New York stuff.

[gridlore]

OK, here's my travel plan. NYC folk feel free to jump in and tell me if I'm being a complete moron about this.

Wednesday, October 13th
Arrive JFK at about 2000hrs. hlw will be picking me up and taking me to Queens.

Thursday, October 14th
Right now, I'm expecting to spend this day with fimbrethil and her mob. Since she's getting married the next day, I expect that she'll be a little preoccupied at points, so I may do a little local exploring. If MapQuest is to be believed, there's a cemetery fairly close by, and we all know how I love exploring those. In the evening, we're going to a piano bar.

Friday, October 15th
The Main Event! I fully expect to have the entire day devoted to wedding duties. (Helen, don't be afraid to ask me to work.. someday you'll have to ask Mark Cook about my "vacation" at the full auto-shoot.)

Saturday, October 16th, Sunday October 17th, and Monday, October 18th.
These are my "explore New York" days. I know it is physically impossible to see everything in three days, but I am planning on hitting Manhattan and at the very least going to the Museum of Natural History. That and the tourist magnets like Times Square, Grand Central Station, and the like. I had been planning on going to the site of the Polo Ground (home field of the New York Giants) but they built apartment complexes on the site. Yankee Stadium is a wash as well, since they've stopped giving tours.

Yikes. I just checked the cost of a Gray Line bus tour. I'm not spending three quarters of my funds to ride around for three hours!

On one of these days, the East Coast Traveller Mailing List Mafia will be gathering. I am assured of an introduction to "real New York pizza" and a trip to the Complete Strategist. Since they are closed on Sundays, this will probably be Saturday.

So, what should I see? Remember that as usual I'm pretty much broke and will be getting around on the Subway. If you could show me one spot in NYC, what would it be? I'm debating making a journey to Ground Zero. From what I'm told, it's now just another hole in the ground, albeit one with a lot of emotion attached. I may wait until some sort of actual memorial is up. Depending on distance/time, I might try to get to the Stonewall Inn.

Tuesday, October 19
I fly out of JFK at 2030hrs, so I can do something on this day. I was thinking of heading to the New York Aquarium to visit Wendell and Cass, or down into Brooklyn to wander around Green-Wood Cemetery (Hmm.. if I do that on the 17th, there is a guided tour...)

So, let me know what y'all think of my plans, and if you want to fit into them!

Comments

[fimbrethil.livejournal.com]

There are two cemeteries local to my house and if you like old ones, I can take you to Lutheran Cemetery where my Great Grandparents are buried.

Thursday I will take you wherever you like as long as I'm home to get Bree off the bus. Then, Piano Bar!

Friday will be a flurry of activity and them I will be whisked off to my parents to dress. You get to hold down the fort here.

I plan on giving you a goodie bag when you get here to make your trip easier. Can't wait.

[freetrav.livejournal.com]

Definitely don't spend your money on the Gray Line. You can probably get enough free tourist brochures to plan out your own sightseeing trip on the cheap - and an unlimited day pass for the busses and subways is only $7. Plus, you have friends in NYC who can give you ideas and pointers.

There's no *one* spot that's *the* place to go in NYC. But I'm sure you've got plenty of ideas. If the weather is nice and not too cool, I'd strongly recommend - just for the hell of it - wasting an hour to an hour and a half and ride the Staten Island Ferry, round trip - it's free, and it's relaxing. If you do it so that you're coming back as it gets dark for night, you get a wonderful view of the City In Lights.

I can play friendly native tour guide on both Saturday and Sunday, alongside the TMLM, and yes, that should be Saturday. The last east-coast gathering we had, we did the Rose Center/Hayden Planetarium and the Museum, but that doesn't mean we can't do it again. From mid-Manhattan, no place in Manhattan is more than three-quarters of an hour away by subway and/or bus, and most is within half an hour. I've gone from the area of the Cathedral of Saint John the Perpetually Under Construction Divine to the financial center in about 45 minutes - and that's about as far apart as two places of interest in Manhattan get.

The Aquarium is in Brooklyn (down near Coney Island, the opposite end of the borough from Greenwood Cemetary), in spite of being called the New York Aquarium. A nice trip, but don't plan anything else for the day, to allow for transportation, especially given that you've got to get to JFK no later than about 1800.

[sossity.livejournal.com]

you will be able to answer the long-debated question: is it possible to have TOO MUCH PIZZA?

New York Stuff

[(Anonymous)]

My Dear Mr. Berry,

If I recall correctly the Strategist is only open on Saturday, so if we of TML East Coast Mafia are to take you there, it would have to be on Saturday.

Otherwise, I can be at your disposal both Saturday and Sunday. I hope to take our mutual TML friend Glenn Goffin to the best Thai restaurant in Hell's Kitchen this weekend, and would be happy to do likewise for you.

Some thoughts on where to go:

The top of the Empire State building: costs about $12, but was always the best view of the City.

Central Park: free as always, lavishly restored, and, with the leaves turning, at its most beautiful

The Brooklyn Bridge: gets overlooked as a tourist attraction, but you can walk (or bike, as I often do) over it to Brooklyn Heights--and you get a great view of the harbor from the Bridge.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: pay-what-you wish for one of the great art collections in America. Also, located right on the edge of Central Park.

Museum of Natural History: Pay-what-you-wish for the main museum; about $20 for the planetarium show. Rob Davenport and Larsen from the TML went the last time they were in NYC and enjoyed it much.

I haven't been to the Stonewall myself but I hear it's more of an historical attraction than a fun club nowadays. Sheridan Square is nice, however, and exploring Greenwich Village is usually worth it. Of course, the gay/lesbian/drag scene in NYC is pretty vibrant and I can give you some recommendations in that area if you need them...

Looking forward to your arrival,

Fred Ramen

Re: New York Stuff

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

If I make the trip to the Stonewall, it will be in my capacity as a GLBT Rights activist. To see the place where we finally said "enough."

The Museum of Natural History sounds like a winner to me!

[melyxa.livejournal.com]

I have to second what Fred Ramen suggested about the Empire State Building, Central Park, the Metropolitan and the Museum of Natural History. With gusto! One caveat: both the MMA and the MoNH are the sorts of Museums that I tell friends who really dig museums that you can't possibly see in their entirety in only one day.

If you're going to make the trek out to the Aquarium, if the Cyclone still stays operational through October (I haven't lived in Brooklyn in a damned long time), and you like roller coasters, this one's a classic. I don't know what it's current price is. Plus, if you like ethinic fare, the Coney Island area is full of hidden (& inexpensive) treasures. Some of the greatest Italian restaurants, but also Russian, all kinds of Asian, and "traditional" Brooklyn-Jewish Delicatessin. Don't be put off by tacky decor. *g*

The American Museum of Broadcasting is great fun. Neither rampallion nor I can remember it's exact address tonite, dammit; but it's in midtown.

If you like intellectual pursuits, the main branch (42nd St. & 5th Ave) of the New York City Library often has some fascinating exhibits.

The UN used to give tours at a reasonable price. I have no clue (a) if this interests you in the least, or (b) what the current status & stats are. But they've got some gorgeous art found nowhere else (notably some Chagalls that even CFIDS can't wipe from my memory), and its both beautiful and informative.

There are other museums, depending on what sorts of things you're interested in. The Whitney, the Guggenheim, the American Indian Museum (not affiliated with the new one they just opened in DC under a similar name), the Jewish Museum. . .if you have an interest, New York has a museum. Any one of them could have you easily passing a goodly portion of the day, if not all of it, with interest and pleasure.

If I could *only* pick one, when push comes to shove, I'd be stuck between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History.

Gods, you're getting me homesick!