New York City
 

Ill be in NYC I think the second weekend of January. Never been. My wife has, and doesnt stop talking about how great it is. Ill only be there about 3-4 days so I need some tips on must-see places, and great pizza and Italian food! I put up a thread in the Herfs section in case anyone wants to get together. :banger

Re: New York City
 

Honestly, I feel like you must see club macanudo.

Having visited it myself for the first time ever a week and half ago... I can tell you... Try the Cuban ribeye. Unfreakinbelievable.

Other than that I couldn't tell you. I had a piece of pizza at 2:30 in the morning at a place near times square called la famiglia... Decent pizza... Had pictures of famous people who had eaten there on the walls.

Re: New York City
 

Walk over the Brooklyn bridge and end up at Grimaldi's pizza in Brooklyn

Re: New York City
 

I wouldn't know what to suggest doing in the winter as I've only been in the summer. I went for like a week for my 22nd Bday and went to tapings of the Montel Williams and Rush Limbaugh TV shows. We saw the other big sites like the Statue, Central Park, twin towers, Empire State Building, and stood outside the David Letterman show to see him come out and hail down a cab for his taping.

Don't know cigar-wise, but if you're up for fine dining, I highly recommend Sparks Steakhouse. I think it's ranked among the best in the country and it was outstanding when I went about 10 years ago.

Re: New York City
 

Moses and Duane, thanks for the recommendations! I just read about Lombardi's pizza. Any opinions?

Re: New York City
 

Where are you staying in NYC? Got a buddy from another board in NYC that heads to a lounge a couple of times a week. I can ask him for his opinion. Hell, maybe he could be there and show you his magic tricks while you're there.

Re: New York City
 

Not sure yet. Nothing to crazy. We have looked at the Hilton in Times Square.

Re: New York City
 

Erick,
When you can, call me.
Grew up in NJ, worked many years in NY.

Quick favorites:
Jewish Deli's: Katz (When Harry Met Sally Sex scene location) or Carnegie Deli

Italian: Lamella's or Pellegrino's

Pastries: Ferrara's

Pizza: Grimaldi's

Sight Seeing: The whole freaking city.
Statue of Liberty, South Street Seaport, Empire State Building, Rockerfeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Macy's for Christmas time, Broadway plays, Central Park.
Clubs up the wazzoo everywhere.

The city that never sleeps is a fact to live by.
So many, many more things.

Re: New York City
 

I'd recommend using priceline.com and name your price. You lose the exact name/location, but you can select your amenity level and a pretty exact location for where you wanna be. Find the absolute lowest price you can find anywhere else and then start bidding at 50% of those rates. I've stayed in MANY hotels like a Hilton, Marriott, etc, etc. really cheap that way.

Re: New York City
 

Carlos ill call you up tomorrow. Duane I am on Priceline now.

Re: New York City
 

Also, this was the feedback from a BOTL on another board who lives a little north of NYC about shops/lounges.

There are many nice lounges in the city. Davidoff in Columbus Circle and on Madison as well. Then there in Barclay Rex's where Skipper goes. There is also a huge JR Cigars and Nat Sherman.

Re: New York City
 

See what the regular priceline rate is and then do the name your own price...literally start around 50% of those prices yet. The hotels they list at a particular star level will give you a good idea what hotels you'll be looking at for a particular part of NYC and star level you want to bid at.

I think the ONLY time I've not used priceline for traveling in the last 10+ years was when I had to have a place that I was guaranteed to allow dogs. Other than that, as long as I'm staying within a certain radius of where I want to be and generally a 3+ star hotel, I'm good to go.

Re: New York City
 

I found the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square. Its $172 a night and 3 stars. I did the Priceline price deal at $90 and was accepted, but who knows what hotel thats for. Kind of tough to give CC info!

Re: New York City
 

:tpd:

Very cool- just be aware that you'll need to order a whole pie- they don't do slices.

:tpd: THE place!

Quite! When in doubt, just wander around Manhattan some more. There's cool stuff to see/do everywhere. You can't go wrong.

Re: New York City
 

Tough to give out CC info? I'm lost, cuz in order to name your own price, you have to provide your cc info when making your offer.

Re: New York City
 

I meant tough to give it out without knowing what hotel I am getting. :(

Re: New York City
 

Well, you have a pretty good idea of what hotels they're choosing from in a particular area and star level. If knowing the exact name of the hotel you're getting at is worth an extra $50-100/night, more power to ya.

I've probably used priceline for no fewer than 50 different hotels over the years and I can say I was disappointed with just one. Nice name brand chain that is usually in the 3.5-4 star category, which was much higher than I felt they should have been rated for this particular location. I think it was part of another chain purchased and they were a long way from renovating it up to their standards elsewhere.

Re: New York City
 

Maybe I will take a risk and save the money! $380 for 3 nights in 3 star NYC Times Square hotel seems like a great deal.

Re: New York City
 

Just think-the money you save will help you buy a lot of smokes and pay for dinner at Sparks. :D

Honestly, I've even stayed in some 2 star Holiday Inns that were more than adequate IMO to bring price down if I wanted to be at a certain price point.

Re: New York City
 

+150. I live a few blocks from there.