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I am not the original poster. Originally posted by u/YesAndEverything in 2018 on r/AskNYC.
Looking for feedback on 26 hour NYC plan, and recommendations for speakeasies (12 Jun 2018)
This subreddit has been so incredibly helpful in planning my very short time in NYC this weekend! I will be there Friday for about 26 hours and I have read so many posts while creating my day plan. I'll arrive at the hostel to drop off my bags around 7:30am and I leave on a bus the next day at 9:30am. We're staying in Queens.
I'm trying not to kill myself by seeing too much stuff, but I do want to get in some quintessential NYC views and experiences. I like seeing landmarks from the outside or far away, but not necessarily going inside. I like experiencing city culture, but I just don't think I'll have time this trip. I'm also traveling with a photographer who is trying to grab some good shots along the way.
I'm looking for input on the following:
- Recommendations for speakeasies -- I really want to go to a speakeasy where you can watch the bartender make fun drinks and where I can tell them my preferences and have them make me something custom. Any suggestions for something like that?
- Suggestions/critique based on my planned itinerary so far (see below).
Thank you so much!
FRIDAY:
- Bagels from somewhere
- Staten Island Ferry (to see the city and the Statue of Liberty)
- Chinatown
- Walk the High Line (at least part of it)
- Bleeker Street for pizza
- Times Square daytime visit (just to look around)
- Grand Central Station (just to look around)
- Top of the Rock at sunset (buying my tickets ahead for time for a specific time slot)
- Broadway Show (Come from Away at Gerald Schoenfeld Theater)
- Times Square nighttime visit (just to look around)
Bars:
- The Press Lounge (to see the skyline at night)
- Supernova (to see higher up view of Times Square at night)
- Speakeasy (trying to pick one)
- Attaboy
- Dear Irving
Angel’s ShareDead Rabbit
Take pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge (Fulton Ferry State Park? Brooklyn Bridge Park?)
Cross the Brooklyn Bridge
Cab or subway back to hostel in Queens (I'm okay with being up super late)
SATURDAY:
- Take pictures of the Queensboro Bridge at sunrise
- Cross the Queensboro Bridge
- Walk around Central Park
- Catch bus at Port Authority
UPDATE: "26 hours in NYC" itinerary vs actual trip. Hoping this will help someone in the future! (26 Jun 2018)
I previously posted asking for feedback on my 26 hours in NYC itinerary and this sub was so helpful. I also browsed a BUNCH of old posts to get suggestions and ideas, and also looked stuff up on Serious Eats / Yelp / Tripadvisor / etc. Overall I had an amazing day and wanted to share what I did.
General Planning:
- As suggested, I plugged everything into Google Maps and included travel time (rounded up to the next half hour mark) in my plan. I made a 'time sheet' of half hour increments that I checked in with as the day went on.
- Planning: I cut way down on the number of things I was trying to do (thanks, guys!) I marked "essentials" on my itinerary in case I ran into issues with timing and needed to cut some things out. I was glad I cut out the extra bars I wanted to hit up; there wasn't enough time.
- Clothing: I wore the most comfortable shoes I had, with added arch support inserts (flat feet) that I broke in a few days before. I also took a cross body bag that I could hold in front of me, and I brought an SPF-protective cardigan that could double as sun and cold protection. For the plane, I packed a backpack so I didn't have to worry about rolling bags around the subway.
- Lessons Learned: I wish I had brought along more cash and small bills. I also wish I'd had more downtime to do less touristy-things or maybe a walking or bike tour, but obviously I had a jam-packed day and there's always next time. :) There's an app by Charmin called SitOrSquat which was a lifesaver for finding bathrooms. Also a local NYC-er told me most Starbucks let you use their bathroom. I'm SO glad I brought extra battery packs for my phone.
FRIDAY MORNING (~6AM - 1PM)
- Took subway from JFK to hostel in Queens / Long Island City. I stayed at The Local NYC and it seemed super was cool! Movies playing, an in-house bar and coffee bar, theme night events, etc. I wish I'd been able to hang out there more. I was about a 5-10 minute walk from most subway stations. The hostel holds your bags for free until you can check in, and you can rent locks for the lockers for free, too. The place also had a rooftop patio that I didn't know about until the last day, but check out this view: https://imgur.com/s6UkWor
- We were sleepy and hungry, and traffic wasn't too bad yet, so we took Lyft Pool to Dumbo after checking in (much cheaper than standard Lyft).
- Snapped an obligatory picture of the bridge through the buildings at Front St & Washington St: https://imgur.com/MXRtCT9
- Grabbed a hand-rolled bagel at La Bagel Delight (cheap & delicious -- the line moves fast!)
- Walked to the benches outside Cecconi's/West Elm (between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge, close to Jane's Carousel) to sit and enjoy coffee and the amazing free view: https://imgur.com/53X2BMh
- Crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on foot and just took in the views and hilarious "no locks" signs.
- Took a cheap Uber/Lyft Pool to the Staten Island Ferry. Best free thing we did the whole trip. So cool and relaxing! We were on the wrong side of the boat for the Statue of Liberty but by the time we realized it, there were hoards of tourists crowding the rail, so we waited till the trip back to stake out a spot on the correct side.
- Traveled to Chinatown (can't remember if we walked or took the subway, sorry!) to walk around up Mott St. Grabbed a salted egg yolk and BBQ pork bun from Golden Steamer on the recommendation of Serious Eats (THESE WERE SO GOOD. My favorite food I ate the entire trip, seriously wish I could've taken these home. Bring cash.) Grabbed some egg custard tarts from Tai Pan bakery, also yummy and cheap. We only spent like an hour in Chinatown, a lot less than I anticipated.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON (~1PM - 5PM):
- Hit up Joe's Pizza on Carmine St. Got a fresh mozz and regular cheese slice. It was definitely NY pizza but it wasn't honestly my favorite. Probably my fault for eating it after those amazing steam buns haha. The line moved super fast, even though it was out the door. We were lucky enough to snag seats at the window.
- Walked the High Line which I loved! Such a cool mix of beautiful greenery with the buildings in the background. We sat on this awesome patch of grass about halfway through the walk and rested/people-watched: https://imgur.com/FOGuWCx
- Walked to Grand Central Terminal to look around the beautiful building interior. Was careful not to get in the way of commuters.
- Walked to 30 Rockefeller Plaza and just walked around the plaza (I'm a huge 30 Rock nerd, so I loved this).
FRIDAY EVENING (~5PM - 10PM):
- I made an appointment online earlier in the week to see Top of the Rock at 5:45pm. Best idea ever. I walked right in and was at the top within 20 minutes of arriving. I briefly looked at each deck but really enjoyed the very top deck. You are allowed to stay as long as you want, so I would recommend coming about 1-1.5 hours before sunset and watching the sunset. You'll get to see both day and night view, plus the sunset up there was beautiful. I had a show to catch at 8pm, so I only caught a glimpse of the sunset and took this crappy picture from a lower deck (https://imgur.com/IAp8oJL), but I stood and looked at the Empire State Building for 45 minutes, it was so gorgeous.
- Walked to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater to see Come From Away. BEST musical I have ever seen, hands down my current favorite. I literally laughed and cried and jumped to my feet with the rest of the theater for a standing ovation at the end. It was heartwarming and touching and the cast is so, so talented. I'm already planning to see it again when it starts touring on the West coast. The theater is small, so I got mezz seats which were awesome and cheaper (row C). Here's the view from my seat: https://imgur.com/PT0YTYD
- Walked to Times Square to see it at night. I only stayed about 5-10 minutes, it was crazy, but I'm glad I at least saw it and took a picture there.
- Found the original Halal Guys food cart and had an amazing falafel sandwich. (Get extra white sauce!! And also, the red sauce is spicier than it looks.)
FRIDAY LATE NIGHT (~10PM - 2AM):
- Walked to Supernova at the Novotel hotel. I heavily researched rooftop bars to try and find something reasonably priced (for NYC), not too crowded, and where we could show up in our casual clothes (since we weren't going back to the hostel). Supernova was PERFECT. No line, no cover, $15 cocktails, plenty of seats overlooking Times Square, and casual clothing was okay (I called ahead to check). Take the elevator up the hotel to the bar and just walk straight outside. This picture doesn't do the view justice, but here's an idea: https://imgur.com/42cfFDz
- Took the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge Park to see the nighttime skyline. This is where everything went wrong. I did not understand how to do subway lines weekend vs weekday vs late night schedules. We got lost and ended up wasting a bunch of time traveling. I will definitely prepare more for the subway next time I go.
- Chilled at the park looking at the skyline. I was going to hit up Fornino which has a squat rooftop around there, but they close at midnight and we were there around 1-2am.
- We were exhausted, so we Uber Pool-ed back to the hostel. Also a mistake -- picked up 3 drunk couples on the way home and it was a long ride.
- Late night checked-in (made sure to let the hostel know earlier that day that we'd be back late, so we weren't marked as a no-show) and passed out in bed.
SATURDAY MORNING (~7AM - 10AM):
- Rode the subway to Central Park and just walked around. Wish I had more time to do this, definitely going back next time. So beautiful! I wanted to get Wafels & Dinges but both carts had incorrect hours listed online and weren't open until 10AM.
- Walked to Port Authority to catch our bus to the next city and slept hard on the bus haha.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I had an absolute blast. I was definitely ready to rest and my joints barely worked the next day, but I would go back in a heartbeat. I believe all cities have personalities and I just loved the vibe of NYC. So different from LA or DC or other big cities. I actually felt really safe in Manhattan, even late into the night, as long as I was staying conscious of my surroundings.
I almost didn't go at all because I only had around a day to make it happen, but I'm really glad I did it. I had a fantastic time. Thank you to everyone who helped on my post and others' old posts. I couldn't have done it without this sub!
Reminder: I am not the original poster. Originally posted by u/YesAndEverything in 2018 on r/AskNYC.
As a long-time NYer, I liked this post because it was a trip down memory lane - both for the beforetimes pre-Covid, but also because recommendations can change a lot over the years as places open and close.
I hope everybody else enjoys it and maybe mentions their favorite places for whatever OOP was looking for.
My own takes:
- Staten Island ferry continues to be the best way to see the Statue of Liberty for free.
- Fuck yes to Golden Steamer and Tai Pan bakery
- I lol'd at Pizza at Joe's only because I have a number of pizza fanatic friends and the Joe's vs John's thing is still a spirited fight, even though you can't get slices at John's. If someone has the time, I still think the original Patsy's in Harlem is the best pizza.
- If OOP hit the High Line, I wish someone would have told them to stop at Chelsea Market for a slow walk through. Even crawling with tourists, the interior brickwork is awesome and there are some unique and delightful shops there. buon'Italia is a fantastic stroll with so many delicious Italian foods and not quite as bonkers as Eataly. Anyway, Chelsea Market is a madhouse with a ton of delicious food and a ton of decent public bathrooms. It's overpriced, but a great stop off the High Line.
- When asked, I direct people to Top of the Rock vs Empire State Building. Like OOP mentioned, I think the view of the Empire State Building FROM the Top of the Rock is pretty great and I've personally had a way easier time dragging my tourist family around Top of the Rock vs Empire State.
- I hope OOP has made it back to Wafels & Dinges. I'm not a big carb person, but they are curiously delicious and satisfying.
C'mon back and check it out! It's gotten weirder since the pandemic, a lot of midtown is far emptier, but there is still a lot of fun to be had as we figure out life with Covid.
The Cocktail Codex (written by the Death & Co folx) got my husband and I through the first part of the pandemic. So much bar nostalgia made by our own hands when we couldn't go out and get it.
We're tired of someone approaching us to scam us, so we have a good resting "fuck off or I'll scream at you" face.
But never have I ever failed to stop if a tourist was clearly freaked out because they're lost and needed help. I've stopped what I was doing if we're in a big subway station that is convoluted to get them to the right train platform, or taking the time to hand write directions to help them get where they're going.
Once we know someone isn't trying to get money out of us, we're almost always very happy to help someone get where they want to go or direct them towards whatever help they need.
We have had so many potential roommates decide not to live with us because they "talked to some friends" who said they would "definitely die" if they moved in with us.
Have any of those people BEEN to the area? No, but their boyfriend's best friend's roommate's ex-roommate was there once and felt sketched out, so it's definitely super-unsafe and they will die.
Suuuuuure.
Hot take: just because a place smells like pee pee doesn't necessarily mean it's sketch, it just means it's gross.
I used to live off of the A and I worked on LaFayette, so I would take the A to West 4th street and walk east across to LaFayette, crossing a big swath of expensive, quaint, "everybody wants to live there" Village. And on Monday mornings in the summer, after a weekend of people drinking and puking outside of all the cute little bars, it was fucking RANK. Walked the whole way with my eyes pointed down to avoid stepping in vom.
Worst morning commute ever.
I would say that in the summer, most of the city smells pretty foul once it gets hot enough that the city doesn't really cool down fully after dark. Just a miasma of garbage and pee.
u/slaylentless & u/Total_Inflation_7898 you might like this one too then:
What is this brave new world where Patsy's has gone online? That blows my mind!
If you're about to go, you may also like this thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/qvi4m4/what_are_some_of_your_favorite_lesser_known_niche/
Where we are now (around Lincoln & Buffalo), the gentrification is coming from the west still, as well as the north. I don't go south much, because they're not a lot there, so I can't say where it's spread to from the south. But north of us, and even further east of us, they're putting what appears to be a fair bit of affordable housing along Atlantic near the subway stops. I have a feeling in 5-10 years, Atlantic is going to totally transform and have a lot more in the way of big box stores and outdoor restaurants vs warehouses and auto repair shops.
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I've lived in one of the "worst parts of town" (Crown Heights towards the east border with Ocean Hill/Brownsville) for 5 years now, and a lot of worst parts of town get a really bad rap. The summer of 2020 when BLM protests and Covid were both going strong, I think almost every person I knew who lived out of NYC called/texted/messaged to ask me if I was ok/offer shelter elsewhere/etc. Meanwhile, everything very reasonable, we heard/went to protests regularly for awhile (masked), they were all peaceful and reasonable. It was not the burning, terrorized hellhole that the media was making it out to be.
Honestly, the "worst" thing to happen is that the TP supply got weird for awhile. Only had Hello Kitty toilet paper at our local grocery store for awhile. And they rationed food at the store for awhile, but extremely reasonable rations. At no point were we concerned that we wouldn't have food. The spikes in prices of things like eggs are more concerning NOW than the pandemic food supply issues were in 2020.