New York City Trip April 2017

In April 2017, Johnny and I took a trip to New York City during Cornell's spring break! Here are some highlights and tips from this experience. This was actually our second time to New York City, since we took a shorter trip last July 2016 so there are some comparisons between the two.

Attractions

Les Miserables

During our 2016 trip, we got tickets to see Les Miserables on Broadway. I had recently seen the live action movie (IMDB Link here) and I was excited to see it live on Broadway! We had found a deal online so we got mid orchestra seats for around $90 per person including tax and the ticket fees. During the actual show, I was absolutely blown away by the talent and emotions of the actors and actresses. I highly recommend this show if you have a chance to see a Broadway show. If possible, read a brief plot synopsis before watching it just so you can see how the different plot lines intertwine and develop.

Brooklyn Bridge

On the second day of our trip, we had beautiful weather so our friends Myra and Shivi took us to Brooklyn to see the NYC skyline and to walk back on the bridge. Since the weather was so nice, there was a ton of other people taking pictures around and on the bridge so it was hard to get a good shot with just us. The actual walk was not too long but it was very busy and there were lots of bikers interspersed with the pedestrians which I thought was dangerous. I'm glad we did this during the brisk April weather instead of the hot and humid July weather.

While there was brief intermission of people we had to take a photo!

Staten Island Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry is a free commuter ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. The ferry runs hourly every day, even on weekends and the view of the Statue of Liberty is very good in addition to being a refreshing trip on a boat. I think it was a very good view for being free, compared to having to pay for some of the other "crusie lines" that you can find on Groupon or City Pass which cost more. In addition, those cruises may take you to the actual statue, but then it would be very hard to take a picture of the whole thing when you're directly under it, in my opinion. There is plenty of seating but we preferred to stand outside and enjoy the weather and fresh air. We went after we got back from walking on the Brooklyn Bridge and it was also very crowded. One tip is try to be one of the first ones off the boat when you arrive at Staten Island so you can rush through the terminal to take the returning ferry instead of waiting another hour.

Not That Jewish

Not That Jewish is an Off-Broadway production that features comedian Monica Piper's journey through life. It is a one-woman show with a few props as she monologues through a hilarious rendition of her (Jewish) life experiences. While Johnny and I were planning our April trip, we saw tickets for this show at a comparatively cheap price (around $50 for very good seats versus >$100 for back row seats at Book of Mormon, per person) so we decided to give it a shot. When we got there our initial reaction was "Wow this is a small theater... and it's not even full!" In addition, the median age of the audience was over 55 so we were worried that the show wouldn't be enjoyable for our demographic.

Boy were we wrong.

This show was absolutely amazing. Many of you may know that I have a very loud laugh which was almost nonstop through this show to the point that Monica would look straight at me when she told some of her jokes. She has an amazing stage presence and her story is inspirational. In terms of production wow-ness it wasn't to the level of a full, high budget Broadway production such as Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera but it was well worth the money we paid and we will definitely consider other Off-Broadway shows next time we visit the city!

There was a photo backdrop with lobsters. Pretty self-explanatory.

Book of Mormon

We heard that the Book of Mormon show was "hilarious" and "worth watching" but other than that we had no idea what the plot line was or what to expect. We bought the tickets on a whim before we officially decided that we were going to New York and I'm glad we did!

This is more than a mildly offensive show with bad words and crude humor but not without a touch of truth. I would definitely not go to this show with a conservative friend and it is probably fairly enjoyable with a bit of alcohol (we didn't have any since I'm very frugal). It makes a lot of pop culture references as well, some of which we missed since we were laughing so hard, but you look them up online after the show (don't ruin the surprise!).

Top of the Rock

After doing extensive research on the most tourist-y things that I wanted to do and trying to do all of them for the best price, I decided to get the NYC C3 pass. Sold by the same company that does the New York City Pass, instead of going to all the possible places, you only get to pick 3 of those that you can go to each once.

Since neither of us are excited by art museums and we didn't want to do the tours after reading some of the reviews, this pass made the most sense for the things that we wanted to see to get discounts for. Thus we picked Top of the Rock, the Empire State Building, and the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. We saved a few bucks for admission and also forces us to plan a bit ahead of time to make sure we saw what we paid for.

We went to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) during the morning before it got too busy. The view was very good since you can see the Empire State building from it. However, around all the pedestrian walkways there are many plexiglass walls so that people don't fall off the building so some of the photos that you take are not very good because of the blurriness and reflection. I would only recommend this attraction with the pass otherwise it's not that cheap per person and definitely would not recommend if you're afraid of heights.

Empire State Building

Similar story as the Top of the Rock experience except we went to the Empire State Building AT NIGHT. Seeing the city lit up at night was absolutely breathtaking. I mean that figuratively and literally since it was also extremely windy that night so most of our pictures have my hair blowing everywhere. I highly recommend going at night to either Empire State or Top of the Rock but note that pictures will be really hard to take so just look out over the city and enjoy the moment. One other thing I loved about it was the Empire State limited edition Hello Kitty stuffed toy! (pictured below)

Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum

The Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum was the third attraction for our C3 pass. It featured a lot of military transportation, some of which you could go inside, as long as you weren't claustrophobic. There were lots of models of the really big ships with detailed descriptions which I really enjoyed. Johnny loved going into the different vessels and looking at the machinery (he's an engineer) and we took a few pictures of various exhibits around the museum. It was a cloudy day when we went but it would not have been a good experience if it rained as most of the different types of planes are outdoors as well as some of the vintage (non operable) guns on the ships.

It was a cold day but we still tried to take pictures with various aircraft

American Museum of Natural History

During both of our trips we went to the American Museum of Natural History. The first time, we planned to go for the afternoon but we didn't expect the museum to be so large and we didn't finish looking at all the exhibits. The second time, it was raining really hard and since we had an unlimited transit pass, we went to get out of the rain.

The museum has a "pay what you can" policy with a recommended per-person fare ($22 per adult) but you can also wait in line at the main counter to pay a lower fare (first time we paid $5 per person then second time we paid $1 for both of us). I recall the line being extremely long when we went in July as the weather was very hot and it was a weekend but when we went in April it was during the week day so the wait in line was about 15 min. It's something to think about when you're planning your trip. One of the options in New York City pass includes admission to the museum as well.

As mentioned before, there are a variety of exhibits from fossils to different types of animals to world culture. My favorite exhibit was the dinosaur exhibit since they assemble and recreate the fossils of dinosaurs to be life-sized. I think the movie "Night at the Museum" is supposedly set in this museum if you want to do a scavenger hunt of some of the characters from the different exhibits.

Discovery Times Square

During our July trip we found that we needed to kill some time before meeting with our friends after dinner. However, since the weather was so hot we tried to find a place to go that had air conditioning but ideally also had something to see/do that wasn't shopping. We found the Discovery Times Square which is kind of like a travelling museum. Basically at different times of the year, different exhibits would be showcased. A quick search shows that the place is closed now but while we were there, two of the most interesting exhibits were a Star Wars costume exhibit and a historic Viking exhibit.

Originally the ticket prices were at least $20 per exhibit but I was able to check Groupon and luckily found a deal that was $25 per person for both exhibits together! Both exhibits were wonderful and interactive with some games and animated videos about some of the items. My favorite part was seeing the intricacies and details of Princess Amidala's extensive wardrobe up close and learning about the inspiration for each outfit. Originally I thought they just dressed the characters in whatever was convenient but it turns out each piece had a purpose or statement. This is definitely an exhibit worth checking out for Star Wars fans!

Jedi costumes were modeled after Japanese samurai

Lifesize versions of the famous Star Wars droids

Museum of American Finance

We went to this museum during our July trip mostly because we had just started saving for retirement and were interested in different financial instruments throughout America's history as well as a well-needed respite from the NYC heat. Thankfully they had a student discount so our entrance fee was very cheap. Overall, the museum is not that large; you can definitely finish it within a couple of hours even if you read everything (which we did). My favorite parts were the different forms of American currency throughout the years and the section about the history of creating a national bank. Also, we visited the museum before we went on our Wall Street walking tour so some of the facts that we learned were helpful for putting the whole picture together. A link to the museum can be found here.

Wall Street and 9/11 Memorial Tour

We went on this tour during our July trip. It started in the heart of the Financial District and was about a 2 hour tour around some of the major historic buildings while the guide gave us a brief history of their importance. I remember it being a very hot day in July and it's all outdoors so definitely bring enough water, sunscreen, and a hat. However, I thought it was great since I would not have known about some of the history of the district unless I had a tour book and even then I might not have connected the dots from the words to the actual landmarks. The tour ends at the 9/11 Memorial so many people continued their sightseeing in that museum. Our tour guide was hilarious and knowledgable, and generally people tip their guides generously. In case you are interested, you can visit their website here.

Museum of Mathematics

The Museum of Mathematics was recommended to us by a few friends and being a math major, of course I had to check it out! The exhibits were all hands on and had very detailed instructions on how it works and what math concepts were behind it. There was also a surprising amount of knowledgable staff which I really liked to ask questions and supervise the younger children. My favorite part was the riding the non-circular wheel bike and learning how that works on a specific kind of 3D surface. This museum really brings math, logic, and puzzles to life from a boring school subject and I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone over the age of 8.

Riding a tricycle with square wheels instead of regular wheels!

Central Park

We were lucky during our April trip that there was exactly ONE day that actually felt like spring versus gross rainy weather and we decided to go to Central Park. We were planning to rent bikes and go around (by the way, never pay full price, look for deals on Groupon first!) but I haven't ridden a bike in over 10 years so we didn't want to take the risk of me crashing without a helmet. We just mainly walked around and took selfies, thankfully it was not too crowded.

Food

This section will just be pictures of food with captions.

Fancy cereal from Kellogg's pop up shop near Times Square. Yes, that is a lit candle in one of the bowls

Found a random dessert place in Chinatown for a snack after I got a haircut.

Green tea and white chocolate cookie. I wanted to eat it before we got on the subway but I also had to take a picture of it, of course.

Famous pizza at the original Brooklyn Grimaldi's pizza. I accidentally entered with a different group before the true open time and managed to secure a table for the 4 of us before the Sunday lineup.

Ramen at Ippudo NY. I had a perfect noodle pile on my spoon so we took a picture.

A special beef appetizer at Ippudo NY. It was so delicious, we strongly considered getting another order of it.

Got soup for dinner from the Soup Man (featured as the "Soup Nazi" in Seinfeld).

We tried to get cronuts at the end of the day but of course they were sold out so we tried another specialty on the menu. Surprisingly it was not too sweet, which is how we like our desserts.

We happened across another Asian dessert place while shopping and split one with all the works as a snack.

Soju is blended with fresh watermelon and re-served in the same watermelon at Pocha 32. It is extremely refreshing in the hot weather and with the spicy food we ate.

Johnny loves dumplings so we went to Vanessa's Dumplings and tried a few different types.

Travelling Logistics

Ithaca to New York City (and back!)

To maximize the time we spent together, Johnny first drove from Ottawa to Ithaca the evening before we left. During our July 2016 trip, we took a bus from Ithaca to NYC, trying to be economical as well as city-saavy since it would be very expensive to drive the car into and park in the city. The round trip cost per person was about $100 including tax.

However, the time it took for the bus (getting to the stations early as well as actual bus times) was around 6 hours each way. The buses were not direct and made a few stops on the way either to exchange passengers or for a fast food lunch stop. In addition for the trip to NYC, since Ithaca was not the first stop on the route, we were unable to get seats together (they are first come, first served, not assigned) so it was mildly uncomfortable sitting next to strangers for the several hour trip. The website had also advertised Wi-fi in the bus but the signal was spotty at best since we mostly drove through remote areas where the cell signal was not very good. On the trip back, we were able to sit together and snooze on each other's shoulders, and there were fewer stops which made it more bearable.

During the April trip I calculated the cost and did the research for driving to New Jersey and then taking a train into NYC. The gas for the car (not including wear and tear on the car) was around $40 to get to Newark, New Jersey. I found a parking lot very close to the Newark Penn Station (I know, not confusing at all with the NYC Penn Station!) that had parking for only $8 per day! For that scenario, travel costs would be just over $100 for the two of us! Not to mention, driving directly from Ithaca to New Jersey would take only 4 hours (maybe a bit more since we stopped for McDonald's). Adding to that the roughly 30 minutes from Newark to NYC (and an additional $2.75 per person) for the train made this method both time and cost effective.

However, life doesn't always listen to your carefully planned itinerary. When we got to the parking lot that I had researched, we discovered that it was closed on weekends, i.e. no cars could go in or out on weekends as there was no attendant! Frantic, we drove around the blocks a couple of times but there were not many gated lots that had multi-day parking. The lot that I had chosen was part of a company that owned most of the parking in the downtown Newark area, and they only had one gated and 24-hour surveillance lot that was open on the Saturday.

"That doesn't sound so bad" you might think. But instead of the meager $8 per day rate I was expecting, it was now $25 per weekday and $20 per weekend day! I was a little miffed that all my planning did not pay off but Johnny was just glad that his car would be safe from "hooligans" for the week we were in the city. When we entered the gate, the traffic attendant told us to drive to a line and wait. He then told us to get out of the car, grab our belongings, and give the key to him. At first we were like "Excuse me?" but it turns out that they have to park the car in designated spots depending on the size of the car and when we would "check out" so to speak. It was a little awkward trying to juggle our belongings and trash that we didn't want to leave in the car but we managed to lock up the miscellaneous items in the trunk and leave the key with the attendant, hoping for the best. There were more expensive cars in the lot so we probably wouldn't be targeted for theft, anyways.

Thus our parking fees were around $180 instead of around $60 as expected which brings our total travel fees to over $200, higher than our 2016 trip. I think if we did enter and exit the parking lot during regular weekday hours then we could have gotten the cheaper rate but the parking lot that we use with was more secure (higher fence, 24 hour attendant and surveillance) so maybe this was a blessing in disguise. In addition, we saved over an hour and a half per direction of driving time and it was overall more comfortable even though Johnny had to drive the whole way. We also got to go to Costco in New Jersey on the way back (arguably one of Johnny's favorite highlights from the trip!), which we would not have been able to do if we took the bus, obviously.

Travelling within NYC

Last July we thought we could get away with a pay-as-you-go system but we ended up having to refill it multiple times and had money leftover on the card at the end. Fortunately I kept mine and gave it to our hosts, Myra and Shivi, for their use or for other guests but Johnny had misplaced his since the trip. This time, we opted for the one week MTA pass which was good for most buses and all subways during our April trip. That way we didn't have to keep track of the number of trips or refill during the middle of the week and definitely took a lot of the stress away. I think if you were staying in downtown Manhattan and most of your destinations were within walking distance, the unlimited pass might be right for you but we wanted the possibility of going all over the place so this fit our needs better.