Cheap Getaway in NYC

The Empire State Building is a must, but get there early (and if possible on a clear day!) to avoid the crowds. If you go in winter, wrap up warmly--it's very cold up there, especially with the wind-chill factor!

Statue of Liberty - The cheap way to do it is to take the free ferry to Staten Island (one every 15 minutes or so), which passes right by. You don't get to go inside, but the view is good, and you get a fab view of the downtown Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset - beautiful.

At Ground Zero and the memorial in the park near it, there's not technically much to see, but it's definitely haunting when you stand there and think about it.

A show in a theatre bar (cheaper version of going to a Broadway show) is a great idea--the Duplex on Christopher Street is a place which houses such events.

Central Park, walking down Broadway and around Greenwich, and walking around the CBD at about 3am when no one is there, I felt perfectly safe, but it's really interesting to see a busy place so quiet!

The views from Brooklyn of Manhattan skyline

Chinatown--cheap food!

Quick Tips:

Definitely take in a show; however, if your budget doesn't stretch to that, see if you can find a cabaret bar, e.g. the Duplex on Christopher Street, which has live cabaret acts and a much smaller cover charge than a musical!

If you look/are young and are going out drinking, make sure you have your passport with you, as they ID at every bar.

Also, make sure you have a bladder the size of a few pints, as there aren't that many, if any, public loos - my travelling buddy had a very small one, and we made quite a few trips to various department stores--not to shop!

Best Way To Get Around:

We found that as we were there for a few days, the cheapest way to get around was to buy a week's travel card-- for 7 days unlimited travel--and use the subway and buses. The subway stays open all night, which is fabulous (especially as we're used to London tubes!), although I don't think I'd want to ride it on my own late at night as a girl, although I'm sure it would be okay. The map of it may seem daunting at first, but it's not really! If you want to go somewhere quickly, get an express train, which just stops at the white coloured stations. Also know if you are going downtown (towards the CBD) or uptown, toward Queens! The streets are eto west, and as the street numbers increase, you are travelling south to north. Very logical!

As we were on a budget, we stayed in a YMCA, which worked out to about $25 a night for two people sharing a room (with TV and two double beds--bathrooms were down the corridor, and the women's one has a lock so men can't get in). I found this bizarre at first, but when I thought about it, it made sense. I didn't take flip-flops with me to go to the showers in, so I used my trainers, but if you have space, these can be a good idea. We stayed in Greenpoint YMCA in Brooklyn, where we had 24-hour gym access and swimming pool and breakfast included in the price (at a diner a block away). The door was open 24/7, and the staff was friendly and helpful and let us store luggage in their office on the day we left. They also had a safe I left money, etc., in. (There is also a police station opposite it!) The web page is for all the YMCA branches, and the email for the Greenpoint branch is ; it was about a 5-minute walk to the nearest subway that just ran to Brooklyn, or a 10-minute walk to the J line to get to midtown Manhattan.

This is the gay bar where the Stonewall riots took place in 1969 against the persecution of homosexuals. It is now a quite seedy bar which does 2-for-1 or cheaper drinks till about 8pm. They have just bought a pool table which costs about $2 a play. Later into the night, it turns into a disco with go-go dancers and transsexual hostesses running stripping competitions! It is a very male-dominated club (in fact, I think there were only three girls in there the whole night we were there, including me!) so you definitely have to be comfortable using the mens loos, etc.! It is worth a visit, especially if you're gay, as it's the scene of quite a revolution. The music is generally cheesy downstairs and a bit harder upstairs. Their phone number is 212-463-0950.

I was in my element when we found this bar! Downstairs is a piano cabaret, and upstairs in the back is a small theatre lounge where you can sing musicals, like karaoke with a live pianist! (Sound camp? It is, but such fun!) Drinks are quite pricey, but it's worth it to hear some great performances. They also have shows on, and the staff are all great singers who often perform their own original material. For up-to-date information about what is on, visit www.theduplex.com or phone (212) 255-5438. It's a must if you like musicals and live music in a small, friendly, great place! (Now, if only we could get a bar like this in London...!)

You are greeted at the entrance by a very polite and informative guide (the lady who took us round was very happy to answer questions and very enthusiastic about the subject) and taken into the plush art-deco interior, where each idea of the design is talked about and explained. You then move on into the auditorium, where, if it's possible, you get to walk on the stage in front of a theatre big enough to hold nearly 6,000 people! You are then taken underneath the stage to see the hydraulic pumps that move the stage sections. These, interestingly, were a very secret piece of engineering in WWII, as their design was used on aircraft carriers! Moving on through the building, you see many photos of shows that have been held there since the 1920s! You are introduced to a current Rockette dancer, and there is a short Q and A about the job with her. Definitely worth the money if you are into theatre-going and interested in shows and musicals.

Our fun in NYC started when we finally saw the Manhattan skyline lit up from near where we were staying after a long and delayed flight and a bit of a navigational nightmare with the tubes (which turned out to be us just being stupid!). The next day, the weather was perfect (and we knew the snow was on its way, hence we decided to cram in a lot of the tourist attractions in one day!). So we got to the Empire State Building very early to avoid the queues to go up to the top (definitely a good choice). They sell a sky-taxi info tape there, but if you have a guidebook/can read a map, it's not necessary. We had about a 25-mile visibility range, and the skyline really is phenomenal.

After that (being shopaholics), we went to Macy's to look for perfume deals (or you can just go round to loads of stores and get loads of free samples, which takes care of the need to buy any!) and then to Times Square. Taking a fast subway downtown, we came out at Ground Zero, which was a very thought-provoking experience when we talked about it and looked at the memorial of all the names of people who had died. After digesting this, we walked to the ferry terminal and took one to Staten Island. This is free and goes really close to the Statue of Liberty. It also gives great views of downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

A short tube ride uptown to Chinatown heralded a great choice of Chinese food for very reasonable prices (one was about $5 each for soup, a massive portion of meat and rice, and as much green tea as you can drink--just wander around to find the best deal of the day), which we really needed by then, having run around town all day! We then walked back to Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge just as the sun was setting, so the views were beautiful!

After having had a warm up (it was about –10 degrees C all day), we headed back into Manhattan for a few beers. We went to Stonewall Bar, which is a gay bar where the riots of 1969 happened against discrimination of homosexuals and then moved next door to the Duplex, where I was in my element! It was live cabaret, and you could sing any show number if you wanted! We went back to the Duplex the following Monday for a fab one-woman show called "The Sexless Years", written and performed by one of the staff there called Kate Praxis (it was fab!). The bar is a gay bar, but if you love camp musicals (and Steven Sondheim!), you’ll love it!

The next few days we spent experiencing one of the bigget snowfalls they’ve had in NYC for a few years. I have never seen that much snow fall so fast! It was amazing, especially when we got to Times Square. It was also amazing to see how well the city was prepared for it! In England, just 1 inch of snow will fall, and the trains won’t run, the motorways are blocked, etc., etc.! Here there was a few foot of snow, and within a day the roads had been cleared, and the subways kept running throughout--it was great!

I found people were also very good at clearing the street outside their houses to make it safe for everyone. In fact, all the New Yorkers we talked to in the bars we visited were extremely friendly and pleasant. I can’t wait to go back, but maybe I’ll go in the spring next time, as although I enjoyed the experience of the cold, I think I’m better suited to warmer climes!