Two days in New York City. Is it enough?

Question

I am planning a trip to DC, Phily & NYC during Thanksgiving holidays. Is two days in NYC enough? I want to see the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Wall Street, Ground Zero, St Patrick, Macy's Holiday displays, Little Italy, .... etc. What else do you recommend me to see? If I am not too tired, perhaps I will go see a Broadway show. However, I am not going to visit any museum in NYC because I will do my museum tour in DC.

Is it safe to walk down the street in Manhattan at night? Is it safe to take the subway? Some of my coworkers visit NYC in a regular basis for business. They said a lot of terrible things about NYC such as homeless guys pee in front of them. I will be traveling alone. Safety is my top one concern.

Any suggestions in accommodation? I have checked several travel website. The average price for 3-stars hotel is $220. It's a bit pricey for me.

Which part of the city should I avoid when making hotel reservation? Upper East Side? Upper West Side? Downtown?

If I go out at night, which part of the city do you recommend?

Answer 1

It is safe as long as you don't do anything crazy. It would be best if you weren't alone. I think that is a good itinerary. Just keep yourself busy and plan out a schedule.

Answer 2

1. It's either wayyy to short or wayyyy too long, depending on how you feel about NYC.

2 Times Square is nice, which is next to Broadway. A block or two off Times Square you should be able to find a bunch of shops run by immigrants that sell $10 watches, $2 ties, etc.

3. I'm betting that the Statue of Liberty will cost you about half a day.

4. Define "safe." If you know what you're doing, and don't take stupid chances, and stay in good areas, then you should be okay. Personally I'd recommend taking cabs if you're a first-timer. Yes, you do see things in the big city -- that homeless guy wasn't a threat to anyone, and probably the drag queens won't be either.

5. $220 a night? I paid $5 for a cup of coffee in Times Square (plain coffee, no cream or sugar). It was in the lower level of one of the Sheridan hotels. Great coffee tho. Anyway, yeah, NYC is expensive unless you know how to find bargins (I don't).

Answer 3

In two days, I'd suggest you add a walk up Fifth Avenue and maybe the Empire State Building. A lot of the places you want to see are close to each other so you can save on travel time. (Wall St., Statue of Liberty and ground zero).

NYC is a lot safer than Philly and DC, if you're comfortable in those cities you'll have no problem in NYC.

If you really want to save on accomodation, you should consider staying in a backpackers hostel, NY has a lot of them.
http://www.hostelz.com/hostels/USA/New-York/New-York-City

Answer 4

I moved from Nebraska to the New York area, and worked in Manhattan, and went to classes at night in Manhattan, and shopped at night in manhattan when New York was at its worst. The 1970s. And I was just 23. The worst crime I was ever victim of was someone burnt a hole in my winter coat on the subway with his cigarette. I probably was not respecting his personal space. Always respect other people's personal space. except when you can't.

The best place to stay, I think is west of Times Square. Close to theatres, close to subway and bus transportation. I've stayed at the Broadway Inn at least 3 times. It's a nice, friendly place Link: http://www.broadwayinn.com/

Manhattan is not a dangerous place if you use common sense. Being alone is not a bad thing. Many, many people walk around Manhattan alone. You should walk briskly, act like you know what you're doing, and don't try to establish eye contact with anyone on the street. Pay attention to your intuition. If you're afraid, find a safe place to wait it out. But don't be automatically afraid. That's not realistic, and the bad guys really can smell fear. I personally have never felt afraid anywhere in New York, and I have spent a lot of time there. One time I saw the aftermath of a stabbing in a subway station near Columbia University (pool of blood on the platform). But I knew I was not the victim. I just got on the subway and headed downtown.

Just remember, you're a face in the crowd in Manhattan. Nobody is out to get you. Dont' be stupid, and have a wonderful time.

Answer 5

Depends on if you are an all day and all night person.
There is a lot to cram in with only 2 days - especially at the holidays - you may want t shop!
Your agenda looks pretty full for only 2 days. 3 might be better.
Yes, it is safe. I am not a big fan of the subway later in the evening but during the day - okay.
Same rules apply as in all big cities... Be aware of your surroundings, no extreme "bling", keep your purse/bag closed and look like you belong there.
As for accomodations, they are EXPENSIVE and a 3 star hotel will probably be pretty ordinary.
Yes, there are homeless people and it can be disturbing.

Answer 6

It's long enough to get a nice good taste of what The City has to offer the tourist. It's wonderful going down to Times Square without the ongoing thru traffic. You will indeed enjoy if this is really your first time. Have a fun and safe time visiting NYC!! d

Answer 7

No. Two days isnot enough. But since cost for the one-night is a consideration, you can do alot in 2-days, but you won't be able to see everything you want, but you don't need to. If you can start EARLY on both days, and finish late on the 2nd, you might pull it off....
I'll get to the safety issue in a minute...

Start with a map. Get the addresses for everything you want to see, and start pinpoinitng them. You'll be able to see some of the incredible distances between your choices, as well as laylout a "pattern" that will hop you from place to place. Then start ranking your choices (Wall Street? It's a street with buildings on it. But, t's your choice) The Statue of Liberty is an island, and the boat ride costs cash and alot of time. Also, by having an idea where everything is, you'll be able to hit the most places in the least time.

As far as the safety questions, Manhattan isn't dangerous. It just depends where you are, and the time of night. Having migrated from Chicago to a smaller city, and being a traveller and sometimes tourist myself to NYC and other places, here are some tips that can make your trip smoother and hopefully safer:
-Know where you are, where you're going, and how you're getting there. I mentioned the map earlier. From the net, I'd suggest http://maps.google.com/ (Google). One of the views to choose is "sattelite", which lets you "see" the area as a picture.One step beyond that is http://earth.google.com/ (Google Earth). It's a free download that enables you to literally move around the city, so again you can see what the neighrborhoods, streets, and buildings will actually look like. Then as you walk around, you'll have a mental picture of an area before you even get there (using some the checkboxes like buildings... 3-D... and roads, make it worthwhile. It will even mark hotels, if you chk the box!). Using Google Earth, you can mark placemarks as pins eherever you want, so you can see the locations, routes, streets... You'll probably have to get addresses from the net first

-Subway. Here's a link for an interactive subway map, and also the official MTA site. The first one is cool because all you do is click on a starting point, then where you want to end up, and let it go to work. It even estimates the walking time at both ends. If where you need doesn't show, drag it, or use the controls. http://www.brail.org/transit/nyc.html (click "no" for the print pop-up) and http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm During the day they're pretty croweded. At night, they're OK and won't spook you too bad if it's not very late.

Hotel. $220 ain't bad. But also let the location be a consdieration.

Safety. When my 12 year old nephew moved to NYC last summer, he was a little worried too. I'll give you some othe same advice I gave him. Some of it is piece of mind, some of it is common sense. BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.... this includes being aware of where you are, where you're going, how you're going to get there; but also who is behind you. Just casually check your 6 every now and then. Be aware of shops or stores you can walk into briefly. Know when you leave a show, or see an intersecton coming, whether you turn left or right. Don't carry anything in your hands that you want to lose (shoes with socks! great place for your ID, an extra credit card, and some cash...just in case....) If you have to pull out a map, or ask directions, go INSIDE one of those shops, buy a bottle of water and ask for help. It's not bad at night, but the places you're mentioning have tons of people around at night, except Wall Street and parts of Central Park. The key is, walk confidently like you know where you're going.

I'm sorry for the extra long answer, but I'm not after 10 pts anyway. Go into this with a sense of adventure and exploration and confidence, not fear and trembling. Map out your tourist sites, subway stations... pull up Google Earth and "spin" the city around and see the buildings and crazy streets... know your walking routes... know that the subway station is two blocks north and one block west (get a small compass for your pocket??:)

And one last thing. Learn to hail a cab. It's the best way to move around the city, but yes there is a fee! The NYC cab drivers can't do English that well, but they know that city, and some are pretty helpful (my NYC cabbie story can wait.. it's a good one!) Step toward the curb, make eye contact with the windshield, and raise your right hand... Also know alittle about the some of the bus routes. A NYC bus ride is an adventure all its own, but can save you a LOT of walking for very cheap.

Do your research. Start saving your cash. I saw a lot of good answers up there. Use your Yahoo Brain Trust and have a blast!

(If you need any help mapping or finding something, let me know. As you can tell, I have a little time to kill!)

Answer 8

2 days is cutting pretty close but if you create an itinerary you should be able to go to some of the places you mention. hotels are pretty expensive and it was the hardest for me to find when i scheduled our trip there last year. i used AAA, if you don't have membership, you can try hotels.com or expedia.com. the subway is pretty safe, but then again, i'm from LA and so is my bf and we are hispanic, if you don't mess w/us, we won't mess w/you... try to buy your tickets in advance to the statue of liberty and plan to be there for almost half a day, it's takes awhile to get in there, but believe me, it's all worth it. it's amazing over there. there are lots of people walking around in manhattan at night, you'll be fine, i just wouldn't go anywhere that looks 'lonely' - stay on the main streets. good luck and have fun!! you can try this website to help you plan your itinerary: www.nycvisit.com

Answer 9

stay at The Plaza, Sherry Netherlands, or The Pierre.
no, it is not safe to walk at night by yourself.
2 days is not enough. the tour of the Statue of Liberty will eat up 1/2 day!
don't walk through Central Park but take a carriage ride around it.
be sure to go to the street in Little Italy where many Italian Bakery Stores are located! window shop down 5th avenue during the day time.
take a long cab ride through Manhattan especially at night to see the lights at Time Square. don't walk by yourself in the Time Square area period!
get your show tickets and any other tickets well in advance!
also, you might want to buy tickets for Regis and Kelly, The View, and David Letterman!
go to the top of the empire state building!
if the Christmas Show is at Carnegie Hall buy tickets -call to check-this is a must!!!!! buy your tickets early!!!!!
wear warm clothes!!!!!
eat at:
1. Patsy's-Italian-need resv.
2.The Palm-steak and seafood-need resv.
3. P. J. Clark's-American-casual
4. Joe Allen's-American-celebrities frequent this restaurant after the plays let out around 10:00 p.m.-need resv.
5. Angelo's in Little Italy-Italian-need resv.
6. eat at Katz Deli
7. eat at Carnegie Deli

Answer 10

Call 1-800-NYC-Guide/1-800-692-4843... they give you a free guide with price of hotels and their ratings. Coupons and places to go to get free gifts and attractions to see and such like the Statue of Liberty or places to shop. They also tell you what places to eat and their prices.I used the NYC Guide and we saved $50.00 in one day on are trip. Lastly it also tells you neat little facts about New York City.You definately wont regret doing that.

P.S.-They ask you when your coming so the guide book is made specially for the time of year you are going