Still no hotel on Manhattan, am trying Thursday morning and if nothing then we're staying with the one we have. There are very few cheaper options available. Worst case we use the money we saved on cabs.

Friday:
Leave Baltimore at 7.45pm hopefully arriving in NYC at 11.30ish. Make our way from Chinatown to hotel in North Bergen. Hotel has a shuttle (still waiting on their info but it may be a cab).

Saturday:
7.00am - Breakfast, probably at the hotel.
7.30am – Catch bus into NYC.
8.00am - Head to Battery Park to catch ferry, go through security etc.
9.30am - SOL/Ellis Island ferry - booked online. We will take pics of the SOL from the boat
10.10am arrive at Ellis Island and the museum.
12 noon – Catch ferry back to Manhattan.
12.30pm – Head toward the west side (up Broadway) past the bull and towards the WTC site. Lunch at Alphanoose (thanks for the tip lisettemac).
1.30pm – Continue to WTC Site and St Paul’s Cathedral to light a candle. Walk through Chinatown to Little Italy and walk up Mulberry Street from Canal Street. Get a Cannolli for dessert. Walk through SOHO and Lower East Side.
6.00pm - Take the subway over to Brooklyn for a light dinner (Possibly Grimaldi’s, or some other place that strikes our fancy, then grab an ice-cream.
7.45pm - Walk back across the bridge at sunset (7.55pm).
8.30pm - From there take the bus or subway to 42nd Street and walk north on Broadway. Walk all the way up to Columbus Circle/59th Street and you can sit in benches in the circle and watch the fountains(thanks NYer1979)
Play it by ear and possibly explore a neighborhood, before going back to the hotel.

Sunday 6th May, 2007
8.00am – Breakfast at the hotel, or leave and have breakfast at Grand Central Station.
8.30am – Bus to Grand Central Station, Explore Grand Central Station.
9.30am – Head to the Met. Explore some galleries (Greek looks interesting, and the costume galleries). Take in the view from the roof (thanks flatfeet).
12noon – Pick up picnic lunch at Zabar’s (This appears to be on the opposite side of the park from the Met - am I right?)(Broadway & 80) and take it into Central Park, walk south through the park for 2 hours.
2.30pm – Head back to Chinatown to catch our Bus home.

Thanks for all the help from everyone who has posted advice. I have decided to skip TOTR and do the Met roof instead. But maybe we'll do a night time view on Saturday late.

One question - I have a fascination for revolving restaurants. Is the one in the Marriott worth trying to get into? How expensive is it? What is it called? I have been to 4 and there are only 15 in the world so to be able to cross another one off would be kinda cool.

If you don't have success on Priceline for a hotel in Manhattan, you might want to consider trying Priceline for a 3* hotel in Jersey City (listed on the NYC area airport section). This would be a lot closer and easier than staying in N. Bergen and having to depend on a bus. There's PATH (like subway) service b/w Jersey City and Manhattan and the 2 3* Priceline hotels (Hyatt and Doubletree club) are both right near the station. People win them for $60-100/night.

If you wind up staying in NJ and your main intersest is Ellis Island and not the Statue, instead of taking the bus to Manhattan, you should consider going to Liberty State Park and get to Ellis Island from there. From the NJ side, Ellis Island is the first stop. And your tickets should still be good (but double check). Here's info
http://www.nps.gov/elis/planyourvisi...sportation.htm

If that doesn't tell you enough, go to the njtransit.com website and see what transportation there is from N. Bergen. You should be able to take the ferry to Manhattan when you're finished.

The food at the View in the Marriott Marquis is overpriced and mediocre at best but you can go for a dessert buffet (also not great, but not that pricey) or just a drink. Definitely worth your time given your interest. The dessert buffet is something like $12-15/person (it's not on the online menu), cocktails are pricey ($15) but the view is great.

Btw, I think it's a mistake to miss the view at TOTR. It won't take that long. Do it on Sunday. I also think it's not necessary to go all the way to Zabar's for a picnic lunch from the Met. (You're right, it's on the opposite side of the park from the Met). Walk over 1 block from the Met to Madison Ave. & 80-81 and get food from EAT (another Zabar family member) or from Le Pain Quotidien on Mad. & 84-85 st.

What will you do with your luggage on Sunday if you stay in NJ? If necessary, there's a locker service near Macy's http://www.jsrentalocker.com/

Since we're there for less than 48 hours our luggage will probably only be one biggish backpack, my boyfriend says he's going to wear the same pair of jeans the whole weekend LOL. I'm taking capri's and t-shirts, so I think we'll just take it with us. But we'll look into the locker.

OK we'll decide on TOTR when we're there, and see what sort of time we have.

Thanks for the suggestions about where to get the picnic on the East side of the park.

You might want to rethink the "one biggish backpack" if you've got to lug it around all day Sun. Maybe 2 smaller ones would be bette?. Either way, you'll have to check it at the Met and they may have a size restriction-I don't know.

Ok so have run out of bids on Priceline and no luck, so we'll be staying at the hotel in North Bergen. My parents had a great stay and didn't have problems with getting into town so we'll hope for the best.

If we just want to do the dessert buffet at The View - would we need reservations? Or could we get in at say around 9.30pm?

Phone them or look on the website. I don't remember if they take reservations for just dessert. But 9:30 is a good time b/c most theaters get out around 10-10:30 so it could get more crowded later. You can actually go for dessert any time and I think if you were to go earlier, it's less expensive. Phone them when you arrive.

Just called The View and we would have the dessert buffet ($16.95) in The View Lounge, which still gets me the revolving experience without having to pay $70pp for dinner.

I wouldn't skip TOTR either. The view from the Met isn't all that special, imo. Much more dramatic way up high.

Binkeloo - beware of the NYC Bike Tour this sunday were certain roadways will be closed and may cause a delay of you getting into Manhattan by bus and back too for that matter. Just offering my two cents!