The New York Minute Show

A couple of good questions from Ray in United Kingdom.

To try and keep down the cost, we are considering staying outside of the main island and traveling in and I wondered what your thoughts of this are? Is it worth it to save decent money or should we just bite he bullet and make the most of our few days?

It really depends on what deals you are able to find within a decent proximity to the city. Some people stay over in Secaucus, NJ which is about fifteen minutes by bus to Manhattan with a little traffic. To the north of the city there is a Residence Inn by Marriott in White Plains that offers rooms with kitchens and is a couple of minutes walk from the Metro-North train into Grand Central Station. The ride is about thirty to forty minutes.

There are some other options in Queens as well if you stay at a hotel near La Guardia airport. The ambiance isn’t that great though and public transport from there is limited. The Best Western City View hotel in Long Island City might be a good option as well. It is close to Manhattan and is about half a mile from the Number 7 train into Manhattan. Take a look at Jersey City hotels as well. There is convenient access to lower Manhattan from there via the PATH train system.

I would advise that you shop around and see if the prices you find are considerably less that the deals available in Manhattan hotels. I would compare the outlying hotels with ones in Manhattan that are outside of the Midtown hot zone, especially avoiding from Times Square up to Central Park. Once you have a comparison that includes the lesser price hotels in Manhattan you can start to figure out if the travel time and cost will be worth it.

In general, I’d recommend staying someplace where you can catch a train into town, rather than relying on the buses. Bus service to outer areas can take a long time if there is traffic and might not run as frequently as the Metro-North or New York City subway trains.

We will also catch the start of the US Open Tennis and again wondered if you had any particular tips for getting tickets/visiting to see the stars in action.

The U.S. Open is a great sporting event. I’ve attended several times and always enjoy it. I believe that tickets for the event go on sale in May or June. You can typically buy them online via Ticketmaster. You can set up an alert on the Ticketmaster site to remind you of the on sale date. My advice is to know the date when tickets go on sale and be online and ready to buy at the time when the tickets go on sale. They do go fast! I remember that they have special early on-sale dates for American Express credit card holders. So keep an eye out for that if you happen to have one of those cards.

If you want to be able to relax and mingle with the players I recommend going for a day session early in the tournament. There are a lot of matches going on at that time. There are certainly a lot more players around. And during the day it’s easier to recognize the different tennis pros and personalities walking the grounds there.

On a warm summer day last August the family went to Central Park and our daughter got to experience the lovely and classic Central Park Carousel. The carousel in Central Park is a real fun experience for both kids and adults.

Fellow New York City podcaster Frank Nora has started a series of videos that he calls InRamble. Frank gives some nice, short glimpses of the city in his videos. In the clip below he gives you a view of Times Square.

In another recent episode Frank gives you a glimpse of his ride on a subway train.

Another video blogger that I follow has posted a review of a Manhattan restaurant called Trata Estiatorio. Trata Estiatorio is a seafood restaurant on the Upper East Side. Looks like a good place to get a bite to eat.

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In this video I take a look at an area of Manhattan known as the Meatpacking District. I take a closer look at the Hotel Gansevoort and then head up to the new Apple Store on the corner of 14th St. and 9th Ave.

Quicktime Video File

The Hotel Gansevoort is a very hip place in a very hot location. Rooms are sure to be priced accordingly.

I took a stroll for some holiday shopping in the Meatpacking District of New York City yesterday. I took this video clip at 9th Avenue and Little West 12th St. Things have changed a bit since I made a stop there for an earlier podcast. A new building is up. And there are new restaurants. Not too far away form where this was shot there is a new Apple Store at the corner of 14th St. and 9th Ave.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

We take a look at New York City ice skating rinks on this episode.

• The Rink at Rockefeller Center
• The Pond at Bryant Park
• Wollman Rink in Central Park
• Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers
• Kate Wollman Rink - Prospect Park
• World’s Fair Ice Skating Rink - Flushing Meadow Park
• Parks Department Ice Skating Rinks

Music by Orange Park.

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MP3 File

I was walking to Pennsylvania Station the other day and noticed that the scaffolding had come down from the main branch of the post office in New York. So I stopped for a few moments and took a video.

QuickTime Video File

Madison Square Garden bills itself as the world’s greatest arena. I’m sure that assertion could start a good argument. There’s no denying that MSG is a top shelf venue. Bands know they’ve made it to the big time when they sell out at The Garden. For bands like The Police selling out MSG is easy.

I’ve seen many great shows at The Garden including, Billy Joel, Billy Joel & Elton John, The Who (giving away my age here) U2, and now The Police. Here’s a clip from the show last night. If you come to New York City I definitely recommend seeing a music show at MSG if at all possible.