Things to do in New York City

[Dutchie]

Hi people!

My love will be moving to the Big Apple next week, and I plan on paying him a 3 week visit in May. The thing is, he'll be working when I'm there because he simply can't get a lot of time off, so I need things to do during the days while I'm there. Because 3 weeks of sitting in his apartment and waiting for him to get off work while there is an entire New York to explore, no way! One problem though, I'm on disability, and even though the Netherlands take very good care of their sick, injured and disabled, I have very little money to spend.. That means I'm looking for low-budget (that means really, really low budget.. ) ways to make use of my time while I'm in New York.

Is there anyone on this forum who is familiar with the city and can give me a few pointers in this regard? I've even looked into doing a bit of volunteer work but things in the U.S.A. are definitely not like the Netherlands, there are waiting lists and 3-month commitment contracts and the like, so I guess that's one option less.

I have a wide array of interests but music and other creative stuff is definitely on the top of the list. I'd also love to see nice parks and important landmarks of course

Any help is appreciated!

[snow_girl]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...EfKA7QaMzYDABw

[Dutchie]

Thanks I already spent hours and hours at a time on Google, searching for exactly this, but I was wondering if there were people here who actually know the city and have any personal insights to share. I'll find ways to keep busy if no one here can be of any help, but you never know, maybe someone has a tip I'd never have thought of myself..

[kittyo9]

If you guys are open to the idea, go visit the Museum of Sex! It's super interesting and I've gone every year for the past four years. Not enough people know about it.

[loneliestgirl]

NYC can be very expensive especially if you are eating out. There are a few attractions you can see for free or very low cost. You can visit the parks: Central Park and Bryant Park. Central Park is HUGE and it has very cool little nooks and statues and fountains. Bryant Park is near the Empire State Building and NYC library. I don't remember if you can go to the top of the Empire for free but I do think there is a fee. You can go to Rockafeller Center where Radio City Music Hall is. The actual plaza is ok but it's mainly an attraction during Christmas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is basically free. They ask for a donation to gain entrance but you can "donate" as little as $1.00. The other museums are pricey in my opinion: $20+ each. Depending on who your BF works for, he might have a benefit/program through the employer that gets discounted tickets. There is also the High Line- an outdoor promenade/park but I haven't been there. It seems to be popular.

One thing that I would suggest is figuring out how you are going to be actually traveling around the city. You can walk of course, but it can be far and daunting. Subway is the best but it can get expensive so you might get your BF to research what kind of Metro Card to get for you and maybe slit the cost of one of the ones that gives you a certain number of rides per card. The unlimited monthly one runs just over $110 I think. They recently upped the fares per ride so I am not sure.

[Moon]

It's not fun to visit NYC and not have the money to see anything, the parks are only interesting for so long. If you can pull it off, I highly recommend buying this, for however many attractions you can. My boyfriend and I bought these for trip there, since it was his first time in the US, and our NYC time was limited. It was WELL worth the money, if you can do it.

[Dutchie]

Thanks for all the wonderful advice!

I decided it's time to start saving up some money so I'll at least be able to move around the city, that should make things a lot easier.. I had already read about the High Line park and intend to go and see it, it seems very nice! The museum of sex is completely new to me, but it sounds fun, I'll make sure to drag my SO there one day as well, haha!

As for eating out, I'll be staying with my SO and I'm pretty sure he won't let me starve.. Although I hate being financially dependent, it's nice to know I won't have to worry about food and a place to sleep.. I'm still hoping that he'll manage to find an apartment with a somewhat usable kitchen though, I don't mind spending some time hunting for affordable ingredients and preparing a home cooked meal instead of eating out every day, and that way I can contribute something as well

[loneliestgirl]

I forgot to mention to check out Groupon (groupon.com) You can get deals on activities, restaurants, services, etc for many things in NYC. For instance, me and my SO are going to try to do the cruise on the Hudson once it gets warmer in the summer. Normally it can be about $50 per person or more but we have seen it on Groupon for about $15.00. The deals expire, so I would suggest just looking at it for right now to see what pops up and when it gets closer to your visit, you and your SO can maybe find a couple of things to do that are maybe are still special to just the locals or neighborhood "gems."

[Dutchie]

I forgot to mention to check out Groupon. You can get deals on activities, restaurants, services, etc for many things in NYC. For instance, me and my SO are going to try to do the cruise on the Hudson once it gets warmer in the summer. Normally it can be about $50 per person or more but we have seen it on Groupon for about $15.00. The deals expire, so I would suggest just looking at it for right now to see what pops up and when it gets closer to your visit, you and your SO can maybe find a couple of things to do that are maybe are still special to just the locals or neighborhood "gems."

I'm going to check it out right away, thanks!

[Brieasaurus]

You can also hit up the five boroughs and just explore. One of my favorite things to do is walk around China Town and Little Italy because you always crazy things and people. Plus just looking at things is interesting (at least in my opinion lol). But yeah, groupon and/or the attraction pass is probably your best bet! Or even craigslist, a lot of times people post activities or events going on for free that you'd never even know about.

[Tinas]

Target Free Fridays at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) is great. It is free from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Just get there early (we got there around 3 p.m.), as the line will build up for this, and you can see Starry Night by Van Gogh and many other cool exhibitions.

Google MoMA. Being that it is my first post, I couldn't post a link. lol

[Dutchie]

Thanks!

[80anthea]

I'm just back from nyc and really didn't spend that much money at all. I think the subway is very reasonable prices but get an unlimited card so it doesn't matter if you go wrong!

The staten island is a fab free way to see the statue of liberty, we spent ages just walking round to be honest there is always something interesting going on! I thought food was reasonable but we stayed away from the big tourist places. oh and the natural history museum is enormous you could easily spend a whole day there but then we are both big science geeks!

it's a fab city though I'd go back and I don't normally like cities!

[Dutchie]

Thank you so much for the input! I'll make sure to put the national history museum on my list, I'm quite the science fangirl as well, haha! That should cover at least one day then..

My Flying Dutchman and I already discussed the public transport thing and decided it would be best to just shell out the money for the unlimited card, because that is easily the cheapest, efficient way to navigate the city. He'll also probably be moving from a temporary place to more permanent living quarters during my stay there, so I'll most likely be busy assembling Ikea-furniture a lot of the time, haha! Good thing I have plenty of experience in that regard :P I'm happy to be able to help him when I'm there, it's difficult enough having to find your way in a strange country by yourself. He's doing really well, thankfully, and I'm very proud of him!

(Also, I heard that assembling Ikea-furniture together is the ultimate relationship-test.. I'll let you know how that goes )