Tentative New York Itinerary?
 

Hi Everyone!
My best friend and I have 9 full days in New York over the Labour Day weekend - but let's not kid ourselves, 5 of 'em will mostly be involving shopping, shopping, and more shopping!

We have however, allotted 3-4 days for tourist-y things and must dos, and they are as follows:

SUNDAY:
-brunch at Balthazar's (reservations made already)
-Greenwich Village
-Times Square/Midtown-ish (not sure what else to do, but figured we'll explore this area)

MONDAY (Labour Day):
-MoMA; opens at 10:30am (possible smaller lineup - but it's a holiday so i'm unsure???)
-Serendipity
-3:00pm Sex and the City Bus Tour
-Central Park
-Empire State Building (watch sunset)

TUESDAY:
-walk Brooklyn bridge (back to Manhattan)
-Chinatown
-Little Italy (have dinner there)

Wednesday is still undetermined so I think we'll make it a bit of a free day for things we didn't get a chance to do (or rather, stores we have to go back to!). I'm wondering about possibly swapping Monday's schedule to Wednesday b/c MoMA might not be as busy on a weekday? (they are closed Tuesdays).

We want to experience New York City while in New York without feeling too rushed or like we're hardcore tourists so we hope to just pick random restaurants, or places to go see within all these neighbourhoods, unless otherwise scheduled (i.e. ESB and MoMA).

What do you guys think???

If you're brunching at Balthazar, I would skip Times Square on Sunday and stick around Soho a bit, then head to NoLita--you said shopping, right? :-) then up to the Village. Nolita is east from the restaurant and you'll find tons of trendy shops and boutiques. (Unless you already had that area in one of your shopping itineraries). Times Square doesn't offer much except ogling the billboards and street vendors selling overpriced junk to tourists, unless you're heading to the theater. Also, there isn't much of Little Italy left anymore. A couple of blocks, just south of NoLiTa. And the restaurants there might disappoint. Better off eating in Chinatown

ttt

Most museums are closed on Monday and I'm pretty sure MoMA is; I'd double check that.

Also, Serendipity will have a two hour wait if you do not get there by 11AM for lunch.

If MoMA isn't closed, I would go there, take my time then walk over to the Boat House in Central Park for lunch. I'd do a long lunch then head down to your SATC tour.

As far as the SATC tour, I'd skip that and pick another tour. You can easily watch a few episodes, write down a few of their tragically hip locales, visit them, stop by Manolo Blahnik on West 54th and you've saved yourself the cost of the tour.

I agree with budzilla to skip Times Square on the Sunday. There's plenty to see in the village, Nolita and Soho.

As to the museum, the Met is staying open on holiday Mondays so maybe MOMA is too but double check.

Didn't expect to be, but was soooo awed by Ellis Island. Took audio tour. We took boat to Statue of Liberty but skipped the tour because we stayed so long at Ellis Island. Unfortunately, you need to get to the ticket place early early early. Enjoy New York!

MOMA is open Mondays and closed on Tuesdays.

PS: mclaurie is correct about the Met. It will be open on Labor Day.

ps-Does MOMA have "Free Fridays"??? If so, that will free up more shopping money!

Thank you for the responses!

Yes, you will see several areas unmentioned because we will be in those neighbourhoods obsessively during our "shopping" days. i.e. NoLita and SoHo, Midtown/Lower East Side (?) (Bergdorf and Bloomingdale's etc)

Great! looks like we'll enjoy an afternoon in the village on Sunday and maybe just pass through Times Square to see the billboards and such but we'll know not to expect too much.

I have confirmed with MoMA that they are infact open. Do you guys think it'll be busy because it's Labour Day??

GoTravel, thanks for the advice on Serendipity! I should have known it would be busy so I'm on it to make reservations today. I am going to try and make 1:00pm reservations which will give us about 2 hours for MoMA (doable?).

If Little Italy isn't much of a walk, do you suppose we could do the Brooklyn Bridge, go through Chinatown and Little Italy - and still be able to go through Tribeca all in the same day (or will our shopping excursions take us through here anyways?).

You guys are fabulous. Thanks again!

I have no idea why Serendipity is such a hit, the food is just ok and the atmosphere is cutesy. There are so many other GREAT restaurants in the city, and there is ALWAYS a line. Since you are only here a few days, I would not bother with it.

I would suggest getting a Zagat Guide, since you are going to be all over the city, you might want to have a good reference with you.

There's a fairly new DSW and Filene's Basement at 14th St and Union Square, in the old Bradley's building.

Have a great time while you are here.

wantsomesun, i didn't actually want to have lunch at serendipity but apparently you can't make reservations just for dessert. so without the hassle of a lineup, i figured we'll have a few small things and go for the frozen hot chocolate - that's the only thing we really want to go there for! :)

thanks for the shopping tips around union square, we'll be sure to check it out!

<<If Little Italy isn't much of a walk, do you suppose we could do the Brooklyn Bridge, go through Chinatown and Little Italy - and still be able to go through Tribeca all in the same day (or will our shopping excursions take us through here anyways?).>>

You will pass through Tribeca on your way up to Chinatown. What are you looking for there? Tribeca is architecturally interesting (mainly the western part) and has a few funky furniture & home design stores and scattered good restaurants. It's one of my favorite areas of the city.

Italy is TWO blocks long, which means it will only take 2 minutes to walk through! Expect to be hounded by maitre d's from the various restaurants, trying to get you to come inside. Besides restaruants there are a couple of shops that sell cheese & other Italian specialties to take home.

I do the Bklyn Bridge/Tribeca/Chinatown/Soho walk almost every weekend. It's not a long distance at all.

Hi, You should go to times square and hit the TKTS booth and get 1/2 price theatre tickets for that day.

To answer an earlier question, MOMA is free on Fridays after 5 p.m.

And to answer another question, MOMA should not be that busy on Labor Day, when New York City, in general, is not that busy.

I don't really understand Suzanne's post about "You'll walk thru tribeca on your way to Chinatown" - if you're coming off the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, Tribeca is directly west of the bridge, past City Hall - Chinatown is north and east of the BB.
Directly off the bridge you can go straight and hit Tribeca (the TRIangle BElow CAnal Street) or make a right turn and walk up to Chinatown.A look at a map would be a good idea, to plot out your day - it's all doable, as long as you wear comfortable shoes and drink plenty of water.
Labor Day is a great weekend to be here - the island is deserted in several neighborhoods- the upper east side and Tribeca, especially. But Labor Day evening - it's almost fun to sit outside on the stoop and watch all the people returning from vacation, gamely fighting for a parking space so they can unpack the car!

The best view of Manhatten is from the circle line cruise around the island. it's relaxing and you really see the island. If you have anice day go upt to the Cloisters, it's not religious.

Thank you everyone for their inputs! I am very excited to finally visit New York City.

I have become more and more familiar with the layout of Manhattan so I'm pleased that our tentative itinerary will work. These days, I think I look more at this Adobe New York Map I have on my desktop than I do work! :)

See you all in the Big Apple!

One more comment about Serendipity. It's fun and an "institution" and I do understand that everyone should go there at least once (especially if you have kids) but if the line is too long, or you are strapped for time, I agree that the food and desserts are not that great, given the explosion of chocolate and dessert chefs in the last decade. Better to skip going there on Labor Day and instead tack it on your Bloomingdale's/Bergdorf's spree, since it's right around the corner from Bloomie's. Then you could walk up Lex or Madison and do more shopping --jeez, can you tell my favorites pastimes are shopping and chocolate? :-) If you want to taste an ethereal frozen hot chocolate, try (among others) Jacques Torres (either in Brooklyn or in the West Village) or City Bakery near Union Square. Way better than Serendipity.

Thanks Budzilla - you are a girl after my own heart! I don't know much that can beat shopping and chocolate. I like your idea about doing Serendipity during the day we hit Bloomingdale's/Bergdorf. And then maybe as GoTravel suggested, do a long lunch instead at Central Park before SATC tour on Labour Day.

Since you seem to know a thing or two about shopping, maybe i can tell you our shopping itinerary? Any other comments welcome naturally!

WEDNESDAY
- Arriving late afternoon meaning we'll probably just relax, but we hope to maybe hit the Barney's Warehouse sale!!

THURSDAY (before Labour Day)
-Century 21 (we're obssessed enough to be there at 7:45am open!)
-work our way up North from there into SoHo/Nolita

FRIDAY
-Fifth Ave/57th Street

SATURDAY
-Woodbury Commons

Keep in mind we'll be hitting the village on Sunday, and Tribeca after our walk over the bridge on Tuesday. and we have Wednesday the week after for a free day to maybe go back to Soho/Nolita or anywhere else if need be.

Hmm, why does it seem like suddenly we don't have enough shopping days in our itinerary??? :)

Am assuming that you are mostly doing clothes/accessories/shoe shopping. So here's another tome of comments. The city is slow in August, which is why I think more people haven't chimed in with shopping suggestions.

I haven't been to the Barneys sale in several years so can't give you much info on that front. I guess I never really found that much for myself there and I gave up. Definitely check it out, though, cause others come back with great bargains.

Century 21 - Getting there at 7:45 is NOT obsession, it's PRACTICALITY. Absolutely get up early and be there when they open. The dressing room lines are usually awful, just awful, and the designer clothes selling floor is a mess, except really early in the am. Communal dingy dressing rooms, so dress to undress: slip-on shoes, easy on&off clothes. Do the clothes shopping first, then go down to the basement (sheets, towels, home goods) then around the corner to the shoes, where even in the middle of the day, the crowds are tolerable. Of course, all this may be moot if the city is totally dead that week but even if the locals aren't around, the tourists will be.

There is another discount shoe place called "Anbar" on either Duane or Reade Street, which is a few blocks north of Century 21. It's not a visitor stop, in fact a lot of the locals don't know about it. I hope it's still there :-) I haven't been in a year or so. So on your walk uptown, stop by there too. Not much decent to eat near Century 21, so walk up to Tribeca. A couple of places to consider for coffee and simple lunch or sweets: Kitchenette on West Broadway; Bubbys on Hudson Street;or Bouley (not the restaurant proper, but the little sit-down place with sandwiches and snacks)(might be closed that week, so double check)

The downtown thing - Soho, Nolita, Village, can easily take the whole day. Keep in mind that a lot of the Nolita shops might open later and keep later hours. Might want to call a few places you plan to hit to get a feeling for how late you can shop. Tons of places for sweets and eats.

Does the bus to Woodbury run on Fridays? If so, I would swap your Friday and Saturday itinerary, the reason being that Woodbury is a zoo on the weekends, and Fifth Avenue/57th Streets won't be too bad on SAturday because so many of the locals are away.

FYI, Fifth Avenue in midtown is mostly large chain stores (H&M, Banana Republic, etc.) so if you are looking for that, start in the mid 40s (Streets). If you're looking for higher end, start at 50th Street at Saks (Teuscher, Richart or Maison du Chocolate chocolates all in the immediate vicinity), walk up to Bendel's, Felissimo, Takashimaya, then Bergdorf's.

More info:
Check these web sites for info on current sample sales. If I don't have the web address correct, just google:
www.dailycandy.com
www.manhattanusersguide.com
www.nymetro.com (this is the website for New York Magazine, which lists sample sales each week)

There is also a site
www.menupages.com
that lists menus from a lot of different NYC restaurants. Not all participate, but it's another information resource.

One more thing: There are a couple of other discount stores that you *might* want to check out but only if you have extra time or are passing by: Daffy's (several locations), TJMaxx, Loehmann's. DAffy;s doesn't always have name brand goods, but sometimes you can find decent clothing bargains there. TJMaxx is better in the suburbs than in the city, but their linen/sheet prices are often lower than Century 21 . Loehmann's, if you're passing by, is worth a walk-around, but not a special trip.

Any more questions?? :-)

I wonder if it means I have a problem when reading all about the shopping brought a sweet happy tear to my eye, Budzilla! hehe. I now have to save even more money for shopping!!!

Yes, we're not much for the chain stores, just H&M, so most likely we'll hit that but head straight to the 50's. A few of those stops will mostly be for "sightseeing" - I don't really expect to drop any money at Bergdorf's - maybe the cheapest pair of socks they have! j/k :)

We're actually catching a ride to Woodbury Commons on Sat so unfortunately we won't be able to change the itinerary.

Thanks for the sample sale links! The only one I have been looking at is topbutton.com and I haven't seen anything around those dates yet. I will have to check again the week before we go.

We will DEFINITELY check out Anbar!!! Where should we head after that? Straight into SoHo? I believe there is a section in Tribeca with unique shops but the street fails me now (my shopping "notes" are at home).

We'll have a full day on Thursday beginning with Century 21 - and the entire day for Tribeca/SoHo/Nolita - and then Sunday will be entirely for the village. But perhaps we need to do more SoHo/Nolita on Friday, because I think we would buy more stuff there than places like Sak's and Tiffany's (!). We really want to just swing by and breathe in this renowned area.

Here's the thing - we decided to do the crazy shopping days right at the beginning because of the Tax Free Week you guys are having - do you suppose we should maybe save Fifth Ave/57th Street for the week after because it's more high end? We want fairly affordable fashions, edging into good name brands (less Gap, more Diesel / less fancy, more local trendy but affordable) but bloomingdale's IS part of that area.....

I think New York City is really welcoming us because I just found out they have extended the New York Restaurant Week too til Sept 5th! Yay!

Budzilla, you have been a HUGE help. You have provided more tips than I could have ever expected (though I know Fodorites never disappoints). I cannot say thank you enough. We'll think of you when we (hopefully) lug tons of clothes/shoes/accessories home with us!!

Just FYI, there is a Diesel store right accross the street from Bloomingdale's on Lex. There's also an H&M across the street from Bloomie's on 3rd. Be sure to include the frozen yogurt from Bloomie's (available in the cafe in the basement - I prefer the plain with raspberry sauce and honey) on your tour of sweets.

Have never been, but from what I have heard, I would skip the SATC tour as well. Better just to go to the places and live the life, right? Let me know if you need suggestions.

Have fun!!

Just one more thing which I hope will help/warn others, too. TopButton CHARGES for their listings. I was annoyed when I found out and I personally don't like a policy that excludes so many of the local manufacturers and designers who just can't afford to advertise like that. The other listings services are editorial. Also, TimeOut has sample sale listings, too. Check not just the latest week, but the past several weeks' worth of listings. I think the tax-free only applies to purchases less than $110 (someone chime in here if I'm wrong), so yes, it will be less valuable a discount in Bergdorf's and the more expensive stores.

Yes, that is correct - tax free applies to all clothing and shoes less than U$110.00. I guess I'll still have to pay tax on those Manolos! haha :)

Is the SATC tour really not worth going on? I just thought for U$35, they will take us everywhere and we wouldn't have to have the hassle of figuring out how to get to these places on our own? (i.e. Aidan's furniture store, Carrie's stoop, etc)

I think we New Yorkers are rather jaded about tours. I know I am. That said, they are time savers if you want to get the most general feel for somewhere or if you are interested in something specific. If you two really want to do the SATC tour, go for it. It will be fun, you will get to see the city; to find all those sites on your own will take way more time and effort, and you have plenty of other days to explore. So enjoy it and consider it the one really kitschy touristy thing you'll do. By the way, where are you coming from? Somewhere in the UK?

We are both actually from Canada (Vancouver). I wish we were from the UK! - We did a trip two yrs ago to London and Paris and fell in love with them. We have no doubt this will ring true as well for New York!

I always wondered why there's such a big line in front of Serendipity. When I want overpriced touristy food I go to the Carnegie Deli on 7th ave. It hurts but how can you say no to a sandwich the size of your head? For a regular nice dinner I'd check out Serafina, on 61st st I believe. Great Italian. There are a few good quizzes on getting around NYC here (subways & such):

www.plentysmart.com

Yet more comments re: shopping. The September issue of Lucky Magazine (that bastion of capitalistic excess!)has a good overview of the New York shopping neighborhoods and some interesting shops. If you can pick up a copy, it might be useful.

Also, and you might already know this, major stores give a one-day discount if you open a charge account that day. I was reminded of this when I saw the Barneys Warehouse Sale ad. I don't want to advocate debt acquisition, but if you're bargain hunting and you don't have store charge cards, why not fill out the applications and get the 10% or whatever off (off your entire purchase, regardless of whether you're buying sale or regular priced merchandise). If you'll be too tempted to make future use of the cards, just get the account for the day, make a vow to rip up the permanent charge card when it's mailed to you, and make a note on your calendar to cancel after around a year (when you cancel a credit card here in the states, it actually negatively affects your credit rating). Don't know if that's true in Canada.

Be sure to ask when you get to Woodbury Common about daily deals, too. Sometimes there are additional discounts if you purchase a certain amount (I always keep these things in mind if I'm shopping with friends - sometimes we can pool our purchases to get better deals)

While I have been guilty of signing up for a few retail credit cards myself for that mere purpose, I have since found that it is best not to tempt yourself. In Canada, they really do take a look at your historical record of signing up for such cards and even if you do cancel them afterwards, like Budzilla said, it can indeed negatively affect your rating. When your credit history is reviewed, they don't just look at existing debt, but everything that you've ever gotten your grubby shopaholic hands on. Er, so let's just say I've already got a few under my belt so I've barred myself from doing this! :)

Good call on the daily deals at Woodbury ...

Since this thread has so obviously turned onto the subject of shopping (hey, it IS the majority of our itinerary! ;b) - is Filene's Basement a hit and miss? is it worth going???

Definitely hit or miss. Don't go out of your way for Filene's. If you pass by one, sure go in, but it's not a destination. The better merchandise seems to now go to other discount chains and to stores' own outlets.

I strongly agree with the above posts.As a new Yorker we alway avoid times Square but I undrstand it is a must see for visitors.If ou have the time drie through at night.The lights are amazing.It sounds like yo are going to have a great time

Hi, I'm on my first (but definitely not last!) visit to NY and am having a ball. Bloomingdales give a discount card (30 days)and Macys (1day) - both 11%. Just produce your drivers licence or other ID to establish your Visitor status. Don't need Passport. If you buy a New York City Pass, you get 15% at Bloomingdales (1 day). The City Pass costs $53 & covers entry to the Guggenheim, MoMA, Empire State, American Museum of Natural History,Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum, a Circle Line sightseeing cruise. It's valid for 9 days from first day of use. Does NOT cover the Met.