hi from scotland guys..going to NY april...?

Try to avoid the overpriced "tourist trap" restaurants (especially near Times Square - go to the restaurants on Ninth Avenue or Eighth Avenue - locals eat there and the restaurants want repeat customers. Places on Broadway and Seventh Avenue know that you're not coming back so they feel free to serve you mediocre food at outlandish prices. If you can get a hotel with a fridge and microwave, you can save your restaurant leftovers or do your own breakfasts.

Go to the East Village - interesting area with odd stores and many, many inexpensive ethnic restaurants. Try a delicious Vientnamese sandwich - a bahn mi - $3 to $6. Nicky's Sandwich Shop on 2nd Street and Avenue A. If you go there, try a very New York beverage - an egg cream - and the best is at a little ice cream, candy, newsstand on Avenue A and E6th Street across the street from Tompkins Square Park. Listen to Tham, avoid the Indian restaurants.

Go to Grey's Papaya - there are several locations - in Greenwich Village on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 8th Street and on the Upper West Side on the corner of Broadway and 72nd Street - for $2.99 you get two delicious hotdogs and a fresh tropical fruit juice (no seats - you eat standing up at a counter).

See Chinatown - very good inexpensive restaurants and the best place to buy little stocking stuffer gifts and souvenirs. They also have good prices on pocketbooks, scarves and costume jewelry.

If the weather is nice, walk up Fifth Avenue - from 50th Street (Rockefeller Center and St Patrick's Cathedral) up to 59th Street (Central Park). See the famous Fifth Avenue stores - Tiffany, Cartier. If you walk west on 59th Street, see the TimeWarner Building - it's right at Central Park. Very upscale shops (first floor) and restaurants (go to the fourth floor - two of New York's most expensive restaurants are there - Masa and Per Se. On the third floor, go to Samsung - you can play with their computers and digital cameras and use the cell phones. Go to the lower level, Whole Foods, and get a snack and beverage - self service with seating. All floors have floor to ceiling windows with a great view of Central Park or Eighth Avenue buildings.

Take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (it's free) - the ferry to Liberty Island is $8 and there are long lines, so you often can't get off the island exactly when you want to. You are no longer allowed to go inside the Statue. The Staten Island Ferry will give you a close view of the Statue and a great view of the Manhattan skyline.

A restaurant with the real "flavor" of New York is Katz's Deli on Houston Street near Ludlow on the Lower East Side interesting area to walk through (note: we prounounce this Howz' ton not like the Texas city). There are two areas at Katz's - one is self-service and one is waiter service. Definitely sit in self-service - you go up to the counter, order your sandwich and, tip the counterman a dollar or two. He, then, will put much more meat in your sandwich than a waiter will bring you. (A few years ago several reporters went to Katz's with a small scale - some sat in waiter service and some sat in self service - all the self service sandwiches had at least a quarter of a pound more meat).

To add to the New York experience, drink a cream soda or celery tonic with your meal. Katz's has the best corned beef, pastrami and sour pickles in New York.l Sandwiches are big enough to share;get an order of fries and you're all set. My favorite there is tongue and corned beef on a club roll.

Read about Katz's

http://www.katzdeli.com/

The Metropolitan Museum - one of the best in the world. My favorite exhibit (and, it's not popular, it's not even well known) is the Gubbio Studio. It's a fifteenth century library in a duke's palace. As you walk into this room, you see cabinets, closets, bookcases filled with books, musical instruments, scientific instruments, all made of little pieces of inlaid wood. You are not going to believe it when you get close - it's flat! This should take your breath away - I can't describe it. And the museum hardly advertises it. It's on the first floor, north of the medieval sculpture court.

http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/vi...

Next favorite are the weapons and armor:

http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/de...

Then, the costumes

http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/de...

The Museum of Natural History has always been my favorite - I would sit and look at the Blue Whale for hours on end. I still love the place. There is also an excellent planetarium (that never held much interest for me)

Visit the Chelsea Market on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets; it used to be the Nabisco factory - they made Oreos and Mallomars there. A lot of little shops and food places opened there. Be sure to try a Fat Witch brownie (they usually have free samples on the counter). The Lobster Place - a fish market has an excellent lobster roll - they also have very good soups that you ladle out yourself (I like a little bit of the sweet corn chowder mixed with the lobster bisque). Excellent place for gelatto in Chelsea Market, and Amy's Bakery makes great bread (they have samples, too)

Get a "Cuban Sandwich" (a pressed sandwich with roast pork, ham, cheese, pickles - its sooo good!) - Eighth Avenue has several Cuban restaurants that serve this - I like a hole in the wall place on Eighth Avenue and 20th Street called Chelsea Havana - you can get a small sandwich for about $4; a big one for $5. Try a mango batido (milkshake). Another good hole in the wall is La Taz D'Oro on Eighth Avenue and 15th Street - very inexpensive Puerto Rican food - great rice and beans.

Buy a copy of the magazine TimeOut New York - you have a complete listing of all theatre, concerts, museum exhibits, sales, sporting events, free events and special events for the week.

I'd say a little less (but not much less) than you would spend on a similar trip to London. New York is expensive but the dollar is weak, so it might seem cheaper to you.

As far as your budget goes, the only important difference between NY and London is that London has a lot of decent quality moderately priced hotels. New York just doesn't. You should expect to pay at least $200 a night (at least 100 pounds) and even then the room might not be great.

If you want to save $7, forget the ferry to Liberty Island. You can see the Statue of Liberty for free from the Staten Island ferry. They also sell beer on the Staten Island ferry. If you go around sunset the views of the statue and the skyline are great.

hey Coz...this NY'er hopes you enjoy your trip. For cheap Hotels, look to Orbitz or travelocity. If your willing to stay out of midtown, you'll spend less(Tip- I once took my wife to the Beacon Hotel on 74th and Broadway for her Birthday/Newyears eve!) You'll be a short walk to Lincon Center and a short subway ride to everywhere else, Nice places to Eat(including a Cuban/Chineese Place) close by, and a short walk to the Part of central park where Strawberry Fields is...(72nd st and Central Pk West) and walking distance to the Muesum of Nat'l History, and the Hayden Planetarium. if you want a Good Brew and Burger, Any Blarney Stone or McAnns will fit the bill

The Carnigie is expensive. go to the STage Deli near the ed sullivan Theater(where the David Letterman show tapes)