he can't at home</i>

Again, it all depends on what you mean by "cultural experience"!! (BTW the 10-year-old is a girl. Who, if the BB might unnerve her, probably doesn't want to go on the Cyclone anyway!)

<i>I really doubt that a car would meet someone at the car-rental lot, but it's possible</i>

Doug, I have done exactly that on more than one occasion. Though I agree, not at Newark (since I never drop off a rental here!).

It's SO much easier for all parties involved.

<i>The point is to be ready to meet the car when it arrives, and you need to be at the baggage claim level of the terminal to do that.</i>

You just need to have all your stuff out of the rental car and waiting on the side of the car rental area in a place where the livery cab can drive in. Returning the rental car these days is super-quick, the only delay being a backup with other returning cars if there isn't enough staff to handle it all at once.

I have zero experience returning a rental car to a NYC area airport, so I just can't say whether or not this would work. I agree that it can be done many places in the world, but the NYC area seems to defy normalcy in these kinds of situations.

But the system at EWR is set up to easily and quickly dispatch cars to the airport.

Depending on where the car-rental lots are, cars may pick people up there ... or not. Or perhaps they will but for an extra fee and for an extra wait. A simple and quick phone call to one of the two major car services would seem to be in order: Dial 7 or Carmel. So I'd suggest the OP do that and find out the actual answer.

ggreen, we'll have to agree to disagree. This thread was about a specific family going to New York. I treated the suggestion of going to Coney Island as a suggestion to them -- not a general statement about an amusement park. I think for them it was a lousy suggestion. You can wax on poetic all you wish about what a fantastic place Coney Island is, but it still has nothing to do with the initial reference in this thread or my response to it.

As to the quality of the place -- maybe you need to get out more. "Lame" and "run down" are relative terms. It may not be as lame or as run down as it was 10 or 15 years ago, but compared to destination theme parks it IS run down. A coat of fresh paint on an old chain link fence (yes, there are lots of those there) is a far cry from a few thousand dollars worth of landscaping. Cracked sidewalks and worn concrete paths between rides squeezed together in very limited space seem run down compared to "cobblestone" or decorative trails among water features, lakes, fountains, and bridges one might be accustomed to at a first rate park. While there are a couple "decent" rollercoasters at Coney Island, the vast majority of rides are indeed "lame" compared to the latest technology at other theme parks.

You might love Olive Garden or TGI Fridays, but I'll reserve my right to consider them "lame" as far as restaurants go. Same with Coney Island. If that makes me an elitist, so be it. But that's my right.

OK, everyone thanks for the replies. I personally don't have any interest in Coney Island and we don't really have time for that sort of thing. I think the Bridge will be fine. We will probably do the Met anyway. And I will call the car service in advance. Thanks for always being there with ready answers.

oregonmom, sorry we got off on a pretty unrelated track here. Have a great time in the City!

Coney Island is a great place and we took our kids there often. It's just another piece of what makes New York City unique, kind of like Times Square. (and just as gritty, I suppose). Our grands are fascinated that there is a Beach in NYC!

Anyway, there's just no way to see it all during one trip and everything you've chosen to see and do is wonderful, OregonMom.

Have a great trip! (and please report back!)

At The Met, make sure younsee the Temple of Dendur.

There are many beaches in NYC - several of them better than Coney Island.

IMHO there is so much to see and do in NYC that you can;t find anywhere else - that spending a day at Coney Island is a waste, Kids are never too young to absorb the joy of learning that the huge number of museums (many with exhibits specially for kids) impart.

Well, it's true that you're not missing much if you miss Coney Island. But, if you ever get the chance to go there....let us know what you think.

I am from the Northwest and Coney Island was also briefly mentioned to me before my trip to the City. I would not want to spend $250-$300 a night in lodgings for my family to stay in Manhattan, and then go to Coney Island. There are similar or better amusement parks in Seattle and Portland and no lodging costs entailed.

I would like to propose the idea to rent bikes and bike around Central Park. You can do this at the Boathouse. I also read decent things on Yelp about Bike and Roll, another rental company. Go early before it gets too hot. We went on a Sunday morning, and it was great. About a 6 mile ride around the park. You do have to walk your bikes on the side paths. Also, someone has to watch the bikes if the kids want to ride the carousel.

FYI -- The renewal of Coney Island, from today's NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/ny...ef=todayspaper

Great article, Fra_Diavolo. This was included: "Honky tonk, but in a good way." That sums it up for me! I really like Coney Island. It's fun. Maybe it's more fun for residents than visitors?

I don't think anyone here -- including me -- was trying to put down Coney Island or say it isn't fun. It was just that as a "destination" amusement park or for being worthy of a full day of a very limited trip to NYC which is packed with so many extraordinary things, it just doesn't seem to measure up. "More fun for residents than visitors?" Sure -- of course. I was speaking for those making a 'pilgrimage' to Coney Island from afar. Not really worth in my book unless they really aren't very familiar with theme parks. But if it were in their backyard and a short train ride away? Of course, it would be a fantastic way to spend a day, half day, or evening!