Hi,we are flying in from the UK at the beginning of october and have a few questions for the experts on the board.First off we are staying in the Murray Hill district and am interested to know what it , and the surrounding areas are like for shopping and eating out.We are there for 5 nights so looking for some nice restaurants and bars,also looking for a few recommendations for a Broadway show,read somewhere about Speed the Plow, is it any good and how easy is it to get tickets for it. This is my first post on this board so looking forward to any replies, cheers.

Murrary Hill district is primarily residential and fairly quiet - but pleasant and relatively central.

There are many different areas for shopping depending on what you're looking for - basic or moderate dep't stores, upscale dep't stores, designer shops, trendy boutiques or discounters. You need to give us a clue.

Can't comment on restaurants since that's an ares I'm seldom in.

But - there are great restaurants all over the city and I suggest you pick ones in several different neighborhoods (perhaps with an outdoor cafe if the weather is good) to try on differnet evenings.

In many areas shops are open late (til midnight in some trendy ones) and you can window or real shop before or after dinner.

bigstevie:

October is a lovely time to visit NYC.

Which hotel are you staying at in Murray Hill? Lots of inexpensive diners in the area for meals. Are you looking for something more high end for the evening?

Try broadwaybox.com or playbill.com for discount tickets.

Sandy

Thanks for the replies so far,we are staying in the Affinia Dumont hotel in Murray Hill and not anything to fancy for dinner, casual dress is my style. As for shopping, have heard varying reports about century21,woodbury common and jersey gardens.Some up to date info would be useful,will also be looking for cd's and dvd's for myself, so any help on that front would be great.Cheers again.

Hey, Steve,

While Woodbury Commons is a very large shopping center outlet mall, it is located about 50 miles from Manhattan without easy access. You might have to rent a car or hire a limo to get there.

As for DVDs, make sure that they are in your format (PAL, not NTSC) and region (here they are region 1). You shouldn't have any problem with CDs, but they are much cheaper digitally.

Oh, and don't buy any of the pirated DVDs on Canal Street. Chances are that they are not any good.

You can take public transport to Woodbury Commons. Go to this link - you'll see "Via bus" and "Via train".
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet...tions.asp?id=7

On the Short Line Coach USA, East Side option, under Via Bus, I would think the stop at 33rd St. and 3rd Ave. would be the most convenient for Murray Hill.

Woodbury Commons is a nice place to shop, as it's not a mall, but a lot of shops right next to each other, in a very nice setting, that's particularly nice in the fall.

However, coming from England, shopping generally around Manhattan you'll find many bargains, simply thanks to the exchange rate. You may prefer to use your time wandering the neighborhoods, and stopping in stores you see. There are a couple of boutiques around Murray Hill, and if you walk west along 34th street, you'll see most of the popular American stores, including Macy's (34th street is similar to Oxford street).

One of my favorite places to eat in Murray Hill is the Waterfront Ale House (it's not quite on the Waterfront, so don't expect a place along the river). They have an interesting selection of beers, and good bar food, and you can help yourself to popcorn while you're waiting for your food. It's located on 30th Street and 2nd avenue.
I'm not familiar with brooklyn location listed on the website.
http://www.waterfrontalehouse.com/

Enjoy your stay!

There are many inexpensive and moderately priced restaurants and bars in the neighborhood of the Dumont, especially along Third Avenue and also Second Avenue south of 34th St. Also on Lexington Ave below 30th St there is a sort of "Little India," with a concentration of Indian restaurants near 28th St.

Speed the Plow is one of my favorite Mamet plays. Oddly, although this upcoming production should be excellent, it is the recent production at the Old Vic in London with Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum I really wanted to see (but didn't).

I haven't checked on tickets, so not sure how readily available they are. The show only starts previews the first week of October. Go to www.playbill.com and you can find the Broadway listings, then click "buy tickets" for Speed the plow and it will take you to the Telecharge site. They will hold tickets at the box office if you check that option. You can also click on the seating chart right there so you can see what tickets are being offered. If you don't like the seats offered, you can click "choose the next best seats for this performance". The first offered may not be the best (depending on where you like to sit).

Century 21 is fun but it can become quite hectic. It's across the street, in case you didn't know, from Ground Zero.

We love Sarge's Deli on 3rd between 36h and 37th - maybe five minutes (if you walk slowly) from your hotel. Open 24/7.

There are so many shopping options in Manhattan - and sales constantly (we're not limited to certain times of year) in almost every store - as well as discounters like Century 21 and Filene's Basement that I wouldn't spend a whole day to trek out to Woodbury Common. (It's a great place to go when they;re having a sale - esp for basics - but many of their discount prices are similar to sales you'll find in the city every day.)

One thing to do is look in the local newspaper - which often have discount coupons for specific stores - or ads for special sales.

Since people are forever posting how everything costs us Americans double in England, I'm not sure why nobody has pointed out that everything will automatically be half price to bigstevie in NYC.

bigstevie:

A quick search on www.hopstop.com shows that from your hotel at 150 E. 34th Street to the Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th Street is about a 20 minute walk. I print out directions before leaving home.
This useful little site will also tell you places to eat in the area, shopping etc.

Gardyloo: We ate at Sarge's Deli on our last visit in August.

I suggest you leave lots of room in your suit case because you will find bargains in NYC. Have fun and do post back and tell us how your holiday worked out.

Sandy

I would expect the walk from the Dumont to the Barrymore to take closer to 30 minutes. I'm not sure that Hopstop takes waiting for traffic lights into consideration. When people are walking, it's more than likely they will have to wait at many more lights than in a car.

Sarge's is an excellent deli option, though the famous Second Avenue Deli is now right around the block from the Dumont on 33rd St, close to Third Ave.

Cheers for all the replies they are much appreciated, from the forum it looks like we will not be bored, just have to work out a schedule for everything, i will post when i return from vacation and let everyone know how things went,again thanks for all the help. Steve.