March 11, 2025 • 32 mins
New York City is home to dozens of world-famous attractions most visitors are eager to experience. Unfortunately, some of the most popular tourist attractions are not cheap.
While some of these are worth the admission fee, we'll lay out cheap (and even free) alternatives to help ease the financial burden of exploring NYC.
In this episode, we'll look at five familiar tourist attractions and offer alternatives for traveling on a budget. Here's what we'll cover:
- Observation Deck Alternatives
- Statue of Liberty Alternatives
- Pedicab or Horse-Drawn Carriage in Central Park Alternatives
- Broadway Show Alternatives
- Museum Alternatives
And listen to the end because we're throwing in a bonus alternative you won't find on other recommendation lists.
1- Observation Deck Alternatives
- The public library rooftop at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (free) on the corner of 5th Avenue and 40th Street (close to flagship NYPL location)
- Instead, take the money you'd spend on an observation deck and go to a bar with a view - 2 for 1. Some options include Manhatta, Nubeluz, Overstory, Darling, 230 5th
- Whitney Museum has beautiful rooftop views of Chelsea and lower Manhattan
- Pier 57 rooftop or Little Island (free)
- Roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)
- Brooklyn Bridge Park (free)
- Central Park (free)
2- Statue of Liberty Alternatives
- View it from the Battery Park area (free)
- Staten Island Ferry (free)
This Episode's You'll Have to Check It Out Segment - Super Burrito
- Multiple locations in Brooklyn and a spot on Bleecker Street
- Phenomenal margaritas with fresh-squeezed lime juice
- Cozy vibe and friendly staff
- There's a live DJ, at least on the weekend
- We didn't get a burrito, but they looked (and smelled) amazing
Check out Super Burrito on Bleecker Street here.
3- Pedicab or Horse-Drawn Carriage in Central Park Alternatives
- Central Park audio guide (free)
- Take the subway close to specific spots ($2.90 per swipe)
- Use Citi Bike
- Rent bikes or electric scooters
4- Broadway Show Alternatives
- Rush tickets
- Lottery tickets
- Off-broadway
- Smaller theater performance groups
- College performances like Juillard, Columbia, NYU, Fordham (in rare instances, free)
5- Museum Alternatives
- Make friends with a local who will get you in via Pay As You Wish, which gets NY, NJ & CT into many museums at low cost
- Art galleries, especially in Chelsea (free, usually). Use the free See Saw app (only on iOS)
Bonus Idea: Live Pro Sports Events Alternatives
- Go to a bar near the stadium - So many good options near MSG and Yankee Stadium specifically
- Go to a .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}Mark as PlayedTranscript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Better Together Here podcast with your host,
Devin. And Ashley?
Helping you make the most of your time in New York City.
Hey everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the Better
Together Here podcast. My name is Devin.
And my name is Ashley. In today's episode, we are going
to break down 5 common New York City tourist attractions and
we're going to give you cheaper or sometimes even free
alternatives to those common andsometimes expensive tourist
(00:27):
attractions. And we're going to let you in on
one of our new favorite, you'll have to check it out, spots that
has some of the best margaritas we've had in a long, long time.
So let's get right into it. New York City can be a very
expensive place to travel, especially when you want to go
out and do a lot of the common tourist attractions or you want
to be a part of the things that are kind of famous for New York,
(00:48):
whether it be Broadway shows or going up on top of observation
decks and seeing all the buildings, all those different
things, so. This also will hopefully be
helpful for you guys if you wantto have like a very well-rounded
trip to New York City, but you don't want to pay top dollar to
do each of the biggest tourist attractions.
Like maybe you really care aboutdoing the real thing for one of
(01:10):
these. Like, for example, maybe you
really care about like going to a Broadway show.
Like, save your money and go to a Broadway show and get a good
ticket and do all of the other like, cheaper alternatives we're
providing so you can have a morewell-rounded experience.
First thing we're going to talk about is observation decks.
We have done an entire episode breaking down our pros and cons
for all of the famous observation decks in New York
City. Personally, we think The Edge is
(01:31):
the best bang for your buck and best overall views, but most of
those are going to cost at least$35 per person to go up to.
So if you care about seeing the beautiful skyline and just
seeing the breadth that is New York City and how massive it is,
there are alternatives that are still going to give you pretty
good views. The first one, and probably what
(01:54):
I would argue is one of the bestoptions, is to go to the Public
Library rooftop. It's at Stavros New Arcos
Foundation Library. I don't know if I pronounce that
right. It's on the corner of 5th Ave.
and 40th St. It's close to the main, like
flagship New York Public Librarylocation.
You go into the library, you go up.
I believe it's to the 7th floor.You are right in the heart of
(02:14):
Midtown. I mean, you're at 40th St. and
5th Ave. so there are a lot of tall buildings right around you,
but you still get good views of some of the comet, like some of
the popular buildings. You are up at a pretty high
level, so you're getting that experience of being outdoors and
and being kind of in the heart of the city and getting that
alternative view of the buildings around you.
(02:35):
So that's a great, great option.Another cheaper alternative to
an observation deck is to instead take the money you'd
spend on an observation deck andgo to a bar with a good view and
kind of kill two birds with one stone.
You can get a good view. You can also have a nice drink.
There's a few options that we recommend for that.
In New York City, you're probably going to spend, let's
(02:57):
be honest, like more than you want to on a good cocktail.
And so if you're already going to be paying a premium for a
cocktail, you might as well be paying a premium for the
cocktail if you're enjoying it with a great view.
Again, you are going to be paying a little bit more if
you're buying a cocktail at one of these locations that we're
going to mention. However, I would argue that
maybe you'll be saving money in the end because you didn't pay
(03:19):
$3540 just to go to an observation deck.
The added price is built into the cocktail you're drinking
rather than just paying it up front.
For sure. A few that kind of fall into
this category. There's a few that get mentioned
all the time online. We personally have not been to
them, but there is Manhatta, which is I believe down in the
financial district. There is Overstory and there is
(03:39):
Nubules, I believe is how you pronounce it.
A couple that we have been to personally, there's one, it's
kind of more of a club vibe. It's called 235th.
They do have a cover charge and so I believe on the weekends
it's closer to 20 or $25. Probably on weekdays you could
get in for 10 to 15 bucks. I'm sure it kind of depends on
(04:01):
#1 if you are. If you're a girl, you'll
probably get in cheaper. Sometimes they don't charge
covers for women, whereas men almost always pay covers at
places like this 'cause it is a kind of true club.
But if you wanted the cheapest option possible, you could pay
the cover of roughly $15 and noteven buy a drink.
You could just go in, experiencethe inside club and listen to
(04:24):
some music. And then outside they have a
kind of like patio garden area with tons of seating, tons of
space and phenomenal views of kind of the midtown area
skyline. Oh, I was just going to ask you
like, why don't women have to pay?
Cause clubs know that if more women are there then more men
(04:45):
will show up. Who runs the world girls?
Girls, another option is Darlingon 59th St.
So this is a bar that is a part of a hotel, which generally
speaking this is a good option to think about.
Of ways to find observation deckalternatives is to just look for
(05:06):
hotels that have bars because most of them, not all of them,
but a lot of them are going to have rooftop bars or bars on the
top floors of their hotel to attract people into the bar.
Just know you're going to pay a premium for that, especially
these nicer hotel bars up on, you know, a top level.
You're going to probably pay in that 20 to $30 per cocktail.
(05:27):
So again, you're getting close to the price of an observation
deck, but you're getting a drink, you're in a bar, you're
having a more kind of casual funexperience, and you have the
views. Yeah, you're paying for the more
unique experience. You're not just paying for the
view. Darling in particular is on 59th
St. in the views of Central Park, absolutely phenomenal,
like unbeatable. I would say like better than
(05:49):
some of even the observation deck views when it comes to
Central Park specifically. So if that's what you care
about. And again, think about what
matters most to you about this observation deck experience.
And if you just want to see likethe Midtown skyline, another
option is Central Park. In Central Park, you can get
some amazing views of the buildings and the city itself,
(06:11):
and you get kind of these unobstructed views because
you're in the park, not surrounded by a bunch of
buildings. Good places to do that woman
rink, which is the ice rink. And in the summer it becomes
either like pickleball or sometimes roller rink.
Above that, there's kind of these rocky areas that you can
climb up to and get some really,really good views of the Midtown
skyline. Another couple areas in Central
(06:32):
Park, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, because it's
the reservoir, there's no trees,there's nothing obstructing your
views. And if you there's a full loop
that goes around the reservoir, I think it's about a mile.
I'm not 100% sure I run around. It it's a running boy effect,
that's not a me effect. It's at least a mile, but.
(06:54):
Devin runs marathons. I don't know if everyone knew
that, but. I do sometimes and I run all
around Central Park and running around the reservoir or walking
around the reservoir, you get really amazing views because you
get views of the Upper East Side.
You get views of the Upper West Side, views of Uptown, views of
the downtown Midtown skyline. I mean it is a wonderful spot to
(07:15):
see the buildings in New York City.
Similar is the Great Lawn. The Great Lawn has absolutely
gorgeous views. Every time I'm walking around
there I have to stop and take a photo 'cause it's so pretty.
You have an amazing view, like looking downtown on to like the
midtown area where there happened to be like really
pretty tall buildings. So great spot to get some
(07:37):
skyline views just in the middleof Central Park.
So don't sleep on Central Park as an option for seeing all the
buildings that New York has to offer.
OK, A couple other spots that have good rooftop views are
higher views, two different museums, So the Met, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, theyhave a rooftop garden area.
It's not always open, so you'd want to look ahead.
(07:57):
It's more frequently open in thesummer months, understandably,
and in the winter it's often closed, but that is a good
option. Alternatively, the Whitney
Museum, which is down in the Chelsea area, I believe the
outside areas there are always open and there's multiple.
I think that museum's like 5-6 levels.
It's not like a super wide museum.
(08:18):
It's like it's much taller than it is wide and great views.
I mean, you're not going to get sweeping Uptown views, but
you're going to get really good views of Chelsea and you'll see
lower Manhattan. And it's still a beautiful spot
to like, get pictures and just kind of take in the size and
scope of Manhattan. And again, you're kind of
combining activities here, like the Whitney Museum is close to
(08:40):
$30 a ticket to get into. Same with the mat.
But rather than just paying for an observation deck, you're
paying to get into a museum, having that experience and
getting cool views as well. So slightly cheaper if you think
of it that way, We're. Going to take a quick break to
remind you to sign up for the Better Together Here newsletter.
We e-mail once a week with important things that you want
to know about New York City, thebest places to eat, the best
(09:02):
things to see, the best ways to get around, all the things that
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A couple other places that we'vetalked about thoroughly.
We have entire episodes about them.
Pier 57 has a rooftop. It is next to Little Island,
which also has a great view of the Chelsea and downtown area,
as well as Brooklyn Bridge Park.You could walk across the
(09:24):
Brooklyn Bridge, be in the park and see the whole downtown
financial district skyline. So all of this to say, you can
go up on an observation deck, pay the price, get the best view
possible, or you can do some of these cheaper and or free
options and still get amazing views of New York City and the
skylines. All right, second on our list,
the Statue of Liberty. You can go out, you can pay for
(09:47):
the actual like ferry that's gonna take you out to the Statue
of Liberty. It's gonna take you out to Ellis
Island. It's a full day.
You're looking at at least threeto six hours to do all of that.
And it is. It's an experience.
It's a long day. I'll never do it again.
I've done it twice. I will never ever do it again,
more than likely. It's worth doing like in
(10:08):
general, if you're here for likea weekend in New York City.
I don't know if that's what I would choose for you on your
weekend, if I'm being totally honest, but it is a fun
experience if you want to do that once in your life.
Yeah. However, a great alternative
that happens to be free is that you can take the Staten Island
Ferry, at least from Battery Park, and it will take you on a
(10:30):
big ferry boat. It will pass the Statue of
Liberty. You can get great pictures of
you and your friends in front ofthe Statue of Liberty, take you
to Staten Island, and then you can just turn around and get
right back on the other boat that's coming back into
Manhattan. In doing that, you get great
views of the Statue of Liberty again, and you also get amazing
views of the downtown area of Manhattan, the financial
(10:51):
district, which is really cool to see by the water.
So great alternative, completelyfree.
Frankly, I would choose this foryou versus doing the entire
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island experience.
Yeah, before we lived in New York, we actually did the Staten
Island Fair experience before weever actually went out to the
Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island.
(11:12):
And I thought it was a great experience because like it took
takes roughly like an hour and ahalf if you can time it
correctly, where like you're notwaiting for super long to get on
and then you get right back off in Staten Island and come back
like it's not the longest experience and you get amazing
views. Alternatively, if you don't even
want to go on the ferry and if you don't want to spend that
time, you can just see the Statue of Liberty from Battery
(11:32):
Park. There are different spots in
Battery Park where you can have pretty unobstructed views.
Obviously, you're not very closeto it.
And so you're not going to get like an up close, crystal clear
view, but you can still see the Statue of Liberty and have that
experience of seeing the iconic attraction that is the Statue of
Liberty. All right, and that leads us to
(11:52):
this episode's You'll have to check it out segment.
The next stop is Super Burrito. So we teased this at the
beginning of the episode. We accidentally stumbled upon
this spot the other night. We had just gone to a comedy
club. We had gone to the Comedy
Cellar, which is, we'll talk about this in a future episode.
A great, great place for comedy.And we were just wandering
(12:13):
around that area looking for a fun bar.
This place had a fun name, looked good.
Super Burrito, phenomenal name. We walked in friendly staff, a
very cozy vibe. It just kind of felt like
everyone who was there, it was aslightly older crowd.
Some of the bars you go to in like the West Village or like
the Village area can be like very, very young crowds.
(12:36):
This felt like a little bit, it was like more like 30s plus
where some bars you go in and you feel like you're in a
college bar or something like that.
I'd say late 20s, early 30s was the age group because I'm 29.
I felt right at home. But there were a couple people
who were like in their mid to late 30s or even their 40s.
Like it was a good blend of people.
(12:57):
They had a great live DJ playingabsolute bangers.
The best part about him, he was playing bangers that were not
just like he was playing like a ton of hip hop songs, right?
And like classic pop songs, but then he also mixed in like a
song by the Postal Service. Like he was just all over the
like genre map, which was, and he was doing it really well.
It was phenomenal. He was good.
Best part about this spot, though, Were there margaritas?
(13:19):
They're called Tommy's Margaritas.
That's what they're called on the menu.
They're $14.00, which for a Margarita in New York City, it's
pretty fair price. Absolutely great.
A great Margarita and they use like actual lime juice in it.
Like when you walk in, you see the bar and there's a giant
juicer. Yeah, we watched him juice the
limes after we ordered 4 margaritas.
Which makes a huge difference for me.
(13:40):
There's nothing like a fresh Margarita with fresh juice if
you're using like the premix stuff.
Usually not for me. To clarify, we didn't get 2
margaritas each at once. We had we were with two other
friends SO4 margaritas. They we didn't get any of the
food, we didn't get a burrito, but we saw some people order
them and they looked really, really good.
And the reviews are positive. Yeah, I wish we would have
gotten one, but that's super burrito, a very fun, cozy vibe
(14:03):
with great drink options and on the weekends, live DJ definitely
worth checking out. So that's super burrito and now
back to cheap alternatives to major tourist attractions.
Dan, clear of the closing doors please. 3rd on our list is
pedicab or horse drawn carriage rides in Central Park.
(14:25):
Alternatives. Again, we've talked about this.
Pedicabs we almost always recommend against.
They often price gouge people. The horse drawn carriages, we
also don't recommend these because #1 they're extremely
expensive and #2 we don't think horses should be in Manhattan.
I think horses should be out running free on a Prairie.
(14:46):
I know that's like a little bit of wishful thinking, but
truthfully, they are not in the best living conditions in
Manhattan. We've seen where they stay and
it's not great. We'll just say that if you want
to go down a rabbit hole, you can just search New York City
horses on Google and you'll see plenty of things that you don't
want to see. Or just take our word for it and
(15:07):
avoid yourself being super bummed out.
Yeah, it's a it's a little sad. OK, so some alternatives to
this. Number one, there's a free
Central Park audio guide. So if you care about the pedicab
or the horse drawn carriage because you want the feeling of
getting a tour and someone who'stalking to you about all the
spots, the Central Park audio guide is completely free.
You can access it from your phone.
You don't even have to download an app.
(15:28):
You can just call a number and then punch in the code of
whatever spot you're standing next to and it'll give you
anywhere from like a 45 second to two or three minute
explanation and history of that specific spot.
So there's one about Gapstow bridge, there's one about Bow
bridge, there's one about woman rink.
Like they're all the ramble thatall the different pieces have
(15:51):
little historical bits of information that you can just
access on your phone through thefree audio guide.
And we have a full episode aboutthis as well, which we'll link
to. Highly recommend taking some
time and exploring. Central Park has amazing views,
really beautiful park to walk around, great people watching.
But this is a really easy thing to do for free, and you can
(16:12):
still learn a lot as you're doing it for free.
Additionally, a lot of people think, OK, if I want to see a
lot of spots in Central Park, maybe you have an injury or
you're with kids or you're with someone who's a little bit older
and you don't want to walk a ton.
There are a lot of spots in Central Park that you can access
very easily from the subway. So you can take the subway as
close as possible to these spotsand then maybe only need to walk
(16:35):
5 minutes or less. So some of the things that would
fall under that category are theConservatory Water, which is on
the Upper East Side, Strawberry Fields, which is on the Upper
West Side, just accessible from Central Park South, and like
60th St. on the NQRW line, you can very easily walk to the
pond, Woolman Rink, Gapstow Bridge.
(16:56):
Also Upper West Side you can or Upper East Side, you can get to
the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, which we talked about
earlier, close walk. You don't have to walk around
the whole thing, but you could pop out on the subway around
86th St. walk the less than 5 minutes or so to the reservoir,
get some amazing views, and thenwalk back and be right by a
subway or a taxi. Like they're very, very easy
(17:18):
options to do this. Another one on that note is the
Conservatory Garden on the UpperEast Side.
It's currently partially under construction, recording this in
March of 2025, but some of it isstill open.
Beautiful, beautiful area. Another great option for getting
around Central Park on a budget is that you could rent A city
bike. There are tons of city bike
(17:39):
stations all around New York City.
There's tons of city bike stations all around Central
Park. So you could check out a city
bike and go take a ride for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 50 minutes,
whatever you want. Just be careful.
Some of them are the E bikes. The E bikes you pay per minute.
Usually if you get a regular bike you pay for, it's like a
(18:00):
flat fee and then you pay per minute after 45 minutes.
So just keep an eye on how long you're using it.
But this is a great option for aquick and easy bike rental.
If you know that you want to be in Central Park for let's say
two to four hours or you know, alonger period of time, but you
don't want to pay the price for a pedicab or a horse drawn
carriage. There are bike rentals and or
(18:21):
electric scooter rentals that are going to be much more
affordable and are going to still give you that flexibility
to not have to be rushing on a city bike if that's something
you're interested in. And we will link to
opportunities to do that as wellin our show notes.
All right, 4th on our list of common attractions and some
cheaper alternatives is a Broadway show like Ashley
mentioned. Hopefully like this gives you an
(18:42):
idea of saying, you know, I can pick and choose some things that
I do want to spend more money onand others maybe find a cheaper
option of all of them. I would probably say it's worth
paying for a Broadway show. I mean it, we've talked about it
before. It is the top world talent.
There are dozens of Broadway shows.
All the best talent in the worldis here.
If you know, I mean, between here and the West End in London,
(19:05):
there's not much better place when it comes to live performing
theater. So we would say go to a Broadway
show if it's important to you, but there are some alternatives
to have a cheaper experience andstill see some really, really
good live theater in New York City.
Seeing a Broadway show a great option.
And before we give you like realkind of cheaper alternatives,
(19:26):
we'll give you 2 good options for finding cheaper or better
tickets. So the first option for finding
cheaper tickets is a booth in the middle of Times Square.
It's called the tickets booth TKTS.
They also have a secondary location in Lincoln Center that
also has slightly shorter lines depending on when you're going.
This is a great option. They do day of Broadway tickets
(19:48):
and they're usually half price. This is a great option if you
want to sit down in the orchestra and you don't want to
pay top dollar for a great orchestra seat.
Again, these are kind of like last minute tickets and
sometimes like one show will sell out that you want to see,
but it's usually a great alternative if you want to go to
a Broadway show but you don't want to pay $300.00 upfront to
buy a ticket for a Broadway show.
(20:10):
The next option for just buying Broadway show tickets is a
website that we really like called Today Ticks.
They have tickets like far in advance as well and they usually
have great discounts on their app and on their website.
Today ticks in particular, if you plan ahead, if you're
looking, you know, 345 months inadvance, you could possibly get
into popular shows for as cheap as like some I've seen tickets
(20:33):
for $29.00 for popular Broadway shows.
So plan ahead, OK? When it comes to like the real
kind of cheaper alternatives, there's a few options.
So there's what's called rush tickets.
The way this works is you every show does it differently.
You usually have to sign up on their website.
Essentially, if the show is thatnight at 7:00 PM, at roughly
10:00 AM or something like that,they will release what they call
(20:57):
rush tickets and you have to go physically into the box office
to get these tickets and there'sa limited amount available.
So you just have to plan ahead on this.
Similarly, many of the shows, including I know Harry Potter
does this, I believe Aladdin, they do lottery tickets.
You again, you sign up, there's X amount that they offer through
(21:20):
the lottery and then they're sometimes as cheap as 30-40
dollars for premium tickets. So those are kind of two really
good options if you still want to see a quote UN quote normal
Broadway show, but you want to look at potential cheaper
options. If you are willing to be a
little bit more flexible about the type of show that you see,
there's a few really good options, one of which is Off
(21:40):
Broadway. Off Broadway, sometimes the
tickets are still a little bit more expensive, but they're
generally going to be cheaper than a standard Broadway show.
There are tons of options for this and some really, really
good shows. We saw Little Shop of Horrors
Off Broadway and it was cheaper than what a standard Broadway
ticket would have been. And it was an amazing show.
And it was talent. Like a lot of the people who are
(22:02):
in this Off Broadway are normally on Broadway.
Sometimes they're just in between gigs or this is what
they got picked for. Like you still get really,
really good talent often on the Off Broadway shows.
Another great option for Broadway show alternatives is
going to smaller, more local theaters.
They have, I mean, even beyond the like typical Off Broadway
(22:24):
theaters, they have different local community theaters.
And I mean, it's New York City. There is a theater on every
single block all throughout the city.
So it's just a matter of doing alittle bit of research and
finding smaller venues that are going to have performances that
are much more affordable. And similarly, there are
multiple colleges in New York City that are going to offer
(22:45):
performances that are going to be much cheaper than a Broadway
show and are still often going to have really good talent.
There is Juilliard, there's Columbia, NYU, Fordham, like all
these different colleges. Again, if you just do some
research, you can probably get in and see a a good live
performance without paying top dollar for a Broadway show.
And that leads us into this episode's New York know how.
(23:08):
All right, so again, this is from the NYC Basic Tips and
Etiquette book by Nathan W Pyle.We've talked about it before.
We'll link it in the show notes.This is NYC basic tips and
etiquette #21 When a taxi is occupied, the light on top of
the taxi is off. When a taxi is vacant, the light
(23:30):
is on. And this is very standard and
obviously sometimes they miss it, but it is a pretty clear way
to know if a taxi is available. If the little light on top,
it'll usually have 3 or 4 numbers and some letters which
is their taxi number. If the light is on, you can try
and hail it. If you're standing there trying
to hail a taxi and you keep getting passed up, odds are that
(23:52):
those taxis are occupied and thelight is not on and you're just
trying for nothing. That's a good tip to know and
one that I didn't know until we lived here.
Definitely spent a lot of time on street corners trying to get
taxis that weren't available. Feeling frustrated for no
reason. So if the light is on, the taxi
is vacant. All right, that's this.
Episodes in New York know how 5th on our list.
(24:16):
Museum alternatives. OK, so there are so many world
class, world famous museums in New York City that frankly, I
think it's worth the cost of admission.
But if you don't want to pay forsomething like the Met or the MO
Ma or the Museum of Natural History or the Guggenheim or
whatever it may be, there are kind of really two options that
(24:36):
you have #1 is to make friends with a local who will get you in
via pay as you wish. So a lot of the main museums in
New York, including the Met, including the Museum of Natural
History, they have pay as you wish.
If you are a local resident of New York, and I believe
sometimes New Jersey and Connecticut, I think those fall
(24:56):
in as well. You have to show ID to get that.
So you can't just say I'm from New York and then they're going
to give you a ticket. Like they're going to make you
show ID with your address in a local area.
So if you can make friends with some local, you know, you make a
friend at a bar and say, hey, let's go to museum together
tomorrow. I don't know that that's an
option. Simply just walk around the Met
and just be brave and be like, hey, do you live in New York
(25:19):
City? Can you help me get a pay as you
wish ticket? Yeah, some people might go for
it. Others maybe not.
But worth a worth a try. Yeah, if you're looking to save
money, sometimes you got to try things like that.
OK. Another option, though, this is
like a more like actual alternative.
There are so many art galleries in New York City, all over
(25:40):
Manhattan, all over Brooklyn, Queens.
Like any borough, there's going to be art galleries.
There are also a lot of free museums.
You just have to do your research and find those.
But there are a lot of art galleries, especially in
Chelsea. And again, this is New York
City. Some of the best artists in the
world, some people who are really, really talented are
(26:00):
having their art in art galleries.
So do some research, find some art galleries.
There's an app called Seesaw, like the thing you played on as
a kid S EE SAW and it lists active galleries in New York
City. So check that out.
All right, we're also going to give you a bonus idea.
On top of these five, New York City is home to many, many
(26:24):
sports teams. There's the Knicks and the Nets.
There's the Yankees and the Mets.
There are the Giants and The Jets.
While those all rhymed and I didnot plan on doing that, but it
did and there's. The Rangers.
And there's the Rangers. I did.
I didn't include them because they don't rhyme well.
There's the Rangers and the Devils and Islanders.
I mean, there are so many sportsteams in New York City and
(26:45):
greater New York City area. They're not cheap, especially
the Knicks and the Rangers. You know, getting into MSG is
not cheap. Things like the Yankees and the
Mets, because baseball has so many games, you can often get in
for actually pretty fair prices,especially on a weekday.
I think I got into a Yankees game once for like $4.
(27:05):
That was after like fees and stuff too.
I, I don't know how that happened, but it did and it was
amazing. An alternative to going and
paying and being at these pro sports events is to go to a bar
near the stadium. Obviously you're not in there,
you're not seeing it live, but there's some phenomenal
supporters, bars like for the Knicks or for the Rangers or for
(27:25):
the Yankees right around the stadiums.
This is especially true for MSG and for Yankee Stadium.
There's some really, really fun bars that you go to, you know,
an hour before the game starts and they're going to be packed
and filled to the brim. And then a lot of people will
leave to be going to the actual game and you can hang out and
they'll be other fans. They're still watching remotely
via the bar. And it's a, it's a really fun
(27:47):
experience. Like it, it's a good time.
It's not quite like being there live, but it's a really fun
time. Yeah, I highly recommend this
idea if you want to like, have the experience of going and
watching New York sporting events, but you don't want to
pay $200 a ticket to go and see the Knicks, which maybe that
should be the thing that's your priority.
Maybe it is. Maybe you do want to go to the
Knicks game and you want to do the cheaper alternative.
(28:09):
For all of our other ideas, again, if you want to go to a
place in person, go to a place in person.
Like save up the money, spend the money, go to a Knicks game
in person. Highly recommend that experience
specifically. I happen to be a Knicks fan and
have turned into a huge Knicks fan because of my experiences
going to MSG and watching the Knicks and being in that
environment. Like people are watching and
(28:31):
cheering for every point and forme that's a new experience.
I'm a newer sports fan in my life.
I didn't grow up watching a lot of sports.
So kind of going into this is inmy adulthood, it's been a New
York is a really fun place to belearning about sports and
becoming a sports fan. Alternatively, if you don't want
to go and cheer on the New York teams and you're visiting New
(28:53):
York City, there is a supportersbar for pretty much every single
team in the world. Yeah, I, I mean it.
I was going to say it's not justAmerican sports teams because
certainly there are like supporters teams for every NFL
team and for most of the MLB teams, and a lot of the colleges
even have supporters bars. But there are also supporters
(29:14):
bars for most of the Premier League, the Soccer League in
England. There are supporters bars for
like Barcelona and PSG. And like there are a lot of
bars. A lot of the Irish pubs will
play rugby league games that areon.
I mean, there are so many options when it comes to sports
supporters bars in New York City.
So if you want to have some typeof sporting experience in New
(29:36):
York City and you happen to be ahuge football fan and your team
isn't playing here this weekend,like go to the bar of that
supporters group and watch a Jaguars game in the middle of
New York City with. A bunch of other Jaguars fast,
yeah. And, and you'll probably meet
people from, you know, if you'refrom Jacksonville, you'll
probably meet people from there and you'll start chatting with
(29:56):
people and have great conversations and great
experiences. I mean, we've been to probably
dozens of sports supporters barsand just you kind of become a
fan of that team for those few hours and it's such a fun
experience. Like can't recommend it enough.
Devin also has a whole article on our website about different
teams and supporters bars to check.
(30:18):
Out yeah, I think I have every NFL team and most of the NBA
teams and still working on some of the other sports oh and all
the Premier League teams so go check that out it's on our
website bettertogetherhere.com and just search sports
supporters or supporters bar or something like that and it'll
show up. We rifled through a lot of
(30:38):
different options for you to have a cheaper experience in New
York City. Again, a lot of these may not be
completely free, but they're going to save you some money.
Find out which of these categories is most important to
you. And, you know, pay the top
dollar for that experience. But for the other ones, you
know, use these to get some alternatives or to kill two
birds with one stone. Like go to museum with a view
(30:59):
like the Met, go to the rooftop and kind of get both things at
once. If you have not already, we
highly recommend signing up for a newsletter we e-mail once a
week. In those emails, we talk about
episodes and articles like this about getting around New York
and kind of doing more touristy things in New York.
But we also talk about current events happening in New York and
specific exhibitions or festivals or things like that
(31:24):
that are only happening that specific week.
We also talk about some New Yorkhistory.
We recommend different places togo.
I mean, it's a good newsletter. I'm biased.
I write it, I think it's really good.
I think you should sign up for it Better Together here.com back
slash newsletter. Please like, review, subscribe,
all the different things, engaging with our podcast in
whatever podcast platform you'reusing, whether it's Spotify or
(31:45):
Apple podcast or wherever. By engaging with it, by liking
it, leaving ratings, it really helps it show up in the
algorithms. And that is super meaningful to
us. And other than that, we'll catch
you on the next episode, the last song on this screen.
Welcome to the Better Together Here podcast with your host,
Devin. And Ashley?
Helping you make the most of your time in New York City.
Hey everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the Better
Together Here podcast. My name is Devin.
And my name is Ashley. In today's episode, we are going
to break down 5 common New York City tourist attractions and
we're going to give you cheaper or sometimes even free
alternatives to those common andsometimes expensive tourist
(00:27):
attractions. And we're going to let you in on
one of our new favorite, you'll have to check it out, spots that
has some of the best margaritas we've had in a long, long time.
So let's get right into it. New York City can be a very
expensive place to travel, especially when you want to go
out and do a lot of the common tourist attractions or you want
to be a part of the things that are kind of famous for New York,
(00:48):
whether it be Broadway shows or going up on top of observation
decks and seeing all the buildings, all those different
things, so. This also will hopefully be
helpful for you guys if you wantto have like a very well-rounded
trip to New York City, but you don't want to pay top dollar to
do each of the biggest tourist attractions.
Like maybe you really care aboutdoing the real thing for one of
(01:10):
these. Like, for example, maybe you
really care about like going to a Broadway show.
Like, save your money and go to a Broadway show and get a good
ticket and do all of the other like, cheaper alternatives we're
providing so you can have a morewell-rounded experience.
First thing we're going to talk about is observation decks.
We have done an entire episode breaking down our pros and cons
for all of the famous observation decks in New York
City. Personally, we think The Edge is
(01:31):
the best bang for your buck and best overall views, but most of
those are going to cost at least$35 per person to go up to.
So if you care about seeing the beautiful skyline and just
seeing the breadth that is New York City and how massive it is,
there are alternatives that are still going to give you pretty
good views. The first one, and probably what
(01:54):
I would argue is one of the bestoptions, is to go to the Public
Library rooftop. It's at Stavros New Arcos
Foundation Library. I don't know if I pronounce that
right. It's on the corner of 5th Ave.
and 40th St. It's close to the main, like
flagship New York Public Librarylocation.
You go into the library, you go up.
I believe it's to the 7th floor.You are right in the heart of
(02:14):
Midtown. I mean, you're at 40th St. and
5th Ave. so there are a lot of tall buildings right around you,
but you still get good views of some of the comet, like some of
the popular buildings. You are up at a pretty high
level, so you're getting that experience of being outdoors and
and being kind of in the heart of the city and getting that
alternative view of the buildings around you.
(02:35):
So that's a great, great option.Another cheaper alternative to
an observation deck is to instead take the money you'd
spend on an observation deck andgo to a bar with a good view and
kind of kill two birds with one stone.
You can get a good view. You can also have a nice drink.
There's a few options that we recommend for that.
In New York City, you're probably going to spend, let's
(02:57):
be honest, like more than you want to on a good cocktail.
And so if you're already going to be paying a premium for a
cocktail, you might as well be paying a premium for the
cocktail if you're enjoying it with a great view.
Again, you are going to be paying a little bit more if
you're buying a cocktail at one of these locations that we're
going to mention. However, I would argue that
maybe you'll be saving money in the end because you didn't pay
(03:19):
$3540 just to go to an observation deck.
The added price is built into the cocktail you're drinking
rather than just paying it up front.
For sure. A few that kind of fall into
this category. There's a few that get mentioned
all the time online. We personally have not been to
them, but there is Manhatta, which is I believe down in the
financial district. There is Overstory and there is
(03:39):
Nubules, I believe is how you pronounce it.
A couple that we have been to personally, there's one, it's
kind of more of a club vibe. It's called 235th.
They do have a cover charge and so I believe on the weekends
it's closer to 20 or $25. Probably on weekdays you could
get in for 10 to 15 bucks. I'm sure it kind of depends on
(04:01):
#1 if you are. If you're a girl, you'll
probably get in cheaper. Sometimes they don't charge
covers for women, whereas men almost always pay covers at
places like this 'cause it is a kind of true club.
But if you wanted the cheapest option possible, you could pay
the cover of roughly $15 and noteven buy a drink.
You could just go in, experiencethe inside club and listen to
(04:24):
some music. And then outside they have a
kind of like patio garden area with tons of seating, tons of
space and phenomenal views of kind of the midtown area
skyline. Oh, I was just going to ask you
like, why don't women have to pay?
Cause clubs know that if more women are there then more men
(04:45):
will show up. Who runs the world girls?
Girls, another option is Darlingon 59th St.
So this is a bar that is a part of a hotel, which generally
speaking this is a good option to think about.
Of ways to find observation deckalternatives is to just look for
(05:06):
hotels that have bars because most of them, not all of them,
but a lot of them are going to have rooftop bars or bars on the
top floors of their hotel to attract people into the bar.
Just know you're going to pay a premium for that, especially
these nicer hotel bars up on, you know, a top level.
You're going to probably pay in that 20 to $30 per cocktail.
(05:27):
So again, you're getting close to the price of an observation
deck, but you're getting a drink, you're in a bar, you're
having a more kind of casual funexperience, and you have the
views. Yeah, you're paying for the more
unique experience. You're not just paying for the
view. Darling in particular is on 59th
St. in the views of Central Park, absolutely phenomenal,
like unbeatable. I would say like better than
(05:49):
some of even the observation deck views when it comes to
Central Park specifically. So if that's what you care
about. And again, think about what
matters most to you about this observation deck experience.
And if you just want to see likethe Midtown skyline, another
option is Central Park. In Central Park, you can get
some amazing views of the buildings and the city itself,
(06:11):
and you get kind of these unobstructed views because
you're in the park, not surrounded by a bunch of
buildings. Good places to do that woman
rink, which is the ice rink. And in the summer it becomes
either like pickleball or sometimes roller rink.
Above that, there's kind of these rocky areas that you can
climb up to and get some really,really good views of the Midtown
skyline. Another couple areas in Central
(06:32):
Park, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, because it's
the reservoir, there's no trees,there's nothing obstructing your
views. And if you there's a full loop
that goes around the reservoir, I think it's about a mile.
I'm not 100% sure I run around. It it's a running boy effect,
that's not a me effect. It's at least a mile, but.
(06:54):
Devin runs marathons. I don't know if everyone knew
that, but. I do sometimes and I run all
around Central Park and running around the reservoir or walking
around the reservoir, you get really amazing views because you
get views of the Upper East Side.
You get views of the Upper West Side, views of Uptown, views of
the downtown Midtown skyline. I mean it is a wonderful spot to
(07:15):
see the buildings in New York City.
Similar is the Great Lawn. The Great Lawn has absolutely
gorgeous views. Every time I'm walking around
there I have to stop and take a photo 'cause it's so pretty.
You have an amazing view, like looking downtown on to like the
midtown area where there happened to be like really
pretty tall buildings. So great spot to get some
(07:37):
skyline views just in the middleof Central Park.
So don't sleep on Central Park as an option for seeing all the
buildings that New York has to offer.
OK, A couple other spots that have good rooftop views are
higher views, two different museums, So the Met, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, theyhave a rooftop garden area.
It's not always open, so you'd want to look ahead.
(07:57):
It's more frequently open in thesummer months, understandably,
and in the winter it's often closed, but that is a good
option. Alternatively, the Whitney
Museum, which is down in the Chelsea area, I believe the
outside areas there are always open and there's multiple.
I think that museum's like 5-6 levels.
It's not like a super wide museum.
(08:18):
It's like it's much taller than it is wide and great views.
I mean, you're not going to get sweeping Uptown views, but
you're going to get really good views of Chelsea and you'll see
lower Manhattan. And it's still a beautiful spot
to like, get pictures and just kind of take in the size and
scope of Manhattan. And again, you're kind of
combining activities here, like the Whitney Museum is close to
(08:40):
$30 a ticket to get into. Same with the mat.
But rather than just paying for an observation deck, you're
paying to get into a museum, having that experience and
getting cool views as well. So slightly cheaper if you think
of it that way, We're. Going to take a quick break to
remind you to sign up for the Better Together Here newsletter.
We e-mail once a week with important things that you want
to know about New York City, thebest places to eat, the best
(09:02):
things to see, the best ways to get around, all the things that
you want to know once a week. So go to bettertogetherhere.com,
back slash newsletter and Sign up today.
A couple other places that we'vetalked about thoroughly.
We have entire episodes about them.
Pier 57 has a rooftop. It is next to Little Island,
which also has a great view of the Chelsea and downtown area,
as well as Brooklyn Bridge Park.You could walk across the
(09:24):
Brooklyn Bridge, be in the park and see the whole downtown
financial district skyline. So all of this to say, you can
go up on an observation deck, pay the price, get the best view
possible, or you can do some of these cheaper and or free
options and still get amazing views of New York City and the
skylines. All right, second on our list,
the Statue of Liberty. You can go out, you can pay for
(09:47):
the actual like ferry that's gonna take you out to the Statue
of Liberty. It's gonna take you out to Ellis
Island. It's a full day.
You're looking at at least threeto six hours to do all of that.
And it is. It's an experience.
It's a long day. I'll never do it again.
I've done it twice. I will never ever do it again,
more than likely. It's worth doing like in
(10:08):
general, if you're here for likea weekend in New York City.
I don't know if that's what I would choose for you on your
weekend, if I'm being totally honest, but it is a fun
experience if you want to do that once in your life.
Yeah. However, a great alternative
that happens to be free is that you can take the Staten Island
Ferry, at least from Battery Park, and it will take you on a
(10:30):
big ferry boat. It will pass the Statue of
Liberty. You can get great pictures of
you and your friends in front ofthe Statue of Liberty, take you
to Staten Island, and then you can just turn around and get
right back on the other boat that's coming back into
Manhattan. In doing that, you get great
views of the Statue of Liberty again, and you also get amazing
views of the downtown area of Manhattan, the financial
(10:51):
district, which is really cool to see by the water.
So great alternative, completelyfree.
Frankly, I would choose this foryou versus doing the entire
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island experience.
Yeah, before we lived in New York, we actually did the Staten
Island Fair experience before weever actually went out to the
Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island.
(11:12):
And I thought it was a great experience because like it took
takes roughly like an hour and ahalf if you can time it
correctly, where like you're notwaiting for super long to get on
and then you get right back off in Staten Island and come back
like it's not the longest experience and you get amazing
views. Alternatively, if you don't even
want to go on the ferry and if you don't want to spend that
time, you can just see the Statue of Liberty from Battery
(11:32):
Park. There are different spots in
Battery Park where you can have pretty unobstructed views.
Obviously, you're not very closeto it.
And so you're not going to get like an up close, crystal clear
view, but you can still see the Statue of Liberty and have that
experience of seeing the iconic attraction that is the Statue of
Liberty. All right, and that leads us to
(11:52):
this episode's You'll have to check it out segment.
The next stop is Super Burrito. So we teased this at the
beginning of the episode. We accidentally stumbled upon
this spot the other night. We had just gone to a comedy
club. We had gone to the Comedy
Cellar, which is, we'll talk about this in a future episode.
A great, great place for comedy.And we were just wandering
(12:13):
around that area looking for a fun bar.
This place had a fun name, looked good.
Super Burrito, phenomenal name. We walked in friendly staff, a
very cozy vibe. It just kind of felt like
everyone who was there, it was aslightly older crowd.
Some of the bars you go to in like the West Village or like
the Village area can be like very, very young crowds.
(12:36):
This felt like a little bit, it was like more like 30s plus
where some bars you go in and you feel like you're in a
college bar or something like that.
I'd say late 20s, early 30s was the age group because I'm 29.
I felt right at home. But there were a couple people
who were like in their mid to late 30s or even their 40s.
Like it was a good blend of people.
(12:57):
They had a great live DJ playingabsolute bangers.
The best part about him, he was playing bangers that were not
just like he was playing like a ton of hip hop songs, right?
And like classic pop songs, but then he also mixed in like a
song by the Postal Service. Like he was just all over the
like genre map, which was, and he was doing it really well.
It was phenomenal. He was good.
Best part about this spot, though, Were there margaritas?
(13:19):
They're called Tommy's Margaritas.
That's what they're called on the menu.
They're $14.00, which for a Margarita in New York City, it's
pretty fair price. Absolutely great.
A great Margarita and they use like actual lime juice in it.
Like when you walk in, you see the bar and there's a giant
juicer. Yeah, we watched him juice the
limes after we ordered 4 margaritas.
Which makes a huge difference for me.
(13:40):
There's nothing like a fresh Margarita with fresh juice if
you're using like the premix stuff.
Usually not for me. To clarify, we didn't get 2
margaritas each at once. We had we were with two other
friends SO4 margaritas. They we didn't get any of the
food, we didn't get a burrito, but we saw some people order
them and they looked really, really good.
And the reviews are positive. Yeah, I wish we would have
gotten one, but that's super burrito, a very fun, cozy vibe
(14:03):
with great drink options and on the weekends, live DJ definitely
worth checking out. So that's super burrito and now
back to cheap alternatives to major tourist attractions.
Dan, clear of the closing doors please. 3rd on our list is
pedicab or horse drawn carriage rides in Central Park.
(14:25):
Alternatives. Again, we've talked about this.
Pedicabs we almost always recommend against.
They often price gouge people. The horse drawn carriages, we
also don't recommend these because #1 they're extremely
expensive and #2 we don't think horses should be in Manhattan.
I think horses should be out running free on a Prairie.
(14:46):
I know that's like a little bit of wishful thinking, but
truthfully, they are not in the best living conditions in
Manhattan. We've seen where they stay and
it's not great. We'll just say that if you want
to go down a rabbit hole, you can just search New York City
horses on Google and you'll see plenty of things that you don't
want to see. Or just take our word for it and
(15:07):
avoid yourself being super bummed out.
Yeah, it's a it's a little sad. OK, so some alternatives to
this. Number one, there's a free
Central Park audio guide. So if you care about the pedicab
or the horse drawn carriage because you want the feeling of
getting a tour and someone who'stalking to you about all the
spots, the Central Park audio guide is completely free.
You can access it from your phone.
You don't even have to download an app.
(15:28):
You can just call a number and then punch in the code of
whatever spot you're standing next to and it'll give you
anywhere from like a 45 second to two or three minute
explanation and history of that specific spot.
So there's one about Gapstow bridge, there's one about Bow
bridge, there's one about woman rink.
Like they're all the ramble thatall the different pieces have
(15:51):
little historical bits of information that you can just
access on your phone through thefree audio guide.
And we have a full episode aboutthis as well, which we'll link
to. Highly recommend taking some
time and exploring. Central Park has amazing views,
really beautiful park to walk around, great people watching.
But this is a really easy thing to do for free, and you can
(16:12):
still learn a lot as you're doing it for free.
Additionally, a lot of people think, OK, if I want to see a
lot of spots in Central Park, maybe you have an injury or
you're with kids or you're with someone who's a little bit older
and you don't want to walk a ton.
There are a lot of spots in Central Park that you can access
very easily from the subway. So you can take the subway as
close as possible to these spotsand then maybe only need to walk
(16:35):
5 minutes or less. So some of the things that would
fall under that category are theConservatory Water, which is on
the Upper East Side, Strawberry Fields, which is on the Upper
West Side, just accessible from Central Park South, and like
60th St. on the NQRW line, you can very easily walk to the
pond, Woolman Rink, Gapstow Bridge.
(16:56):
Also Upper West Side you can or Upper East Side, you can get to
the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, which we talked about
earlier, close walk. You don't have to walk around
the whole thing, but you could pop out on the subway around
86th St. walk the less than 5 minutes or so to the reservoir,
get some amazing views, and thenwalk back and be right by a
subway or a taxi. Like they're very, very easy
(17:18):
options to do this. Another one on that note is the
Conservatory Garden on the UpperEast Side.
It's currently partially under construction, recording this in
March of 2025, but some of it isstill open.
Beautiful, beautiful area. Another great option for getting
around Central Park on a budget is that you could rent A city
bike. There are tons of city bike
(17:39):
stations all around New York City.
There's tons of city bike stations all around Central
Park. So you could check out a city
bike and go take a ride for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 50 minutes,
whatever you want. Just be careful.
Some of them are the E bikes. The E bikes you pay per minute.
Usually if you get a regular bike you pay for, it's like a
(18:00):
flat fee and then you pay per minute after 45 minutes.
So just keep an eye on how long you're using it.
But this is a great option for aquick and easy bike rental.
If you know that you want to be in Central Park for let's say
two to four hours or you know, alonger period of time, but you
don't want to pay the price for a pedicab or a horse drawn
carriage. There are bike rentals and or
(18:21):
electric scooter rentals that are going to be much more
affordable and are going to still give you that flexibility
to not have to be rushing on a city bike if that's something
you're interested in. And we will link to
opportunities to do that as wellin our show notes.
All right, 4th on our list of common attractions and some
cheaper alternatives is a Broadway show like Ashley
mentioned. Hopefully like this gives you an
(18:42):
idea of saying, you know, I can pick and choose some things that
I do want to spend more money onand others maybe find a cheaper
option of all of them. I would probably say it's worth
paying for a Broadway show. I mean it, we've talked about it
before. It is the top world talent.
There are dozens of Broadway shows.
All the best talent in the worldis here.
If you know, I mean, between here and the West End in London,
(19:05):
there's not much better place when it comes to live performing
theater. So we would say go to a Broadway
show if it's important to you, but there are some alternatives
to have a cheaper experience andstill see some really, really
good live theater in New York City.
Seeing a Broadway show a great option.
And before we give you like realkind of cheaper alternatives,
(19:26):
we'll give you 2 good options for finding cheaper or better
tickets. So the first option for finding
cheaper tickets is a booth in the middle of Times Square.
It's called the tickets booth TKTS.
They also have a secondary location in Lincoln Center that
also has slightly shorter lines depending on when you're going.
This is a great option. They do day of Broadway tickets
(19:48):
and they're usually half price. This is a great option if you
want to sit down in the orchestra and you don't want to
pay top dollar for a great orchestra seat.
Again, these are kind of like last minute tickets and
sometimes like one show will sell out that you want to see,
but it's usually a great alternative if you want to go to
a Broadway show but you don't want to pay $300.00 upfront to
buy a ticket for a Broadway show.
(20:10):
The next option for just buying Broadway show tickets is a
website that we really like called Today Ticks.
They have tickets like far in advance as well and they usually
have great discounts on their app and on their website.
Today ticks in particular, if you plan ahead, if you're
looking, you know, 345 months inadvance, you could possibly get
into popular shows for as cheap as like some I've seen tickets
(20:33):
for $29.00 for popular Broadway shows.
So plan ahead, OK? When it comes to like the real
kind of cheaper alternatives, there's a few options.
So there's what's called rush tickets.
The way this works is you every show does it differently.
You usually have to sign up on their website.
Essentially, if the show is thatnight at 7:00 PM, at roughly
10:00 AM or something like that,they will release what they call
(20:57):
rush tickets and you have to go physically into the box office
to get these tickets and there'sa limited amount available.
So you just have to plan ahead on this.
Similarly, many of the shows, including I know Harry Potter
does this, I believe Aladdin, they do lottery tickets.
You again, you sign up, there's X amount that they offer through
(21:20):
the lottery and then they're sometimes as cheap as 30-40
dollars for premium tickets. So those are kind of two really
good options if you still want to see a quote UN quote normal
Broadway show, but you want to look at potential cheaper
options. If you are willing to be a
little bit more flexible about the type of show that you see,
there's a few really good options, one of which is Off
(21:40):
Broadway. Off Broadway, sometimes the
tickets are still a little bit more expensive, but they're
generally going to be cheaper than a standard Broadway show.
There are tons of options for this and some really, really
good shows. We saw Little Shop of Horrors
Off Broadway and it was cheaper than what a standard Broadway
ticket would have been. And it was an amazing show.
And it was talent. Like a lot of the people who are
(22:02):
in this Off Broadway are normally on Broadway.
Sometimes they're just in between gigs or this is what
they got picked for. Like you still get really,
really good talent often on the Off Broadway shows.
Another great option for Broadway show alternatives is
going to smaller, more local theaters.
They have, I mean, even beyond the like typical Off Broadway
(22:24):
theaters, they have different local community theaters.
And I mean, it's New York City. There is a theater on every
single block all throughout the city.
So it's just a matter of doing alittle bit of research and
finding smaller venues that are going to have performances that
are much more affordable. And similarly, there are
multiple colleges in New York City that are going to offer
(22:45):
performances that are going to be much cheaper than a Broadway
show and are still often going to have really good talent.
There is Juilliard, there's Columbia, NYU, Fordham, like all
these different colleges. Again, if you just do some
research, you can probably get in and see a a good live
performance without paying top dollar for a Broadway show.
And that leads us into this episode's New York know how.
(23:08):
All right, so again, this is from the NYC Basic Tips and
Etiquette book by Nathan W Pyle.We've talked about it before.
We'll link it in the show notes.This is NYC basic tips and
etiquette #21 When a taxi is occupied, the light on top of
the taxi is off. When a taxi is vacant, the light
(23:30):
is on. And this is very standard and
obviously sometimes they miss it, but it is a pretty clear way
to know if a taxi is available. If the little light on top,
it'll usually have 3 or 4 numbers and some letters which
is their taxi number. If the light is on, you can try
and hail it. If you're standing there trying
to hail a taxi and you keep getting passed up, odds are that
(23:52):
those taxis are occupied and thelight is not on and you're just
trying for nothing. That's a good tip to know and
one that I didn't know until we lived here.
Definitely spent a lot of time on street corners trying to get
taxis that weren't available. Feeling frustrated for no
reason. So if the light is on, the taxi
is vacant. All right, that's this.
Episodes in New York know how 5th on our list.
(24:16):
Museum alternatives. OK, so there are so many world
class, world famous museums in New York City that frankly, I
think it's worth the cost of admission.
But if you don't want to pay forsomething like the Met or the MO
Ma or the Museum of Natural History or the Guggenheim or
whatever it may be, there are kind of really two options that
(24:36):
you have #1 is to make friends with a local who will get you in
via pay as you wish. So a lot of the main museums in
New York, including the Met, including the Museum of Natural
History, they have pay as you wish.
If you are a local resident of New York, and I believe
sometimes New Jersey and Connecticut, I think those fall
(24:56):
in as well. You have to show ID to get that.
So you can't just say I'm from New York and then they're going
to give you a ticket. Like they're going to make you
show ID with your address in a local area.
So if you can make friends with some local, you know, you make a
friend at a bar and say, hey, let's go to museum together
tomorrow. I don't know that that's an
option. Simply just walk around the Met
and just be brave and be like, hey, do you live in New York
(25:19):
City? Can you help me get a pay as you
wish ticket? Yeah, some people might go for
it. Others maybe not.
But worth a worth a try. Yeah, if you're looking to save
money, sometimes you got to try things like that.
OK. Another option, though, this is
like a more like actual alternative.
There are so many art galleries in New York City, all over
(25:40):
Manhattan, all over Brooklyn, Queens.
Like any borough, there's going to be art galleries.
There are also a lot of free museums.
You just have to do your research and find those.
But there are a lot of art galleries, especially in
Chelsea. And again, this is New York
City. Some of the best artists in the
world, some people who are really, really talented are
(26:00):
having their art in art galleries.
So do some research, find some art galleries.
There's an app called Seesaw, like the thing you played on as
a kid S EE SAW and it lists active galleries in New York
City. So check that out.
All right, we're also going to give you a bonus idea.
On top of these five, New York City is home to many, many
(26:24):
sports teams. There's the Knicks and the Nets.
There's the Yankees and the Mets.
There are the Giants and The Jets.
While those all rhymed and I didnot plan on doing that, but it
did and there's. The Rangers.
And there's the Rangers. I did.
I didn't include them because they don't rhyme well.
There's the Rangers and the Devils and Islanders.
I mean, there are so many sportsteams in New York City and
(26:45):
greater New York City area. They're not cheap, especially
the Knicks and the Rangers. You know, getting into MSG is
not cheap. Things like the Yankees and the
Mets, because baseball has so many games, you can often get in
for actually pretty fair prices,especially on a weekday.
I think I got into a Yankees game once for like $4.
(27:05):
That was after like fees and stuff too.
I, I don't know how that happened, but it did and it was
amazing. An alternative to going and
paying and being at these pro sports events is to go to a bar
near the stadium. Obviously you're not in there,
you're not seeing it live, but there's some phenomenal
supporters, bars like for the Knicks or for the Rangers or for
(27:25):
the Yankees right around the stadiums.
This is especially true for MSG and for Yankee Stadium.
There's some really, really fun bars that you go to, you know,
an hour before the game starts and they're going to be packed
and filled to the brim. And then a lot of people will
leave to be going to the actual game and you can hang out and
they'll be other fans. They're still watching remotely
via the bar. And it's a, it's a really fun
(27:47):
experience. Like it, it's a good time.
It's not quite like being there live, but it's a really fun
time. Yeah, I highly recommend this
idea if you want to like, have the experience of going and
watching New York sporting events, but you don't want to
pay $200 a ticket to go and see the Knicks, which maybe that
should be the thing that's your priority.
Maybe it is. Maybe you do want to go to the
Knicks game and you want to do the cheaper alternative.
(28:09):
For all of our other ideas, again, if you want to go to a
place in person, go to a place in person.
Like save up the money, spend the money, go to a Knicks game
in person. Highly recommend that experience
specifically. I happen to be a Knicks fan and
have turned into a huge Knicks fan because of my experiences
going to MSG and watching the Knicks and being in that
environment. Like people are watching and
(28:31):
cheering for every point and forme that's a new experience.
I'm a newer sports fan in my life.
I didn't grow up watching a lot of sports.
So kind of going into this is inmy adulthood, it's been a New
York is a really fun place to belearning about sports and
becoming a sports fan. Alternatively, if you don't want
to go and cheer on the New York teams and you're visiting New
(28:53):
York City, there is a supportersbar for pretty much every single
team in the world. Yeah, I, I mean it.
I was going to say it's not justAmerican sports teams because
certainly there are like supporters teams for every NFL
team and for most of the MLB teams, and a lot of the colleges
even have supporters bars. But there are also supporters
(29:14):
bars for most of the Premier League, the Soccer League in
England. There are supporters bars for
like Barcelona and PSG. And like there are a lot of
bars. A lot of the Irish pubs will
play rugby league games that areon.
I mean, there are so many options when it comes to sports
supporters bars in New York City.
So if you want to have some typeof sporting experience in New
(29:36):
York City and you happen to be ahuge football fan and your team
isn't playing here this weekend,like go to the bar of that
supporters group and watch a Jaguars game in the middle of
New York City with. A bunch of other Jaguars fast,
yeah. And, and you'll probably meet
people from, you know, if you'refrom Jacksonville, you'll
probably meet people from there and you'll start chatting with
(29:56):
people and have great conversations and great
experiences. I mean, we've been to probably
dozens of sports supporters barsand just you kind of become a
fan of that team for those few hours and it's such a fun
experience. Like can't recommend it enough.
Devin also has a whole article on our website about different
teams and supporters bars to check.
(30:18):
Out yeah, I think I have every NFL team and most of the NBA
teams and still working on some of the other sports oh and all
the Premier League teams so go check that out it's on our
website bettertogetherhere.com and just search sports
supporters or supporters bar or something like that and it'll
show up. We rifled through a lot of
(30:38):
different options for you to have a cheaper experience in New
York City. Again, a lot of these may not be
completely free, but they're going to save you some money.
Find out which of these categories is most important to
you. And, you know, pay the top
dollar for that experience. But for the other ones, you
know, use these to get some alternatives or to kill two
birds with one stone. Like go to museum with a view
(30:59):
like the Met, go to the rooftop and kind of get both things at
once. If you have not already, we
highly recommend signing up for a newsletter we e-mail once a
week. In those emails, we talk about
episodes and articles like this about getting around New York
and kind of doing more touristy things in New York.
But we also talk about current events happening in New York and
specific exhibitions or festivals or things like that
(31:24):
that are only happening that specific week.
We also talk about some New Yorkhistory.
We recommend different places togo.
I mean, it's a good newsletter. I'm biased.
I write it, I think it's really good.
I think you should sign up for it Better Together here.com back
slash newsletter. Please like, review, subscribe,
all the different things, engaging with our podcast in
whatever podcast platform you'reusing, whether it's Spotify or
(31:45):
Apple podcast or wherever. By engaging with it, by liking
it, leaving ratings, it really helps it show up in the
algorithms. And that is super meaningful to
us. And other than that, we'll catch
you on the next episode, the last song on this screen.
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