Musings of an Editor, Writer, and Storyteller: NYC for the Thrifty DC Tourist

Last year, I had the pleasure of taking an evening Technical Writing course taught by Thom Haller at the Graduate School (formerly Graduate School USDA). He found my writing style personable and encouraged me to post my work online. He was particular amused by my final project, a tourism guide for DC residents who were on a budget but interested in spending a day or two in New York City. I came up with the idea of creating a NYC guide after experiencing frustration at my lack of motivation to even attempt my original idea—a guide for enjoying DC on a budget. To bring in the new year in style, I decided to dedicate my first post of 2010 to two things I'm good at: self-deprecating humor and escaping to Manhattan.

New York City for the Thrifty Tourist
(A Guide For The DC Metro Area Resident Who Wants To Get Out Of Town For A Little While—But Not Hurt The Piggy Bank)

Foreword I feel excitement and a renewed sense of purpose when I visit New York City. I want to share with DC-based readers a few tips I’ve learned during my adventures as a thrifty tourist in three of New York City’s boroughs. This isn’t a complete "how to enjoy all NYC has to offer on a small budget" guide, as my funds are always in short supply and my adventures usually confined to the basics. But the things I have seen, I enjoyed them immensely, and the people I’ve met—they were oh so "New York."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part One: So You Want To Visit NYC—But Don’t Have A Lot of Money
I. How Do You Do It?
II. The Most Important Step—Getting There

Part Two: You’ve Arrived In NYC. What Do You Do First?
I. Get To Where You’re Going
II. A Good Night’s Rest and Extra Money In Your Pocket

Part Three: Where Do You Eat and What Do You See?
I. Food Options
II. Entertainment
III. Networking Opportunities

Appendix: Helpful Online Resources

Part One: So You Want To Visit NYC—But Don’t Have a Lot of Money

Neither do I, but I make it work. And so can you.
Thanks to television shows and movies that portray Manhattan as a playground for the rich, many would-be tourists are apprehensive that the price tag for transportation to and from the city, lodging, and food is much too high. I felt the same way, until I figured out how to
Travel to NYC;
Spend a weekend in Manhattan, with a decent hostel room to lay my head and great ethnic food from neighborhood bodegas;
Entertain myself (which includes the traveling comedy show known as "public transportation"); and
Travel back to DC—all for less than $200.

I. How Do You Do It?

To visit NYC and not spend a lot of money requires restraint and flexibility. Too make this work you need to
Figure out how much you plan to spend, and try to stick to it—there’s nothing worse than overspending before your trip is over.
Make a list of places you want to see, and then divide that further into "must see" and "maybe next time"—planning is very important to the budget conscious traveler.
Branch out—NYC is just Manhattan. There are interesting places to see in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx too.

II. The Most Important Step—Getting There

When I made the decision to visit the "Big Apple" two years ago, the only transportation options I thought were available for me were to either
Take the Greyhound bus;
Climb an Amtrak train;
Take out a small payday loan to afford a plane ticket; or
Fill up my gas tank and face my fear of driving to a place whose streets were notorious for eating out of town drivers alive.

DC’s Chinatown Buses

I figured Greyhound was my best bet until, almost by chance, a main handed me a flyer while walking through Chinatown on my way back home. It was a flyer for New Century Travels. I’d seen the large buses parked along H and I streets downtown, but never inquired as to what they were for. I went home and looked them up, and soon realized that my long-time desire to visit the Big Apple could be realized much quicker than I had thought.

Here are the websites for three popular bus carries based in Chinatown, DC:

New Century Travels (http://www.2000coach.com/)
Apex Bus (www.apexbus.com/)
MVP (www.mvpbus.com/)

Advantages of riding the Chinatown buses:

It’s convenient—there are frequent departure and arrival times.
The drivers are fast—take the 3:30 a.m. bus and you’ll get to NYC around 6:45 a.m.
It’s cheap—$35 round-trip from Chinatown to Chinatown, not bad at all.

Disadvantages of riding the Chinatown buses:

It gets crowded—it’s "first come, first board" on these buses. To guarantee a seat, try to arrive before the bus. They usually come around 20 minutes prior to departure.
You get what you pay for—hey, it’s cheap travel, don’t expect amenities like leg room or temperature control, or an attendant to walk the aisle and remind passengers to be courteous.

Megabus

There is another discount bus carrier, Megabus (http://www.megabus.com/), that offers an affordable trip to NYC from downtown DC. I’ve never used Megabus, but here’s how it differs from New Century, MVP and APEX :

There is no discount when booking a round-trip ticket—Megabus is $20 each way. The other carriers offer a $5 discount, making the total cost $35.
You have to select a return date and time—Not a bad thing for a lot of people, but in case your plans change while you’re in New York, it’s nice to know that you don’t have hassle in store if you missed the appointed time.

My Experience
I learned from experience that the 3 a.m. buses were quieter and didn’t have as many passengers. Quiet and room to stretch are not likely at any other time. Returning from DC, these inconveniences are unavoidable. I close my eyes and think of how much easier it is to be sitting there than in my car.

Part Two: You’ve Arrived In NYC. What Do You Do First?

I. Get To Where You’re Going

When you arrive, unless your budget allows for a cabbie to chauffeur you around as you sightsee, you’ll need to head to the nearest subway station and buy a fare card ("metrocard").

They come in one-day, seven-day, 14-day, and 30-day intervals. An unlimited card doesn’t start counting down the days until you use it the first time, but it can also expire if you buy one and let it sit unused for too long.

The buses in DC’s Chinatown have several drop-off points in Manhattan. New Century Travel and APEX drops you off in Chinatown at 88th and Broadway. MVP drops you off at Penn Station, right near Madison Square Garden. The only problem is that it’s easy to get turned around as you try to figure which subway number/color combination will get you where you need to be.
Traveling around the city on a budget requires you to buy a Metrocard—your "all access" pass to the city. Fortunately, you can use it on the subway and bus.

The New York subway system is an interesting experience. If you have an activity-filled day planned, then a subway map will be your best friend on your journey. Yes, it’s big, and, yes, it shouts "I’m a tourist!", but having it handy is more helpful than relying on the kindness of your fellow pedestrians to point you in the right direction.

II. A Good Night’s Rest and Extra Money In Your Pocket

Hostels

If you’re planning an overnight stay, before you look into expensive hotels, you may want to consider the convenience of a hostel stay.
When a hostel was explained to me years ago, I was under the impression that hostel rooms were shared with two or more people. And there are many hostels like this. However, hostels do have private rooms.

There are numerous sites for booking NYC hostels and reading traveler reviews. These sites should help in your search:

NYC Hostels (http://www.nychostels.com/)
Hostels.com (www.hostels.com/us.ny.ny.html)

Advantages of staying at a hostel:

It’s affordable—of course, they get sold out and increase prices like hotels, but during off-peak times, the hostels I’ve stayed in are cheap.
Nearby transportation—most of the ones in Manhattan are located very close to the subway.

Disadvantages of staying at a hostel:

Shared bathroom—though if you’ve ever lived in a dormitory, grabbing a pair of slippers to take a shower isn’t odd at all.
Private rooms might not be available—meaning that you may have to sleep in a bunk bed below or on top of a stranger.

My Experience
I have stayed at the Hotel Riverside Studios hostel on three occasions. I’ve never paid more than $90 per night. When I first saw the reviews online, I was apprehensive, but booked anyway, and I’m glad I did. The reception desk is nice and you get a personal escort. Plus, they have private rooms!

Hotel Discounts

I realize that staying at a hostel is not be for everyone. If staying at a 4- or 5-star hotel is what your heart desires, go for it. There are deals to be found. Try these sites:
NYC Hotel Discounts (www.nychoteldiscounts.com/)
Go NYC (http://gonyc.about.com/od/hoteldeals/New_York_City_Hotel_Discounts.htm)

Part Three: Where Do You Eat and What Do You See?

I. Food Options

I’m hungry, what can I eat on my budget?

Times Square has many fast food-chain options and a seemingly never ending supply of pizza by the slice places. These establishments are found in abundance in DC so why not take advantage of the new location. There are certain restaurants and foods that seem to be so "New York" that they simply cannot be passed up. And surprisingly, there are plenty of New York food establishments located throughout the city that don’t come with the New York price tag.
My suggestion to find great, cheap eats is to get out of downtown Manhattan. Venture into Harlem or Brooklyn’s Coney Island and Bedford Avenues. Be adventurous.
This is a great site to find the various vegetarian, Italian, Caribbean and other ethnic restaurants in NYC’s diverse outer boroughs: http://nymag.com/restaurants/.

My Experience
I had never heard of falafel until I went to New York. While walking down Broadway St, on my way back to Hotel Riverside, I stopped into a little shop, saw the dish on the menu. I received seven large falafel balls, a large salad, pita bread and dipping sauce for only $7.50. Down the street from Apollo Theatre at the Utopia Juice Bar, they serve generous portions of tasty vegetarian dishes for under $10. And I feel in love with a small diner called George’s in Brooklyn on Coney Island Ave, where they serve breakfast 24-hours a day. I left there stuffed, also at under $10. So there are definitely budget-friendly food options.

II. Entertainment

What’s there to do?

Pick up the free Village Voice newspaper that’s filled with event listings ranging from Broadway shows to hip-hop concerts. The newspaper is in bookstores, street newspaper dispensers, and in convenience stores. Check it out online at http://www.villagevoice.com/.

Your New York experience varies on the amount of money you have to spend and how much time you plan on spending there. I’ve only spent weekends, so my trips have consisted of walking until my legs grew tired, riding the city bus with no particular destination, window shopping, visiting landmarks, and perusing the exhibits at various museums.

You can spend hours in the museums, and there are usually interesting speakers and exhibitions to view. In addition to the Village Voice, you can check out museums offerings on this site www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.html that offers a comprehensive listing of museums in Manhattan and outer boroughs.

Additional resources to help you make the most of your NYC experience are listed in the Appendix: Helpful Online Resources section.

III. Networking Opportunities

Hanging solo can be fun, but for those who may want to supplement trips to the city with an activity partner, these suggestions are for you:

Craigslist—for the more spontaneous, adventurous spirit. There are a lot of single people that post on the site for others to join them on trips around the city, lunch at a trendy new restaurant, or to a comedy show in Times Square if they happen to have an extra ticket. http://www.craigslist.com/

Meetup—this site is for those who plan to make visiting New York at least a monthly occurrence. Meetup.com is an online community where people join hobby and interest-specific groups and "meet up" at different venues to network and have fun. It’s free to join Meetup and the fee to participate in your group’s activity is about $5. http://www.meetup.com/

My Experience
I posted an ad in the NYC Strictly Platonic section on Craigslist last year to say that I’d be in town for the weekend and wanted to go a play. I had several responses and ended up going to see an off Broadway show with one, and the top of the Empire State Building with another.
I joined a NYC card game group on Meetup and we meet once a month for bowling and Spades. So there, not everyone online is creepy and weird.
But, of course, only do what makes you comfortable.

Appendix: Helpful Online Resources

For Getting In and Out of DC…

New Century Travels
http://www.2000coach.com/

Apex Bus
http://www.apexbus.com/

MVP Bus
http://www.mvpbus.com/

Megabus
http://www.megabus.com/

For Falling in Love With NYC…

Subway and Bus Information (hey, it beats walking 30 blocks)

http://www.mta.info/

NYC Sightseeing (so much to see!)

http://www.mustseenewyork.com/

http://www.citysightsny.com/

NYC Parks and Recreation (Central Park sure is big)

http://www.nycgovparks.org/

Popular NYC Destinations (just a few, there are far too many)

Statue of Liberty http://www.libertytickets.us/