GET THERE: From AirTran to United, pretty much any airline that serves Denver will take you to LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy or Newark airport, although for really cheap fares, you may have to stop somewhere on the way.
A search of post-holiday flights turned up fares ranging from $155 — on AirTran, with a stop in Milwaukee — to $474 for a United nonstop. Our Frontier nonstops to and from LaGuardia cost about $215 apiece.
Once you’re in Manhattan, cabs are everywhere, if your wallet is up for it. Otherwise, the city’s subways may not be squeaky-clean and shiny-new, but they’re plentiful and cheap. For $2.25, you can ride all over town and change trains as many times as you’d like as long as you don’t cross an exit turnstile.
It hardly inspires confidence that the transit authority finds it necessary to post signs reminding riders that fondling strangers is a crime, even when you’re mashed together in an underground tube. Still, our subway experience was positive — I even witnessed a man offering his seat to a wrung-out woman. And if my 8-year-old can figure out whether to take the express, the red line or the crosstown L, it should be a piece of cake for most adults.
Eventually you’ll climb out of those subterranean commuter hives and partake in perhaps the most quintessential Big Apple activity: walking.
New York may be America’s last real walking city, which helps to explain why you can expect to see the famous, the freaky, the rich, the ruthless and the lost in Manhattan, but one thing you won’t see much is the obese.
STAY: If there’s a cheap hotel in Manhattan, you don’t want to sleep in it.
Expect to pay at least $150 a night, excluding taxes, for a basic room — and that’s if you get a deal. There are many of those, however. Bad economic times bring good deals at sites like Travelocity and Expedia for those who are flexible and plan ahead.
Otherwise a suite at the storied Plaza will set you back about $800 a night; the trendy W runs between $250 and $300. In between are loads of charming boutique hotels, but often that charm costs more than bunking at a more pedestrian chain. One good option, though, is the Affinia Dumont (see Page 2T).
DINE: If there’s one thing New Yorkers should be grateful for, besides the steady influx of tourist dollars, it’s the outstanding food to which they have constant access. Of course that’s to be expected at the of-the-moment celebrity-owned or celebrity-swathed restaurants.
But it’s also true of less tony places any visitor can get into, and can afford to pay his way out of. And it doesn’t just apply to restaurants.
Two doors down from our hotel, for example, was a little store that managed to offer fresh meat, lattes, handmade cannoli and more fresh fruit and vegetables than my local supermarket stocks in three times as much space. Given that we had a kitchen in our room, it would have been perfect — if only a Dunkin’ Donuts didn’t stand between it and our hotel.
Grand Central Terminal, of all places, is home to a dazzling food market that undoubtedly has ruined many a commuter’s diet with its fresh-cooked entrees, its fresh fish and meat counter, its delectable bakery. There’s even a doggie deli counter.
Like any good tourist, we did our research before we went. New York magazine, Zagat and scores of other websites, along with a number of iPhone apps, helped us whittle the city’s nearly 3,000 listed restaurants.
Still, the best meal we had in New York was at a place we stumbled into because it was near our hotel and we were in the mood for margaritas.
It turns out El Parador Cafe (325 E. 34th St., 212-679-6812, ) is the Michelin Guide’s top pick for the city’s best Mexican restaurant. I can only conclude that the Michelin diners sampled the barbacoa de costilla pibil, baby-back ribs steamed in banana leaves until the meat slides off the bones and served with a chipotle-lime sauce. I would eat my shoes if they had that sauce on them. My husband, though, would stick by his entree choice, the bouillabaisse Veracruzana, which featured a lobster tail the size of our son’s forearm.
In a nod to the youngster’s tastes, we also visited S’Mac (345 E. 12th St., 212-358-7912, smacnyc ), which, as its name implies, is all about macaroni and cheese. But this is macaroni and cheese that should make the Kraft people hang their heads in shame. Purists can go for basic American/cheddar or four-cheese varieties, but the more radical can try the Italian-inspired Napolitana or even the Parisienne, with brie, roasted figs, shiitake mushrooms and fresh rosemary. All come steaming hot in cast-iron skillets.
Crumbs (we visited the 321 1/2 Amsterdam Ave. store blocks from the American Museum of Natural History, but there are numerous locations around the city and beyond; see ) one of several places that claims credit, or blame, for launching the cupcake mania. Selections vary seasonally (Thanksgiving brings pumpkin, chocolate pecan pie). I could barely finish my red velvet, but my husband had no such problems with his luscious carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting.
PLAY: The problem, of course, isn’t finding things to see and do, but figuring out how many to try and cram into your allotted time.
A great place to start is the state of New York’s official tourism website, . They try to lure you into thinking you ought to visit the Hudson Valley or Saratoga Springs, but if you stay focused, their listing of hundreds of Manhattan attractions and activities is comprehensive and alphabetical — 16 web pages’ worth, from the pre-revolutionary African Burial Ground all the way through the Yeshiva University Museum.
The site’s attempt to map attractions for you produces scrawls that look like something drawn by a chimp with an Etch-A-Sketch. That shortcoming is made up for by a function that allows you to click on attractions that interest you, thus creating a printable personalized itinerary.
Once you figure out where you want to go, there are numerous venues that offer package deals on tickets.
Two of the biggest competitors for your package-ticket dollar are The New York Pass (at new ) and CityPass (city ). The New York Pass offers passes that are good for one day to one week, starting at $75 for adults, $55 for kids.
Priced at $79 for adults and $59 for kids, the CityPass is valid for nine consecutive days, and buys admission to six attractions, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.
Best bet is to consult their websites to see which gets you into the places you most want to see.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, 212-535-7710, ) is closed most Mondays, open Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Suggested admission $20 adults, $15 seniors, $10 students. Kids under 12: free.
The American Museum of Natural History (Central Park West at 79th Street, 212-769-5100, amnh ) is open 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Suggested donations are: adults, $16; children 2-12, $9; seniors/student with ID, $12.
Tribute WTC Visitor Center (120 Liberty St., 866-737-1184, tribute ). Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays-Saturdays, noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays; and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $10.
There are also, of course, a seemingly unlimited number of bus tours. Some will haul you around town all day and show you virtually everything you can imagine, some take only a couple of hours and hit the biggest highlights. Still others home in on whatever your particular, or peculiar, interest might be.
Big Onion tours (), for example, takes you through historic and ethnic neighborhoods, while New York Gallery Tours () shows the latest modern art and Ghosts of New York () hits all the haunts.
For cultural events like Broadway shows, concerts, opera, etc., websites abound. But be careful; prices can vary greatly from one to another. For example, one “official” website charges anywhere from $10 to $100 more for Metropolitan Opera tickets than the opera’s actual website, metopera , does.
