More NYC travel advice, please

Just wear a fannypack and solve all your problems.

 

While I'm thinking of it: Don't walk four-abreast and clog up the sidewalks, either.

 

No and no. Only way I'll have a backpack on the front if Mrs. Novelist takes one and gets tired of carrying it. Then I'll have front and back. No sandals. I'll be in running shoes. With socks.

 

Only going to be two of us. Not gonna guarantee we won't walk slow, but we're polite enough to stay out of people's way when possible.

 

There you go. You and Mrs. Novelist will be fine tourists.

Pro tip: Don't buy weed near Central Park's southwest entrance. It's likely just oregano.

 

Noted.

 

Heading up there in May. Damn hotels are expensive. Starting at $200 a night (shared bathroom), plus taxes?

Looking at Broadway, thinking about catching the Book of Mormon.

 

You can probably find a place, even on a budget, in which you don't need to share a bathroom.

 

I commute in from the NJ suburbs every day. What I would probably do is drive to Secaucus and park there. It is a commuter train station about 10 minutes outside of midtown -- Exit 15X on the Turnpike. Parking is reasonable and safe and you don't have to deal with the worst of rush hour traffic. There is a quick shuttle bus to the train station and trains to NY Penn every couple of minutes

Don't park in Hoboken (a disaster to drive through and expensive), EWR (super expensive to park and the train into NYC is also jacked up in terms of the price) or even the Gateway in Newark (tough to get in and out of).

 

Now food: highly recommend Keens Steakhouse on 36th.

Keens Steakhouse . . . Since 1885

Have the mutton.

 

IMO, if you don't eat Italian or Chinese in NYC you're just not playing the percentages. Chinatown is as close to an "eat anywhere" situation as you'll find outside Louisiana. For Italian, do something really exotic and take the subway to Bamonte's in Brooklyn. Alleges to be the oldest restaurant in Brooklyn. If I was throwing a mob wedding, it's where I'd have the rehearsal dinner.