Next week I have a nine your lay over in Newark with my family in the middle of the night - landing at 9 pm local time. The current plan is to hire a driver for a driving tour of the city for a couple hours and then get some sleep at the airport hotel.
All advice regarding what we might do on the tour or alternatives is appreciated.
Make reservations for Le Bernadin.
Luckily there's an instructional movie.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi13.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa299%2FSlayhem%2Fafter_hours.jpg&hash=8250d879c60e683a5b93ae81b0ea34f165fa8d14)
Go to Rockefeller Center, see the Christmas tree and go to the viewing deck on top if it is still open. Walk over to Times Square. Go back to the airport.
Night time walking tour of Newark.
:lmao:
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Quote from: The Brain on December 08, 2011, 04:10:28 PM
Luckily there's an instructional movie.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi13.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa299%2FSlayhem%2Fafter_hours.jpg&hash=8250d879c60e683a5b93ae81b0ea34f165fa8d14)
Favorite Scorsese film.
Quote from: Zanza on December 08, 2011, 04:14:22 PM
Walk over to Times Square.
Probably not good on a driving tour.
Quote from: Ideologue on December 08, 2011, 04:19:55 PM
Quote from: The Brain on December 08, 2011, 04:10:28 PM
Luckily there's an instructional movie.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi13.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa299%2FSlayhem%2Fafter_hours.jpg&hash=8250d879c60e683a5b93ae81b0ea34f165fa8d14)
Favorite Scorsese film.
I love how that movie poster makes it look like a rom-com. :D
On a serious note, I don't think you have enough time to head in to town and back to Newark airport.
Here's what you do: hire a car, have him take your family to Bergen, Frank Sinatra's home town. Some reasonable places for dinner there.
After dinner you drive up to Weehauken. The town is nothing at all, but it has an unbelievable view of the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson. Bring a camera.
All this takes place on the west side of the Hudson, so you're not eating up all your time in a tunnel.
Thanks for the tip Yi, I was wondering about the timing issue.
How about the Intrepid?
Quote from: crazy canuck on December 08, 2011, 05:12:06 PM
Thanks for the tip Yi, I was wondering about the timing issue.
Where are you guys going?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on December 08, 2011, 05:02:47 PM
have him take your family to Bergen, Frank Sinatra's home town.
Bergen, as in the county? :huh: You must mean Hoboken. Which is in Hudson County. :smarty:
Anyways, I like Yi's idea a lot.
Forget a driving tour. Get a cab to leave you off in Brooklyn, then walk across the bridge into Manhattan and make your way up to Central Park. On your way you can walk through a lot of the major neighborhoods and see a lot of the landmarks in NYC. If you get tired, just find a park, restaurant, or bar to rest in.
For the authentic NYC experience, try to get mugged in all 5 boroughs. :D
Quote from: alfred russel on December 08, 2011, 08:09:09 PM
Forget a driving tour. Get a cab to leave you off in Brooklyn, then walk across the bridge into Manhattan and make your way up to Central Park. On your way you can walk through a lot of the major neighborhoods and see a lot of the landmarks in NYC. If you get tired, just find a park, restaurant, or bar to rest in.
Only problem is that getting from EWR to say Brooklyn Heights could take fucking forever, depending on the time of day and considering you have to cross the Holland Tunnel, drive through downtown, and get over another bridge. Then start enjoying yourself... and you need to get back to the airport 2 hours early, so you'd really have to hustle through Chinatown, the Village, and Chelsea to get up to Penn Station in time.
EDIT: And with the kids, forget about it.
He's landing at 9 pm in Newark, so traffic isn't going to be a problem in Manhattan. At night, Manhattan is actually a pretty good drive. How much are you going to see at night from the car, though? Even during the day, a car is not exactly an observation platform that lets you get a feel for the location you're driving through. Canuck will also need a stretch limo or a car without a front passenger seat to be comfortable during such a long drive.
Quote from: DGuller on December 08, 2011, 09:03:05 PM
He's landing at 9 pm in Newark
Oh right. :mellow: So it's probably too late for dinner either, depending on what time zone his clan's stomachs are in and what restaurants in N.J. are seating people at 10pm...
Maybe just use the time as an object lesson for your children by cruising around the desolation of post-industrial Newark ghetto and then having them observe the gleaming towers of Capital across the river, so they are reminded of how lucky they are to live in Canada. :Canuck:
Walking is the way to go. The city never sleeps. Maybe start at Rockefeller Center skating rink with the tree this time of year. This time of year at night is a great time to go. I don't know if you can go to the top of the Empire State Building or Rockefeller Center so late at night, but if you can that is a better time to go than the day.
I wouldn't be as exicited about a walk from Brooklyn to Central Park in the middle of the night.
Jamaica
oooo I'm gonna take ya
Quote from: fahdiz on December 08, 2011, 10:26:51 PM
Jamaica
Queens? Not the best part of New York to explore at night, I can attest.
Quote from: crazy canuck on December 08, 2011, 04:05:20 PM
Next week I have a nine your lay over in Newark with my family in the middle of the night - landing at 9 pm local time. The current plan is to hire a driver for a driving tour of the city for a couple hours and then get some sleep at the airport hotel.
All advice regarding what we might do on the tour or alternatives is appreciated.
Take a look at the Saks Fifth Avenue Christmas display.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqzD_aTSNk
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on December 08, 2011, 07:52:21 PM
Bergen, as in the county? :huh: You must mean Hoboken. Which is in Hudson County. :smarty:
That's the ticket.
Even without traffic, EWR to NYC and back takes some time and if you want to get some sleep as well, that limits your time.
Rock Center is an option - but keep on mind that other than restaurants and bars, Midtown closes down late nights: the office workers go home and the retail stores close. There is still foot traffic but not a lot to do other than eat and drink. Rock is not that far from Times Square, which is usually busy until quite late, if that is your sort of thing.
Late nights Greenwich Village tends to stay quite lively - that is an option as well.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on December 09, 2011, 02:01:02 PM
Late nights Greenwich Village tends to stay quite lively - that is an option as well.
I'm not sure I'd bring children here - well I guess depending on the day. Typically gets pretty rowdy at night especially Wednesday/Thursday to Saturday.
Quote from: garbon on December 09, 2011, 02:20:20 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on December 09, 2011, 02:01:02 PM
Late nights Greenwich Village tends to stay quite lively - that is an option as well.
I'm not sure I'd bring children here - well I guess depending on the day. Typically gets pretty rowdy at night especially Wednesday/Thursday to Saturday.
Sounds like a great place to go without the kids but I think I will wait a few more years before I take the boys along.
The other big preliminary question is: have you(/wife) or the whole family ever visited New York before?
If not, maybe just taking the Yi route of staying west of the Hudson could be a teaser, and make the next big family vacation a trip to New York
Quote from: crazy canuck on December 09, 2011, 02:21:51 PM
Quote from: garbon on December 09, 2011, 02:20:20 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on December 09, 2011, 02:01:02 PM
Late nights Greenwich Village tends to stay quite lively - that is an option as well.
I'm not sure I'd bring children here - well I guess depending on the day. Typically gets pretty rowdy at night especially Wednesday/Thursday to Saturday.
Sounds like a great place to go without the kids but I think I will wait a few more years before I take the boys along.
Yeah my neighborhood is totally family friendly during the day / early eve but yeah night not so much.
Ask your kids which they'd prefer. If they want New York bragging rights, then drive into Times Square and drive right back. If they want a quicky New York experience, but no bragging rights, do Weehauken.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on December 09, 2011, 02:49:26 PM
Ask your kids which they'd prefer. If they want New York bragging rights, then drive into Times Square and drive right back. If they want a quicky New York experience, but no bragging rights, do Weehauken.
Fine but do NOT shoot Alexander Hamilton.
It is considered rude and contrary to common opinion, it is illegal even in New Jersey.