Any Hints and Tips for New York?

I'm very excited as we are off for a five day break to New York in a fortnight. I have only been there once before and that was in 1969! In fact, I haven't been to the States since 1989, so I really want to make the most of it.
Does anyone have any tips or hints on what to do, good shops, diners, restaurants and general do's and don'ts? Any advice gratefully received.

Buy a pocket-sized guide book with a map (so you can carry it around easily while you are there), read it beorehand and decide what you want to do as your time is limited.

Take the Cirle Line boat trip around Manhattan Island.

Hope you have a fantastic time!

PS Can I look after your gorgeous doggie while you are away? :biggrin:

Get a Grayline hop on/hop off bus ticket http://www.graylinenewyork.com/. It's cheaper to get one for three days (they usually only charge you for two, it's called the Freestyle and it's cheaper still if you book online before you go). In with the bus trips you get a choice of three attractions included for the price, this avoids having to queue, especially useful at the Empire State Building. Views from "Top of the Rock" are even better than the Empire State Building and it's less crowded so a good idea to include this in your choice of three attractions. The Circle Line Boat Trip can also be one of your choices and it's much cheaper to do it this way than buying the tickets individually at the venues.

There's a ticket booth on Times Square where you can get tickets for all the Broadway shows, usually at half price. They are released twice a day and the evening show tickets go on sale at about 3pm. Well worth a 5 minute queue! The night trip around the whole of Manhattan is well worth doing and included in with your bus ticket, you need a head for heights when you go over the Manhattan Bridge though

Shopping wise it's well worth a visit to the outlets. Grayline also do a trip to one of these. Don't bother wasting your time with Macey's unless you want to look at racks of clothes that look as if they've come from a QVC outlet or overpriced beauty products given the hard sell by the company reps. I was so disappointed with the whole look of the store, so dated and shabby, and there's nothing else near on 5th Avenue worth looking at. Didn't get to Bloomingdales so don't know whether that's worth a visit.

Finally, if you want to pay your respects at Ground Zero, you have to book tickets in advance, you can't just turn up and hope to walk around. Maybe worth asking at your hotel reception where it's possible to get tickets as I found that the bus drivers weren't always that helpful.

Hope this helps and I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time

Thank you both for your advice. My daughter has bought a guide, but she isn't coming down until the night before we leave, so I'll have to read it on the flight.
The one thing we have done is book a slot at Ground Zero - we didn't feel we could go to NY without paying our respect there. The Greyhound bus ticket sounds like a great idea and we'll certainly look into that. All three of us would love to see at least one show, so we'll try and get half price tickets as you suggest, especially as we are staying quite near to Times Square.
I wish you could look after my lovely boy while I'm away Janey, but I'm very sad to say we lost him on June 8th. He was 14 years and 11 days and went into liver and kidney failure, so the end came quite suddenly. Needless to say I was devastated, can only bring myself to talk and write about it now, but I still get upset.

When we went, trips to Ground Zero had become a pretty sensitive issue because of the number of people exploiting grief tourism, making a quick buck flogging nasty plastic Twin Towers replicas, etc. It'd be worth avoiding looking too 'touristy' that day, if you know what I mean.

My advice is to take comfy trainers and walk as much as possible, there's so much to see and explore. Try breakfast bagels in Brooklyn, take the ferry to Staten Island [it's free] for a close up view of the Statue of Liberty. http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...SMg4BY&usg=AFQjCNEo_K3ESkZQGx4fDi5kun0PF0QUSg

Not for everyone, but I loved going up - and up - the Empire State Building with all its flamboyant Art Deco, knowing I was following in so many famous footsteps.

Central Park is lovely [in daylight, not at night] and you can wander through it to explore places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is a feast for the eyes.

I loved Bloomingdales to browse and pick up souvenirs at all prices. Their iconic Little Brown Bags, which featured in Sex and the City, make great, inexpensive presents. [I use mine as a lunch bag.] I agree with Mam about Macy's - it just felt like any old department store.

Dn't forget to press your nose against the window of Tiffany's to stare in - just don't ask about their prices!

Have a wonderful time - I loved, loved, loved New York, and I'm sure you will, too.

PS So very sorry you lost your dog, it hurts like hell, doesn't it?

When we went, trips to Ground Zero had become a pretty sensitive issue because of the number of people exploiting grief tourism, making a quick buck flogging nasty plastic Twin Towers replicas, etc. It'd be worth avoiding looking too 'touristy' that day, if you know what I mean.

My advice is to take comfy trainers and walk as much as possible, there's so much to see and explore. Try breakfast bagels in Brooklyn, take the ferry to Staten Island [it's free] for a close up view of the Statue of Liberty. http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct...Di5kun0PF0QUSg

Definitely agree about Ground Zero sublime. We visited the church nearby but didn't actually go onto the site. I also overheard a lot of people asking for information about the site and I got the impression that New Yorkers really don't want to talk about it. Bus drivers in particular were giving people the brush off when asked for specific directions. I can understand why to be honest, as I clearly remember the Aberfan disaster, and the incessant questions being asked for many years afterwards, once people realized that I lived quite close by. Disasters and tragedies seem to bring out the worst in a lot of people.

I was disappointed with the Staten Island ferry, as although it's free, you can't go up onto the deck and the windows seem to be made of acrylic which has become dirty and scratched over time and really restricts the view. No good if you want to take some snaps

Mam said:

I can understand why to be honest, as I clearly remember the Aberfan disaster, and the incessant questions being asked for many years afterwards, once people realized that I lived quite close by. Disasters and tragedies seem to bring out the worst in a lot of people.
I was disappointed with the Staten Island ferry, as although it's free, you can't go up onto the deck and the windows seem to be made of acrylic which has become dirty and scratched over time and really restricts the view. No good if you want to take some snaps

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Ah, yes, good point about the Staten Island Ferry - I'd forgotten that we went on a clear day in good weather, and got our photos through some open windows.

I still get asked questions about Aberfan, from time to time.
I wonder if the name, and the tragedy, linger on because it was one of the first major disasters where the after effects were broadcast on TV, and the footage still gets shown on important anniversaries.
Similarly, I seem to remember reading that there were requests not to show the footage of the Twin Towers for some years after 9/11, as it was far too raw and painful for the families involved.