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First New York trip - tips, places to stay, things to see...

Thanks. I guess it’s going to be a question of asking if we see somewhere we fancy.

Generally speaking it’s no problem with kids in pubs over here certainly during the day.
 
Thanks. I guess it’s going to be a question of asking if we see somewhere we fancy.

Generally speaking it’s no problem with kids in pubs over here certainly during the day.

you'll have better luck here i think (no kiddies myself) if you drink/dine outdoors. lots/most bars/restaurants had to offer that during coronavirus (which is having a comback btw) and now it'll be a permanent part of the scene.
 
you'll have better luck here i think (no kiddies myself) if you drink/dine outdoors. lots/most bars/restaurants had to offer that during coronavirus (which is having a comback btw) and now it'll be a permanent part of the scene.
Thanks. We're staying lower east side, so if you had any suggestions/recommendations for pizza places and a decent restaurant in Chinatown we'd also be very grateful. Cheers!
 
If it’s still going there was a company called ‘The Ride’ which was a mobile theatre thing where you sat in theatre seats mounted sideways on a coach and actors and dancers performed round the city. Me and mr A319 did it ironically because we got tickets as part of the NY card season ticket thing. But like a lot of American stuff it was actually done really well.


ETA -looks like they made it through…


I couldn’t go without seeing Intrepid, but that’s hardly a hidden gem…
 
The Met is an amazing museum. I also really like MoMA / Whitney / Guggenheim for art, but check what's on as sometimes they have some real shit and it ruins the experience (particularly for the Guggenheim as its smaller)

JG Melon for burgers, Katz's diner for Jewish deli stuff.

Oh - and go to Chinatown. It's much more the real deal than our London one!
 
Thanks. We're staying lower east side, so if you had any suggestions/recommendations for pizza places and a decent restaurant in Chinatown we'd also be very grateful. Cheers!

well now, we don't all talk about pizza places! just the ones within walking distance. i do have a work colleague who lives in astoria and made the trip to the middle of fucking staten island to eat some pizza there and he said it was worth the trip. but he's a weirdo.

as to chinese restaurants, there is a famous one called Wo Hop Wo Hop Chinatown | Wo Hop Restaurant | New York. i ate there ages ago and it was good, insofar as i remember. they have an english menu.

if you're being adventurous: i took a class 40 years ago with a bloke who was from chinatown. he and i had a bit of a similar background and after a while i felt comfortable enough to ask the most stereotypical question of all, can you recommend a good chinese restaurant? he said "the one on elizabeth street across from the police station." it may not even be there anymore but that's a recommendation from a local!
 
Bleecker Street Pizza in Greenwich Village. you could walk there through Washington Square Park, which is worth a visit.
 
Thanks both. I'll try and check those out (google street view tells me there is a chinese restaurant opposite the Elizabeth Street police precinct though who know's if its the same one) - daughter is becoming slightly obsessed with getting NY pizza so trying to plan ahead.

Mention of Bleecker St brings back some memories - Bleecker Bob's was a great find on my very first trip to NYC in 1990. I'm pretty sure its now gone?
 
there are cheap pizza slices everywhere and you can't go too far wrong. getting a dollar (maybe $2) is a pretty authentic NYC experience I reckon.
 
Also, New York is possibly unique as being the only place in the world where you're not allowed to drink in the street, but you legally can smoke weed in the street (but not in the park, as I understand it). So that's a New York experience you can have if you want.
 
The Met is an amazing museum. I also really like MoMA / Whitney / Guggenheim for art, but check what's on as sometimes they have some real shit and it ruins the experience (particularly for the Guggenheim as its smaller)

JG Melon for burgers, Katz's diner for Jewish deli stuff.

Oh - and go to Chinatown. It's much more the real deal than our London one!
For an icon of architecture, the toilets in the Guggenheim are tiny and rubbish...
 
Also, New York is possibly unique as being the only place in the world where you're not allowed to drink in the street, but you legally can smoke weed in the street (but not in the park, as I understand it). So that's a New York experience you can have if you want.

you can drink beers, but you need to brown-bag it.
 
Thanks. We're staying lower east side, so if you had any suggestions/recommendations for pizza places and a decent restaurant in Chinatown we'd also be very grateful. Cheers!
Dim Sum is a good experience. Go about 11 or 12 at the weekend.


Golden Unicorn is a pretty interesting experience where they go around the restaurant with carts of food and you just choose what takes your fancy from the various carts but you have to wait with the crowds.


Tim Ho Wan has a couple of locations and is very good but a more relaxed experience than the above although you need to get a reservation.

 
When did you last go? Hudson Yards is fairly new with the cool looking Vessel and the observation deck.


What time of year are you going?
I went to the observation deck at Edge recently. It’s fairly expensive for a family at about $38 each (plus tax) but was pretty good (although similar to what you experience at Rockefeller Center and Empire State Buildung). It’s part of a shopping mall, which might be fun for others. There is also the city climb which is very expensive but looks pretty cool although is only for over 13s.

7408F270-BDA4-4EC9-97D8-4774E2766561.jpeg14B75098-C78D-400C-9BFF-7BA823903EDC.jpeg
 
So we got back on Wednesday morning from our trip - we had a great time. The only thing we didn't manage to achieve was the pizza in the end - did loads of touristy stuff, but we all really enjoyed the Tenement Museum. Can recommend Joe's Ginger on Pell St for a reasonably cheap Chinese meal - and the Whisky Tavern round the corner on Baxter St was okay with kids (as were a couple of other bars we ventured into). Lower East Side is an interesting area - couldn't work out why there was this very big mural on an alleyway near the Manhattan Bridge though

mural.jpg
 
(Irrelevant now, I know, but...)

I generally love just 'existing' there - that is the joy if the place IMO - the destinations or any plans are just to create journeys and new streets to turn down...That said...

Far and away the best/coolest thing I did was to take a Jetski from Hoboken NJ, and do a tour down the Hudson, near Staten Island, then loop back up the East River for a 360 loop of Manhatten (and back to Hoboken). Jetskis are pretty decent at the best of times, but to do it whilst gauping at new and different views of manhattan, zipping in between massive freight ships, cop boats, and all sorts (couldn't believe they would let you do it tbh, felt like a major shipping lane), especially around the bottom tip of Manhattan as it goes back up the East River, was pretty unique. It did help that it was during the heatwave in Sept '17 or something. This was a fairly once-in-a-lifetime price tbf ($400 or so) but I've spent $400 on a lot less memorable things over the years...

Otherwise I did an organised cycling event, which was mass organised cycling event 100km or something through the 5 boroughs. I'm a fairly big cyclist anyways, so this is fairly specific :), but really saw tons of NY neighbourhoods, away from Brooklyn and Manhattan.

I don't think it's kind of possible to have an unmemorable/stand-out NY trip (well, unless it's purely business or something...) as long as you have a vigour/thirst to get up and out and spread yourself around - Have a "Central parks and museums" day, maybe a "Start at 57th and head south until we run out of gas or hit WTC" day bit, just to see manhattan evolve and you'll take in Time SQ, and whatever neighbourhood that you might be interested in your way.

Only other thing I'd point out, is, for me, NY is probably my most strenuous hiking holidays. I just want to cover so much ground.

And forget about nightclubs (if you are that way inclined - I massively am...) but NY I've only ever been to a handful, and none of those have been really hitting it. Far too much interested in daytime stuff (and eating).
 
(Irrelevant now, I know, but...)

I generally love just 'existing' there - that is the joy if the place IMO - the destinations or any plans are just to create journeys and new streets to turn down...That said...

Far and away the best/coolest thing I did was to take a Jetski from Hoboken NJ, and do a tour down the Hudson, near Staten Island, then loop back up the East River for a 360 loop of Manhatten (and back to Hoboken). Jetskis are pretty decent at the best of times, but to do it whilst gauping at new and different views of manhattan, zipping in between massive freight ships, cop boats, and all sorts (couldn't believe they would let you do it tbh, felt like a major shipping lane), especially around the bottom tip of Manhattan as it goes back up the East River, was pretty unique. It did help that it was during the heatwave in Sept '17 or something. This was a fairly once-in-a-lifetime price tbf ($400 or so) but I've spent $400 on a lot less memorable things over the years...

Otherwise I did an organised cycling event, which was mass organised cycling event 100km or something through the 5 boroughs. I'm a fairly big cyclist anyways, so this is fairly specific :), but really saw tons of NY neighbourhoods, away from Brooklyn and Manhattan.

I don't think it's kind of possible to have an unmemorable/stand-out NY trip (well, unless it's purely business or something...) as long as you have a vigour/thirst to get up and out and spread yourself around - Have a "Central parks and museums" day, maybe a "Start at 57th and head south until we run out of gas or hit WTC" day bit, just to see manhattan evolve and you'll take in Time SQ, and whatever neighbourhood that you might be interested in your way.

Only other thing I'd point out, is, for me, NY is probably my most strenuous hiking holidays. I just want to cover so much ground.

And forget about nightclubs (if you are that way inclined - I massively am...) but NY I've only ever been to a handful, and none of those have been really hitting it. Far too much interested in daytime stuff (and eating).

this is an excellent post and I'm on phone so will come back later but maybe this is the cycling you're referring to Five Boro Bike Tour - Wikipedia
 
So we got back on Wednesday morning from our trip - we had a great time. The only thing we didn't manage to achieve was the pizza in the end - did loads of touristy stuff, but we all really enjoyed the Tenement Museum. Can recommend Joe's Ginger on Pell St for a reasonably cheap Chinese meal - and the Whisky Tavern round the corner on Baxter St was okay with kids (as were a couple of other bars we ventured into). Lower East Side is an interesting area - couldn't work out why there was this very big mural on an alleyway near the Manhattan Bridge though

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I didn’t see that one but was surprised to see this one of Mo Salah
 

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Gave me a brief giggle (near the Intrepid)
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they're famous for their ads

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So what’s the deal with buying cannabis in NYC? It’s been legal since April 2022 for over 21s to possess recreational amounts without needing a medical certificate but it’s not obvious how to buy in NYC.

Any recommendations petee? Looking to buy some edibles. Empire Club seems to be an option.
 
So what’s the deal with buying cannabis in NYC? It’s been legal since April 2022 for over 21s to possess recreational amounts without needing a medical certificate but it’s not obvious how to buy in NYC.

Any recommendations petee? Looking to buy some edibles. Empire Club seems to be an option.

I wouldn’t be the one to ask! the NYPD a few years ago decided to stop making little pot stops so if you get some you can even smoke in public within reason.
 
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