Tips for 'holiday snaps' from New York (Manhattan)

Retune said:
I love the top of the Rockefeller building. If you can spare the time, it's worth getting up there an hour or so before sunset and staying until it's dark. The transition from full daylight to dusk to night over New York is magical. They have enclosed areas and open terraces, so you won't freeze but can take your shots unobstructed. Plenty of other favourite spots have already been mentioned. For the Guggenheim, check what the main exhibitions are before you go - unlike the other major galleries and museums they don't have a great deal of space to show much of the permanent collection, so the current exhibitions are the main things you'll see apart from the building itself. Nobody has mentioned MoMA yet, so I will - for me one of the best things in the city, together with the enormous and spectacular Met museum. The Met is free, by the way, though the whole thing is set up to make it look like the $25 'suggested' admission isn't optional - pay whatever you think is fair and they won't bat an eyelid, or if you're happy to pay the full amount an online ticket or pass should at least help you avoid the queues. MoMA is free on Friday evenings, but there tend to be very long queues and big crowds, so paying to visit at a quieter time could well be worth it. I like the International Center of Photography ( https://www.icp.org/ ) but haven't visited the new location yet - they usually have high quality exhibitions. If you're tempted to pick up any new gear, or just fancy browsing, the huge B&H Shop is worth spending a bit of time in, and it's centrally located near Penn Station and the flagship Macy's. When you're at Grand Central Terminal, pop over the street to the Chrysler building and check out the Art Deco lobby, which you are free to enter. In the same area it's worth a look inside the beautiful NY Public Library. Spend a bit of time in the quieter areas away from the skyscrapers - I stayed in the East Village last time, which has a pretty chilled out feel to it with lots of arty graffiti, empty lots transforned into community gardens, and great places for a decent coffee. It might be interesting to take the train to the beach and see Coney Island out of season, too.
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Thanks for the info. B&H is already on the list ;)
 
Byker28i said:
If you go into the Museum of Modern Art, then the toilets are free and downstairs, so you get to walk through some of the art for free as it's on the walls.
https://www.moma.org/
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Thanks, that's good to know about the toilets as my wife's a bit concerned as she's read the public toilets are few and far between in New York and they're a bit grim :lol:
 
snerkler said:
Thanks, that's good to know about the toilets as my wife's a bit concerned as she's read the public toilets are few and far between in New York and they're a bit grim :LOL:
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Nah they're ok, but realistically you'll be walking about a lot, so will need to rest frequently. So pick a coffee shop with loo's or stop for a drink (numerous irish bars etc) and use the loos there, or use the loos when you pass them, i.e.e shopping malls, department stores.
 
Silly question of the day, but I assume there's no issues using cash machines in New York if we run out of dollars?
 
snerkler said:
Cheers Andy, really appreciate all the info. I know it's a bit silly to do all the skyscrapers but I may never go back so want to make sure I've done them all ;) We're already planning on going to Ellen's Stardust Diner, did you have to pre-book? I didn't realise you could go into the reception area of the Guggenheim for free so thanks for that (y).

Why was the Taxi so expensive from Penn station, I thought that was already in Midtown? I doubt we'll use Taxis once on Manhattan tbh (just from JFK), we're planning on walking and using a combo of the hop n'off bus and the subway.
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We didn't book at Ellen's just walked in. While we were there a queue developed and disappeared again. I'm not sure you can book but I would be prepared to queue for a few minutes for the experience and be prepared to put a note into the bucket for their music lessons/acting lessons fund.

As others mentioned - we went into and up the Guggenheim but there was very little of interest in the current exhibition and virtually nothing of the permanent collection. We've visited Peggy Guggenheim in Venice and Bilbao and this (bar the exceptional building) was a very poor third.
We tried to do MOMA the first time we visited but the ticket queue was almost a block long. Note the ticket queue, if you were prepaid you could walk straight in.
We went last time with the City Pass but we weren't massively impressed - a whole floor was out of action for renovation. Their definition of Modern Art seemed to stop at 1969 which was a bit disappointing.
The Museum of Art and Design (MAD) was also a bit odd and slightly underwhelming.
The Whitney Museum at the end of the Highline was a much more interesting visit.
Again this all depends on how much you're into Modern Art ;)
As we also visited DC where all the museums are free and massive that may have coloured my memory of NYC where they all wanted an arm and a leg admission.

The taxi ride from Penn Station to the Roger Smith Hotel was 1.5 miles. The taxi was a Ford Crown Victoria, what I think of as a "real" NYC yellow cab.
I had to load and unload our own luggage, he made us sit 3 across the back seat. Despite being gigantic there was a plexiglass screen between the seats so I had less leg room than I do in our Mini (I'm 6'2").
We crawled through the traffic and it took about 1/2 an hour. I don't remember how much it cost but I do remember it made my eyes water - coupled with the guy not wanting to give me a receipt (which I wanted as a souvenir) and refusing to put the amount I paid on it, just the metered fare.
I suspect he thought I was going to complain, I wouldn't have minded the traffic or even the fare if he'd been less of a git about the whole thing. Arriving in NYC should have been exciting but he just made me cross and feel ripped off.
We walked back from the hotel to the station towing the wheelie case and it took less time :o

If you haven't see it you might want to look at The Ride. We didn't do it but saw the bus on its rounds and it looked like fun - more than the open top tours. When we were there it was scorching hot, so the air con appealed. When you're going the heating might also appeal ;)
https://experiencetheride.com/
 
snerkler said:
Silly question of the day, but I assume there's no issues using cash machines in New York if we run out of dollars?
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We used ATMs a couple of times. You'll need cash for tips and things but pretty much everywhere takes cards.
You may come across swipe and sign terminals and you may also encounter the tourist favourite of the waiter taking your credit card away and coming back with the receipt for you to sign.
I nearly had a heart attack the first time my card disappeared into the back for 5 mins!
They were just beginning to take chip+PIN seriously last time I was there but it still seemed to be a bit of a novelty.
Make sure your card providers know where you're going and when, keep your paperwork and check your statements when you get back.
They weren't using contactless at all.
 
AMcUK said:
We didn't book at Ellen's just walked in. While we were there a queue developed and disappeared again. I'm not sure you can book but I would be prepared to queue for a few minutes for the experience and be prepared to put a note into the bucket for their music lessons/acting lessons fund.

As others mentioned - we went into and up the Guggenheim but there was very little of interest in the current exhibition and virtually nothing of the permanent collection. We've visited Peggy Guggenheim in Venice and Bilbao and this (bar the exceptional building) was a very poor third.
We tried to do MOMA the first time we visited but the ticket queue was almost a block long. Note the ticket queue, if you were prepaid you could walk straight in.
We went last time with the City Pass but we weren't massively impressed - a whole floor was out of action for renovation. Their definition of Modern Art seemed to stop at 1969 which was a bit disappointing.
The Museum of Art and Design (MAD) was also a bit odd and slightly underwhelming.
The Whitney Museum at the end of the Highline was a much more interesting visit.
Again this all depends on how much you're into Modern Art ;)
As we also visited DC where all the museums are free and massive that may have coloured my memory of NYC where they all wanted an arm and a leg admission.

The taxi ride from Penn Station to the Roger Smith Hotel was 1.5 miles. The taxi was a Ford Crown Victoria, what I think of as a "real" NYC yellow cab.
I had to load and unload our own luggage, he made us sit 3 across the back seat. Despite being gigantic there was a plexiglass screen between the seats so I had less leg room than I do in our Mini (I'm 6'2").
We crawled through the traffic and it took about 1/2 an hour. I don't remember how much it cost but I do remember it made my eyes water - coupled with the guy not wanting to give me a receipt (which I wanted as a souvenir) and refusing to put the amount I paid on it, just the metered fare.
I suspect he thought I was going to complain, I wouldn't have minded the traffic or even the fare if he'd been less of a git about the whole thing. Arriving in NYC should have been exciting but he just made me cross and feel ripped off.
We walked back from the hotel to the station towing the wheelie case and it took less time :eek:

If you haven't see it you might want to look at The Ride. We didn't do it but saw the bus on its rounds and it looked like fun - more than the open top tours. When we were there it was scorching hot, so the air con appealed. When you're going the heating might also appeal ;)
https://experiencetheride.com/
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We're thinking of going to DC if we have time, about 2.5hours on the train isn't it? We're not really museum people tbh, I just wanted to go into the Guggenheim to look at the architecture rather than the exhibits ;) I've seen the ride, not sure if we'll do it or not tbh. I've pre-booked a 3 day pass for the hop on and off buses which also gives us access to three attractions. When I priced everything up (New York Pass, City Sightseeing Pass, paying for everything individually) this worked out the cheapest option by far for us for what we want to do.

AMcUK said:
We used ATMs a couple of times. You'll need cash for tips and things but pretty much everywhere takes cards.
You may come across swipe and sign terminals and you may also encounter the tourist favourite of the waiter taking your credit card away and coming back with the receipt for you to sign.
I nearly had a heart attack the first time my card disappeared into the back for 5 mins!
They were just beginning to take chip+PIN seriously last time I was there but it still seemed to be a bit of a novelty.
Make sure your card providers know where you're going and when, keep your paperwork and check your statements when you get back.
They weren't using contactless at all.
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Not sure I like he idea of my credit card going walkabouts. They did that in Dubai in one place as they said I got discount using HSBC cards so they took it away to write down the details. I was hugely skeptical and paranoid and checked my credit cards statements for months after, but it all seems to have been kosher (y)
 
holty said:
cracking shots
how much each for a helicopter tour ??
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I used FlyNYON and if I remember about £550 for 30 mins and this is sunset departure. Not cheap but once in a lifetime it's well worth it. It is open door specially for photographers. Many popular photographers has used their services and would recommend them.
 
snerkler said:
Thanks, really nice images. Not sure I'll get to do the Brooklyn night pics tbh, but you never know. I'm up for a helicopter ride but my wife's too scared ;)
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If you can't do it at night over day time is fine too. I went there over daylight so I know the geography better for my navigation at night. Always best to ensure your safety first especially when you travel by yourself, with your other half and at night.
 
On our a previous trip we flew into Boston, took the train to NYC for 3 nights then back to Boston. That was a waste of a day getting back to Boston just to catch the flight.

snerkler said:
We're thinking of going to DC if we have time, about 2.5hours on the train isn't it?
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We did an "open jaw" return. Flew into JFK and out of Dulles in DC.
We had a little over a week in both cities and only scratched the surface in both.

We took the Amtrak - business class only express service . I can't remember how much it was but on a par with an internal flight but quicker as we didn't need to do airport transfers and checkin.
The train was nice but there wasn't much to see out of the window after you'd lost sight of Manhattan.
Unless you're going for a reasonable amount of time I'd probably save DC for another trip.

snerkler said:
Not sure I like he idea of my credit card going walkabouts. They did that in Dubai in one place as they said I got discount using HSBC cards so they took it away to write down the details. I was hugely skeptical and paranoid and checked my credit cards statements for months after, but it all seems to have been kosher (y)
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Yup I absolutely hated it but it is completely normal there. Just like taking your card, punching through the amount and returning with your card and two slips to sign - your copy and theirs. If the card isn't declined they don't even bother checking the signature. You can (I've heard) use more or less anyone's card.
 
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