Visiting New York?

One of the delights of living in New York is the regularity with which family, friends, and even acquaintances, tend to drop by for a weekend, a week or, in some case, longer. The following is intended to be a guide for them (and you) to navigate how to get here, where to stay (if not chez EiNY), and what to do once you’re here.

Flights
After almost ten years of booking flights to New York my experience is that every airline offers pretty much the same crappy level of service. One of my best flights was with Air India. One of the worst was with Virgin. Go figure. Just try to get the best deal possible and hope for a decent movie selection and more than six inches of leg room.

Arrival
If you’re visiting from outside the US, prepare for a warm welcome. The gleaming halls of JFK and La Guardia are a paean to the futurism and glamor of modern air travel (and Newark ain’t bad either). Ignore the surliness of Officer Ramirez, the president’s representative from US Customs and Border Protection. Just lick your index finger, press your pinky firmly on the glowing red screen and smile for the Logitech webcam. You are now free to enter the United States of America. Have A Nice Day!

Where to Stay
Family and friends who are not staying with us tend to opt for budget Manhattan hotels such as The Chelsea Lodge (in Chelsea) or The Pod Hotel (in Midtown). Neither place gets rave reviews. But they are both clean, conveniently located and, most important of all, cheap. At the more expensive end of the spectrum, I never heard any complaints from people who stayed at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers.