I've been planning on going to New York City to visit for a few weeks. I have not been there since I was six. My father was originally from Bayridge, Brooklyn and my mother Chicago. Do you think it is a good decition to rent a car at JFK airport or should I just take a bus around? I wanna see Little Italy, China Town, Greenwich Village and those other cool neighborhoods. I've been checking out Jet Blue for a decent ticket price. What would be other cool spots to hit up? I heard the building where the Ravinite was is still there.

The places you want to see are all in Manhattan (and right near each other). You'd be wise to take public transportation (the subway is best) since parking is expensive and traffic can be intimidating.

Where are you going to be staying?

So public transportation is the best way to go? I'll be most likely staying at some cheap motel to save money. I do have cousins that live in Bayridge but they haven't seen me in years. I guess I could stay with them for a few days as well.

Parking in Manhattan is terribly expensive. It would cost more than the rental car.

I've been to NY twice and would never attempt to drive there. The airport provides shuttle service to and from the airport and if you are staying anywhere in the Manhatten/Times Square area or any touristy area, you'll have no problem finding a cab. Plus, there are tourist buses/shuttles that will take you all around the city. They have a hop on/hop off bus which I think is $20 for two days. You can get off where you want and find another spot to hop on again.

It's up to you of course, but I'd get a big fat headache if I were driving in NYC. Have fun! It's a great city. Oh, and be careful even crossing the streets. I don't know about you, but unlike California, where pedestrians have every right, pedestrians will get their asses run over if they try crossing when they shouldn't.

TIS

A general word of advice: When you rent a car at any airport, you pay airport facility fees and security charges that only apply to airport rentals--even though you're only on airport property for a little while. It can run to $15/day over and above the rental fee.

My advice: If you can arrange it, rent a car at an off-airport facility, even if it means you have to take a bus or taxi from the airport to those offices. You can easily find those offices by searching the car rental companies' websites.

DiMaggio, if you're planning to stay in an inexpensive place in NYC, you'll probably be staying in Queens or Staten Island--no cheap places in Manhattan. Taking the subways is the best way to go. But if you plan to visit places in the outer boroughs, it might pay to rent a car. Subway and bus service in the outer boroughs isn't real convient.

Thanks for the tip T. I'm planning on flying in to JFK airport and taking the subway to Manhattan. What the heck- maybe I'll just rent a car and live in that for a few weeks to save extra money. I can always shower up at my cousin Tony's or Michelle's place. I just can't wait to see "Little Italy" on Mulberry street. The same streets that mobstas like John Gotti, Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, Lucky Luciano and Vincent "The Chin" Gigante walked when they had clubs on Mulberry Street. I think even Actor Frank Vincent owns a restaurant called Rao's in the "Little Italy" area. If you guys know of any other cool spots to see in NYC let me know. Thank you and much respect.

Little Italy, Chinatown, Greenwich Village?
WALK!

I've been to a lot of cities, three times in New York.
I never got bored when walking through Manhattan.

Not to rain on your parade, but:
You should visit Little Italy, but don't overexpect. There isn't much left of Little Italy because Chinatown has taken over more and more of what used to be a solidly Italian neighborhood. The legendary Rao's isn't in Little Italy--it's on East 114th Street in East Harlem, at least 5 miles north. You can't walk into Rao's and expect to get a meal. They are very, very snobby about who they let in. Regulars have tables that aren't shared. You'd probably have to make a reservation months in advance, and even then you probably wouldn't get in, unless you're "connected" to a regular. Sonny Grosso, one of the real-life French Connection cops, has a table there.

Don't miss Greenwich Village and Rockefeller Center.

Even if you think you can manage renting a car, parking alone would be a nightmare. Especially if you're not too familiar with the city and various traffic/parking laws. Depending on how long you plan to stay or if you can manage to stay with family for at least part of the trip...if you do your homework you can find a reasonable hotel in Manhattan, close to the subways where you would have access to just about any part of the city you wanted.

http://www.manhattanhotels.worldweb.com/

That may be your best bet. You can definitely take public transportation to Manhattan out of Bay Ridge. There are several different Subway lines that go to various parts of Manhattan from Bay Ridge.

You'll save a ton of money not having to pay for a Hotel, car rental and parking.\

Have a great time!

One other point: there are almost no public toilets in NYC. None in the subways (and if there were, you wouldn't want to use them). Most restaurants have signs, "restrooms for patrons only," and if you ask, they'll refuse you. Gotta plan ahead...

Thanks for all the great tips. I'll be leaving in early October. I just called My two cousins Tony and Michelle who both have houses in Bayridge, Brooklyn. Tony said I could rest at his casa for maybe a few days, which is really cool. I read about some decent priced motels in Brooklyn too. I could always just stay in Brooklyn. I'll just catch the subway when I need to go check out Manahattan. My cousins told me about a cool festival coming up in Willimsburg, Brooklyn called the Giglio festa. That could be fun.

Dimaggio68,

There's a Hampton Inn in Lower Manahattan :

HAMPTON INN LOWER MANHATTAN

as well as an Embassy Suites in Lower Manhattan :

EMBASSY SUITES LOWER MANHATTAN

Does anyone from the NY area know of any other popular, good Italian festivals beside the one in Little Italy?



TIS

Grazie Mille!

Prego prego!

You'd be crazy not to take advantage of your cousins' homes... just buy their family dinner a few times... get them some pizza from Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn (not a far ride from Bay Ridge).

TIS, Arthur Avenue in the Bronx has two, but they are both in the past. St. Anthony's is in June and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is in July.

The big annual festival (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) in that area is held in July.

October is a great month to be in NYC for festivals... there are lots of street fairs (plenty of opportunity to try local foods) but there really aren't big Italian festivals then. Of course, there is always the Columbus Day Parade down Fifth Avenue in October!!

Is there a HIGHER Manhattan?

Right next to Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Home of that delicious dish called tangle guts!

I thought it was the home of spaghettio's.

This became the official New York Vacation discussion thread.

New York New York, a hell of a town, the Bronx is up and the Battery's down.......

I thought I saw the Tangled Guts cart next to the Zeppole Wagon and Italian Ice stand in a Sopranos episode!!!

Tangle guts? Who eats that?

I know it's the city that never sleeps and the big apple. But is it really the city of dreams?

Like TB says, Little Italy is pretty much gone. It's down to just about 2 or 3 blocks: Mulberry Street between Canal and Grand Streets. It used to spread west to the Village, east to the Bowery, and north all the way up to Houston Street. Not anymore.

Aside from Chinatown ever expanding and the Italian immigrants all moving to suburbia, the rents down there, even by New York City standards, are ridiculous. In Soho, a one bedroom will easily set you back about $2,000 a month. $3,000 in some of the newer dwellings. If you have a family, fuggetaboutit. You're talking $5,000 a month for a three bedroom.

Still, there are a few decent restaurants, if you can stand all the tourists. If you feel you must go, you're better off going during the day or early in the evening.

Last I heard, the Ravenite is now a woman's shoe store.

Frank Vincent doesn't own Rao's, Frank Pellegrino does. He played the Fed on The Sopranos, and he's an asshole. Don't expect to get near that place. As TB says, it's all the way up in East Harlem and it's probably the most overrated restaurant in the free world. You could probably get a drink at the bar during the afternoon if the bartender is in a good enough mood, but why bother?

Let me know when you're coming in. If you decide against renting a car, I can pm you with details about a reasonable car service.