Off to the airport in an hour bound for the Big Apple

Any recommendations for things to do apart from the usual cultural stuff?

Already been advised about Bleecker Street for good music and lively atmosphere - it's in Manhattan which is where daughter and hubby have their uni flat.

Check out Sickipedia for loads of great jokes about 9/11 - the guys in airport security literally never get tired of them and, if they're funny enough, you might even get a free holiday in Cuba.

Get a hop on hop off tour bus around NYC, also get the more expensive one that gives you entry to all the attractions.

do a horse and carrige ride

Go to the gogenhime? museam!
lovely!!

where abouts you staying in NYC?

Don't go to the Statue of Liberty as it takes ages, instead get a speedboat tour from Pier 19 which loops round and you get some great pics of than and the manhattan syline. Great fun but you may get a little wet if you don't pay attention.

John

The highline is a nice place to walk along on a sunny day.

Oi, you can still access FCCUK forum in Guantanamo you know.

But you're observant on the American-officials-in-uniform issue, they are so light-hearted you don't feel any remorse as they lead you away.....

Thanks for the heads-up on SickyP, didn't even know of its existence

@Mario - staying West 115th St, Manhattan, so close to Central Park, oh, and the Highline for granpa-strollers [not quite yet ] Bus tour good idea! Also heard of a 3-day pass, not inexpensive, but gather that most things cost rather more than here.

Edit - Gunzi you beat me to it

IM MARCO YOU CHEEKY GIT!!!!!



i will let that pass...

The bus tour is brilliant as it saves you money on taxis ect.

Also, when you get a cab to your hotel.
DONT PAY MORE THAN $50, that includeds the tip.
i got ripped $55.

Central park is lovely, go see the alice and wounder land statue!

also, the central park zoo is nice too

One thing: Ellis Island. Most of the locals seemed to really enjoy themselves there, but to me it was a memorial to a most dehumanising and alienating immigration process, and I came away feeling thoroughly depressed.

PETA have a big ongoing campaign against the NYC horse carriage trade, so don't be doing that if you have animal sympathies.

PETA? People Eat Tasty Animals?

I wanted to join peta, but they wouldnt let me. Does that mean i'm a petaflop?

Don't forget to buy a lottery ticket while you're in the States - it's a $500,000,000 jackpot, apparently (or $19,000,000/year for life).

Sure, there's only a 1 in 176,000,000 chance of winning, but it would be a great memento of your holiday.

I thought it might be Peta, 23 from Essex but I'm not certain of that

If you like pizza, go to Lombardi's in Little Italy, oldest pizza place in New York and bloody lovely pizza too, I think it was 19" or 20" and still crispy all the way!

Ah sorry about that, in so much of a hurry!

Too late, paid $60 taxi including $6.50 toll but it was quick at least after waiting 80 mins in the border control queue TWO agents checking through two plane loads of arrivals.

Central Park it is tomorrow, and funnily enough Ellis Island is high on priority with daughter and hub so will do that.

@Barnacle, I have this feeling of depression going to see some churches if I think too much about what religion has either conjured up or covered up.....

Am intending that this holiday is well worthwhile without the need to go down lottery lane

Oh and apparently the subway is $2.25 flat fare....sounds good

dont go on the sub way at night mate...
we where told to avoid it.

enjoy your self mate

... and if you are a bit strapped for cash, buy it cold.

45 dollars is fixed rate to Manhatten not including tip or tolls. So 55 is minimum really. (Assuming you came from JFK?)

You can go on Statue of Liberty easy enough if you go for the first ferry at 9am with tickets.

Do Top of the Rock instead of ESB.

High Line Park might be nice now with it being spring.

Walk over Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn!

And I would get metro everywhere instead of any bus or taxi.

Comedy Cellar is a good real American Comedy Club.

Enjoy

You left it a bit late before asking! Hmmmmm an hour to go, wonder what i should do when I get there

I'd do top of the rock AND Epire States Builfding too. Very different buildings and the ESB has a beautful Art Deco interior. Good to do one at night too. I'd do ESPB daytimg and Rockerfeller night time.

Statten island ferry is cool gives you great views of the city and the statue of liberty and it is free and lets you mingle with everyday New Yorkers (as well as tourists of course) Central Park is relly cool & times square at night. See a show at Radio City, i'd love to do that and it will be on the agenda next time. That big station is worth a visit too and Twin Towers memorial is finished now I believe. Eat in diners and Deli's in the day, great for breakfasts and lunches. Whatever you do I'm sure you'll have a good time

The memorial isn't finished, you can go see the tower foundations with the fountains but the actual center isn't finished. You'd only spend an hour there tops and you need to book your (free) tickets beforehand. Tribute WTC is a good place for tours for 9/11 stuff.

Radio City is good, watched the Rockettes there on Xmas Day.

Staten Island ferry was ideal for photoshoots and getting caught up in a stampede of steers as everyman and his dog made for the best viewing end of the boat - thought it was going to tip up!

Katz deli, famed for its pastrami was lunch - OMG I've never seen a ten storey tenement meat building so wilfully stacked between two slices of bread Now that place has style, ambience, won't let you down Corner of East Houston st and Ludlow.

WTC felt eerie approaching as the footage of duststorms and mayhem suddenly became grounded and real. MOst of the site was boarded round though and although you can pre-order a ticket to wonder around we didn't and spied through a chink in the fence instead.

Subway is brilliant and a 7-day unlimited use card at $29 is well worth it for the convenience.

Typical American meal booked for us by the sprogs tonight at a burger joint [any excuse I think for my s-i-l ]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Oh and C2D fair comment about the eleventh hour but Mrs Ed is the arch-researcher in this sort of thing, having already committed to memory the Rough Guide, Lonely Planet and most of Rand McNally - me, took the short cut by cutting straight to the coal face

Bring back some petrol. Thats gas in Americaan

Sorry, limited to 5 litres in a plastic can

Yes waiting in immigration for an hour and a half because on my second name wasn't fun. Especially being interrogated by a latino looking fellow who second name wasn't smith either.

American immigration barstewards...

Nyc was awesome though..wall street wasn't the huge empire the films make it out to be.. Make sure you see Brooklyn before you leave.

A few pics:

Katz's deli - note here they will export stuff to your kid in the army...



The obligatory Manhattan skyline and the crowds fresh from their stampede to the best viewpoint

Nice pics and interesting to see the new skyline.
What has this guy got in his hands?

Consensus is pastrami, ie cured beef with their own peppery herby crust. Yanks do eating bigtime and my omelette must have had four eggs and 10+ slices of this stuff in it. The guy next to us didn't have a mouth big enough to wrap around 9 slices of it inside a sandwich
I really struggled and the 5-napkin burger later on finished me off completely Best cooked 10 ouncer ever, dripping red - that's called medium apparently!

So I learnt yesterday that Central Park was designed deliberately as a buffer between the disease-ridden lower east side where housing was quickly acquiring slum status in quality and density. This massive formal park allowed the well-off to esconce themselves comfortably and spaciously in the upper west and upper east part of Manhattan. I recognised the running track around the lake where countless films have been shot, but in particular the Dustin Hoffman one [?Marathon Man]. It's all highly organised with running only allowed anticlockwise and woe betide you if you dare to walk two abreast at busy times - ie flattened!

The main point of this trip was to end up at the Guggenheim

designed by Frank Lloyd Wright the pioneer American architect of the first half of the 20th century, also the subject [alias Howard Roarke] of Ayn Rand's bestseller The Fountainhead. His house in Arizona, Taliesin, is spectacular

Taliesin West

Oddly enough the current exhibition at the G was of John Chamberlain's work, the majority of which was at times uncomfortable to think about too much...


He ended up owning the scrapyards which supplied the parts....

Pics were definitely frowned upon although as almost everyone has a camera phone these days it was very hard to police.

Light relief at the end of the day came at the massive food market where the trolleys have their own escalator


"Excuse me sir, you can't take photos" was the reaction