Any heads up I should know? We will be driving there(because I won't fly)...so those of you that have done so, is it better to rent a car or take your own(I know once you're in NYC you must take taxis and subways to get around so I don't know where I'd put my own car if I took it). Where are the best places to stay and SHOP?

5/27/2006 11:10:07 PM

best places to shop:

for the best in men's clothes (may also have good women's clothes?):
Atrium (sorta near NYU)
Lounge (in SoHo)

for designer brands at reduced prices (but still expensive):
Century 21 (across from the World Trade Center)

-ZiP!-

5/27/2006 11:15:31 PM

which route to take to get to manhattan:

i'm not sure which tunnel i'd recommend using from New Jersey. anytime near rush hour, everywhere gets clogged fast (especially the holland tunnel). my parents went up through staten island on the BQE (brooklyn-queens-expressway) to bypass Manhattan, however, you'll probably be staying in the city it sounds like, so disregard that.

-ZiP!-

5/27/2006 11:17:50 PM

park outside of the city and take the train in

you can park relatively cheaply for extended periods of time outside of the city

5/27/2006 11:21:24 PM

ya parking is like 30 bux a night in manhattan with no reentry, 95 takes you all the way there and if you do drive strait in (then just follow signs and take the lincoln tunnel into midtown)

one option you might want to use is going through philly and trenton instead of the new jer$ey turnpike. take alot of change. expect at least 20 bux of tolls (maryland, deleware-entry and exit and nj turnpike)

5/27/2006 11:28:30 PM

As far as taxis, trains, and subways goes-how much do they run? I would like to stay outside the city and only have to go there for shopping and business(this is more a business trip and less for pleasure). I've never been in a taxi and have no clue what they cost. I want to make sure I have enough cash on me to survive traveling.

5/27/2006 11:32:13 PM

taxis are like 250 + 50 a mile and can get expensive if youre going a good distance. try to use the subway as much as possible even if you have to taxi to the nearest subway then pay 2 bux for the subway. its still cheaper than going an extra 5 miles in a cab.

5/27/2006 11:38:25 PM

why dont you just take the train from nc to nyc?

fuck driving

5/27/2006 11:40:35 PM

Taking the train would take FOREVER...I once took a train to VA that should have been a 30 min plane ride, 3 hour drive, but it took 8 hours in a damn train. It would take over 24 hrs according to what I've heard.

5/27/2006 11:48:47 PM

individual train ride = $2
day card (lasts until 3am) = $7
weekly card = $24
monthly card = $76

i believe JetBlue is supposed to have decent rates from RDU to either JFK or LGA

-ZiP!-

5/27/2006 11:48:59 PM

Quote :

"250 + 50 "

$2.50? or $250

5/27/2006 11:49:09 PM

Quote :

"i believe JetBlue is supposed to have decent rates from RDU to either JFK or LGA"

I won't fly, which makes life harder, but I won't do it ever again.

5/27/2006 11:50:05 PM

$2.50, haha.

also, there can be an evening surcharge of $1 i believe.

also: remember to tip for everything in NYC - its the way we roll

-ZiP!-

5/27/2006 11:50:37 PM

$2.50 won't kill me. I already know this damn trip is going to cost me a fortune and I don't even want to go(except maybe to shop-IF I have money leftover).

Best places to eat?

5/27/2006 11:53:21 PM

definitely some of the best places in the country are in NYC.

the nicest, most expensive place i've eaten at was Babbo in the West Village, owned by Mario Batali (of the food network), haha, when i was leaving, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale were entering.

speaking of Food Network, in Chelsea Market (over kinda near the Meatpacking district almost), there are tons of great food-related shops, a cookie place, a seafood market, Emeril cooks in the building, a bakery, a Thai place...

and, speaking of Thai - NYC has incredible Thai restaurants. for the budget-minded, hit up Spice near NYU for a 60s London Mod feel, OR, even better, hit up SEA at its Williamsburg, Brooklyn location for a really awesome experience. Also, not exactly Thai, but Asian-fusion, there's Republic at Union Square / 14th street, which I believe may be from the creators of Wagamama, the awesome noodle place in London (and elsewhere in Europe, I think).

i could go on and on about where to eat... haha

-ZiP!-

5/28/2006 12:00:28 AM

i'm going at the end of june in between summer session 1 and summer session 2

we are going to leave friday at about 9, have all day saturday, and get back sometime sunday around noon

5/28/2006 1:57:28 AM

Quote :

"its still cheaper than going an extra 5 miles in a cab."

unless you have 3 or 4 people in a group going somewhere

then you split that shit up for the same cost as the subway ride

5/28/2006 2:15:08 AM

anyone know the best way to blend in and not look like a tourist

and whats the smoking policy in nyc...like anywhere outside or only certain places

when i go i'm gonna take like 10 cartoons of cigs prolly

5/28/2006 2:17:34 AM

Quote :

"10 cartoons of cigs"

5/28/2006 2:33:39 AM

train takes about 11 hours

5/28/2006 2:46:32 AM

Quote :

"anyone know the best way to blend in and not look like a tourist"

well, in my opinion, there are too many people to even notice who is a tourist and who isnt. however, if you don't hold on when you're on the train, and fall down when it starts moving, thats a tell-tale sign.

Quote :

"and whats the smoking policy in nyc...like anywhere outside or only certain places"

i think anywhere outside is alright, i feel like i breathe in tons of secondhand smoke on most of the streets in the city, everyone's puffing up

-ZiP!-

5/28/2006 4:10:08 AM

The drive to New York isn't that bad, I have made it the last 4 years. Parking like others have said is expensive, unless you stay in another borough other than Manhatten. Then prices vary depending on where you stay, but you can easily just take the subway into Manhattan. If you stayed in Queens and really wanted to drive into Manhattan (it is fun the first time you are driving with the cabs in the city) the Queensboro bridge, I believe, doesn't have a toll to go into Manhattan. We have both rented a car and taken our own. Either way worked out fine.

5/28/2006 10:34:39 AM

take some benzos and fly

5/28/2006 12:05:42 PM

Quote :

" the Queensboro bridge, I believe, doesn't have a toll to go into Manhattan. "

yep, you're right

-ZiP!-

5/28/2006 12:38:58 PM

the tolls on the way up suck balls

5/28/2006 1:10:42 PM

like people where saying, when ya think you're home free, NJ starts nailin ya

-ZiP!-

5/28/2006 1:11:15 PM

Quote :

"I won't fly, which makes life harder, but I won't do it ever again."

wtf... don't travel then
you're not fucking John Madden

just pill yourself up

5/28/2006 1:13:45 PM

The tolls are killer, and God save you if you miss your exit and have to turn around and go back through them again.

5/28/2006 1:14:39 PM

Why wont you fly?

5/28/2006 1:26:52 PM

NYC is so much easier when you don't have to fuck with a car

JUST FLY
its so goddamn easy

you're gonna have to give me an anecdote to explain why you won't

did a DC-9 crash on your puppy?
did a 707 kill your father and rape your mother?

5/28/2006 1:27:09 PM

Pills don't work for me when I'm flying....I've tried everything. The only thing that would was for me to be totally knocked out like in surgery. I just don't think it's safe from all my experiences and others.

5/28/2006 3:22:49 PM

It's far, far safer than driving.

5/28/2006 3:31:05 PM

jesus

5/28/2006 3:36:37 PM

Give her a break. Maybe her experience includes being in a plane crash.

5/28/2006 3:39:06 PM

theres no way that you have been loaded up on benzos and were still afraid to fly
ask your doctor for some xanax or klonopin wafers and just double the dosage

5/28/2006 3:52:07 PM

Shop at The Strand

http://www.strandbooks.com/home/

5/28/2006 5:01:18 PM

shop on jersey. no sales tax for clothes and shoes. or buy knock offs at china town

5/28/2006 5:29:57 PM

Delaware doesn't have sales tax at all if that's all you care about. I think the point was she wanted to shop in Manhattan, like in soho, etc...

5/28/2006 6:30:20 PM

Quote :

"It would take over 24 hrs according to what I've heard. "

wtf? Go to the Acela website.. it takes like 9 hours from what I remember..

5/28/2006 6:35:49 PM

Acela doesnt go to raleigh i dont believe, that is just DC to Boston. BUt reg amtrak takes 10 hours from Raleigh to NYC

[Edited on May 28, 2006 at 6:47 PM. Reason : j]

5/28/2006 6:44:41 PM

Quote :

"xanax or klonopin wafers "

Last time I took 2 xanax, 1 klonopin, and then a 5 mg valium on top of that because I was still freaking out. Needless to say, it didn't work and I ran off the plane and didn't go to the Bahamas. My mom said she wouldn't waste anymore of her drugs on my flying cause...lol.

5/28/2006 6:56:28 PM

haha wow

5/28/2006 7:37:52 PM

wow you're fucking crazy

I mean... I'm diagnosably ill but you're just nuts

5/28/2006 8:36:09 PM

haha wow

5/28/2006 8:43:24 PM

Quote :

"Acela doesnt go to raleigh i dont believe"

Yea it goes from DC to Penn Station but generally it's quicker to get a train to D.C. from Raleigh and then hop on the Acela..

5/28/2006 9:08:29 PM

^^^ there are some people who just don't respond very much to anti-anxiety meds

Quote :

"Last time I took 2 xanax, 1 klonopin, and then a 5 mg valium on top of that because I was still freaking out. "

You could double that, sub an ativan for one of the xanax, and add a thorazine, and THEN I'd start to stop spazzing. I've had similar cocktails in the past.

That doesn't really help refute your point, though, since I am a fucking fruit

[Edited on May 28, 2006 at 9:13 PM. Reason : lskj]

5/28/2006 9:12:59 PM

it would be alot better and safer if they just had a mandatory rule that everyone goes under laughing gas before they get on the plane. would that be expensive? i know anestesiologists get paid the most but that would be cool.

5/29/2006 1:38:43 AM

Quote :

"shop on jersey. no sales tax for clothes and shoes. or buy knock offs at china town"

actually this user brings up a good point.

there was some weird thing that happened, i saw it in the papers, that caused shops to stop charging sales tax on clothing items that were individually priced under $110 or so. this includes shoes I think. i asked some employees of H&M how long they thought it might last, and they said up to a year. definitely something that people aren't complaining about

-ZiP!-

[Edited on May 29, 2006 at 1:42 AM. Reason : i am talking about manhattan, by the way]

5/29/2006 1:41:54 AM

Where are the cheapest places to stay where we won't get shot? The hotels are super expensive there from what I've seen. I had a friend go on Craig's List and found a couple that allowed her to stay at their apartment for really cheap for the weekend...but that sounds kind of sketchy.

5/29/2006 2:04:35 AM

seriously why are you going to NYC if you're

a) scared to fly
b) looking for a cheap hotel-- nyc isn't cheap, why risk staying somewhere scary to save $20?
c) said you didn't even want to go anyway

i mean shit, i hope you have some serious business to take care of up there or else it sounds like you're wasting your time

5/29/2006 2:08:20 AM