arborwest

Visit Brooklyn, and visit queens and the bronx and Staten ISland , not just Manhattan.

BESTBUY— get on the Staten Island Ferry -from Staten Island and go to Manhattan that way through the ferry. The price is fifty cents or free. Arrive early .

In Manhattan, I recommend using the EXpress busses to go from borough to borough. If you have a choice of using the busses or trains in Manhattan, USE the busses.

IF you want to feel at home, check out the Barnes and Nobles bookstores in Long Island and in Staten Island. Most of them have parking lots, restrooms, cafes’ music rooms, and gift areas, and water fountains and public phones. Make this your starting pointa and check out their maps and tourist books to find out where you want to go for the rest of your trip.

You can purchase great NYC maps here, and great tour books also.

BESTBUYS: check out the C-Line for the tour -=-the boat tour – of NYC, You’ll see the tourist areas by boat and have a great time. This could be a three hour trip or longer, depending which you choose.

Look up the C-line online or at the tourist information center in Manhattan.

FREETOURGUIDES:

Contact the Big Apple Greeters -arrange to have a free tour guide , ahead of time before your trip. Check them out online, and call information 1 212 555 1212 and ask for the telephone number of the Big Apple Greeters . From that phone number you can probably get any phone number in Manhattan.

NEEDHELP: In NYC and in the boroughs, dial 911 from any phone or any cellular phone. If you are using a cellular be sure and tell your exact location.

BESTBUY: in Brooklyn, There’s a great Barnes and nobles Bookstore on Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street , Brooklyn, NY, You can check your books out here, and go across the street to the Methodist Hospital Cafeteria. This hospital cafeteria is open to the public. It’s very comfortable (soft couches and comfy chairs in the lobby next to the cafeteria), and the food here is good and very reasonable.

Right there from Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn, you can find a bus that will bring you near downtown brooklyn,

Call the transit authority and ask about the regular bus that goes from Brooklyn to Chinatown. This is a little-known treat.

You can buy a fun pass —one fee to ride all day on the busses and trains. And once you get downtown , you can catch a bus there , (not sure it’s either the B50 or B51 -ask transit_) This bus does a great loop From downtown brooklyn, to Chinatown, to the City Hall area in Manhattan. And, it’s regular fare, not express bus fare. This is the ONLY regular bus that will go from one borough to another borough (this means you CAN use the fun pass on this bus)

Only one drawback -this bus stops ..early in the evening . It does not run all night long. But it’s still worth the trip.

over 5 years ago

If you love nature, trees , flowers and gardens you’ll love this place.

IT’s a great walking place. If you want free parking arrive very early before it opens up; Otherwise park in the lot for a fee.

This garden is a collection of gardens. IT has it’s own desert room and it’s own tropical room. You would swear you were in the desert or in the tropics. They are beautiful.

The japanese garden is awesome, and there’s a great pond there.

There is the Shakespeare garden, and there are beautiful rows of trees all over.

One morning we saw chipmunks and a bunny in the garden – a special unexpected treat.

They have a cafeteria and there is NO OUTSIDE food or drinks allowed in the garden. They are extremely strict about this rule so do not bother to bring any picnic things.

The gift shop is awesome! The pond is very cool.

The BEST time to visit this place is during the CHILIPEPPER festival or during the Fall Harvest Festival. IT’s packed with interesting people -but since the garden is enourmous, there’s plenty of space for everyone. During these festivals there are special things like kareoke with a local radio station, chili pepper cooking booths, peppers for sale, and one year there were Latin Dancers giving instructions for the dancing. One year they gave out free Chili Pepper tattoos -washable -to the children.

Check out their website online to get all the details.

THIS IS A SPOT well =worth visiting if you love nature and i fy ou love walking .

There are plenty of benches and there’s water fountains and restrooms available to the public.

Most is outdoors, but if it rains , there’s plenty to do indoors until the rain stops.

There’s an awesome Bonsai room where you can Bonsai trees , some of which are over one hundred years old.

ACROSS the street is the wildlife conservation center -formerly known as the zoo.

THese are day trips , spend the whole day at both places. It’s well-worth the visit on really nice weather days.

over 5 years ago

What you won’t see in the tourist books:

Coney Island, generally is not safe at night after dark -if you are travelling alone. Try not to associate with the homeless here (or anywhere else in the city) There are pockets where the SOME of the homeless attack people and you won’t read this in tourist books.
Stay on the main streets if you must be in Coney Island at night , and don’t talk with strangers there at night who approach you.

Best bet-Stay in your car at night, pull up to Nathans and get your fries and burgers . OR better yet, just visit in the daytime, daylight hours if you are a tourist.

There are plenty of police around -in season , when Coney Island is packed with tourists and people who live there.

PARKING-it’s rare and it’s expensive. There are lots to park in . Don’t park illegally or you will get ticketed or possibly towed away.

The best time for Coney Island for tourists is IN SEASON – and during the week. The area is packed on weekends , and it’s easier to get around during the week.

Coney Island is well worth visiting if you get to go to Nathans, and the boardwalk.

CHILDREN: Keep children near you in Coney Island, don’t let them wander around alone at all. When they use the restrooms, go with them, don’t let them go in alone.

I love Coney Island and will always go there when I’m in Brooklyn; but I’ll always be careful.

over 5 years ago