New York

I stayed at the pod 'hotel' which was actually a LOT better than i thought it would be. The location is very good as well :)

I was only there for 4days but saw a lot and walked miles and miles! I basically did the following:
- Empire State (at night)
- Top of the Rock (during the day)
- Central park (on a sunny day, and with snow)
- Financial district
- Staten island ferry (just there and back, i didn't stay on the island)
- Brooklyn bridge
- Walked all around manhattan!
- a gig at the knitting factory
- NHL + NBA games at MSQ

Remember to make use of the subway as the taxi drives will no doubt scare you into it with there somewhat crazy driving :D
 
I'm not worried about NY Taxis....I've been to Cairo. If anyone else has been they'll know what I'm on about ;)

Thanks for all the opinions folks, it's really useful stuff.
 
Still, use the subway. Its super cheap, quick and easy to use (basically the complete opposite of the Underground). Taxis are expensive and slow. I only used the taxis to get to JFK and back.
 
best thing to do... look up the hotel on expedia then double check with the hotel's own website (if they have one) and try booking there!

When me and the gf went we just booked the hotel through expedia (granted it was a great price for a great hotel)... but checked the hotel website and would have been about $100 cheaper!!!
 
SiD the Turtle said:
Still, use the subway. Its super cheap, quick and easy to use (basically the complete opposite of the Underground). Taxis are expensive and slow. I only used the taxis to get to JFK and back.
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I don't know when you went but I was there for 10 weeks last summer and I found the subway far more confusing than the underground (it was still relatively easy once you got used to it but definitely not as easy as Tubes), the only plus points is once your on the right train, it's quick, air conditioned and it runs all night.
There were times when it felt more like a train network rather than an urban transit system, with wait times of 10-15 mins between trains during the day etc.

I found yellow cabs to be extremely cheap there and often used them when I couldn't be bothered to walk across town to the #6 line to get uptown, cost about $3/4 each time ($2 to the pound when I went) and saved me a 20-30 min walk.
 
megakid said:
I don't know when you went but I was there for 10 weeks last summer and I found the subway far more confusing than the underground (it was still relatively easy once you got used to it but definitely not as easy as Tubes), the only plus points is once your on the right train, it's quick, air conditioned and it runs all night.
There were times when it felt more like a train network rather than an urban transit system, with wait times of 10-15 mins between trains during the day etc.

I found yellow cabs to be extremely cheap there and often used them when I couldn't be bothered to walk across town to the #6 line to get uptown, cost about $3/4 each time ($2 to the pound when I went) and saved me a 20-30 min walk.
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I disagree... the subway in new york is completely amazing.

I have been to London twice previously and 100% HATE the Underground, it's hot, sweaty, disguting and TOTALLY confusing - it's very difficult for a Scottish country lad :p

However, the New York subway... really easy. Lovely, cleaner, AIR CONDITIONED, and CHEAP... you pay $2 and get on and can ride that subway ANYWHERE... including transfers at main stops (not if you go outside the station obviously..). The subway in New York is just great, everything is logical and runs basically North-South through Manhattan, and then out East/West to NJ or the boroughs.....
 
NY taxis are fine - however as said the subway makes the tube look antiquated. But I prefer to walk, though sometimes you do need to use a cab. Don't forget to tip!! If anyone has experienced taxis in Napoli NY taxis are mucho tame in comparison! ;)
 
Hmmm maybe I'm the only one that found the NYC subway substandard compared to the underground. I found the stations there dirtier and much hotter, train wait times far longer and the whole express/local train thing as well as getting different trains from the same platform made it feel much more complex than the underground: 1 platform = 1 destination (as long as you don't go too far out where the tube splits to less frequent lines) - just get on the next train - I found myself wanting to do this in New York but couldn't.

Air-conditioned and larger trains were definitely a positive though - horses for courses I guess. I was working there for 10 weeks so my rush hour experiences were probably a bit different to your holiday experiences. That said, comparing rush hours between NYC and London, I'd much rather ride the subway solely due to the reason of air conditioning but I still maintain that the subway is relatively confusing when put alongside the tube.
 
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I guess if you live in London you become rather jaded with the tube - it could be sooo good, but it's just, not. :(

NY I found to be much more agreeable, maybe not as efficient, I don't know I didn't use it enough to work it out, but it was a much more pleasant experience. And it's got better over the several times I've been there.

Anyway if the weather's good, walking's so much more fun! :)
 
That reminded me to update my profile, I do live in London, maybe I haven't been jaded yet! I can't see any improvements they could provide over aircon'd carriages and 24 hour running...?

I agree though, walking is much better.

As said above, central park > financial district is good.

Don't know if it's your thing, but checking out New Jersey on the PATH is a good idea. Plenty of restaurants and funky little shops in Hoboken and a direct PATH from 33rd, 23rd, 15th, 9th and christopher. Great view of Manhatten from across the Hudson. I lived at Newport (1 stop south from Hoboken) for 10 weeks whilst I was there and stayed on the 32nd floor on the river bank - amazing views.
 
The underground is a better 'network' I'd say in its defence. The subway seems more useful for quickly traversing 20 blocks, but walking is best for small distances. You can't argue with the subway's pricing though. I can't remember the exact prices now but I used a metro card for seven days am I'm sure it was cheaper than a day travelcard on the underground.
 
megakid said:
That reminded me to update my profile, I do live in London, maybe I haven't been jaded yet! I can't see any improvements they could provide over aircon'd carriages and 24 hour running...?
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The aircon doesn't work very well and the subway can be quite dangerous at night because most stations are unstaffed.
 
Seft said:
The aircon doesn't work very well and the subway can be quite dangerous at night because most stations are unstaffed.
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I found the aircon to be very effective when I was there, in fact, when the carriages were empty, it was almost like stepping into a fridge!
It made rush-hours from 77th to Chambers far more bearable.
 
SiD the Turtle said:
The underground is a better 'network' I'd say in its defence. The subway seems more useful for quickly traversing 20 blocks, but walking is best for small distances. You can't argue with the subway's pricing though. I can't remember the exact prices now but I used a metro card for seven days am I'm sure it was cheaper than a day travelcard on the underground.
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$24 for a metro card, which really is a bargain!
 
Seft said:
The aircon doesn't work very well and the subway can be quite dangerous at night because most stations are unstaffed.
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I thought manhatten itself was one of the safest places I have ever visited..mainly because there seemed to be a uniform on every corner!

the policing is much more pro-active as opposed to here where its entirely reactive...even wandering around midnight/1am in the morning it never fealt threatening, no gangs wandering the streets drunk or anything like that

the only time I did see an arguement between a bloke and his girlfriend outside a bar, after about 30 seconds of raised voices and swearing a policeman was there asking them to calm down and take it home rather than argue on the street

but like I said I felt entirely safe walking around
 
Seft said:
The aircon doesn't work very well and the subway can be quite dangerous at night because most stations are unstaffed.
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lol, because uk stations are well staffed, with armed police patrolling the trains themselves and no thugs who like to mug people on the trains at all :p

subway runs all night and frankly, has been as safe as can realistically be, for a good 5 years now, maybe 10 not sure when the "clean up new york" thing happened. TO the complete opposite crime is getting awful in london.

as for the trains, only the central london stations in general have 1 station = 1 train, lots of area's of the "underground" network have multiple trains aswell as trains that go off different branches of the network from the same platform. Hell, you can get on a heathrow train and find it taking you to rayners lane, which is always fun(though rare).

The biggest upshot of subway vs underground is the guys that built the tunnel there did this thing where, they made the trains square, underground = half the people standing in a horrible and uncomftable crouched down manner stuffed into a corner. ridiculous tbh.

I was in NYC for thanksgiving last year, a overly quiet weekend and subways were still running frequently. No real hassel with missing the last train, as there isn't really a last train in NYC, late nights and getting home on night buses isn't a problem. Also one station being out, or a train breaking down causes basically no delays ever on the subway as they run dual tracks in all tunnels, they have complete redundancy, which is why they can run all day and all night. here we get massive delays, weekends not in service, months of "maintainance work" with parts of the network down.

then heat in summer is killer on the tube.
 
FTM said:
I thought manhatten itself was one of the safest places I have ever visited..mainly because there seemed to be a uniform on every corner!

the policing is much more pro-active as opposed to here where its entirely reactive...even wandering around midnight/1am in the morning it never fealt threatening, no gangs wandering the streets drunk or anything like that

the only time I did see an arguement between a bloke and his girlfriend outside a bar, after about 30 seconds of raised voices and swearing a policeman was there asking them to calm down and take it home rather than argue on the street

but like I said I felt entirely safe walking around
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exactly, I mean, it was just two of us, 20 and 24, not the biggest guys walking around late at night between bars, between swanky bars and complete dives(as the night went on) and never once felt unsafe, well i kind of had that uneasy feeling but purely because thats how it feels in London when walking around late with groups of people breaking bottles and shouting at people who go past you get that feeling they can kick off whenever with police only ever, 100% as you worded it, reacting to things that have happened here.

but there you quickly realise that the atmosphere is different, you see lots of police about, so the gangs just don't hang out causing trouble.
 
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