On a trip to
better off booking a multi-attraction sightseeing pass in advance. Pre-book the New York City Pass, which includes entrance to six famous sites such as the Empire State, Top Of The Rock, Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and you’ll save about 40 per cent. The pass costs from £95 per adult and £78 per child (attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk).
FANCY A FEAST?
EATING out in New York can be pricey – the average cost of a meal for two with wine is $100 (£77). However, you can feast on some brilliant (and cheap) pizza and Chinese if you know where to look. In the hip Lower East Side, Trapizzino (trapizzinousa.com) has acclaimed stuffed pizza for $7.50 (about £5.80) and rice balls for $3.50 (£2.75). In neighbouring Chinatown, you can gorge at Vanessa’s Dumpling House (vanessas.com) for under $10.
At the Corner Bistro (corner bistrony.com), between the trendy West Village and Meatpacking District, the burgers (about £10) are famous across New York. A pint of beer – the locally renowned McSorley’s – will cost you $4.25 (about £3.30).
A CLOSE ENCOUNTER – FOR FREE
WHY pay $15 (about £12) on a New York Harbour tour when you can do it for free? The Staten Island Ferry (siferry.com) gives you a close-up look at the Statue of Liberty and costs nothing. Entrance to Central Park (centralparknyc. org) is also free, and so are some of the events, including performances of Shakespeare each summer.
A donation of a cent will get you into the American Museum of Natural History (amnh.org). And the Brooklyn Brewery (brooklyn brewery.com) offers free tours every Saturday and Sunday between 1pm and 6pm.
BARGAIN HUNTS
VISITORS can run up a huge creditcard bill in the designer boutiques of Fifth Avenue, but a true New Yorker never pays full price for fashion. Just off Wall Street, Century 21 (c21stores.com) has seven floors of heavily discounted designer stock – all clothing is at least 50 per cent off.
Union Square, on 14th Street, is another strong location for fashion fans, with Designer Shoe Warehouse (dsw.com) and Nordstrom Rack (nordstrom.com).
On the Upper West Side at 2085 Broadway, Bloomingdale’s Outlet (bloomingdales.com) opened in 2015, while Saks Off Fifth (saks off5th.com) does equally smart fashion and accessories on 57th Street. If you can wait until next April, Empire Outlets (empire outletsnyc.com) opens on Staten Island with factory shops for Nike, Gap, Brooks Brothers and Levi’s.
IT’S SHOWTIME!
BUY from the TKTS booths in Times Square, Lincoln Center and South Street Seaport and save up to 70 per cent on theatre tickets. Downloading the TKTS app will let you see which shows are on offer first (tdf.org/nyc/7/TKTS-ticketbooths). Some of the biggest hits in New York have lotteries for tickets, including Hamilton ($10) and Book Of Mormon ($32) – you can enter from your phone or laptop.
Broadway For Broke People (broadwayforbrokepeople.com) has the most up-to-date information on shows.