Ideas for New York with a teenage daughter

[telstarbox]

You may well need to queue for an hour plus for passport control at JFK.

[robgul]

Just cancelled the Airbnb because I realised it was in the sort of area that could have featured in The Wire.

There really isn't an alternative for paying £1k for 4 nights for a distinctly average room. Oh well. It's in a good part of Brooklyn, there's a subway station round the corner and it's only a 30 minute ride into central Manhatten.

booking.com & hotels.com have quite a few hotels in midtown at around £250 a night - possibly less nearer the time with dynamic pricing?   

As Jaded says, you're wasting an hour a day travelling from Brooklyn . . . staying in midtown would be worth the possible extra cost if it's a first time visit and you want to get value for money from your trip - almost everything on the to-do list is in Manhattan.

[Jaded]

You may well need to queue for an hour plus for passport control at JFK.

Good point - we had over 2 hours at Washington Dulles airport.

[Hot Flatus]

Just cancelled the Airbnb because I realised it was in the sort of area that could have featured in The Wire.

There really isn't an alternative for paying £1k for 4 nights for a distinctly average room. Oh well. It's in a good part of Brooklyn, there's a subway station round the corner and it's only a 30 minute ride into central Manhatten.

booking.com & hotels.com have quite a few hotels in midtown at around £250 a night - possibly less nearer the time with dynamic pricing?   

As Jaded says, you're wasting an hour a day travelling from Brooklyn . . . staying in midtown would be worth the possible extra cost if it's a first time visit and you want to get value for money from your trip - almost everything on the to-do list is in Manhattan.

Except that there is quite a lot I want to do in Brooklyn
 I'm as much interested in wandering around neighbourhoods as I am seeing 'sights'.

It's a 40 minute walk from the hotel up to Brooklyn heights, where we can do the walkway, then cross the bridge.  I won't mind doing that a couple of times tbqhwy.

Four days is a long time.

[cygnet]

The Chrysler building has to be the most beautiful TB IMO. But maybe for that reason best to go up another and look at it?

Yes, the view from a building is more important than the building!

Almost completely OT but see also the Walkie Talkie in that London.

One of my favourite things in cities is just wandering through unknown neighbourhoods

[Nuncio]

It's 20 years since I visited and one of main reasons we were there was for the St Patrick's Day parade (spectacular, long and, in your case, n/a), so I would hesitate to recommend anything*. But just to say that my experience of the city confounded my low expectations of the place: I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the people we spoke to (in the hotel, cafes and tourist places) seemed genuinely friendly and welcoming. I also felt safe there, just wandering around, despite the majority of the NYPD appearing to be preoccupied with taking part in the parade. Not that we strayed too far from Manhattan lower than Central Park.

* apart from, maybe, The Ellis Island Museum, as part of a boat trip.

[Auntie Helen]

We visited in June and were in a lot of ways disappointed by New York (and shocked by the prices, particularly of food) but the thing we both thought was the best was the High Line.

We stayed at The Lodge, Red Hook in Brooklyn and it was a good hotel with fair prices.

[Diver300]

https://intrepidmuseum.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/aircraft-carrier-intrepid
An aircraft carrier if you like that sort of thing.

It's not near subway stations so you have to get a bus.

[Hot Flatus]

We visited in June and were in a lot of ways disappointed by New York

Well that is, of course, all about expectations.  The thing about the USA is that not only is everything hyped beyond belief, but our expectations before a visit are shaped in part by what we see on the television and cinema screens which is, to a large part, highly curated fantasy.

My only visit to the US was about 20 years ago, en route to Mexico. I had a few days in Las Vegas, and a few in San Diego. I found Vegas tacky, and San Diego dull beyond belief.

Anyway, I'm shaping up my understanding of how to approach NYC. I think we won't be trying to rush around too much, but I am going to write a vague programme because advance booking is the way to go for lots of places.  I've found a page on Atlas Obscura that lists about 800 oddities in New York...the sorts of things that are worth incorporating into a walking route, and exactly the sort of thing I love.

[Hot Flatus]

https://intrepidmuseum.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/aircraft-carrier-intrepid
An aircraft carrier if you like that sort of thing.

It's not near subway stations so you have to get a bus.

That looks brilliant 

[Regulator]

Don't forget Coney Island - in particular Luna Park.  And it's Brooklyn...

[robgul]

Before I went to NYC (on a work trip) for the first time my wife, who had been before, said "it's just like you see it on television and in the films" - and it was.  Yellow cabs, steam coming out of the pavement . . .

[Jaded]

https://intrepidmuseum.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/aircraft-carrier-intrepid
An aircraft carrier if you like that sort of thing.

It's not near subway stations so you have to get a bus.

Some olde jets, a test space shuttle (that didn't go anywhere), and a submarine. Short people only in the latter, so you should be fine.

[andyoxon]

I used to go to conferences on Long Island, so have day tripped into NYC a few times, but 25+yrs ago I'm pretty sure we stayed in the midtown Best Western 'Plus Hospitality' on E 49th St (could see the Metlife building out of the window).

[Hot Flatus]

We can stop talking about accommodation now because I booked somewhere a few days ago in the western edge of Brooklyn, because I want to stay in Brooklyn rather than Manhatten for a variety of reasons. 

It'll be Halloween whilst we are there, and whilst the wholesale adoption here of the syrupy festival of landfill gives me the ick, my daughter has requested to participate. Apparently there's a parade somewhere

[Jurek]

https://intrepidmuseum.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/aircraft-carrier-intrepid
An aircraft carrier if you like that sort of thing.

It's not near subway stations so you have to get a bus.

That looks brilliant 

It is, indeed, very good and, unlike when I was there, it now has Concorde added to its exhibits.

[Hot Flatus]

Will probably skip Concorde tbh. Daughter won't give a shit and I went on it loads in the 70s when the original test model was at Yeovilton.

Never been on an aircraft carrier before tho. Submarines are always good because you get a welcome break from gangling idiots

[Can’t swim won’t tri]

Do mobile passport control in advance, save an hour queuing at JFK.

Stardust diner. Staffed by Broadway actors/singers who are between jobs. They spontaneously burst into song at regular intervals. Amazing.

Ellis island, for really well presented history.

Jet boat trip round Statue of Liberty. Much more fun than the slow boat.

As already mentioned, highline trail is great.

Booking a flight & hotel package is often much cheaper than the components individually.

[Hot Flatus]

How do I do mobile passport control?? Sounds interesting

[Can’t swim won’t tri]

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control

Used to be only US citizens but now it’s also visa waiver users and Esta holders.

I don’t use it (have GE instead) but friends who tried it this summer said it was great.

[Hot Flatus]

brilliant! thankyou!

[Mr Larrington]

We can stop talking about accommodation now because I booked somewhere a few days ago in the western edge of Brooklyn, because I want to stay in Brooklyn rather than Manhatten for a variety of reasons. 

It'll be Halloween whilst we are there, and whilst the wholesale adoption here of the syrupy festival of landfill gives me the ick, my daughter has requested to participate. Apparently there's a parade somewhere

Lou Reed certainly sang about it on his 1989 album "New York".

[Duckfoot1606]

My overriding memories of New York are;

Taxi drivers that seem to be going for the land speed record
VERY aggressive demands for tips, to the extent that tour guides block the bus doorway until you have coughed up
In a similar vein, restaurants that add a service charge automatically

Big, brash, much like its portrayed in the movies.

I would say must do's are Central Park, Empire state, Statue of liberty, the subway

No regrets about going, but once was enough for me

A

[Jaded]

Ah, tips. 20/22% as an expected base level…

[TimC]

I used to visit NYC up to 30 times a year, and came to really like it even though I'm not normally a fan of big cities. Each block is a village in its own right, and the Irish bars (and food) are generally better than anything you'll find in Dublin. People for the most part are very friendly, and you'll be amazed how tolerant drivers are compared to London.

You've had lots of great suggestions, but I'd echo Intrepid (their Concorde has just been repainted and it's pretty much where Sully landed his A320 in the Hudson). Central Park is ok - better on a bike (there are lots of places to hire from). The Meatpacking District is great fun - think Coyote Ugly. In fact, you can do the Intrepid, walk down the Highline to the Meatpacking District - now much spruced up from its more interesting iteration 20 years ago - then experience Coyote Ugly if you must (though Hogs and Heifers (Washington and 13th) was the bar the movie was based on, but it closed several years ago)  and then the old speakeasys down Bleecker Street (Greenwich Village) before returning to Brooklyn. If you're going to walk back over the bridge, stop off at the Chinese market in Canal Street for some amazing tat - and some great restaurants!