NYC Travel Tips 10 Things to Know Before You Go to New York City

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10 things to know beforeyou go to New York City.

I'm Chris, this Yellow Productions.

I do travel guides thatare fun, informative, and entertaining and in thisvideo I'm gonna tell you 10 things you need toknow before you visit this city right here, The Big Apple.

I'm filming this on the NewJersey side of the river.

Why? Because it's the best place for you to see Manhattan in the background.

Well, the first thing you need to know, we'll talk about some general stuff, is that Manhattan and actuallymore than just Manhattan, New York City is more than Manhattan.

Often people think it's only Manhattan but New York Cityconsists of five boroughs.

Those are, number one, Manhattan, number two Brooklyn, number three, Queens, number four, The Bronx, and number five, Staten Island.

So, if you're coming to New York City make sure to check outsome of the other boroughs.

New York City and Manhattan is big.

You've probably looked at NewYork and Manhattan on a map and looked at it and itseems really, really small, but let me tell you, youwill not be able to walk all of Manhattan in a day.

Well, you can walk in a day, but it'll be a really, really full day, and your feet will be tired.

So, make sure you wearsome comfortable shoes, 'cause you're gonna bedoing a lot of walking, and ladies, you may haveseen Sex in the City where it seems like allthe girls here wear heels, let me tell you that'sactually not the case, particularly if you're gonna be a tourist.

A lot of times the ladies here, they'll have sneakers when they commute on the subway and things like that, and a pair of heels in their bag to put on when they go to that formal event.

So, don't be expectingto just wear your heels everywhere you go.

Also, you'll be doing a lot of walking but don't try to walk everywhere.

There's a subway, use the subway, it'll save your feet quite a bit.

Also, if you're planning how many days to spend in New York City, I would say three days at the minimum, five days is probably optimal.

There is a lot of stuff, trust me, you won't be bored.

Also, New York City is expensive.

The land in Manhattan is some of the most expensive in the US, actually I think it is the most expensive, per square foot, in the US and therefore, everything else is expensive.

You ever bought, like, one ofthose movie tickets for AMC or Regal and it saysthis is valid everywhere except New York City? Yeah, it's because theprices here are higher.

McDonald's prices are higher, everything is a little moreexpensive in New York City.

Also, the city runs on tips.

Valets, restaurants, things like that, so make sure you've got some dollar bills that you can give out as tips.

Two last general things, and then we'll get on to number two, is a lot of times peoplehave an impression that New Yorkers arerude, and I'll tell you, they aren't rude, theyjust like to be efficient.

So, they'll try to have thequickest conversation with you to get you through the line, or process, whatever it is you need.

Also, if you need to use abathroom in New York City, don't expect to reallyuse a good one for free, there are very few public toilets.

If you want a clean, nice bathroom, you are gonna have to pay for it.

All right so that's all thegeneral stuff you need to know, let's get on to thing to know number two about visiting New York City, and that is, the weather.

The weather in New York, well, there's probably, I'd say eight months outof the year it's chilly, and actually it's chilly right now, so I'm gonna put on my jacket.

Okay, that's much better.

New York can be really cold, because there's a lotof water around here, it gets really windy, andthat wind off the cold water? Really cold! So, make sure you bring, if you're coming in those eight months of cold weather, you bring some warm clothes.

You'll want a fleece, ajacket, you'll want layers, because you're gonna be in and out of buildings and the subway.

The subway may be hot, the buildings may be hot, but outside it may be cold.

So, have layers so youcan take those things off.

Also if you're coming in the winter, make sure to bring some rain boots, because it rains herea lot and when it snows and it gets rain then the space between the sidewalk and the street just become these giant puddles.

So, you won't want fabric shoes, you'll want leather shoes orsomething that's waterproof, so if you step in a puddle, your feet aren't soaking wet and you're not miserablethe rest of the time.

In the summer it's really hot, and actually people would sayit's just plain miserable, because it gets so hot and humid.

So, that leaves you about two months that are good in the year.

So, the best times to comeare September and October, kind of the fall time before it's winter, and in May and Juneright before it's summer, those are the best months to come.

The third thing to knowabout coming to New York City is about getting in.

So, you've got a few different modes.

You can take a plane, atrain, a bus, or a car.

So, let's talk aboutthose different modes.

First let's talk about airports.

There are three airports thatservice the New York area.

JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark.

Two of those are in New York.

Newark is actually in New Jersey.

I tend to fly into Newarkbecause I fly United, but JFK and LaGuardia are a little closer.

I will tell you these airports, they have lots of delays, because they share thisreally busy airspace.

So, do expect some delaysas you're coming in.

You can also, I mentioned trains.

That's my favorite way toget into New York City, is to take the train.

There's two great train stations.

There's Grand Central Terminal and then there's Penn Station.

If you're taking the train from the South, like Washington DC area, make sure to not get off at Newark Penn Station, getoff at New York Penn Station.

They sound pretty similar butthey're actually different.

Also you can take Megabusif you're on the East Coast, that's a cheap way to get here.

They've got buses that comefrom a lot of the cities nearby and finally, you can drive, but expect to play a lot for parking and lots of tolls to get in.

If you are doing that, thenwhen you come into Manhattan just park your car and leave it.

Don't expect to drive itaround really anywhere, 'cause parking is at a minimum.

Now that you're in New York, the fourth thing to know is about transportation in New York City.

The most iconic way to get around New York is to take the New York City Subway.

But, you should know the NewYork City Subway on Manhattan mostly runs North and South, it doesn't really run East or West.

So, actually right now I'm standing right in front of Central Park, and so, if you wanna getfrom one side of Central Park to the other, there aren'treally subways that go that way.

So, you'll be walking or taking a taxi, or finding some other wayto get across Central Park.

Just remember if you'regoing North and South, take the subway, ifyou're going East or West, use your feet.

Also, when you're riding the subway, if you see an empty subway car and all the other ones are full, it is empty for a reason, you'll want to go ahead and skip that one.

It's either really smelly orthe air conditioning's out.

Either way, you don't wanna be in it.

Pay attention to thelocal and express trains.

The local trains, they stop at every stop.

The express trains onlystop so many stops.

So, if you're just going a short distance, take the local train.

If you're going a long way, take the express train, it'll get you there faster.

Also, the final note about the subway, make sure you get in thecorrect subway entrance.

Different subway stationswill have entrances on different sides of the street, or in different cityblocks that will take you to only certain linesor certain directions.

So, you don't wanna belike me and have to go in, get stuck and have to go out again to actually find the correct entrance.

So, other ways that aren'tsubways to get around.

There's plenty of iconic yellow taxis that play around New York.

They're pretty easy to find, though they are hardto get on a rainy day.

This is also a big city for Uber and Lyft.

I may prefer those to taxis, though if I'm at a hotel, and there's a taxi rank, I may just take the taxi because it happens to be convenient.

Just a note, if you are runninglate, don't take a taxi.

There's like this unwrittenrule in New York City that if you're runninglate and you take a taxi you will get stuck in a traffic jam, I can almost guarantee it.

One of the best waysto get around, though, I don't know if Imentioned this, is walking.

I know I mentioned it in number one, so if you've got comfy shoes, just walk around the city.

There are ferries fora different experience, ferries that go on the water.

There's the Staten IslandFerry, that one's free, you can get really greatviews of the Statue of Liberty on the Staten Island Ferry.

Also, you can take theferries over to New Jersey.

You can take the East River Ferry.

The East River Ferry has somegreat views of Manhattan, so check out the ferries for a less stressful travel experience.

Also, if you wanna ride a bike, there's this program inthe city called Citi Bike, C-I-T-I, as in CitiBank.

There are 10, 000 bikes and 600 stations.

You can download the CitiBike app, C-I-T-I Bike App.

It's $12 a day to rent thosebikes, hop on, hop off.

The final note, I wannamention to not take are the bus tours.

I would skip the bus tours.

It's pretty easy to get around yourself, the sights are fairly packed in.

So, I don't think you need a bus tour.

The fifth thing to knowbefore you visit New York is about Times Square.

It's crowded, chaotic, dazzling and overpriced.

Yes, everything in TimesSquare is quite expensive.

Manhattan, some of thehighest rents in the world, but Times Square, probably the highest, and most expensive real estate.

But, you've gotta come hereif you're here in New York, if nothing, for all the light up signs.

It is a pretty neat placeto be, particular because everybody's seen thisplace on New Year's Eve.

This is where the ball drops.

It drops on that, that building right upthere, you can actually see the 2017 ball up at the top.

I mean it's really small, but trust me, it's up there.

And, so, what's thereto do in Times Square? Well, the one thing you don't wanna do is you don't wanna eat.

I mean, unless you wanna eat at McDonalds.

All the restaurants in TimesSquare, really overpriced, just like everything here.

I think the coolest thingto do in Times Square, back here behind me it's the tkts booth, and they've got thislittle staircase up there.

You can climb up on that staircase, you can get great views ofTimes Square down below.

How much time are you gonnaspend in Times Square? Well, it depends how long you're gonna be takingselfies of yourself, but once you get here and spend 10, 20, maybe even 30 minutesjust admiring the lights and things like that, the glitz, then it'll probably be time to go and explore the rest of New York.

The sixth thing you need toknow before you visit New York is about Broadway Shows, or just shows and theater in general.

So, of course there's astreet called Broadway and that's where the most famous plays, and musical theaters are, but if you're buying a ticket or you want to buy a ticket for those, book well ahead of time.

Many shows are really popular.

Hamilton is probably themost famous right now, and you better book yourtickets months ahead of time if you want to get a seat.

So, what do you do if you didn'tbuy a ticket ahead of time? In Times Square there's a tkts booth.

They sell like 50% off discount tickets.

You can also find a lot ofdiscount tickets now online.

I'll also suggest to youthat there's a number of off-Broadway shows andoff-off-Broadway shows.

So, don't just be limitedto the ones on Broadway.

Those might be the mostexpensive and the most glitzy, but check out some of the onesthat are just off-Broadway.

One of my favorites that's off-Broadway is a show called Avenue Q.

It's a musical with puppets.

It is not kid-friendly, so definitely the adults on that one.

Also I really love The Book of Mormon.

If you haven't seen The Book of Mormon I would recommend that one number one, and then Avenue Q number two.

The seventh thing to knowbefore you visit New York City is about the parks.

First we'll start with Central Park, this park right behind me.

Actually, not behind me, it's the park that I'm in.

Central Park, famous parkin the center of Manhattan.

The park is 500 acres, there's an amazing number ofthings to do in Central Park.

Super popular just towalk around on a nice day.

There's bike riding, there are horse carriagesright back there, you can rent a horse, it's kind of romantic.

You don't rent the horse, but you ride in the carriage.

Did I mention ice skating? One of my favorite times inCentral Park is in the winter when they do ice skating.

It's also really neat whenit's all covered in white, a winter wonderland.

In the summer you can takeboats out on some of the lakes.

I think I mentioned it before, though, there's no subway across Central Park or that runs through it, so if you're going through Central Park you'll be doing a lot of walking, but it's neat if you'respending a week in Manhattan to get away from the noise andthe cars and things like that and just experience this greenery.

But, you know that you'reclose to civilization, 'cause the high risebuildings are out there just in the back.

The other really neatpark in New York City, it's called the High Line, it's one of New York City's newer parks, so a lot of people don't know about it.

Well, actually a lot ofpeople know about it, but a lot of new visitors to New York, or people who lived here andhaven't been here recently don't know about it.

It is a disused portionof elevated rail line that's been converted into a linear park.

I've got a video on the HighLine, you can click here for the info card, or on thisside, wherever it shows up.

Or, find the link in the description below to watch it at the end afteryou're watching this one, but it's a really cool attraction.

If you're gonna go visitthe High Line though, don't visit it onweekends because it can be super, super busy down in Chelsea, but it's pretty neat on a week day when it's not overly packed.

The eight thing to know beforeyou come to New York City is about the Big Apple attractions.

Yes, New York City hasmany big attractions, so some of the things you won't want to miss while you're here is the Statue of Liberty.

But if you're going tothe Statue of Liberty, make sure to book ahead of time.

There's ferries you haveto take to get there, there's limited tickets, and then there's more, even limited tickets to actually go inside the Statue of Liberty.

Make those months in advance.

If you can't get tickets tosee the Statue of Liberty, well, that Staten IslandFerry that I mentioned, ride on that, it'll take youclose to the Statue of Liberty, you can at least get your pictures nearby, and that doesn't cost you any money.

There's the Empire State Building.

But, if you want to seethe Empire State Building, well, you can't from itself.

The Empire State Buildinghas really long lines to go up to the observatory.

I would recommend the top of the Rock, which is the observatory atthe top of Rockefeller Center.

That one has an open air viewing area, and I actually thinkit's a better observatory with less lines than theEmpire State Building.

There's another new observatory at the New World Trade Center.

That one's pretty cool'cause that building is just super, super tall.

It can be pretty expensive.

Pro-tip, if you'remilitary, free admission to the World Trade CenterObservatory at the top there.

I've also got a video on theWorld Trade Center Observatory.

Click one of these cards or find the link in thedescription to watch that.

There's lots of museums in New York.

There's the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and a lot of these museums, pro-tip, have a suggested admission, but if it's a suggested admission, you don't actually have to pay the full suggested admission.

It's kind of like a donation.

You can pay whatever youthink you want to pay at a place that has a suggestedadmission for the museum.

Some other neatattractions, Chelsea Market.

If you're down by the High Line, check out the Chelsea Market, it's a cool, kinda like food hall.

People say that ChelseaMarket is what started the food hall revival in the US.

The New York Public Library is famous, check that building out, go inside.

And then of course there's the iconic 5th Avenue shopping, which is.

.

.

Well it's down a few blocks that way from where I'm standing.

All the iconic New Yorkthings are on 5th Avenue, so make sure you check thatout if you like shopping.

All right, the ninth thing to know before you come to NewYork City is about hotels.

So, earlier I saidhotels, not just hotels, but everything in New YorkCity is really expensive, including the hotels.

Hotels here charge way morethan anywhere else in the US and often you don't reallyget a very good value, just because it is sopopular to come here.

If you wanna save some money, then don't stay on Manhattan, stay in some of the outer Boroughs.

Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island.

You could even stay in New Jersey and take the path trains into the city.

I've done that before, it's pretty easy.

If money is no object I will tell you the Park Hyatt, which isjust, one, two blocks away from where I'm standing is quite amazing.

I've got a video review of the Park Hyatt.

You can click one of these cards over here to check that one out.

Park Hyatt normally runsfor like $750 a night, but if you've got Hyatt points you can book it forfree with Hyatt points.

Also, the JW Marriott at Essex House is right here by Central Park as well.

That often has points reservations.

If you wanna stay in TimesSquare, I'm a Marriott guy, a lot of people hate the Marriott Marquis, I actually kind of likedit when I've stayed there.

It's cool if it's yourfirst time to New York City to actually stay in Times Square in the center of all the activity.

Marriott Marquis is likea few thousand rooms, it's one of the biggestMarriotts there is, but it really does feel inthe center of the action.

Okay, the tenth thing you need to know before you come to New York City, and this is the last item is about food! Now, Chris, how could youwait 'til 10 to mention food? But, I'm not endingwithout talking about food.

So, New York City is a foodie city.

And, of course, one ofthe most famous things to eat in New York City is the pizza, New York pizza, famous around the world.

Pizza by the slice, pizza by the whole pie, definitely make sure you eat plenty of pizza while you're here.

Some of the best whole pizza places, there's Lombardi's in Little Italy, and then there's Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

If you go to those places, make sure you take a friend, 'cause you can only get awhole pizza at those places.

There's plenty of otherpizza by the slice places in the center city.

Check those out.

Make sure when you getthe pizza by the slice that you put on Parmesancheese, garlic powder, chili peppers, and oregano, those kind of four toppings, classic in New York pizza by the slice establishments.

Also, New York City hasa lot of food carts, and I'll tell you, for the most part, you should avoid the carts.

They can be pretty sketchy, but, the Halal Guys has a pretty cool cart and the lines are often reallylong for the Halal Guys, so, check that one out.

Look it up on Yelp, they'vegot thousands of reviews, and the Halal Guys really is that good.

New York City is also famousfor pastrami sandwiches.

Katz' Deli, famous place for pastrami.

Get a pastrami sandwich on rye.

Also a great place forfood is in China Town.

China Town has great Chinese food.

There's this place that has a bunch of locations in New York but they have it in China Town too, called Xian Famous Foods.

Chinese foods from Xian, spicy noodles.

Check that out, also, check out the dumplings.

Bagels are prettypopular in New York City.

Get some bagels with lox.

Also, New York hot dogs, if youwanna try New York hot dogs, definitely skip the carts, but stop by this placecalled Gray's Papaya.

They've got a few locations in Manhattan, but they do hot dogs and papaya juice, so get yourself a hotdog and a papaya juice from Gray's Papaya.

That'll probably be oneof the cheapest things that you eat when you're here in New York.

And finally, make sure youget some New York cheesecake.

That's right.

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