How to spend 48 Hours in New York on a Budget
- by Chrissy Hamlin
- May 20, 2015
- 17 min read
New York is a place everyone should visit at least once in a lifetime. It's big, it's brash, it's cool, it's hip, it's buzzing 24/7, but there is no other place in the world like it If you only have a very short time in which to explore this iconic city, you'll want to pack as much into your daily itinary as you can, If you are on a bit of a slim budget you'll want to find things to do, and places to eat & stay which don't cost an absolute fortune. We arrived in the late afternoon after a 7 hour flight from London, and after a long wait to get through passport control at Newark Airport, we were finally in a cab, bound for the heart of Chinatown.
We were staying at Hotel 91, on the Lower East Side which offers it's guests very reasonable, affordble, comfortable accomodation. It is much less expensive than staying at any of the big hotels or boutique places in the centre of the city. The subway is only 5 mins walk away and there are plenty of great little places to eat, right on your doorstep. After checking in to our en-suite room on the 7th Floor we were worried that noise from the busy Manhattan Bridge, right outside our window would disturb our sleep - but we were fine, the double glazing worked and the close up view was great! The rooms and facilities are very clean and functional - there are vending machines for drinks and snacks, plus free communal tea and coffee making facilities in reception and complimentary wi-fi too. The staff who man the 24 hour reception are really helpful and it is a great budget hotel to use as a base to explore the city from.
That evening, we ventured 5 minutes down the road to grab a beer and something to eat at the quirky Bar169. This great little hidden gem of a place serves fantastic fresh seafood and Oysters, but also has a wide range of other hot food to try. There are also plenty of cocktails & artisan beers to choose from too. The welcome from staff is warm and friendly, and the bar plays some really cool tunes. It has an interesting history all of its own, that is firmly steeped in 1970's nostalgia ! It was the perfect place to spend our first night in New York and to sample great beer and some delicious jumbo coconut shrimps and a burger.
The following morning we woke early and took a train downtown to do some free sightseeing . The first idea was to take the 25 minute Staten Island Ferry trip and see the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island from the boat. The second was to join the Sandemans Free Walking Tour.
Using the Subway was quick and easy and we bought a Metro Card to get around for the whole 48 hours. It's much cheaper than getting taxi's and much quicker than being stuck in notoriously slow New York Traffic with the meter running! We headed for Bowling Green in Manhattan, and after stopping for Breakfast in a nearby coffee shop, we took a walk up to the huge Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
The Staten Island Ferry is one of the last remaining vestiges of an entire system in New York City that transported people between Manhattan and its future boroughs long before any bridges were built. In Staten Island, the northern shores were spiked in piers, and competing ferry operators braved the busy waters of New York harbor. Today the Staten Island Ferry provides 22 million people a year and 70,000 passengers a day, with ferry service between St. George on Staten Island and Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. The 5 mile, 25 minute ride also provides a majestic view of New York Harbor and a no-hassle boat ride - and its all for free! One guide book calls it "One of the world's greatest (and shortest) water voyages." From the deck of the ferry you will have a perfect view of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You'll see the skyscrapers and bridges of Lower Manhattan receding as you pull away and getting closer to you as you return. This is a great way to get the full perspective of the New York skyline very early into your 48 hours! It is a totally iconic view and it really feels like you are in one of the many famous movie scenes it has starred in....New York... New York! What a wonderful town....
At 11am we were due to meet our Sandeman's New York Guide outside The National Museuem of The American Indian. Sandeman's offer a fantastic free Midtown walking tour which takes in a lot of the main sights in just 2 and a half hours and gives you great background info on the history of the city. After a quick wander around the Bowling Green Park area we met up with Zev, our native New Yorker guide and the rest of the small group who we would be sharing our morning with.
Zev began by telling us the history of Bowling Green, New York's oldest green space, and we also saw the famous Golden Charging Bull statue and the old Cunard Buildings - which are now home to trendy restaurant chain Cipriani.
After a short walk through Battery Park leaving the fantastic Manhattan Skyline in all its glory behind us, we arrived at Castle Clinton, a former fort and entertainment centre, which had served as New York's very first Emigrant processing station way before Ellis Island had been built. We learnt how the city had evolved over time and why things had changed as more people arrived. After this we visited The East Coast Memorial for those American Servicemen killed on active service in a number of conflicts, before moving on to explore the wonderful historic old town area of New York around Pearl Street, Beal Street and Stone Street. We saw the famous Fraunces Tavern and the old Dutch style houses, and all the trendy eateries housed in Stone Street. This vibrant area is full of great bars and restaurants serving a wide variety of food and drink! At Lunchtimes it's really buzzing -we went back after the tour to enjoy some great food & it was still full of atmosphere mid-afternoon, and less packed, so it was fantastic for just sitting people watching and getting a feel for the city! Recommended drinking and dinning spots here are The Dubliner, Route66 Smokehouse, Mad Dog and Beans, Vintry Wine and Whiskey, Adrienne's Pizza Bar, or The Antica Ristorante - each place does great food and drinks - just take your pick!
On the next part of the free tour, we passed Delmonico's - the oldest restaurant in New York, and then entered the Financial district. In Wall Street we saw many famous iconic buildings, including Tiffany's, The Trump Building, The New York Stock Exchange, Trinity Church, and Federal Hall. We learnt all about the financial history of the city before moving on to the final stop on the tour.
The tragic events of 9/11 will be forever etched on everyone's mind. Watching the two hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Centre will go down as one of the most terrible moments in history - and the whole world watched in absolute horror as events unfold live on TV. The way New York City responded to this, with many firefighters, police officers and members of the public committing heroic acts and saving lives was totally awe inspiring, The 3,000 people who died as the planes crashed and the twin towers collapsed, and those who died in the other terrorist attacks that occured that day, and at the same spot in 1993, will never be forgotten.
Visiting the 9/11 memorial site is as sobering as it is uplifting. The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.
A callery pear tree became known as the "Survivor Tree" after enduring the September 11, 2001 terror attacks at the World Trade Center. In October 2001, the tree was discovered at Ground Zero severely damaged, with snapped roots and burned and broken branches. The tree was removed from the rubble and placed in the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. After its recovery and rehabilitation, the tree was returned to the Memorial in 2010. New, smooth limbs extended from the gnarled stumps, creating a visible demarcation between the tree’s past and present. Today, the tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth.
With its grove of trees, the Memorial’s plaza is an actual green roof for the structure housing the 9/11 Memorial Museum, a train station and other facilities 70 feet below street level. Landscape architecture firm Peter Walker and Partners designed the plaza and a “suspended paving system” to support the swamp white oak trees growing on the plaza. The paving of the plaza sits on a series of concrete tables that suspend the plaza over troughs of nutrient-rich soil for the planted trees. The system’s design allows for stable pavement on which people can walk, while providing a space for uncompacted, or loose soil, for healthy tree growth.
From the Plazza you can see the new One World Trade Center, which at 1,776 feet tall, is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Developed by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, this building sets new standards of design, construction, and prestige, and heralds the renaissance of Downtown Manhattan. Managed, operated and leased by The Durst Organization, One World Trade Center is the new icon of New York's skyline and the most recognized and desirable office address in the world. The observatory, which opened in May 2015 gives visitors unparralled views over New York City as far as the eye can see. We didn't go up it but it looked awesome from the ground, becoming almost invisible at the top, where glass blended with blue sky.
After this our tour ended & we were asked to give Zev a donation for his services. Having a livley, informative, and knowledgeable local guide was a fantastic bonus, he answered all our questions and told us loads of extra information, including what buildings had been used in the many films set in New York. The history of the place came alive in his very capable hands, so we were glad to give him $20 and never felt pressured at the end to give more than we could afford. We had already decided to join him the following afternoon when he did his $20 mid-town tour.
After lunch in Stone street we headed up town to Lexington Avenue which became part of a classic American cinematic moment, in the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch, when Marilyn Monroe shot what would become her most famous scene. Standing on a subway grating outside the Loew's Lexington theatre, her skirt billows up from the wind underneath. While the footage showing the theatre in the background appeared in the finished film, the footage featuring the subway grate shot on September 15, 1954, on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 51st Street was more of a publicity stunt.
We were meeting up with friends who lived in New York and we were all going out that evening to see a baseball match at CitiField, the home of The New York Mets. We enjoyed our Beer and Hotdogs during the game, even though the Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals!-I loved the family orientated atmosphere at the staduim and the little announcements, quizes and Kiss Cam segments they braodcast up on the big screen between points. Travelling back to Chinatown on the subway after the match, we enjoyed listening to the fans bantering with each other - a true slice of New York life. And so ended our first full day in New York we were tired but we had packed in a fair bit and it had not cost us a small fortune.....
The following day we decided to explore Chinatown, Little Italy & Greenwich Village by ourselves before meeting up with Zev at Grand Central Station for our Midtown Tour at 3pm. We wandered around colourful vibrant Chinatown on foot - home to the largest enclave of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. The housing stock of Chinatown is still mostly composed of cramped tenement buildings, some of which are over 100 years old. It is still common in such buildings to have bathrooms in the hallways, to be shared among multiple apartments. We then took the subway to The historic Bowery area and after leaving Chinatown behind us we suddenly found ourselves in the heart of shrinking Little Italy.
Little Italy on Mulberry Street used to extend as far south as Worth Street, as far north as Houston Street, as far west as Lafayette Street, and as far east as Bowery. It is now only three blocks on Mulberry Street but still houses many Italian restaurants and shops.
Bill Tonelli from New York magazine said, "Once, Little Italy was like an insular Neapolitan village re-created on these shores, with its own language, customs, and financial and cultural institutions." Little Italy was not the largest Italian neighborhood in New York City, as East Harlem had a larger Italian population.
Tonelli said that Little Italy "was perhaps the city’s poorest Italian neighborhood". In 1910 Little Italy had almost 10,000 Italians; that was the peak of the community's Italian population. At the turn of the 20th century over 90% of the residents of the Fourteenth Ward were of Italian birth or origins. Tonnelli said that it meant "that residents began moving out to more spacious digs almost as soon as they arrived."
After World War II, many residents of the Lower East Side began moving to Brooklyn, Staten Island, eastern Long Island, and New Jersey. Chinese immigrants became an increased presence after the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 removed immigration restrictions, and the Manhattan Chinatown to Little Italy's south expanded. In 2004, Tonelli said, "You can go back 30 years and find newspaper clips chronicling the expansion of Chinatown and mourning the loss of Little Italy."
We stopped at midday for a spot of lunch and a glass of wine at Pellegrino's and I had delicious Spaghetti & Meatballs. Tucked in among 100-year-old Little Italy culinary landmarks, Pellegrino's, open since the mid-90s, is a relative newcomer to Mulberry Street's tourist strip. The restaurant's romantic vibe, with low lighting and intimate, well-spaced tables, seems perfect for a delicious lunch or dinner. In almost any other part of the city, Pellegrino's would be a low-key, home-style, neighborhood favorite - not always packed, perhaps, but beloved by regulars. That's why, it's a pleasant surprise to discover a few skillfully done dishes, like the Linguini alla Sinatra, of market-fresh seafood in a tangy red clam sauce enhanced with mushrooms and pine nuts. From among the dozens of freshly prepared desserts, their tiramisu, especially, entices
After lunch we took the subway to Greenwich Village, often referred to by locals as simply "the Village", which is an artists' haven, the Bohemian capital, the cradle of the modern LGBT movement, and the East Coast birthplace of both the Beat and '60s counterculture movements. The neighborhood is known for its colorful, artistic residents and the alternative culture they propagate. Due in part to the progressive attitudes of many of its residents, the Village has traditionally been a focal point of new movements and ideas, whether political, artistic, or cultural. This tradition as an enclave of avant-garde and alternative culture was established during the 19th century and into the 20th century, when small presses, art galleries, and experimental theater thrived.
From the late 19th century through the 21st century, the Hotel Albert has served as a cultural icon of Greenwich Village. Opened during the 1880s and originally located at 11th Street and University Place, called the Hotel St. Stephan and then after 1902, called the Hotel Albert while under the ownership of William Ryder it served as a meeting place, restaurant and dwelling for several important artists and writers from the late 19th century well into the 20th century. After 1902, the owner's brother Albert Pinkham Ryder lived and painted there. Some of the other famous guests who lived there include: Augustus St. Gaudens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Hart Crane, Walt Whitman, Anaïs Nin, Thomas Wolfe, Robert Lowell, Horton Foote, Salvador Dalí, Philip Guston, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and many others. During the golden age of bohemianism, Greenwich Village became famous for such eccentrics as dancer Isadora Duncan, writer William Faulkner, and playwright Eugene O'Neill. Political rebellion also made its home here, whether serious (John Reed) or frivolous (Marcel Duchamp and friends set off balloons from atop Washington Square Arch, proclaiming the founding of "The Independent Republic of Greenwich Village".
In 1924, the Cherry Lane Theatre was established. Located at 38 Commerce Street it is New York City's oldest continuously running Off-Broadway theater. A landmark in Greenwich Village’s cultural landscape, it was built as a farm silo in 1817, and also served as a tobacco warehouse and box factory before Edna St. Vincent Millay and other members of the Provincetown Players converted the structure into a theatre they christened the Cherry Lane Playhouse, which opened on March 24, 1924, with the play The Man Who Ate the Popomack. During the 1940s The Living Theatre, Theatre of the Absurd, and the Downtown Theater movement all took root there, and it developed a reputation as a place where aspiring playwrights and emerging voices could showcase their work.
In one of the many Manhattan properties Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and her husband owned, Gertrude Whitney established the Whitney Studio Club at 8 West 8th Street as a facility where young artists could exhibit their works in 1914. By the 1930s the place would evolve to become her greatest legacy, the Whitney Museum of American Art, on the site of today's New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.
The Village hosted the first racially integrated night club in the United States, when the nightclub Café Society was opened in 1938 at 1 Sheridan Square by Barney Josephson. Café Society showcased African American talent and was intended to be an American version of the political cabarets Josephson had seen in Europe before World War II. Notable performers there included among others: Count Basie, Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Burl Ives, Lead Belly, Charlie Parker, Les Paul, Paul Robeson, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington.
The Village again became important to the bohemian scene during the 1950s, when the Beat Generation focused their energies there. Fleeing from what they saw as oppressive social conformity, a loose collection of writers, poets, artists, and students (later known as the Beats) and the Beatniks, moved to Greenwich Village, and to North Beach in San Francisco, in many ways creating the east coast-west coast predecessor to the Haight-Ashbury-East Village hippie scene of the next decade. The Village (and surrounding New York City) would later play central roles in the writings of, among others, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Marianne Moore, Maya Angelou, Rod McKuen, and Dylan Thomas, who collapsed at the Chelsea Hotel and died at St. Vincents Hospital at 170 West 12th Street, in the Village after drinking at the White Horse Tavern on November 5, 1953.
The Village also had a cutting-edge cabaret and music scene. The Village Gate, the Village Vanguard, and The Blue Note (since 1981), hosted some of the biggest names in jazz on a regular basis. Greenwich Village also played a major role in the development of the folk music scene of the 1960s. Music clubs included Gerde's Folk City, The Bitter End, Cafe Au Go Go, Cafe Wha?, The Gaslight Cafe and the Bottom Line.
Three of the four members of The Mamas & the Papas met there. Village resident and cultural icon Bob Dylan by the mid-60s became one of the foremost popular songwriters in the world, and often developments in Greenwich Village would influence the simultaneously occurring folk rock movement in San Francisco and elsewhere, and vice versa. Dozens of other cultural and popular icons got their start in the Village's nightclub, theater, and coffeehouse scene during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Notably, besides Bob Dylan, there were Jimi Hendrix, Barbra Streisand, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Bette Midler, The Lovin' Spoonful, Simon & Garfunkel, Liza Minnelli, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Joan Baez, The Velvet Underground, The Kingston Trio, Carly Simon, Maria Muldaur, Janis Ian, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, and Nina Simone, amongst others.
A corner building in the Village was used as the outside filming location of the Appartments in the long running TV series "Friends"
Greenwich Village was also home to one of the many safe houses used by the radical anti-war movement known as the Weather Underground. On March 6, 1970, however, their safehouse was destroyed when an explosive they were constructing was accidentally detonated, killing three Weathermen - Ted Gold, Terry Robbins, and Diana Oughton.
The Village has maintained its role as a center for movements that have challenged the wider American culture, for example, its role in the gay liberation movement. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher Street. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States. Greenwich Village also contains the world's oldest gay and lesbian bookstore, Oscar Wilde Bookshop, founded in 1967, while The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center – best known as simply "The Center" – has occupied the former Food & Maritime Trades High School at 208 West 13th Street since 1984.
Since the early 2000s, many artists and local historians mourn the fact that the bohemian days of Greenwich Village are long gone, because of the extraordinarily high housing costs in the neighborhood. The artists fled first to SoHo, then to Tribeca, and finally to Williamsburg as well as other neighborhoods in New York City. Nevertheless, residents of Greenwich Village still possess a strong community identity and are proud of their neighborhood's unique history and fame, and its well-known liberal live-and-let-live attitudes.
After visiting the village, we hopped on the subway to meet tour guide Zev at Grand Central Station under the world famous clock, at 3pm. There was only us and one other person taking the tour, so again we felt like a small group of friends being taken round by a local. We began by wandering around the beautiful Art Deco Grand Central Station which was built by The Vanderbilt Dynasty and has been seen often in the TV series "Mad Men". Outside we saw the spire of the magnificent Chrysler Building - my favourite piece of architechture in New York - and then proceeded up Madison Avenue to the New York Public Library, much of whose building was financed by the famous Astor Family.
After this we took a stroll through Bryant Park, and saw the Empire State Building, behind the trees. A short walk took us to Broadway, home of New York Theatre, and Times Square. These places glow 24/7 constantly lit up with neon flashing advertising signs and hoardes of people visiting during the day and night. It is a busy place full of life and packed with people, but it screams at you to take everything in - there is SO much going on here. It was Fleet week when we there - meaning loads of US Navy personnel were on shore leave - so Times Square really did feel like a scene from "On The Town" which co-iincidently was one of the current big Broadway Musical Hits.
After spending 15 minutes soaking up the total madness of Times Square - we headed into The Diamond District and passed more iconic buildings such as The old Art Deco Paramount Films Office and Radio City Music Hall. We ended our tour in the magnificent Rockefeller Plazza. We had really enjoyed discovering New York with Zev and we gave him our sincere thanks 9 along with another $20 each) when he left us. We then spent some time just wandering around the shops and then at 6.30pm we were scheduled to go up to The Top of the Rock to see the magnificent views of the city. For $35 we felt this was quite expensive but we hoped the views were going to be worth it. The queing for long periods, security searches and being shephered along with many other tourists was a bit wearing at times, but once we finally reached the top, the views were really spectacular, but with so many people you had to grab your "Photo Opportunity and move out the way to let someone else in to take their pictures. The 360 degree panorama took in most of New York...and I could see all the landmarks, including the Empire State building, The Statue of Liberty in the far Distance and Central Park sprawling out towards to North of the city like a rectangular green blanket.
As the sun dimmed, it was a great way to get an all encompassing view of an amazingly vibrant and resilient city. That evening we headed into the centre of town and met up with our friend in Connelly's Irish Bar where we also had a mountain of good food to eat. We were so tired after all that walking, we hailed a taxi back to Chinatown to spend our last night in New York before flying off to the Domincan Republic with Jet Blue Budget Airlines.
I think we did really well to see all we did in just 48 whirlwind hours. There were loads of things I could have spent more time on, and lots of other places I didnt get to see - which only means coming back for a longer stay perhaps next time....48 Hours was just enough to give me a great taste of New York and a bite at the Big Apple! Now it's whet my appetite to explore further.....
Here's our video blog of everything we saw in the 48 hours - Enjoy New York!
