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Empire State Building - New York City, Manhattan, NY, USA |
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www.MooreTravel.co.uk New York City, Manhattan, NY, USA - Empire State Building |
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Photo of the
Empire State Building - New York City, Manhattan, NY, USA |
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New York City - Travel Tips
Getting to New York from JFK by Yellow Cab
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Taking a taxi from JFK airport to Manhatten may not be the cheapest way, but it is defiantly the easiest and most hassle free. The last thing you want after an eight hour flight is to endure an uncomfortable hot packed bus or subway trip into New York. You still have to walk to your hotel from the metro or bus station with a suitcase at the other end. Unless you are really on a budget take an air conditioned taxi. As you walk out of the airport look for the signs for ground transportation and taxi. Go up to the uniformed taxi dispatcher who will ask you how many passengers are in your party, and where you want to go. Cabs cannot pick you up from anywhere apart from these designated areas. Do not go with anyone else who is offering a taxi to New York. They are not legal. A Taxi will take up to an hour from JFK to Manhattan. You could snooze in the back of the cab but I bet you don’t as you will be too excited.
Getting to New York City from JFK International Airport by train The travel card into Manhattan costs about $15.00 per person. For four people that is $60.00. For two people that is $30.00 although it is cheaper a Yellow cab will take you to the door of your hotel and it is air conditioned. The New York Subway is not suitcase friendly. You will find it very difficult to get through the barriers. This is really stupid for a transport system that serves a major airport. There are lots of stairs and practically no escalators or lifts. The subway is like a sweatbox in the summer. When you get to your destination you will have to drag you bags up the stairs and then walk through the crowded New York streets to your hotel. My advice is take a yellow cab from the airport. If you are on your own and decide to take the train be aware that it stops at a number of subway stations on route and takes about 35 minutes to get to Penn Station in midtown Manhattan. You travel on the free section of the AirTrain inside the airport to Jamaica Station where you have to get out and purchase a ticket into New York City. Follow the signs to the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) to find the platform and the fast train that will take you to Penn Station. The E J and Z lines of the New York City subway system also leaves from Jamaica Station but they are slower as they stop at every station.
Newark Liberty International Airport
Taking a Taxi from Newark Airport into New York City As you walk out of the airport look for the signs for ground transportation and taxi. Go up to the uniformed taxi dispatcher who will ask you how many passengers are in your party, and where you want to go. Cabs cannot pick you up from anywhere apart from these designated areas. Do not go with anyone else who is offering a taxi to New York. They are not legal. A Taxi will take less than an hour from Newark Liberty International Airport to Manhattan. You could snooze in the back of the cab but I bet you don’t as you will be too excited. Taxi's cost between $35 - $55 plus tolls (around $8) and tips (15%). When you want to leave New York and head back to Newark Airport ask your hotel to order you a limousine to take you back to the airport. They charge a fixed rate of about $50.00. A New York yellow cab taxi will charge you the meter fare and an additional $10 when going to Newark, because it is "out of state" plus tolls and tips.
Take the train from Newark Airport into Manhattan The train journey takes around 25 minutes to reach midtown. On weekdays, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., three NJ TRANSIT trains arrive every hour at the airport station. Between 9 p.m. and midnight, two trains arrive every hour. Service is not available between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Journey time takes under an hour.
Take the Express Bus from Newark Airport into Manhattan
The following applies to all New York City airports
The airport Shuttle bus New York Hotel Tips You can find a nice hotel at a cheaper rate if you stay away from the tourist trap areas like Times Square and midtown central Manhattan. Think about staying somewhere else like SoHo, Murray Hill, and Greenwich Village. Transport is easy in Manhattan. You can get to most locations within 30 minutes. You will find the local shops cheaper. www.Tripadvisor.com and www.virtualtourist.com are good websites to look at other peoples reviews on New York hotels. If you intend staying in New York for more than 3 nights consider finding a hotel in New Jersey, and travelling into Manhattan by train. This will save you a lot on the cost of staying in a hotel. The disadvantage is that you will not be able to nip back to your room for a rest and drop off your shopping during the day. If you do have lots of shopping bags you could put them in luggage lockers at the railway station before going out for a meal in the evening and collect them again at the end of the day as you get the train to your hotel.
Airport Hotels New York City Subway System The strangest thing about the New York City Subway is that at some smaller stations they have entrances on different sides of the road. You have to make sure you use the right one other wise you will have to walk back up the stairs to street level, cross the road and then go down the other entrance. One entrance can be for uptown, one for downtown. The secret is to check before you go down the steps. Read the signs at street level first. Larger stations, have just one entrance and you can change to the correct platform underground. Another weird peculiarity is that some stations close some of their entrances at certain times of the day. There is a light at the top of the stairs, like a globe lamppost, if it is green, the entrance is open, if it is red, the entrance is closed. One of the most confusing features of the New York City Subway I found was the difference between a local train, and an express train. If you get on the wrong train, like we did, you will find yourself whizzing through the station you wanted to get off at. It was an express train. It only stopped at certain train stops. There is nothing like this on the London Underground or Paris metro. It can be totally bamboozling to the uninitiated New York tourist. Before getting on a Manhattan Subway train find your start and end station on the New York Subway Train Map. Check the type of dots on the stations. You have different trains running on the same line, the local train, and an express train. An express stop is a white circle with a black outline, a local stop is a black circle. Now you can work out, what lines you need the way you want to go downtown, uptown, cross-town and can probably work out your journey. As a general rule, don’t get an express train if you need to get off the train at a local stop. There are exceptions to this rule though. To find out which way the subway is going just look for the name last stop. Do not have a loud conversation that will let everyone know you're a tourist, you can get followed, and mugged. Uptown is North, Downtown is South. If you get on the wrong platform you have to go back up to street level and cross the road and come down the stairs on the other side. Remember not to call the subway lines by their colours? You take the A train or take the 3 train. New York City Subway Ticket It is easier and cheaper to buy a New York Subway MetroCard from the vending machines in Subway station. There are various options. The Pay Per Ride MetroCard just loads a cash value stores it on the card. If you are going to be using the Subway a lot this could be the best option. Just tell the vending machine how much money you want to put on the card. It is a bit like London Underground’s Oyster card. The Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard can be used by up to 4 people at any one time. The whole family can use one MetroCard. The first person can swipe it as many times as needed, and then the other riders can walk through the turnstile, as it knows how many people to let through. You can keep refilling it at the vending machines when it is getting low. The Unlimited Ride MetroCard. There are two of these that are of interest to New York City tourist. A one day Fun Pass gives you unlimited rides from the moment you swipe it until 3am the next day. Do not get one of these and swipe it at 10pm, as it will only work till 3am. It can only use it by one person at a time There is a 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard. This is the best option for trips over 4 days. There is also a 14 day New York City MetroCard for those staying longer than 7 days. They can only use it by one person at a time. Bear in mind, that if you want to use the AirTrain at the airports, you can't use an unlimited ride card for that segment. How to use the New york City Subway MetroCard Do not break the New York Transit
System laws The New York City Yellow Taxi Cab New York Cabbies have to take you anywhere within the 5 Boroughs, without argument. That covers, Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Do not be surprised if the driver immediately drives off before you have told him where you want to go. This saves valuable seconds, and also doesn’t annoy the taxi driver behind your cab who is also waiting to pick up passengers. A good travel tip is to plan where to hail your cab from. Make sure you are on the right side of the street and the taxi’s are heading in the direction you want to travel Some NYC Cabs have credit card swipe machines in the back but I have found that the drivers do not like using it and will try and come up with an excuse. They like cash but do not try to pay for a $5 cab fare with a $50 note. Cabs normally only carry change up to a $20 bill to prevent robberies. The cost of a taxi is via the cab’s meter. As you get into the cab there should be $2.50 (in 2010) shown as the standard hire rate on the meter display. It will then click up $0.40¢ for a unit as your journey starts. A Unit is one-fifth of a mile (over 6mph) or 60 seconds (stationary or under 6mph). There are some extras that can be add on the meter. $0.50¢ if you hailed the cab after 8pm and before 6am. $1.00 if you hail the cab between Mon-Fri 4pm - 8pm New York City Water Taxi
New York Tipping and stuff
New York Staten Island Ferry
Coney Island - New York seaside Wall St/Statue Of Liberty/Ellis Island The 21-acre Battery Park is named for the cannons built to defend residents after the American Revolution. Walk through Battery Park to Castle Clinton national Monument, where you purchase boat tickets. The Castle was built in 1811 to defend Manhattan from the British. Once an island but now part of lower Manhattan due to a landfill. It has been used for many things over the years, including a concert hall, a processing centre for immigrants and an aquarium. It is now where the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty Ferry tours is located. It just looks like a round brick building. Boats start at 8:30am until 5:00pm Costs: Round Trip ferry tickets cost $10.00 for adults. You can save time by booking the tickets on-line. You go to a pre-booked ticket desk inside the fort. Do not wait at the normal ticket booths. There is no admission fee for Liberty and Ellis Island. The Staten Island Ferry leaves from the pier to the left of the park (when you are looking out to sea) Ellis Island is a symbol of America's immigrant heritage. More than 70% of immigrants landed in New York, the country's largest port. First and second class passengers were processed on board ship, but third or steerage class were ferried to Ellis Island when they underwent medical and legal examinations in the Main Building. The museum contains three floors of self guided exhibits and audio/visual displays detailing the history of immigration processing station between 1892 and 1954. You can tour the Great Hall where immigrant legal and medical inspections took place. Be sure to view the artefacts on display: baggage, immigrant clothing and costumes, passports, steamer and railroad tickets, ship passenger manifests, etc. NOTE:- some of the cheapest New York tourist T shirts and sweat shirts can be found on the stalls in Battery Park. They are also of good quality. They are the same ones you see in the shops but a lot cheaper. DIRECTIONS:- Now walk back through the park to Bowling Green Subway Station. Take the 6 train uptown (signed Pelham Bay Park). Get off at Canal St Station. Walk east down canal street six blocks. Turn right down Mott Street. You are now in China town. Walk for three blocks until you hit Worth Street. Turn right. Take the next right called Mulberry Street and keep walking north. As you pass Canal Street again China Town will start to become Little Italy.
New York China Town New York Little Italy DIRECTIONS:- When you hit the junction with Spring Street turn left and walk 5 blocks. Turn right up Greene Street. You are now in SoHo. New York Soho In the 60s, painters and sculptors were attracted by the lofts or old warehouses with huge spaces The area became very trendy. Rents went up. Exclusive art galleries opened soon, followed by restaurants and shops. Some of the best cast-iron buildings can be found on Greene Street. Also a famous sight in Soho are the fire stairs outside the houses (although you can find them also in other districts). Many of the old buildings have iron and steel frames which allows them to be built with fewer interior beams. This gives many of the interior spaces a more open and spacious feel. As a result, many artists began to buy them up in the sixties and still today some of the coolest lofts in the city are here. Walk into any of the galleries housed within to see the spacious interior lofts. 420 Broadway was where Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol exhibited they paintings in New York in the 1960’s. Harry Houdini worked as a tile cutter nearby until he became famous. Lots of chic bars stores and restaurants followed the galleries. Fashionable places to eat and drink is what SoHo is about. DIRECTIONS:- In Greene Street at the next junction turn right down Princes Street. Walk 2 blocks and turn left into Broadway. Go down the Broadway Lafayette Street Subway Station. Take the S,V,6, (local, not express) train uptown, Get off at West 4 Street, Washington Square Station
New York Greenwich Village By day, it is a quaint little village with cute storefronts and interesting shops. The shopping in Greenwich village is amazing! If you're looking for anything eccentric, funky, inspiring, or just plain different, this is definitely the place to look. The streets are also lined with classic coffee shops...the kind you usually see only on hip television shows. By night, Greenwich Village goes through an extreme makeover. The area suddenly goes from quaint to crazy. Dance, comedy and even strip clubs become packed with people of all kinds looking for a good time. A very gay-friendly area largely in evidence around Christopher Street and Sheridan Square. Greenwich Village Tree-lined streets crisscross and wind, following ancient streams and cow paths. Each block reveals yet another row of Greek Revival town houses, a well-preserved Federal-style house, or a peaceful courtyard or square. It defies Manhattan's orderly grid system. Big gentrification area and escalating real-estate values. Very trendy. Greenwich Village's shorter buildings allow more sunshine to reach the streets. There are many secret courtyards and small gardens nestled between townhouses in the residential blocks of Greenwich Village. Manhattan's Greenwich Village offers visitors an escape from the skyscrapers. The Dutch bought Manhattan Island from the Indians in 1626; and at that time the area which we know as Greenwich Village was primarily a woodland with deer, elk, woodchuck and other creatures. The Village soon became known as the best tobacco plantation in the colony, and under the direction of the Dutch West India Company, tobacco plantations flourished. After the British captured Nieuw Amsterdam in 1664, a commander of the fleet of English warships named Sir Peter Warren in 1731 purchased a large portion of the Village plantation, where he lived with his family in a beautiful mansion overlooking the Hudson River. He named this farm Greenwich. DIRECTIONS:- Get off the subway at West 4 Street, Washington Square Station. Walk right and visit the Square. Come back towards the Subway station. Walk west along West 4th Street. Cross the big road called Ave of the Americas. Take the next left called Cornella Street. At the T junction turn left and then first right into Leroy Street. Go straight at the next multiple junction. This leads into is one of the pretty roads called St Luke’s Place. Walk west for two blocks and turn right into Greenwich Street (take Photo) Take the next right an walk back on your self up Morton Street again one of the pretty streets. Walk for two blocks and then turn left for four blocks until you hit a T junction with Christopher Street. Turn right. This is the lively gay area. Keep walking for two blocks. Take the subway uptown at Christopher road – Sheridan Square station to 34th Street Penn Station
New York Madisons Square Gardens New York Macy’s Bryant Park Empire State Building DIRECTIONS:- Walk back to 34th Street Herald Square Subway Station and get the yellow line train north to 5th Avenue Subway Station and Central Park
Central Park When you are walking around Central Park go and climb one of the rocky mounds. When you stand on the top look down at your feet. Your are standing on volcanic lava. In some places you can see the shape of the lava flows. It cooled to become very hard rock. This is the reason why New York has so many skyscrapers. This type of rock is ideal for strong foundations. You will notice in the middle of Manhattan Island there are not so many tall buildings. This is because there is no hard volcanic rock under that part of the island. Look down at your feet again. Look for scratch marks on the rocks. These were caused by rocks caught in the bottom of huge glacial rivers of ice as they moved over the old volcanic rock. You can work out which way the glacier flowed. Evidence of glaciers and volcanoes is not normally what you associate with new York. DIRECTIONS:- Now that you are back at the 5th Avenue Subway Station walk east down East 59th Street for three blocks. After Madison Ave 5th Ave is New York’s other famous shopping street. It runs south from 5th Ave Subway station for about 10 blocks and includes the likes of Gucci, Cartier, Tiffany etc… Also notice as you cross the first junction, Madison Avenue, all the very expensive designer fashion shops which is New York’s Premier shopping street. At the junction with Lexington Avenue you will find Bloomingdale’s New York's Harlem Bloomingdale’s New York DIRECTIONS:- Take the 59th Street Subway station downtown. Get off at Grand Central Station. Walk into the railway station and have a look at the architecture that has been subject to many films. Use the 42nd Street main entrance to experience the full impact of the grandeur of the main concourse built between 1903 – 1913. Off the main concourse is Grand Central Market packed with fresh Produce. At the front of the station walk east along West 42nd Street for five blocks.
The Chrysler Building The UN Building DIRECTIONS:- Walk back to West 42nd Street get a bus going west towards Times Square New York's Times Square DIRECTIONS:- Walk north up 7th Avenue and then turn right onto West 48th Street. Walk two blocks to the Rockefeller Center The Rockefeller Center & Observation Deck The Rockefeller Center Observation Deck gives great panoramic views over Manhattan. It is not as crowded as the Empire State Building and in my opinion is better because photographs taken from the Rockefeller Center Observation Deck can include view that include the iconic Empire State Building. The Observation Deck entrance is on 50th Street between 5th and 6th Ave. It is open at 8am. The last elevator up is at 11pm and it closes at Midnight. Tickets can be pre booked online. The system enables you to choose precisely the time and date of your visit, to minimise queuing when you arrive. There is a well thought out museum information post at the building entrance, detailing the history and construction of the Rockefeller Center. It includes a virtual reality simulation of what working at the top of a skyscraper looks like and a short film. The automatic elevator up has a glass roof. Once doors close the music starts and the lights go down, your eyes were drawn upwards. The 70 storey lift shaft has been lined with neon tubes to give a science fiction experience. It whisks you up 66 floors in 45 seconds. The Empire State Building viewing deck uses railings as a safety barrier. The Rockefeller Center Observation Deck uses 8ft reinforced glass sheets to stop you falling off the edge, but it gives you a clear unobstructed near perfect 360 degree view of Manhattan. The tickets are not cheap but the view is worth it. The Top of the Rock is a three-level observation deck on the 67th, 69th, and 70th floor of the Rockefeller Center. The observation deck was constructed as part of the Building in 1933. The designer wanted to make it feel like a cruise ship. The Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory is taller than the Rockefeller Center Observation Deck. you can actually see the Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock The view of the Chrysler Building is slightly blocked my the Metropolitan Life Building, but the view of Central Park is much better. There are no crowds three-deep here like those on the Empire State Building. If you're stuck between Top of the Rock and the Empire State Building, there's NO contest for me. The Top of the Rock Rockefeller Center Observation Deck view wins everytime. DIRECTIONS:- Walk north up Avenue of Americas 2 blocks and go past Radio City Music hall in Art Deco 1932 style a New York Landmark (look in the grand foyer: sweeping staircases and 24 carat gold leaf ceiling and chandeliers) and then turn right onto 51st Street. Walk two blocks to St Patrick’s Cathedral
New York's St Patrick’s Cathedral Brooklyn Bridge DIRECTIONS:- On the other side of Brooklyn Bridge in the Cadman Plaza Park is the High street Brooklyn Bridge Subway station on the A line if you do not want to take a cab South street seaport (pier 17) DIRECTIONS:- Walk north up Avenue of Americas 2 blocks and go past Radio City Music hall in Art Deco 1932 style a New York Landmark (look in the grand foyer: sweeping staircases and 24 carat gold leaf ceiling and chandeliers) and then turn right onto 51st Street. Walk two blocks to St Patrick’s Cathedral Free Ferry Trip
USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier Museum Pier 86 She was destined to be cut up for scrap, but a campaign led by real estate developer Zachary Fisher and the Intrepid Museum Foundation saved the carrier, and established it as a museum ship. In August 1982, the ship opened in on Pier 86 on the West Side of New York City as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Many different aircraft are displayed on her decks for the public to walk around. There is even a British Airways Concord. In early July 2006, it was announced that the Intrepid will undergo renovations and repairs, along with Pier 86 itself. It closed on October 1, 2006, in preparation for its towing to Bayonne, New Jersey for repairs, and later Staten Island, NY for renovation and temporary docking. On November 6, 2006, an attempt to remove the aircraft carrier from the pier for restoration was temporarily put on hold by the Coast Guard. Despite the use of several tugs with a combined 30,000 horsepower, officials said the ship was stuck in 24 years worth of accumulated silt and would not move. In November 11, 2006 the United States Navy announced that it would spend $3 million to dredge the mud and silt from under the Intrepid. Members of the Army Corps of Engineers and Navy Engineering Battalions operated for three weeks to clear the site of mud and silt. On December 5, 2006, after the removal of 39,000 cubic yards of muck from under the ship and around its four giant screws, Intrepid was successfully removed from its pier and was towed to Bayonne. The Intrepid has now returned to Pier 86. Tickets are expensive. www.intrepidmuseum.org Woodbury Common Premium Shopping Outlets You can get there by bus, train or car. It is north west of the city. Woodbury Common Premium Outlets is located on Route 32 in Central Valley, NY. One hour north of New York City if you are driving. To get the train take the New York subway to Penn Station. Buy a ticket to Harriman Station on the Port Jervis Line. You have to change trains at Secaucus. When you get to Harriman Station call either of the following taxi companies for transportation to/from Harriman Station to Woodbury Common. Rides cost between $6 and $7 each way: Village Taxi: 845-783-6112 Monroe Taxi: 845-782-8141 Speedy Car Services: 845-783-4444. Check the time trains especially the time of the return trains as for some strange reason they seem to stop between 5pm and 9pm. The train fair is not expensive. When you show your rail ticket at Customer Service in the Tower Building or Food Court, you'll receive a complimentary VIP discount coupon booklet with additional savings at participating stores. The Grey Line bus company runs regular coaches throughout the day from Times Square, Port Authority Bus Terminal, Gray Line Office - 8th Avenue & 42nd Street, Ground Level Entrance. Adult tickets cost over $40 each return. Check out their website Shortline Coach USA also run coaches Port Authority Bus Terminal as well as Westside Manhatten. New York City Helicopter Flight tours
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