A short trip to New York City (part 2)

 Yeah !!!!!!!! We finally made it to New York!! Do not tell me you are tired from the trip!! I know it is a little bit long, but it is worth it.

Now that you are at JFK airport, you will go through many security procedures. The police officer will ask you about your journey in the United States. Just be honest and do not worry. One detail to be aware of, do not bring food (fruits, tea …etc.) with you because it is forbidden in the United States. Sometimes police officers turn around with special dogs just to check on people luggage.

Once the control is done, you are ready to go. First thing to do is buying a sim card. You will find a plenty of distributing machines containing different types of sim, do not use them since there are many configurations to do to the sim. You will find in the terminal some shops who are selling those sim cards. It is very important to have one with good internet in order to be able to find your way to your stay – Hotel – apartment; also to use maps freely.

Now that you are all set up, you are ready to go. You can take a taxi (I do not recommend that), an Uber or Lyft or you can use subways.

If you are carrying many luggage, it will be annoying for you to use subways (since you will be using stairs …etc.); also, you will have to pay the luggage cart since they are not free in USA (the cost 6$ each).

You will then have to take a taxi, Uber or Lyft (you must have the application downloaded in your phone and a credit/debit card for payment for Uber or Lyft). Type your destination in the app. A driver will come and pick you up. Prices may vary, depending on the demand that time. If the demand is too high, prices will be expensive (25-35$ for example if you are going to Brooklyn). Otherwise, prices are between 18$ and 25$. You should also take an Uber or Lyft if your destination is not reachable through subway (which is very rarely the case).

 If you are not carrying many luggage, airTrain then subway is a great solution. The airTrain is a train that takes you from a terminal to another and to a station (Jamaica Station or Howard Beach) from where you will take the subway.

Once you get out from the airTrain, you will find distributing tickets machines.

Follow the steps. You will get a ticket called “Metro Card”, very easy. Then follow what google maps tell you, for example, in Jamaica station you can take the line either E, J or Z. Do not forget to keep that Metro card all the time, you can recharge it anytime for you next trips.

Ok, once you arrive to your place, settle down and get some rest, you can now prepare for the places to visit (unless you have done it way before). I will share with you my list, you can of course go to many other places, my list is definitely not exhaustive; New York is huge!

1. Times Square

During the night or during the day, Times Square is one of the most iconic place in New York, lights are everywhere around, big buildings, many shops and restaurants; you will not get bored by hanging around there.

I will share with you some personal pictures that I took with my Samsung Galaxy S7

 

 

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2.  Central park

How could I describe this place? pretty hard. I do not think you can realize how beautiful that place is unless you visit it. I do not want to talk about how big it is, or how it was made …etc, you can find all those information on google, but I want you to feel and live the moment while you are walking there between all its trees, very green grass, kayake. That place is magic ! No wonder married New York couples go there for super fancy pictures.

At the entry of Central Park you will find plenty of people selling their services : bike rentals, horse carriage tours, pedicab tours …. Depending on your preferences, all of them are funny, but i personally prefer renting a bike, it is very cheap, you can rent a bike for a whole day with only 15-20$ and riding a bike gives you freedom to go anywhere in Central park. Here is my bike tour.

If you want to check more about the sevices and tours of central park, you can use this website: http://www.centralpark.com

Central Park is only one of the famous parks in New York. There are plenty of them in New York, I will just list them here

• Madison square park
• Washington square park
• Brooklyn Bridge park
• High line park
• Battery park
• Bryant park
• Paley park

If you want to visit them all, type the park name on Google maps, the rest is easy.

3.  The observatory

The One World Observatory or the One World trade center, is the highest building in New York city. You can observe and enjoy the stunning view of New York. The one world observatory offers a unique experience, you should definitely not miss that. I will not tell all the details of the observatory or describe it, the videos and pictures will be enough to show you how beautiful the experience is. Be sure to be on time, it is open from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm (with the latest entry at 9:15pm). The opening times may be different on special days like July 4th. The ticket’s price is different if you get it onsite (37$) or throught the official website (34$), for standard admission.

The best time to go there is at 5 pm or 6 pm, because you will have time to enjoy the daylight views then night views; both are worth it.

 

 

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Next to the One World Observatory, you will find a very special place, the twin towers (World Trade Center) memorial plaza and museum, the towers that faded away on 9/11. The two towers (north and south) are now Memorial pools. It is extremely a peaceful and a silent place dedicated to remember those who lost their life in that tragedy. It is considered as a tribute to the past and a hope for a better future. It is important to remain silent and respect the people who come to remember.

4.  Museums

New York city has plenty of museums, if you are someone who really loves exploring and discovering museums, you’ll get served. There are about five museums around Central Park : Museum of Natural History, Frick Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum and The Museum of The City of New York.

Here is a link where you can find the exhaustive list of museums in New York City :  https://www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.html

5.  The Liberty Statue

One of the big icons of the United States and New York city !! You can’ miss it !!! Actually, it is pretty complicated to go there. In order to be a little close to the statue, you can take a ferry that will make a tour around the Liberty island,. You will be able to see the statue and take pictures. Getting closer to the statue and going to the Liberty island is a little bit tricky. You have to book a ticket to the grounds of Liberty island. In order to do that, you have to book way before you go to New York (like two or three months before). I was not able to go there because there was no available tickets, the only available one was after two months (I was honestly very shocked, would never expect something like that). So, if you want to go right to the island, go to this website :  http://www.statueoflibertytickets.com/Statue-Of-Liberty-Tickets/

You will be able then to book a ticket to Liberty island, also book for a pedestal access to Liberty Statue and a crown access too. Remember to book a couple months before going to New York, maybe more, it depends on the time of the year.

If you take the ferry for a tour around Liberty island, you will be able to see the statue this far:

And some pictures you can take while you are onboard of the ferry:

 

 

 6. United Nations HeadQuarters

The UN HQ is located at 1st Ave between 42nd and 48th street. It is open to the public to visit some of its location (but unfortunatly not everything like the big meeting rooms). You can purchase the tickets online for guided tours here : http://visit.un.org/content/tickets#purchase_tickets

 

 

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This is a highlight of the United Nations HQ :

 6. Luna park, Coney Island

Luna Park is an entertainment and an amusement park, located in Coney Island (Brooklyn). You can find different types of rides for children and for adult too.

It has a particular schedule when it is not summer season, so it is not open everyday and the hours also depends on the season. Be sure to check on the park schedule if you want to go there. You can check the park hours here : http://lunaparknyc.com/plan/park-hours/

7. Niagara Falls

A natural wonder for hiking, trails and outdoor adventures. It is almost 7 hours far from New York by car, and almost 10 hours by bus. You have to take the bus from Port Authority Bus terminal, or you can take Maple Leaf 63 Totonto Union station Amtrak in Pennsylvania Station; which takes you directly to Niagara Falls station. The trip last for almost 10 hours (I recommend this option). Do not forget to book a place to stay overnight.  It is a very beautiful place to go to, so you should consider this and try to not miss this trip. For more information about Niagara Falls, check their website: https://www.niagarafallsusa.com/

Of course this is not an exhaustive list, there are many other sites to discover, like China Town, Soho, Brooklyn, Harlem and the Bronx (Yankee Stadium). So make sure to make and create your own list where you can add and prepare more locations and sites to discover.

Bus tours

Before ending this article, I want to talk  about tour Bus. Many people prefer taking those buses, in order to have a wide view of New York City, especially old people. As far as I know, there are 4 tour bus companies in New York : Big Bus, City Sightseeing, Open loop and Top View. You will find many agents promoting for those companies everywhere, Times square in particular. It is important to choose the right one if you are interested in taking a bus.

You can have mainly 5 tours : Brooklyn tour, downtown tour, uptown tour, Bronx tour and Night tour. It is IMPOSSIBLE TO DO THEM ALL IN ONE OR TWO DAYS. Those companies suggest also many packages, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days packages (never pick up the 2 days, it is never enough). Other companies suggest bonuses like a free 2 hours bike ride or bagel breakfast etc…

I am not promoting for any of those companies, be very careful when picking up one, some dishonest agents will lie to you and make you pay more! Be sure to get the flyer of each company, read them one by one carefully, then choose. Do not be rush up by the agents (some do this and push you to pay without thinking too much, do not pay !! Think first).

To be honest, I prefer City Sightseeing or Big Bus tours, for many reasons . It is true they are a little bit more expensive, but they offer more options and more bonuses, also they are always available comparing to the two others. For example, when you step out the bus for a stop (that you want to discover more) , many other same buses will pass by after some moments so you don’t have to wait 30 more minutes for the next one, maybe more.

Here is a video of the night tour I had

Bonus Tips !!!!

My bonus for you for this awesome trip is the gifts and souvenirs !! You can not leave New York without buying gifts !! I will show you the best places where you can find everything you need, from mugs to magnets, t-shirts, hats…. You can find everything you need in China Town, for very cheap prices, especially if you want to take souvenirs for you and to your friends, keychains and magnets are the best, you can find them for 1$ each.

Do not get souvenirs from Manhattan (unless you can afford it of course), it is much more expensive there.

Another place you can get really awesome souvenirs is “Wallgreens” , it is  a supermarket where  you can find food, beauty products, hygiene products and some kind of medicines (actually, you can find anything there, it is a magic place). There is a Wallgreens located in Times square, you may imagine it is expensive, but I was surprised by the prices. You can find very special items there that are very affordable.

For people who eat only Halal, you can find that type of food anywhere in New York. In Manhattan for example, there are many trucks that sell Halal food like: chicken, meat sadwiches and Hot dogs. Those trucks’s service is very affordable, you can find a hot dog for only 3$. If you want halal restaurants, you can look for them by using the Yelp application.

So this is it, I hope you learnt a lot from this part, do not hesitate to leave comments below. If you liked the article, share it with your friends.

See you in the next adventure, with Racha wanderlust.