# New York, New York



## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

As can be seen, I'm from the South. I've seen the Midwest, but have never been to New York. I'll be in Manhattan for three days at the end of July for sight-seeing. One day is dedicated to museums. What should I insist on seeing in the other two (partial) days? Recommendations for non-obvious attractions obviously appreciated.


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

Non-obvious attraction: The Tenement Museum https://www.tenement.org/

It's another museum (of sorts), but it's actually an old Lower East Side apartment building that brings to life the lives of several immigrant families, Jewish, Italian and Irish, who lived there during different decades. You need to book ahead, and it's a guided tour rather than a place you can just roam through. At the end of July, you'll get a good idea of what life was like for our great-grandparents, before the days of air conditioning! From nearby Broome St., you're a short walk west to Chinatown (Mott St.) and Little Italy (Mulberry St.).


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## StevenRocks (May 24, 2005)

Kat's Delicatessen. Toursity? Yes, but it's authentically retro and local, plus you'll never taste a finer pastrami sandwich. It's on Houston Street.


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## SuitsTiesSocks (Jul 4, 2011)

When you go to the museums, be sure to go to the Frick Museum (70th St. & 5th Ave.). I went there a few years ago, and loved it. Housed in a former mansion, it is quaint and houses American and European painting collections. 

On your second day, a stroll up Lexington Ave. or Madison Ave. from E 59th St. upwards is also quite nice. Since it is very hot here right now, this would most likely be more suitable for cooler weather but it is amazing when you see the gradual transformation from touristy to semi-quiet and residential right in front of your eyes. There are also some very nice boutiques and storefronts in this area too.


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## Binkie Baumont (Jul 30, 2011)

I'm currently planning on visiting NYC at Christmas 2012, _but_ is Christmas a good time to visit?


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## Binkie Baumont (Jul 30, 2011)

I Thought NYC was the town that never slept?


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

Christmas is a great time to visit. But be aware that hotels are expensive at that time a year. $350 a night gets you a pretty lousy room. Figure $500 for a fairly decent one. On the other hand, the dollar is pretty low right now (and may even be lower if the gov't doesn't get its act together and up the debt ceiling).


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## Binkie Baumont (Jul 30, 2011)

A Chum has sent me a link to a site where people let out their apartments whilst away, I was thinking there may be folk who are "going home " for Christmas and will not be in NYC, where as I may very well be in town


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## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

JerseyJohn said:


> Christmas is a great time to visit. But be aware that hotels are expensive at that time a year. $350 a night gets you a pretty lousy room. Figure $500 for a fairly decent one. On the other hand, the dollar is pretty low right now (and may even be lower if the gov't doesn't get its act together and up the debt ceiling).


I actually found a hotel for considerably less than that for my visit last week (although Christmas may raise prices more than the summer time). We paid $159 for a small but very nice room (albeit with a rather firm bed) at the Excelsior Hotel on the upper west side. It just took lots of looking to find it.


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

Titus_A said:


> We paid $159 for a small but very nice room (albeit with a rather firm bed) at the Excelsior Hotel on the upper west side.


I'll keep Excelsior in mind if we want to stay over at Christmas; but Christmas in Manhattan is _very _crowded - near Rockefeller Center, they have to post police at the intersections to direct the _pedestrians_! So the rates may be a lot higher around Christmas.


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## pleasehelp (Sep 8, 2005)

I live in Manhattan so that may color my view a bit, but I would not want to visit the "attractions" (meaning Rock Center, 5th Avenue, etc.) or do any shopping around Christmas because things are unbelievably crowded.

From what people tell me, hotel prices are again on the rise in the city. Some alternatives are (i) the clubs if you are part of a club with reciprocal membership and (ii) the outer boroughs. It is faster to get to midtown from the close part of Queens than many other parts of Manhattan. I can't vouch for the hotels there since I've never used them, but I suspect that you could save money and it might be more convenient than you would think.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to offer in terms of must-see attractions in the city. What I like about the city tends to be the day-to-day stuff (such as the mix of people that live here) rather than particular attractions.


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## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

pleasehelp said:


> From what people tell me, hotel prices are again on the rise in the city. Some alternatives are (i) the clubs if you are part of a club with reciprocal membership


I actually looked into this. If I had been staying in the city a bit longer, it might have been cheaper for me to pay to join the NYC chapter of my law school alumni association, which has privileges at one of the Ivy clubs, and stay there. Definitely something to look into.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

+1 on the reciprocal clubs. As alums, my wife and I joined the Penn Club in New York. I had other motivations for joining, but the huge list of reciprocal clubs is a plus. We stayed at the elegant, old-school Algonquin Club in Boston for $165 per night, while fellow eyedocs paid $300-plus "convention rates" at the Hynes Center. See www.pennclub.org for a list of worldwide reciprocal clubs. Most of the clubs have websites that are quite impressive. Some are dinner-only, however.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

Titus_A said:


> As can be seen, I'm from the South. I've seen the Midwest, but have never been to New York. I'll be in Manhattan for three days at the end of July for sight-seeing. One day is dedicated to museums. What should I insist on seeing in the other two (partial) days? Recommendations for non-obvious attractions obviously appreciated.


Have a drink at the Campbell Apartment at Grand Central Station. It had been a rail baron's living quarters, now serving as an old-style New York watering hole. (Don't for get the station itself!) The Algonquin and Roosevelt Hotels are nearby, whose lobbies and bars again represent old New York. Lots of trad clothing close by on Madison, with J Press, BB, and Paul Stuart within a tie tack's throw!


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## tlocke (Jan 9, 2010)

For the museum day, if you like the Frick you should also visit the Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue at 86th Street. Another gem of a small museum. The permanent collection focused on Austrian and German Expressionism.


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## David J. Cooper (Apr 26, 2010)

My Mrs and I visited NYC for the first time earlier this month. Visible proof is on the WAYWT thread.

I don't know where to start. In 6 active days we barely scratched the surface. We are already planning our return. We loved, Central Park, Marea, Eataly, Rockefeller Centre, Columbus Circle, Times Square, Relatively Speaking at the Brooks Atkinson, Bryant Park, the corner with the Alden and AE stores, the Moma, the Barnett Newman at the Moma, Peking Duck House, Chambers Street Wines, Terroir Tribeca, Becco, Gregory's Coffee, Macy's, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry and most of all the people of New York.

We stayed at the Sofitel and it was worth every penny of the $500 a night.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

David J. Cooper said:


> My Mrs and I visited NYC for the first time earlier this month. Visible proof is on the WAYWT thread.
> 
> I don't know where to start. In 6 active days we barely scratched the surface. We are already planning our return. We loved, Central Park, Marea, Eataly, Rockefeller Centre, Columbus Circle, Times Square, Relatively Speaking at the Brooks Atkinson, Bryant Park, the corner with the Alden and AE stores, the Moma, the Barnett Newman at the Moma, Peking Duck House, Chambers Street Wines, Terroir Tribeca, Becco, Gregory's Coffee, Macy's, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry and most of all the people of New York.
> 
> We stayed at the Sofitel and it was worth every penny of the $500 a night.


Sofitel on West 44th? Hope you had a drink at the Algonquin, 2 doors down? I am glad you had a good time. It looks like you really got around!


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## David J. Cooper (Apr 26, 2010)

We had planned on grabbing a drink there but it never happened. I was less then overwhelmed by the entrance to the Algonquin.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

David J. Cooper said:


> We had planned on grabbing a drink there but it never happened. I was less then overwhelmed by the entrance to the Algonquin.


 LOL, understood. All of that tile and wainscotting at the entrance is old-school New York, and could probably use a facelift. Next time, bull through and see the Dorothy Parker et al mural in the dining room. Lunch there is a treat, too. Chuck the waiter has been there for 35 years, and will treat you like gold.


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

Agree with the Algonquin. The cocktail napkins have this, from Dorothy Parker, on them:
I like a martini,
Or two at the most.
Three, I'm under the table,
Four, I'm under the host

Also, the top of the Empire State Building.


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## Bernie Zack (Feb 10, 2010)

I used to work as a doorman across the street from the Algonquin at The Royalton Hotel (An Ian Schrager hotel; part of the Morgans Hotel group back then -- Late 80's)

I wonder if it is still there. They used to have a bar, just at the entrance, called the "Roundbar." Very interesting place to grab a drink.


The Rambler said:


> Agree with the Algonquin. The cocktail napkins have this, from Dorothy Parker, on them:
> I like a martini,
> Or two at the most.
> Three, I'm under the table,
> ...


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

Bernie Zack said:


> I used to work as a doorman across the street from the Algonquin at The Royalton Hotel (An Ian Schrager hotel; part of the Morgans Hotel group back then -- Late 80's)
> 
> I wonder if it is still there. They used to have a bar, just at the entrance, called the "Roundbar." Very interesting place to grab a drink.


 Do you remember the number? The Hippodrome parking garage is directly across the street. I hang out at the Penn Club at #30, so it must have been somewhere in between? I will check it out this week.


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## Bernie Zack (Feb 10, 2010)

44 W. 44th street.


eyedoc2180 said:


> Do you remember the number? The Hippodrome parking garage is directly across the street. I hang out at the Penn Club at #30, so it must have been somewhere in between? I will check it out this week.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

Bernie Zack said:


> 44 W. 44th street.


 44 West 44th has a generic-looking front with no apparent signage. People were filing in and out as if it were a residence. There was also a 8x11 inch menu posted for what is apparently a restaurant in the building. You could easily walk on by and not notice the place, especially with the chronic scaffolding. Ah, New York........


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## David J. Cooper (Apr 26, 2010)

We noticed the restaurant. It had a single letter name, but I can't remmber it.


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## Bernie Zack (Feb 10, 2010)

David J. Cooper said:


> We noticed the restaurant. It had a single letter name, but I can't remmber it.


As was typical of the time period (late 80s, early 90s,) the name of the restaurant was "44."

I think someone said, "ahhh New York. . ."


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

Bernie Zack said:


> As was typical of the time period (late 80s, early 90s,) the name of the restaurant was "44."
> 
> I think someone said, "ahhh New York. . ."


 That's it! I knew I remembered something unusually short, but there was a creepy guy standing in front of the menu. Besides me, I mean. I still don't get what's up with the rest of the building, but will try to find out.


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## Bernie Zack (Feb 10, 2010)

I hope the "roundbar" is still there, so that when I go back to visit I can stop in and have a drink!


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