From New Orleans, needs NY/NJ help.

[FCCSucks]

I am planning to fly up to NY/NJ from New Orleans for the traveling virus tour in Holmdel, NJ. I have never been to NY or NJ and need some help. My plan is to fly up Thursday and fly home Sunday. I would like to spend Thursday night and all day friday in Manhattan. Saturday morning can be in either NY or NJ ending with the Comedy tour and flying home Sunday. I need help knowing which airport I should fly in to, what is a good hotel in manhattan, where are some good resturants, etc. I would like to do F H Riley's and that italian place that used to advertise on the show, but I don't know where they are. What are some things I can do in Manhattan in a day? Statue of liberty, central park, the walk over, etc... Is Holmdel, NJ close enough to Manhattan to make this trip make sense? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

(If it isn't already, this reply will be split into its own thread. I don't have enough post to make a new thread.)

[honky]

you can get a lot of that done in 4 days. for manhattan, i'd fly into newark airport, though jfk and laguardia are probably cheaper. you can grab a train from newark airport to penn station i manhattan. the italian restaurant you are talking about is called Paesano's of Mulberry street. coincidentally, it is on mulberry street in the heart of little italy. little italy is downtown. when you come out of penn station on 7th avenue, follow the traffic for about 40 blocks.

fh riley's is on long island. i don't know a way to get there without a car.

you can view the statue from a distance. it's the same up close. you can go up to the top of the empire state building, walk through some of central park, and probablu visit the museum of natural history in a day. take some time to get down to greenwich village to see the freaks, fags, and snotty nyu students. and don't forget to do the walk-over friday morning.

you can get to PNC from manhattan via a train and a cab or bus, but i'm not sure which stop. check njtransit.com

how is nola coming along? i've spent many vicious nights in the french quarter. even named my daughter 'nola.'

[Razor Roman]

If you take NJ Transit train from NYC into NJ the closest train stations are Matawan and Hazlet

Also you might want to stay Saturday night in New Jersey and then arrange for the airporter shuttle service or something like that, or take the train back to Newark Airport since a hotel room in central jersey is much cheaper than Manhattan.

[FCCSucks]

I just booked everything. I'm flying into laguardia thurs, staying at the Westin in Manhattan and flying out of laguardia sunday evening.

The whole point of this trip is the traveling virus tour. How far away is Holmdel from Manhattan? Should I get a cab, a car? Or if a take a transit train, I guess a cab from there?

Oh, and New Orleans is not coming along smoothly. The tourist areas are about 90-95% back to normal, but only about 5-10% of the residential areas affected by the flooding are back. If your job is involved in any sort of restoration then you are a busy mofo. (I work for the phone co down here. I've only had 30 days off since the hurricane. Normal 8-5 jobs would have over 100 in a years time.) If your business is not, then it could be very slow for you, if you can find workers. Fast food places are paying over $10 an hour just to get people to work.

[TheJerseyDevil]

I just booked everything. I'm flying into laguardia thurs, staying at the Westin in Manhattan and flying out of laguardia sunday evening.

The whole point of this trip is the traveling virus tour. How far away is Holmdel from Manhattan? Should I get a cab, a car? Or if a take a transit train, I guess a cab from there?


The PNC Arts center is a 75 to 90 minute drive from manhattan depending on traffic. I suggest train and cab if you have the $, which I assume you do. Anyways, welcome to paradise.

[Ballbuster1]

As for getting around Manhatten, I'd take the subways. Very cheap
and once you figure out the routes it will take you almost anywhere
you need to go. Whenever I go there, I just park the car for the
weekend and hit the rails. Muck quicker and less expensive than
trying to get a cab all the time.

[NoFilterPaul]

there are a few hotels in middletown and red bank which are less than 10 miles away from the PNC

[SOS]

Sounds like your travel plans involve mostly urban settings...

http://www.paesanoofmulberrystreet.com/default.asp?PageID=117996

Paesano of Mulberry Street
(212) 965-1188
136 Mulberry St,
New York, NY 10013+5570

[AngryDragon]

You're from New Orleans?

I would stay in Harlem or Newark... You'll feel right at home.

[assWhack]

If you have never been in NY, there really is alot to do. Some suggestions for a NY experience.

Grab a slice of real pizza. I like Joe's Pizza (two boots is also good, but not traditional NY pizza) the Address is:
7 Carmine St. It's near bleeker and sixth ave. There is great food around there. On bleeker there is Cones, a great ice cream place, and faicco's pork store which is a great italian deli. Also, right by there is Gray's Papaya. It's on 6th avenue and 8th street. They are famous for their hot dogs. You should check it out because it's a NY institution.

From that area you can also visit washington square park, which is right by the NYU campus. The comedy cellar where jimmy does standup alot, is on Macdougal, which is around there. There are two sort of famous falafal places on macdougal. Mahmouns, and Alibabis. They might be worth checking out. There are also some good bars around there as well. Peculiar pub on bleeker has about 500 different beers. I think they have like 30 on tap too. Off the wagon is like the typical college bar. It's on macdougal.

You can't do the walkover, because OnA won't be there, they are on vacation. But if you are up around that area, you should definitely check out central park. Maybe lincoln center and the time warner building if you are into that. There is the IMAX on 68th and broadway. And if you want to visit opies theatre, it's on broadway between 62 and 63rd. They show mostly artsy movies. But you can get a smoked salmon sandwich, like opie always always talks about.

There are always museums and cultural things you can do. But I don't know if you are into that sort of thing. If you do like art and stuff, you should check out the natural history musuem, or the Metropolitan museum of art. That place is huge. They are expensive to get in though. Like 20-25 bucks now.

You should also eat a bagel. Because if you have never been to NY, then you probably haven't had a real bagel. I like murrays bagels on 6th ave and 13th.

A good sushi place is Yama, it's on 17th and irving. If you are around there, you should check out Union Square. There is a park and they have a farmers market. It's definitely there on saturday, and I think friday too. Around there is a virgin megastore, and a big barnes and noble. Some good restaurants as well.

You may also want to check out Mcsorleys. It's the oldest pub in the country. It's on 15 east 7th street. If you go that way, you may want to walk through st. marks place. It's a street. They usually have alot of punks hanging out there. It might be interesting to see.

Also, the oldest pizza place in america is Lombardis, it's on 32 Spring St. Between mulberry and mott. That's kinda by little italy and paesanos. I am pretty sure Lombardis is the only pizza place in NY allowed to use a coal oven. Only because it's been there so long. It's illegal everywhere else.

[FCCSucks]

Just got back to New Orleans. Thanks to everyone for their help. Had a great time and will go back when I have more time.

Is Jamaica, NY a bad area? Tried to take the subway to the WTC and went the wrong way. Wound up in Jamaica and felt like I was back in New Orleans again.

[SOS]

Just got back to New Orleans. Thanks to everyone for their help. Had a great time and will go back when I have more time.

Is Jamaica, NY a bad area? Tried to take the subway to the WTC and went the wrong way. Wound up in Jamaica and felt like I was back in New Orleans again.

That is the reason it is called Jamaica. :icon_wink

[honky]

Just got back to New Orleans. Thanks to everyone for their help. Had a great time and will go back when I have more time.

Is Jamaica, NY a bad area? Tried to take the subway to the WTC and went the wrong way. Wound up in Jamaica and felt like I was back in New Orleans again.

what did you wind up doing besides the travelling virus?

[FCCSucks]

what did you wind up doing besides the travelling virus?

The hotel was in times square so that was the first area we walked around. Then we saw rockafeller center, central park, empire state building, WTC, china town, little italy. Her aunt lives close to the UN so we walked there. We went up and down 5th ave (guys, if you are with your chick STAY OUT OF TIFFANY'S - THE 2ND FLOOR IS DANGEROUS! - ENGAGEMENT RINGS). We ate at Don Shula's Steakhouse which is in the hotel. Then we went drinking at some bars on 8th and 9th. I think I had a good time because when I woke up the next morning I saw that I sent myself a text message around 2am saying "Woo I threw up in scruffy duffy's".

Next time it will be for a week, so I should be able to do more stuff.

[CrumpetMuncher]

Breuer did a great bit on the train to Jamaica a few years ago. Im certain its on oavirus.com . Its hysterical. The background is that Jamaica is a hub between Long Island and Manhattan. Alot of times you have to change trains at Jamaica and it can be scary at times. I HIGHLY recommend the bit.