Heading to NYC this weekend......cheap ideas?

[Ciderhillnh]

So, Im heading to NYC this weekend to see my BFs mom and sister.

We are driving from Boston on Saturday morning, staying the night and probably leaving Sunday late afternoon/early evening.

Dinner and brunch are set with his mom and sister, so we have no choices about where to go for that.

Im looking for suggestions of things to do during the day. I was just there in September, but my BF hasn’t done some of the things I have (Empire State Building, 5th Ave etc)

Also…we are probably going out Saturday night……Ive already put us on 3 club guest-lists so we will get in for free and 2 drink tickets……

(Side Note: everyone always says how Expensive NYC is for going out…..having been there 2 times I havent noticed this.
Guest list on a clubs web page you gain FREE admission and drink tickets, or you can find great little bars that have fantastic drinks for not much $)

Any suggestions on things to do, things to see, places to grab a drink or dance?
We will be 1 block from Times Square.

[winneythepooh7]

I hate that area so I can't recommend any places off the top of my head. I also hate clubs so I am probably not the best person to ask in that area, either. I like laid back divey bars or lounges. You should get a cupcake at the Magnolia Bakery.

[Ciderhillnh]

We're staying near 57th street, and his mom and sister are at The Radisson New Yorker Hotel.

We arent planning on just staying in that area, we will go wherever we can get to by subway or cab in say 20 minutes time.

The 3 of us (BF, his sister and myself) are big into clubs/techno, so we will probably end up dancing (hence why Im scurrying around trying to get on guestlists to save us money...even though is sister pulls in $120K and paid for our going clubbing last year)------

We might swing by a lounge or bar. I went to some wine bar in the city via my friend, but had no idea where we went! lol

Where is the bakery to grab that cupcake?

[winneythepooh7]

It's around West 11th St. & Bleecker.

There's a fun lounge called Fuel Ray downtown too. I think the site is www.fuelray.com or something like that.

[Ciderhillnh]

Awesome!
Wish I had more than ONE night and parts of days to wander around.....its one thing to go with my family, another to go with my BF and explore on our own.

[allie1105]

Go to Cafe Lalo's (http://www.cafelalo.com/media.htm)for breakfast/brunch. They filmed "You've Got Mail" there, and if you are going with your BF, its a cute date place.

You could go ice skating at Rockerfeller Center...My personal favorite? The Museum of Natural History. If you prefer art, go to the Art Mueseum.

Have fun!

[coll214]

there's always the Met too... no way to see everything in one day, but sometimes fun to just wander... for cheesecake, I'd recommend Junior's, it's right in the Broadway area...

[mishl982]

One thing my friends and I did when we wanted to go all around town was get a day subway pass. It definitely beats taking a cab everywhere (and we would have needed like a van taxi since there were 5 of us) and having to add in tip and all. It was so easy and quick to get from point a to point b on like 7 bucks or however much it costs.

[cameralady]

One thing my friends and I did when we wanted to go all around town was get a day subway pass.
If you do that, make sure to read the subway map and any service advisories very carefully. When in doubt, ask the MTA employee in or around the token booth. (Weekend track work may cause some lines to switch from express to local, to reroute, or not run at all.)

ETA: When going crosstown, consider opicking up a Manhattan bus map free from a subway station, and taking a crosstown bus, especially if it is too cold to walk.

If you will be staying around 57th Street, you may want to try Vinyl (http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&neighborhoodid=10&cuisineid=0&restaurantid=3886) diner. If all else fails, you can grab something from the prepared food or salad bar at the Whole Foods at Time Warner Center by Columbus Circle.

You can always log on(to the internet) for free at the Apple Store at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue.

[Ciderhillnh]

Im not worried about the cold! Last year when we did this, it was the huge snow storm that dumped 27" on the city, crippling it entirely....we walked probably 150 blocks with no break outside IN the snow, feet and pants soaked to the bone.

It was a blast! lol

We're only there a day and a few hours anyway, so we cant stray too far (especially since we'll have maybe 2 or 3 hours before going to dinner with his family)
our meals are set, we just will need to grab something to munch on for the ride home (Im thinking NY Pizza since Ive never had a slice....that and he wants to take me to white castle since Ive never been there either)

Ah the internet......good to know a free place to do that, we might bring a laptop thats able to connect wirelessly. Im doing research now to look up places (bars/clubs and get on guestlists so its all set so we dont have to scramble once there)

[cameralady]

(Im thinking NY Pizza since Ive never had a slice....that and he wants to take me to white castle since Ive never been there either)

If you want real New York pizza, don't go to the big names like Sbarro. Use a hole-in-the-wall place. I don't know how to describe what you should look for, because I can spot the real deal right away ;)

Ah the internet......good to know a free place to do that, we might bring a laptop thats able to connect wirelessly.
You can certainly use your laptop to connect to Apple's wifi server.

[Ciderhillnh]

Oh god I know Sbarro is name brand....I think we'll try looking for a place that has meat hanging from the ceiling etc, and also makes pizza (from what Ive heard those are the real deal places)

I mean that we'll connect to the net from our hotel room but its also handy to know somewhere outside of that to log in as well.

[MetFanL]

Im not worried about the cold! Last year when we did this, it was the huge snow storm that dumped 27" on the city, crippling it entirely....we walked probably 150 blocks with no break outside IN the snow, feet and pants soaked to the bone.
Uphill? Both ways? :rolleyes:

[Ciderhillnh]

Im actually not kidding.
NYC had the worst snow storm of their 100 years of record keeping. We were there THAT weekend.
Taxis werent running, stores were closed, you couldnt get to the sidewalk without stepping into HUGE puddles......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_blizzard_of_2006

That gives all the stats about the storm.

Anyway...we werent going to let snow prevent us from wandering around the city. The best we had, we went to the World Trade Center, and it was so quiet, all you could hear was the snow falling (no traffic, no foot traffic nothing).....it was so peaceful and serene.

[PeakDream]

It's f'ing cold outside, negative wind chill effect. BTW, if you want pizza, go to Brooklyn. The closest place is Grimaldi's by the foot of Brooklyn Bridge, here is the link: http://www.grimaldis.com/brooklyn.htm.

[Ciderhillnh]

Im in Boston, cant be much worse than it is here currently. ;)

[cameralady]

It's f'ing cold outside, negative wind chill effect. BTW, if you want pizza, go to Brooklyn. The closest place is Grimaldi's by the foot of Brooklyn Bridge, here is the link: http://www.grimaldis.com/brooklyn.htm.

Been there once. Yum.

Speaking of negative wind chill, you'd feel it in full effect by the river, especially if you have to wait on line outside to be seated.

[red]

there is good pizza in bklyn, but Grimaldi's is touristy and i've never been impressed with their pizza. plus who wants to wait on line in this weather.

and honestly, that snowstorm wasn't that bad. it didn't start snowing until Sat pm, and I caught a flight out of LGA on Monday at 6am. the subways were still running and i went shopping saturday night.

[Ciderhillnh]

Um...okay, Im not complaining about the storm...but it did shut down the city, and considering I had to drive home in it on Sunday night......because there was really no way out of the city due to not much plowing having taken place.....and the fact we had to check out of our hotel at 11 (luckily his mom and sister were staying longer so we left our suitcases in their room)

[Ciderhillnh]

Alright so overall a very successful NYC weekend.

OUr hotel was GORGEOUS, we were upgraded, though it meant being right under the Penthouse club, which had bass go until about midnight (which really didnt matter since we just came back after dinner to change and head back out)

We went to a fancy French place with my BFs mom and sister, as well as a guy who is a rocket scientist for NASA and his wife, daughter and her husband.

BF, his sister and myself headed out to Avalon NYC. We didnt stay long due to my BF not getting in.....he was frisked, had his LED flashlight confiscated and then they tried to charge him $50 to get in...he was cold and pissed and wanted to leave.
His sister and I had paid and been in for about 20 minutes. $30 cover, $28 for 2 4oz drinks and $4 coatcheck...
We were standing on the balcony and these guys lit a blunt right behind us.....so we moved right back to the coatcheck to meet up outside with my BF.
We ended up next door at a cute club/bar. Good music, great drinks neat atmosphere.

Got to bed roughly around 5am.

Sunday we met up with his sister and mom after grabbing a quick bite to go en route to walking to their hotel.
We went shopping all afternoon, got some great stuff. We were in MEXX and his sister pointed out the guy from Fashion Police was there shopping, so we went to speak to him for a few minutes. Then checking out downstairs there were bags and bags of clothes...turns out the guy was there shopping for Eva Longoria!

Finally around 5 we were hungry and grabbed pizza at a small little shop by Broadway....so tasty! Grabbed the car and started to head back to MA.
Around 9 we made a detour to Newport, RI to grab a pizza from my favorite place in the world, then stopped at a cute 'fancy' place for drinks and a mini dinner with a friend of mine (who actually called on Saturday to see if I wanted to go out)----so good to see her.

We finally picked back up around 11 to head back to MA. Got to bed around 2 (after relaxing a bit, putting on PJs and finally passing out)

Got up early to head to work....currently sucking on a red bull to wake up.

Thanks for all the suggestions! It was fun to look around and try to find stuff.
Next year we plan on going to Central Park, The Empire State Building and the Museum of SEx (sadly we didnt make it yesterday, they were having a Fetish exhibit)

[meatwad]

His sister and I had paid and been in for about 20 minutes. $30 cover, $28 for 2 4oz drinks and $4 coatcheck...

Wow, that's lame. I would have left when they said $30.

[Ciderhillnh]

Its NYC, and its a club Ive been dying to check out (its in an old church) the architecture was amazing, so was the sound system.....the other place we went to last year Crobar had a $40 cover on Saturday night.....but I know someone who promotes, so we were on the guest-list there and would have gotten in for free......just that my BF and his sister wanted to try a new place, so we went with it.

Plus here in Boston its usually $20 to get in, but I know promoters and guest list for the discounted rate....tried to do it for Avalon NYC, but they are constructing a new web page....grrrrrrrr.

[meatwad]

Yeah, I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I spend money on that you'd double take at, but I just can't see spending $30 just to get in the door and then $14 a drink.

[Ciderhillnh]

Didnt know what the cover was until we got up to pay, and didnt know the price of drinks until we placed our order for 2.

I anticipated that the cover would be around $25 - $40. The drinks caught both me and my BFs sister TOTALLY off guard (which is why at the second bar I bought her a round....even though she makes nearly triple what I do <sigh>)

But we had one night in NYC, and we wanted to see the place, mission accomplished!