New York At christmas time

LaGlisse

hi,
Thinking of taking a long awaited trip to New york this year, finance wise Christrmas time (27-31st Dec maybe longer) looking our best bet. A few questions
Would I be correct to assume the place pretty much runs as normal, not too much is shutdown tourist wise? Would it be a bit busier than normal at tourist attractions?
Any good hotel reccomendations?
How bad is the weather that time of year normally?

coylemj

Chances are that it will be bitterly cold, you may end up walking around Manhattan with sleet blowing in your face, not a very nice way to spend Christmas. Think of visiting around Thanksgiving instead when the stores have sales on 'Black Friday' (the day after Thanksgiving) to entice people to come to the big city (which is empty of workers) to spend money. Weather is usually much better as well, I was there once for Thanksgiving and the cops were wearing short-sleeve shirts!

spurious

It's usually pretty cold. Don't expect extended Christmassy atmosphere. I saw Christmas trees thrown out on Dec. 27th. On to the next holiday.

jazain

its not always bitterly cold in nyc around christmas time. you never know when the snow will hit but the times that ive visited at that time of year it was around 7 degrees and not a bit of snow in sight. no wind...nothing. nothing closes down. everything will be open except for christmas day itself. some things may be closed but in this country (and i do live here) more often than not, places are starting to stay open on christmas day but its best to check in advance to see what will be open when.

but youll find a christmasy atmosphere nonetheless!!

jazain

p.s. you dont want to get involved in black friday!! youll never see such a madhouse in your entire life. people go mental

LaGlisse

Cheers for replies so far. Im not too bothered about shopping,me and GF just going over to see the sights really. Ive been before on a J1, lived in Greenwich village so know my way about. Wouldnt go back in summer, that heat and humidity is horrible. October break would be ideal but will have a good bit extra cash available if we wait till christmas. Hotels seem cheaper then too (if you leave before new years)

cena

coylemj wrote: »

Chances are that it will be bitterly cold, you may end up walking around Manhattan with sleet blowing in your face, not a very nice way to spend Christmas. Think of visiting around Thanksgiving instead when the stores have sales on 'Black Friday' (the day after Thanksgiving) to entice people to come to the big city (which is empty of workers) to spend money. Weather is usually much better as well, I was there once for Thanksgiving and the cops were wearing short-sleeve shirts!

I much prefer going during thanksgiving. Weather is nicer and warmer. Its the build up to Christmas really. They only celebrate Christmas day over there not like here.
You have the thanksgiving day parade and you can go to Macy's and see Santa for free too and get a photo too with the man.

EyeSight

I've been both at thanksgiving and xmas. Thanksgiving was bitterly cold and windy while xmas was cold but not the worst. It depends on your luck
Xmas was cool but i found the streets were busier with annoying "stand in your way" tourists. I love the city so much and love the xmas atmosphere but don't expect it to be magical like in the movies. Good luck trying to get into FAO swartz also!

I would recommend it but be expected to pay more for hotels(I would advise you to check out airbnb and sublet a place). Also pay the extra few dollars for a Manhattan hotel, unless you're comfortable taking the subway late at night(it's actually very safe if you are not an idiot. Don't be intimidated by it). Before going spend a lot of time online doing real research. NYC has hundreds of kick ass bars and restaurants you won't know of. Don't get stuck in the hell that is Times square.
If you're there for new years don't do times square! Most clubs and bars will charge upwards of $100 entry(buy tickets in advance) but you would usually get a free bar until midnight. The bars that don't charge an entry fee will fill early. Hidden gems on new years are closely guarded secrets

I was there last year for black friday and NYC doesn't really "do" it. It doesn't need to. Sure some places like Macys do but if you want the black friday madness go to New Jersey for the day. The black friday deals aren't even that good. First customers get a $50 gift card of $100 off a TV, but the way people get killed during the sales you would swear they were giving ipads to everyone for free!

Also things don't shut down. Places will be open as normal. Places will only close on xmas day but some small stores will be open. Thanksgiving day will be the same

Paul_Hacket

I'm a long time resident, I wouldn't come here at Christmas if it's just a matter of saving money, it's just not worth it from the point of view of dealing with potentially really lousy weather, and at best merely unpleasant weather. If you're trying to save money forget about hotels and just rent a place in a nice neighborhood downtown on airbnb.com. A huge part of the pleasure of visiting New York comes from walking around the city and viewing the sights such at Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, the Battery, etc. on foot. That's pretty much out in winter.

If you come in the Fall or Spring you can enjoy free events in the parks, even more so in the summer. Basically the best times of year to visit are April to June, and September to early November. One of the very best times is Halloween when there are a ton of events here including the amazing parade up 6th Avenue (which anybody in a costume can take part in) plus tons of parties. That time of year is also great for atmospheric day trips up the Hudson Valley to places like Sleepy Hollow, West Point, Cold Spring etc. Do not come here at Thanksgiving, that's a crazy idea, it's the worst time of year in the US for travel in terms of congestion at the airports and other transport hubs, the weather in NY is turning crappy and there are hordes of not very well behaved shoppers everywhere.

Again, I'd strongly recommend reconsidering summer and early fall if you're trying to save cash, check out all the free events listed in the below links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/nyregion/what-to-do-in-new-york-city-in-summer-2014.html?_r=0

http://www.nycgo.com/articles/free-summer-concerts-2014

http://www.nycgo.com/slideshows/nyc-summer-guide-2014

coylemj

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Do not come here at Thanksgiving, that's a crazy idea, it's the worst time of year in the US for travel in terms of congestion at the airports and other transport hubs, the weather in NY is turning crappy and there are hordes of not very well behaved shoppers everywhere.

I appreciate that you're a resident but I've been to NYC for Thanksgiving in 2002, 2007 and 2011 and have to disagree......

We arrived each time in the early afternoon on Thanksgiving Thursday and there was no problem or any sign of congestion in JFK. Bear in mind that having done US immigration in Dublin, we simply stepped off the plane, collected our luggage off the carousel and picked up a taxi for Manhattan without any bother.

I believe the congestion in the airports is mainly on the Wednesday evening and early Thursday, we clearly missed all of that. In each case we flew back to Dublin on the Monday so we missed all of the returning workers flying back to NYC, presumably all of the airports in the region are hectic on the Sunday but that didn't affect us.

Weather wise, Thanksgiving 2002 was a scorcher (relatively speaking) with cops in short-sleeve shirts. 2007 was very cold (sub-freezing) but dry and sunny so as long as you were well-wrapped up, you were fine. 2011 was pretty mild with the odd light shower but nothing worse than back in Ireland at the same time of the year.

We didn't go near any of the outlets, just traipsed around Manhattan, went to Staten Island, Central Park, all the usual stuff and visited the odd shop but none of us was there for intensive shopping and the only place that looked off limits was FAO Schwartz because of the huge queue. The Apple store on 5th Ave was mad busy but you could get in and out ok provided you watched your step going down the stairs - the queue for the lift was crazy. In the other big stores I didn't notice any misbehaved shoppers!

Paul_Hacket

I'm glad you had a good time, if you arrive on thanksgiving day itself most airports are likely to be quiet alright, though any other day of that week and you're facing potential chaos. I would still recommend people to come in September/October instead of late November. The weather is going to be more pleasant and there's just a lot more going on in the city at that time. People haven't hunkered down for the winter yet and the leaves in Central Park and upstate look amazing. A lot of people here take a train ride up the Hudson Valley just to check them out - it's pretty spectacular and a sight we don't have in Ireland unfortunately.

snow scorpion

Late December in NYC the temperatures are usually about 4-5 degrees Celsius in the afternoon and maybe about -2 or -3 at night. But the temps can vary a bit; if we get a cold snap, it can be quite unpleasant.

Snow is not likely. We get a white Christmas on average once every seven years.

For whatever it's worth I was just reading that meteorologists are predicting an El Niño — above-average Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures and atmospheric conditions that change the places where storms go — this winter. For NYC that usually means milder temperatures and less snow than usual.

LaGlisse

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

I'm a long time resident, I wouldn't come here at Christmas if it's just a matter of saving money, it's just not worth it from the point of view of dealing with potentially really lousy weather, and at best merely unpleasant weather. If you're trying to save money forget about hotels and just rent a place in a nice neighborhood downtown on airbnb.com. A huge part of the pleasure of visiting New York comes from walking around the city and viewing the sights such at Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, the Battery, etc. on foot. That's pretty much out in winter.

If you come in the Fall or Spring you can enjoy free events in the parks, even more so in the summer. Basically the best times of year to visit are April to June, and September to early November. One of the very best times is Halloween when there are a ton of events here including the amazing parade up 6th Avenue (which anybody in a costume can take part in) plus tons of parties. That time of year is also great for atmospheric day trips up the Hudson Valley to places like Sleepy Hollow, West Point, Cold Spring etc. Do not come here at Thanksgiving, that's a crazy idea, it's the worst time of year in the US for travel in terms of congestion at the airports and other transport hubs, the weather in NY is turning crappy and there are hordes of not very well behaved shoppers everywhere.

Again, I'd strongly recommend reconsidering summer and early fall if you're trying to save cash, check out all the free events listed in the below links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/nyregion/what-to-do-in-new-york-city-in-summer-2014.html?_r=0

http://www.nycgo.com/articles/free-summer-concerts-2014

http://www.nycgo.com/slideshows/nyc-summer-guide-2014

I take your points, christmas not just about finance though, really just want to get away for it. Seems like I can get flights for about 500E return ansd seeing some very reasonable stuff on AirBnB thats much more affordable than the hotels

cena

If you wait till august flights usually be under 400 euro

coylemj

cena wrote: »

If you wait till august flights usually be under 400 euro

For the simple reason that you will bake outdoors with the humidity in NYC at that time of the year.

cena

coylemj wrote: »

For the simple reason that you will bake outdoors with the humidity in NYC at that time of the year.

I meant flights for going over around thanksgiving time