I am Cabin Crew (Flight Attendant for the USA minded of you all...) for BA, and as currently stands, I seem to be doing JFK trips around 2 times a month, which really is not a problem as I adore the city and think it will take me a long long time, if ever, to tire of coming here...
I have been several times on holiday/vacation too and seen all the "tourist" things I want to see, and indeed some I did not... However, I am on the scout to pick your noggins.
I am looking for any ideas or tips for "different" things to do in Manhattan. Things that maybe only residents of this fair island would know about that may be interesting, and if not, a little different to what the guide books and internet guides tell us all about.
We are VERY lucky that we stay in our own hotel in Manhattan, so public transport and getting around are not an issue and I feel quite comfortable with my MTA card and subway hopping... I tend to get one night in JFK, either arriving from lunchtime onwards and operating back the next afternoon with the odd exception, or arriving early to late evening and having all day in Manhattan the next day. On the rare occasion, with aircraft variations requiring different numbers of crew, I may get a 2 night stop in Manhattan... So, something a little more involved may be possible too...
Do remember though, that I have worked ;) from London to New York, and often it is late UK time, so nothing too physically demanding (as in 1,000 step stair climbs for an example) will really work for me... :D
Anything your gilded minds may be able to bestow on me would be of great interest... So, please, feel free to inform me!
Warmest Regards,
BBB
Analise
Jun 29, 12, 8:43 pm
Check out exhibitions at local museums. FYI: avoid the Tenement Museum until the fall when the weather gets cooler. If you haven't visited the Museum of the City of New York, I recommend it. Of course, if you haven't visited the Metropolitan Museum, that should come first! :p
Get tickets for an off-Broadway play.
Bring your tennis racquet and play at the National Tennis Center (home of the US Open) with one or more of your colleagues.
Go get a pedicure.
Pack a lunch and go to the Cloisters (part of the Metropolitan Museum) for lunch or head up there for sunset.
Go to a baseball game. Yankees or Mets depending on who is home. Or go to a minor league game (Staten Island Yankees — take the ferry as the stadium is next door or the Brooklyn Cyclones down in Coney Island)
LGANightOwl
Jun 29, 12, 9:47 pm
I like walking tours since it gets me out doing things a New Yorker wouldn't do. I'm so used to walking to and from my destination, I forget to look up and walking tours force me to see the City.
The Municipal Art Society of New York has great walking tours for a reasonable cost. They do a free tour every Wednesday (around lunch time) of Grand Central Station (suggested donation is $10). They have others as well, most center around the architecture of New York. More information on their website: https://secure3.convio.net/masnyc/site/Ecommerce?store_id=1221.
I've recently done a "self-guided" tour by walking from 80th and Broadway to Battery Park on a Sunday with my wife. Started around 8am, window shopped along the way, visited a few places that we would drive by normally without second thought, had lunch, and ended up at Battery Park around 7pm. We got the idea from a tour guide 10 years ago and we always wanted to do it. The only regret was not doing it sooner.
OP, I know you said not too physically demanding. But even if you do half of that walk at your own pace, you'll learn a lot more about NYC. Heck, I've lived here all my life and a simple afternoon in Central Park taught me a lot.
On 2-night layovers, a day-trip on Megabus to someplace like Atlantic City, Philadelphia, or our state capital -- Albany -- is possible. If you are able to book sufficiently far in advance, the roundtrip can cost very little. (For a little more money, you might go up to Albany by train on Amtrak, to take in the views of the Hudson River, and come back by Megabus.)
Some of the lesser-known museums in NYC include the Transit Museum in Brooklyn, which features vintage subway cars and busses; and the American Numismatic Society in lower Manhattan, which features money. :)
Spaghetti
Jun 30, 12, 8:03 am
Check Time Out New York for current listings. You can sort by type of event, and they also have listings for free stuff.
I love free stuff! There are tons of free events in the summer. Summerstage (I think their web site is summerstage.org, but you can google it) offers free concerts, and also check the Central Park site for other free music events on the Great Lawn and at the Bandshell. (It's www.centralparknyc.org)
Also check the River-to-River Festival schedule for lots of free events downtown.
http://rivertorivernyc.com/events/
And check the Barnes & Noble web site for free events and readings.
And, if you have some energy (!), you can take advantage of free kayaking on the Hudson.
Spaghetti
Jun 30, 12, 8:39 am
Also, check goldstar.com for discounts to all kinds of events and attractions. We recently did a schooner wine cruise for around $15 that was lovely.
You'll find discounts to Broadway and off-Broadway shows on broadwaybox.com. The discounts are on the top left of the home page. They also list premium tickets, so be sure you're in the right section for the discounts.
On 2-night layovers, a day-trip on Megabus to someplace like Atlantic City, Philadelphia, or our state capital -- Albany -- is possible. If you are able to book sufficiently far in advance, the roundtrip can cost very little. (For a little more money, you might go up to Albany by train on Amtrak, to take in the views of the Hudson River, and come back by Megabus.)
Some of the lesser-known museums in NYC include the Transit Museum in Brooklyn, which features vintage subway cars and busses; and the American Numismatic Society in lower Manhattan, which features money. :)
Atlantic City has the boardwalk and casinos and maybe the beach is somewhere nearby? Philadelphia has a lot of history. But Albany? What do they have? As a longtime NY resident, I just went there for the first time last week. I would not recommend any tourist go there. It was like a smaller version of Buffalo, another place I don't recommend a tourist visit unless you've come to see Niagara Falls and have some time to kill.
If you are staying in Midtown and like to walk, one of my favorite walks is along the Hudson River path. Lots of people walking/jogging/biking along there on the weekends. I usually walk starting from the 50s toward uptown, but I think you can walk toward downtown too. The Intrepid Museum is over there too - 46th St. and 12th Ave. It's on my to-do list, one of these days.
I think a trip to Albany is worth it just for the train ride up the Hudson. Once in Albany, there is the State Museum, guided tours of the Capitol, interesting architecture, and lunch (or an early dinner) at Lombardo's.
Whether any of those things would be of interest to the OP, I cannot say.
Landing Gear
Jun 30, 12, 2:48 pm
I am looking for any ideas or tips for "different" things to do in Manhattan. Things that maybe only residents of this fair island would know about that may be interesting, and if not, a little different to what the guide books and internet guides tell us all about.
Why are you limiting yourself to Manhattan? We have an entire city available to you! By the way, there are contributors to this forum who are not Manhattan residents who can answer your questions as well. One of the regulars here, cordelli, for example, works in Manhattan but lives in Connecticut. I am in Manhattan several times a week for work and play but live in Brooklyn.
That said, if you are sticking to Manhattan, here is my suggestion: Select a few movies and television shows that have scenes shot in New York City. Do some research and visit the places where the fiming took place. For example:
1. The courthouse shown in episodes of "Law and Order."
2. The apartment building from which a young Natalie Wood viewed the parade in "Miracle on 34th Street."
3. The deli where Meg Ryan "really enjoyed the food" in "When Harry Met Sally."
You've got the idea. :)
dstan
Jul 1, 12, 4:09 pm
Welcome to the NYC Forum, BBB! :)
Personally, I enjoy Central Park a lot - it's huge so there is always something new to see and plenty of space for relaxing as well. :)
Here's another thread that may be of interest to you:
The problem with your inquiry is that we don't know enough about you to make a recommendation. And we NYers are hardly homogeneous enough for generic recommendations to be of particular value. Without any desire to offend any of my fellow FTers, I don't find any of the recommendations in this thread thus far to be particularly appealing. It's not that they are bad recommendations; I just have different interests. My personal preference is to find the more offbeat "only in New York" type of things. (Examples include Losers Lounge and, for the more adventurous, House of Yes. A duo who go by Gemini & Scorpio, who you can find on Facebook, also have a regular email of offbeat goings on.)
My recommendation is to pick up a copy of Time Out or go to their webite (http://www.timeout.com/newyork), real all of the listings, and just do stuff that sounds of interest to you. That's exactly what my wife and I do on a regular basis. Most times we come up with half a dozen things that sound really interesting -- most of which we know nothing about except what we've read in the listing -- we pick one, and we go. And far more often than not, we're glad we did!
LGANightOwl
Jul 2, 12, 1:47 am
Do some research and visit the places where the fiming took place. For example:
3. The deli where Meg Ryan "really enjoyed the food" in "When Harry Met Sally."
^ Was just there last night. They still have the best Pastrami Sandwich in town! :D
AlanInDC
Jul 2, 12, 9:03 am
I've been to Manhattan a zillion times but made it to Brooklyn for the very first time in May. The Brooklyn Museum is quite nice -- I do recommend it, and it is next to a big park (don't remember the name) and a neighborhood of good restaurants, shopping, etc (Park Slope). There is a subway stop right there.
Also somewhat nearby to NYC are Westpoint, Yale University, Princeton University.
Blumie
Jul 2, 12, 9:15 am
and it is next to a big park (don't remember the name)That would be Prospect Park.