RRRR: Livin' for the City

If you happen to have a Bank of America card you can get free admission to the Met Museum and the Whitney on certain weekends. Not many people seem to know about that.

but people i don’t know annoy me. And there are a lot of people i dont know on those trains.

Id rather sit in my car and listen to music or sports radio than come home and hear stories about how her day went. lol

i find it to be relaxing. when i was working id be pissed and i live like 5 minutes from my work. id get home and still be annoyed. when i had a drive i found myself able to just chill out and relax in the car.

What my wife & I loved was how easy the subway was to navigate. Easier than Chicago IMO.

I’d recommend everything you’ve listed. I’ll add Times Square just to get a great feel as to how huge NYC is; I was overcome by the lights and the entire goings on around the area. Truly impressive.

Also, if you go to Chinatown, try Jing Fong for dining. They have carts in a huge hall that roll around with various types of Chinese cuisine. It helps (if you don’t know Chinese food very well) to have someone knowledgeable with you. It’s inexpensive and worth the loudness of a large hall.

Washington Square Park is pretty cool when it’s warm. There’s quite a variety of people there and you can really get a feel for the city’s diversity. I’m not sure what it’s like in the winter as I’ve never been then. There are plays, singing and lots of people out enjoying the outdoors. It’s not "out there" if that’s a concern. I’m very conservative and I didn’t feel weird there at all.

If you like Sushi (I don’t) try East Japanese Restaurant in Kips Bay Borough between 26th & 27th street according to Google. It’s just north of Union square.

Finally, if you have time, check out one of the many plays in the Theater District. There are box offices right by the theaters that have deals to get reasonably priced tickets. Avenue Q is popular; pretty funny and has a very open minded view.

Enjoy your trip. Let us know how it works out.

Going to Buffalo a while back I sat near a guy whose previous Lake Shore Limited trip from NYC was delayed for twenty hours. Twenty. Hours. Amtrak doesn’t have dedicated tracks for the most part; they lease them from the freight carriers. They’re completely dependent on the freight schedule, and they also get a lower priority because passenger rail isn’t exactly a money-maker. Again, good luck.

Below please find transit info you may already know, but presented here in excruciating detail.

The distance from your Amtrak to the 2 train is indeed about a block but they’re both located inside of Penn Station. You won’t need to exit onto the street. Amtrak arrives on the upper level (along with NJT) at the 8th Avenue side of the station. The subway is on the lower level (along with the LIRR) at the 7th Avenue end of the station. Everything is located within the same, formerly majestic building.

Also, in Manhattan between 135th Street (Harlem) and Wall Street (way downtown) both the 2 and the 3 trains run on the same (express) track and make identical stops, i.e. grab the first of the two to arrive at your platform to get to your hotel. For functional purposes, you can think of the line as 2/3. Below 96th Street, the 1 train runs local on the same route, with the same stops and more, all the way to Chambers Street (Tribeca). So unless you’re further downtown than Chambers, a 1 train will get you right to your hotel just as well, though slightly more slowly.

To recap: For almost all of tourist Manhattan on the 1/2/3 platforms the 2/3 runs identically, and the 1 runs the same route but also serves local stations that the 2/3 skips. All three trains service the same Chambers Street/West Broadway station that I’m guessing is your stop.

It’s my contention that no matter how smart your phone is and regardless of the guides you carry, hard copies are good to have at hand. So ask the attendant at subway booth in Penn Station for a system map. They’re free. Maybe ask for two, even. It sounds like you’re a fellow that will appreciate them.

My other can’t-miss map advice for visitors is that they stop by any bike shop and pick up a (free) city issued bike map. It is an excellent map, showing and naming pretty much every single street in all five boroughs. It indicates the location of the subway stations as well so it’s a useful complement to the subway map, which doesn’t show any surface streets — just station names — and isn’t drawn to scale. If you don’t see the bike maps lying out (usually near the door) just ask for one from the folks behind the counter. Or maybe politely ask for two.

I love hard copies. And that bike map is really all the street map you’ll ever need in NYC. I’d take at least two. Minimum. They make a nice souvenir.

Some Tribeca area bike shops:

http://www.metrobicycles.com/CS/CS.html
http://www.adelineadeline.com/
http://togabikes.com/storelocator/gotham-bikes-downtown-2.htm

yw.

But I watched the 2nd half of the Lakers-Clippers game last night and what he’s doing is not only stupid but unsustainable. And he has to know that. On the other hand it’s just mind-boggling how he can still do this after so many years. Physically he should be MJ in a Wizards uniform.

the streaming app and site are the shit.

I resent you and everything you stand for.

aaaaand then they played the game.

Even without Rose, we gotta beat the Grizzlies.

Bulls are gonna win a ton of games this year but it seems kinda irrelevant when I see those two look like crap.

her cultural background would suggest there was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1PO7nyyLn0

i’m quite familiar and i’ve abided by them.

and what situation I’m willing to put him (and my other housemates/roomates) in.

It’s kind of ridiculous, I know. But I’ve been living alone for the past 2 years (3 in July) and the little bugger has been with me every step of the way. In two weeks he and I will have lived in 5 different places in 3 years. He’s been the one constant in my life. I couldn’t imagine giving the little fur ball up without a fight. I can see where gus is coming from.

you’ll give in.

but shes sitting here right now and shes a great dog. but boy i thought we had a lemon at first. lol

but even if i position them towards the couch, it just lacks something for me.

i suppose that’s what you lot do.

Public schoolboys prancing round London trying to look clever, anyone acted like that towards me I’d hit him

if anything, it nailed the prediction of home electricity use taking care of the heating/cooking. just oversold on where it was coming from.

yeah its taking a toll, but its not like i dont try and sleep.
my mind just races at night.

I think he’s found the sauce prior to my recommendation.

even if it’s just a half hour on a stationary bike or treadmill. it’ll help clear your mind and you’ll be tired later.

I did some research a few months back, cause I was sick of feeling super groggy when I’d wake up after taking one of the over the counter sleeping pills. Now when I really need to get to sleep and I’m wound up I down a cocktail of Valerian root extract and Passion fruit extract, and also a few Tryptophan capsules. Then I fire up an audio book or an audio lecture. Usually does the trick within an hour. I wake up feeling great.

Worked alright.

it doesnt have to be all or nothing, right?

It can be pretty scary stuff to be on a slippery hill around Seattle.
I posted a pic here in ’08 of when I was driving home and saw the bus dangling over I-5.

It had particles floating in it. It was fucking gross.

The girl who gave us that bottle swore by it.