NYC at New Years eve, shopping and Gordon Ramsey

My wife and I have just come back from a 6 night trip to NYC from the 30th Dec - 5th Jan.

The plan was to see in the new year, do a lot of shopping and some sight-seeing, we had been over before in 2004 so had already covered most of the tourist stuff.

We flew with Delta, who I would not recommend after the disappointing service we had and landed in JFK on the 30th Dec in the early afternoon. last time we used the shuttle service which charged $15 each and took over 2 hours getting us to our hotel, so this time we decided to get a taxi, which for $49 got us to our hotel incomfort and half the time.

We were staying at the Wingate Inn, Manhatten and you can read my (not v happy ) review in the hotel review section.

That afternoon we spent at Macy%26#39;s, located around the corner from our hotel. For those that have%26#39;nt been be prepared to do some serious walking, the place is huge !! covering over 7 floors.

What I would recommend you do both at Macy%26#39;s and Bloomindales is to take your passport to the Visitor desk where you get a 10% discount card. This can be used at most places in the store, apart from cosmetics. Which is unfortunately where my wife spent most of the time at. Fortunately the time we had arrived coincided with the sales so most items haad 30-50% discounts.

The next morning (New years eve) we made our way to Wollman skating rink at Central Park. Even though we got there for 11am the queues were long so we decided to go to Bloomingdales. Which to me seemed to be an upmarket Macy%26#39;s, we did%26#39;nt do any shopping apart from the wife getting the classic %26#39;little brown bag%26#39;.

From Bloomingdales we went to the Apple store, the building is unusual with the store located underground apart from a glass cube above, from where you access the store. I bought a ipod for the bro and shuffle for my wife and I, as an incentive to get back to the gym. The MacBooks were v tempting, around 拢150 cheaper then the UK, but the answers to my warrenty/support questions were vague so we left it.

We then had a bit to eat at a deli, the food portions were huge and cheap and after finishing waddled back to the hotel, where I booked a table at Gordon Ramseys for the 3rd. That evening we had decided to spend New Years eve at central park (thanks to the suggestions on this forum) and as we made our way past Times square we were glad we were%26#39;nt going to be stuck there. From our discussions with fellow visitor who had spent it at Times square most mentioned that if you were not near the front it was%26#39;nt very enjoyable.

We arrived at Central park for 10.30pm and found that there were approx 15k people, the atmosphere was relaxed and fun with the DJ%26#39;s on the stage putting on an excellent show and runners in fancy dress. The fireworks at midnight were awesome, they were done by the same team that did Thanksgiving. After seeing in the new year we then made our way back to a bar near our hotel where we continued into the early hours.

On New years day the weather was quite miserable with light showers throughtout the day. We decide to do some lesuirely sight-seeing through midtown and lower manhatten, basically Greenwich Village, Soho, Chealsea (where we had an excellent veggie meal at Le Pain Quotidien), etc and made our way to Brooklyn bridge. We had planned to walk over and visit Queens but the weather forced us back and we settled into a deli to warm up before heading back to the hotel.

The 2nd Jan we made an early start to Penn Station where we purchased tickets ( $36 each ) for a bus to Woodbury Common preium outlet. Even though it was 9.30 there were long queues for the bus and they had to put on a second bus. Piece of advise, make a note of the bus schedule from the outlets website. The outlet is huge and made up of adjoining cabins for each shop, so I would not recommend coming when it is raining, I would recommend taking an empty wheely bag for all you shopping. Once we arrived we went to the visitor section where you get your map and discount booklet upon showing the bus ticket. We then went to Starbucks where we planned which shops were were going to visit. The outlet shops seemed to work our 20-50% cheaper then the same store in Manhatten so we did some serious amount of shopping.

There are also a number of food outlets where we finished off before getting the bus home. Note, even though the buses run until 9pm, the outlet stores close at 6pm.

The 3rd Jan we spent the morning at MOMA which I have to say is an excellent and well arranged museum. Aother piece of advise from this forum provided our lunch selection, which as the cafereria in the basement. We then got a cab back to our hotel for a break before the evening.

That evening we went to Gordon Ramseys new NY restaraunt, we could%26#39;nt get a table at the dining room but were lucky enough to get one at the London Bar. This is more informal so you can some in your jeans and jumper (like I did) and the food in a la carte. i.e. small portions but as many as you want.

We arrive 45mins early so after handing our coats at the desk we sat at a table where the waitress took our drink orders, the prices were approx $12-16 for a beer, not exactly cheap. At the booked time a waiter took us to our table and explained food and drinks were available. Basically each of the dishes are small, but very rich and we had a starter 2 main courses and a desert. You can order your dishes altogether or order your starter and main courses and leave the desert until later, but note the tables are allocated for 2 hours after which you take yoour coffee to the bar. The food was probably the best I have ever had, the lamb cutlets were awesome and the staff very firendly and attentive I would recommend a visit. The bill was approx $160 + tip, note we did%26#39;nt have any wine, only mineral water with the meal.

The 4th Jan the weather was excellent, so we made our way to Rockafellar plaza to the TOTR. Luckly there was no queuing and we got to the top within a few minutes. I have to say, that the views from TOTR beat those from the Empire state hands down.

We then had a bit to eat at a deli in the shopping complex in the basement before heading to the TXTS booth in times square. Although we arrived early (1.30pm) with and hour and half before opening there were already people queuing , note be prepared for the elbowing when you get to the booths. We managed to get 2 tickets for Colour Purple that evening, for HALF the official price.

The show that evening was pretty good, the wife loved it. I have to admit that I%26#39;m not a big musical fan, but hey when in Rome.

The 5th of Jan, we were leaving for JFK at 4pm to catch the 8pm flight, so after packing we had a mooch around Time Square, after which we went to Grand Central. The interior looks more like an expensive hotel or state room then a train station. On our way back to the hotel we came accross the ice skating rink in Byrant Park, which we could%26#39;nt resist.

The journey back was pretty uneventful apart from the $69 that we got stung for by the service cab and the queues at the airport, which went well outside the building. I would recommend coming at least 3 hours early.

Anyway that another memory and time to persuade the missus to let me book our next holiday!!

NYC at New Years eve, shopping and Gordon Ramsey

Enjoyed reading your report. I will be there about the same time next year. Just wondering what time you arrived at TOTR for no queues?

NYC at New Years eve, shopping and Gordon Ramsey

Sounds like a good time was had, glad it (mostly) all worked out.

Glad you enjoyed your stay for the most part!

Just a note, the Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Poppa

Jabbawocky, with re TOTR we arrived around 10.30-11am, it did seem to be sttange that we did%26#39;nt have to queue. I guess that we were just lucky.

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