8 Nights in Manhattan

Summer, New York City, 2014

Itinerary for a Family of Four (including two teenagers)

Sunset at 7:42pm. Weather forecast: Highs of 25-29 C, feels like 32-36 C. with humidex. Sunny. Lows down to 19.

Times Square, NYC

Day 1 - Monday August 25 

Arrival around 3pm. Taxi to hotel., The Refinery, 63 West 38^th Street (between 5^th and Americas). Ate Sushi.

Evening – Checked out Times Square, American Eagle, Billabong, M&M’s store. - LOVE sculpture, 1359 Ave of the Americas (6^th) and west 55^th

Empire State Building, from Top of the Rock

Day 2 - Tuesday August 26

AM  - Get Metro card ($29 each for one week unlimited), maps. Found TKTS booth in Times Square. Checked out Grand Central Terminal, Apple Store (1 of 5 stores in NYC), Anthropologie, Kenneth Cole, toured the area.

2:00 PM - HAD TO BOOK AHEAD ONLINE! Rockefeller Centre, Top of the Rock. 5^th and West 49^th. (cost - $29.00 each - $116.00)

Supper: Ate at La Nonna for supper in Little Italy, had ravioli, pizza

9/11 Memorial Site

View of Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

Evening –7:30-9:30pm  Free Tours by Foot, BOOKED AHEAD ONLINE. 9/11 Memorial site and Brooklyn Bridge tour BOOKED and FREE (Pay what you want, we paid $28 for four). Met at Water fountain at CityHall park. Just off Broadway at Brooklyn Bridge.

TKTS line-up in Times Square

Day 3 - Wednesday August 27

AM/PM  - My husband and son toured Wall Street, took a walking tour for $35 each. My daughter and I went to the New York Public Library, Urban Outfitters. Then we waited in line at TKTS at 3pm for tickets to Broadway. It is located "under the red steps" in Father Duffy Square at Broadway and 47th Street. For evening performances, M/Th/F/Sat 3-8pm, W/Tu 2-8pm, Sun 3-7pm.  For Matinee performances: W/Th/Sat 10am-2pm, Sun 11-3pm. If there is a matinee performance for sale on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday, the booth will open at 10am. Check the electronic boards or the TKTS app for show schedules. We can’t forget the guy who kept saying, “Want to see If/Then?”…Chicago "fans", black guy talking/ranting/acting (to the crowd), long lines, hot weather, Asian lady talking about God – “Jesus loves you". Finally, got four tickets to Mathilda for same night, 8pm, for $80 each.

Mathilda Stage on Broadway

8pm – Saw Mathilda on Broadway!

Empire State Building from
rooftop lounge at The Refinery, NYC

Day 4 - Thursday Aug. 28

AM – Tick Tock Diner for brunch, great eggs benedict, crepes

SoHo shopping. Samsung, Brandy Melville, Apple, Century 21, Top Shop on Broadway

PM – Supper at El Rio Grande, Mexican.

Evening – My husband and I went to the rooftop bar at our hotel, The Refinery. The kids went to hang out with my daughter's model friend.

The Bow Bridge, Central Park NYC

Day 5 - Friday August 29

AM –Central Park, rent a bike, 2 hours, $20. Each. 1710 Broadway, we got 5 hours for $25.00 each. We rode for 4 hours in total.  Got a crappy map, no helmet needed. Got a basket, bought water for $1.00. Saw a lot of the park, avoided the north west corner, as it is really hilly. Saw the Conservatory Garden, Strawberry Fields – Imagine memorial (people sitting on it, couldn’t take a pic, had to ask them to keep off to get a picture), The Carousel was a big disappointment), small lakes, Bow Bridge, Belvedere Castle, Reservoir...

Stopped at Tesla Dealer – 511 West 25^th Street (in Chelsea)

Lower Manhattan Skyline, featuring the new World Trade Center

PM – HAD TO BOOK AHEAD ONLINE! 7pm-8:30pm (arrive 45 mins early) Cruise Harbor Lights with Circle Line, (cost $35 each - $140) Cruises sail year round from Pier 83 W.42nd Street & 12th Avenue.

  

Century 21 discount shopping in NYC

Day 6 - Saturday August 30

AM – Ate at the Bread Factory Café and had a fresh bagel. It was way more fluffy than those ones at the store. More like toast.

Shopping 5^th Ave. and Madison etc., by Central Park. Saw an Abercrombie model, got a polaroid pic taken with him. Went into Tiffany’s, Apple Store. Stopped in at the Sony Wonder Techno Center. Checked out the new Century 21 in Lincoln Square. Not as big as the one down in lower Manhattan.

Supper: Ate at Angelo’s pizza. Madonna was there in 2009 with David Letterman.

Watched a movie in our hotel room, “Blended”.

Statue of Liberty, NYC

Day 7 - Sunday August 31

AM -  Walk the High Line, start at 30^th and 10^th. 30 min. walk to Chelsea market (75 9^th ave , between 15^th & 16^th).

PM – HAD TO BOOK AHEAD ONLINE! 3:00PM Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, with StatueCruises.com (cost $21.00 each - $84.00). Left from Battery park, 17 State Street. Subway: LOCAL 1 (7th Avenue Line) to the last stop - SOUTH FERRY (downtown). The lineups were awful. It was so hot. We made it to Liberty Island, all the way up to the pedestal. It started raining, and we were caught in the rain. We skipped Ellis Island because of the rain and the line ups. If we got off the boat, we would have had to wait again to get back on. Wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. If you must go, then do it first thing in the morning. (I had been told that but we weren’t able to get early morning tickets – It was labour day weekend).

Supper  - We ate at Dafni Greek Taverna restaurant. It was good.

Perseus and Medusa's Head, at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Day 8 - Monday Sept 1

AM – Metropolitan Museum (in Central Park). We paid $50 (pay what you want).

PM –  Went shopping at Macy’s New York, H&M.

Evening - Ate late supper (10:30pm) at Carmine’s, in Time’s Square. 45 minute wait for a seat. We ordered two dishes - salad and spaghetti with meatballs. The servings are family-sized. My daughter could have done Runway at H&M (where you walk on a runway and it shows outside on the big screen in Times Square) but she couldn’t find a dress and it was late. There was also a DJ there.

Washington Square, NYC

Day 9 - Tuesday Sept 2 

My husband went to Washington Square and the Ferrari Store.

Check out at 12 noon. Departure at 16:30, terminal B.

Tips and other Info:

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

• It’s like the best of Europe, United States and Canada all in one city. The best architecture, art, theatre, entertainment, food, products, and shopping is all there for your enjoyment.
• We all got sick with colds. Germs everywhere! (and we were even making sure to use hand sanitizer)
• We felt safe. The only place where it isn’t safe is in Central Park at night. It has a sign that says it is closed from 1am – 6am, so you shouldn’t be there anyways. Nonetheless, I always made sure my purse was close by, and I reminded the guys about pickpockets. There was a strong police presence. They had also warned in a book I read to avoid certain areas of Brooklyn, but we never left Manhattan.
• Lots of buskers, and saw a few people begging for money. The worst area was around the bus station.
• Tipping is expected to be anywhere between 20-30%.
• Lots of people texting and walking (walking slowly), and lots of people “talking” on their phones. Some very private conversations were overheard. Some New Yorkers have no sense of appropriateness or privacy I guess.
• No Celebrity Spotting, other than Ariana Grande in Manhattan live on NBC TV. She was doing a concert in the street!
• I like NYC in the night time more than day time (in the summer). The sun is too hot, and I love the lights at night.

WEATHER

• The end of August was very hot and muggy. Would prefer to go in late September. It rained only one day. Check out the weather before you go. 
• The hotel has umbrellas so no need to pack one.

TRANSPORTATION AND GETTING AROUND

• We each bought a 7-day unlimited metro card - $29.00 each, bought at the subway station.  The subway is hot underground, but cool on the trains. It is best if you don’t have to touch anything, but sometimes you do so you don’t fall because the trains move and stop quickly.
• Bring good walking shoes! I changed my shoes three times a day sometimes. My plantar fasciitis didn’t appear. Yay! (my husband and I both got shin splints the first couple of days).
• Uber worked well for us when we went on the Sunset cruise. It cost us $12.79, for a 14 min, 1.9 mile ride in a nice black SUV. The driver was very polite.
• Yellow Cabs are everywhere. You just have to wave your hand to flag a cab down. The middle numbers on the top have to be lit up that signifies they are on-duty and available.
• Pedestrians  and cyclists don’t really follow the traffic lights, they go when there are no cars. The cars will honk if you are in their way. I got honked at once when I wanted to take a picture of Grand CentralTerminal from the middle of the street at night.
• There are so many people, visitors from all over the world. Many times I bumped into people; there is a lack of personal space, especially in Times Square area.

 HOSPITALITY

• The clerks called us “Love”, “Hon”, and they all took the time to answer our questions. They were very efficient at what they did. Very attentive, polite, patient and efficient. Most of the people who served us were visible minorities.
• New Yorkers were very friendly and helpful. We were often asked if we needed help with directions. A young lady stopped and got off her bike and offered to take a picture of us at Central Park.
• The Concierge in the hotel was very helpful, too.

RESTAURANTS AND FOOD

• Used Urban Spoon app to find restaurants close by.
• Supper for 4 people ranged from about $60-120.00. We picked Urban Spoon ratings with two dollar signs. If we had alcohol it really brought up the total.
• Always have a back-up plan, or two! Restaurants may be closed.
• Most of the restaurants we visited played pop music, which was quite surprising. For example, the Mexican restaurant did not play Mexican music. The Japanese sushi restaurant played pop music, too.
• Pret e Manger, Haleand Hearty and Pax Wholesome Foods were great places to have lunch/brunch. They made fresh salads, smoothies, wraps, etc. Some places had buffet style food, like Bryant Market. $6.99-$7.99 per lb.
• Trip Advisor also has great suggestions.

DOWNSIDES

• The city could do a better job on reducing waste and recycling. We noticed a lot of packaging and not many places to recycle. Not a very eco-friendly city.
• The restrooms (they don’t call them bathrooms) in the stores and most restaurants are awful. There seems to be no attention paid to cleanliness/maintenance. There was always toilet paper though. I had to “squat” a few times (just like in Europe). A lot of the toilets had a good supply of those toilet seat covers, however. Compared to Las Vegas, they get an F-grade for restroom facilities.
•  The city is stinky and messy looking at night, because all the garbage starts to come out on the streets and the rats come out. Sometimes you could smell urine as well. The garbage trucks pick up the garbage at night.

Things we didn’t do:

• Hop on hop off bus tours/Hop on hop off cruise
• Madame Tussauds Wax museum is $30 each near Times Square
• Empire StateBuilding
• New York City Pass coupons
• Flat Iron building – 175 5^th Avenue, Shake Shack - Madison and East 23rd, Madison Square park (17 min walk south from our hotel)
• Chinatown – Canal street. Knock offs, go to another place…down the back alley…”Want a Michael Kors Watch? Purse?...”
• Staten Island Ferry. Free! (take at sunset). Nighttime can see Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge lit up. Use the Whitehall terminal Manhattan, south ferry.

Questions or comments? Please contact me or have your say here.

Cheers!

Angela G. Gentile