<p>Hey NYU/Columbia/Barnard students! Quick question for you guys...</p>
<p>My class trip this year is to NYC (we are from mass.) and we are spending some time sight seeing (The UN) with our chaperones, then we get like 5 hours of free time. Do you have any suggestions for fun and inexpensive things to do (including good places for lunch)???</p>
<p>ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT!
Please post AND send responses via Private messages, if at all possible. THANKS!</p>
<p>Do you know what part of the city you'll be in? I go to NYC quite a lot and have some traditions of things I always do but it's a big city so...</p>
<p>When is the trip? What month? Weather might play into what folks suggest to you. </p>
<p>If you are at the UN and eat in say Chinatown you could take The Staten Island Ferry for a great view.</p>
<p>We want to stay relatively close to the UN building (or a short subway ride away) None of us are familiar with the city so we don't want to roam around too much... any suggestions for lunch? How close is chinatown?</p>
<p>The UN is at 42nd St and First Av. Take a crosstown bus on 42nd to Grand Central Station--visit the interior of the main hall--breathtaking,look up at the ceiling. Some interesting shops located on this level --one from the MTA with exhibitions about the subways and memorabilia-- downstairs is a food court with lots of choices. Go back out to 42nd continue westward to Fifth Av. Visit main public library, say hello to stone lions outside --may have some interesting free exhibits inside. If weather is good, go behind- the library to Bryant Park--snacks available here too but I think only in warm weather. If time permits, walk up Fifth Av to 59th Street--window shopping along the way- and enter Central Park--visiting the zoo is also fairly cheap. Walking around in New York is always rewarding --the city lives on its sidewalks-- the best show in town is the people you pass.</p>
<p>You could also ride the first avenue bus from the UN all the way to Chinatown--would take about half an hour to 45 min. Chinatown begins about 60 blocks downtown from the UN--2-3 miles. The ride would also be interesting and you'll see more than on the subway.</p>
<p>Well, if you're coming sometime soon--I'd do ice skating in Rockefeller Center. It's pretty close; there's a great website I found--it's kind of like Mapquest for subways and buses. <a href="http://www.hopstop.com/?city=newyork%5B/url%5D">http://www.hopstop.com/?city=newyork</a>.</p>
<p>Oh, neat. I'm going to NYC also for about 5 days at the end of December (Along with Philadelphia and Boston--yes, I've already gotten plenty of warnings about the cold). We're staying in a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We need things to do, too! Without the restrictions on distance of course. :)</p>
<p>partying in clubs.</p>
<p>partying in clubs.</p>
<p>Great, thanks.</p>
<ol>
<li>Go shopping ; lots of stores in NYC that are not found in other places of USA</li>
<li>Go eat at an expensive restaurant or some place.. I dunno ahha even if you eat at like Cosi for lunch , (a sandwich place) they'll charge you around $9 per sandwich (cheapest one)</li>
<li>go to the empire state building? hot tourist spot.</li>
<li>museums ; natural history, guggenheim.. </li>
<li>Take the subway JUST to take the subway (fare $2 for one ride)</li>
<li>Go to Soho and shop</li>
<li>Go to Union Square just to check out the druggies</li>
<li>Catch a broadway film?</li>
<li>Dont buy souvenirs.. they're retarded and over priced. Just bring your camera, take fun pix</li>
<li>err</li>
<li>have fun</li>
</ol>
<p>yea just dont act TOO tourist-y.. new yorkers in generally despp****ee tourists. I know I do.. some of them are just too SLOW, they block your way on the streets & stuff like that. soo annoying.</p>
<p>Oh and I'm assuming that when you say NYC you mean Manhattan only?
NYC has 5 boroughs
theres stuff to do in the other boroughs too..</p>
<p>Cosi doesnt charge 9 bucks........maybe in NYC.
down here, it's like 5-6 bucks for a sandwich and it's damn good. </p>
<p>go to boutique stores! if you like clothing, jewelries or antiques, you will have a lot of fun in NYC.</p>
<p>^ we're talking about NYC.. err</p>
<p>Soho during the day and the Village during the night</p>
<p>dont have time to give subway directions right now b/c im procrastinating studying for the us history sat 2. however, i worked in the city this summer as a camp counselor and alot of the places i brought my kids would be great sights to see.</p>
<p>battery city park, which is near circle line ferry to statue of liberty and ellis island.</p>
<p>check out chinatown (great place to eat) chinatown is also right next to little italy (great place for pizza and gelato, you might want to eat at umbertos which was owned by the mob though isnt any longer,supposedly) both are close to broadway and soho (great places to shop, esp since you're a girl) </p>
<p>at night, make sure to see times square (i did this with my girlfriend and its just the most romantic thing). make sure to get a picture under the cup of noodles btw. you might also be able to catch the naked cowboy dude at some times of the day (although ive never personally seen him or want to see him b/c im a guy)</p>
<p>go to central park and take a ride in one of the horse drawn carriages (i personally stick away form them b/c the horses tend to smell, but thats not the case all of the time)</p>
<p>no really, a good way to get an amazing lunch w/o the high price is eating in chinatown. the food is amazing. i mean, at some small restaurants you can get 3 dishes 1 rice 1 soup 1 drink for 3$. tell me where you can get a better deal than that. other than the bad chidken they sell (or used to sell) at gristedis.</p>
<p>... or go see your favorite baseball team... the New York Yankees. Stadium tours year round! </p>
<p>The Rangers and Knicks are only a short train ride away too.</p>
<p>For transportation... take the train (they are the fastest). The trains are relatively safe now, especially in Manhattan, but the busses are easier for someone not use to N.Y.C. to navigate. Taxis can get expensive if going a long distance.</p>
<p>Taxis are expensive for one person. But if 3-4 people are traveling together, they aren't that much more than the train. You can go from one tourist spot to another on Manhatten for about $10 for most trips. Longer distances, say upper West Side to the financial district, might be $15. Buses and trains are $2 per person.</p>
<p>you should probably get a "one day fun pass". its a special type of metro card that gives you unlimited rides for one day. each person in your group would have to buy one b/c they have a limit of one use per half hour. </p>
<p>if you want to hop around lower manhattan/midtown/uptown, definitely put down that tiny investment in a funpass. you buy it the same way you buy a metrocard, either through the machine or at the booths in subway stations.</p>
<p>if you dont use it, you end up paying 2$ everytime you enter a subway station, that quickly adds up. </p>
<p>btw, trains are very safe (i mean, unless you're at some seedy part of brooklyn or the bronx at late hours of the night. from personal experience, you dont want to be at the 20th avenue mta station right by coney island at 2 in the morning. its not pretty. gangs hang out there, and i had to keep a really low profile.) but back to my point. wherever you as a tourist are likely to go, there will also be other tourists/residents at that station, so there isnt anything to worry about. if anything watch your bags a little more closely when you're in a packed subway car of in a station with alot of people waiting right by the tracks. also dont stand near the yellow line.</p>
<p>enough of my rant, have fun.</p>
<p>blah trains are fine to take , but they are not fast. Well maybe its cause I am a new yorker, damn the trains are way too slow, you can count on being delayed all the time.</p>
<p>but yea, take the subway. LOL</p>