New York City is one of the most popular travel destinations around the world so hundreds of thousands of tourists are visiting the city every single day. Most of them come through specific tours or just plan according to their gut. Since NYC is such a unique city, it is always worth knowing some inside information. This is provided by Jonah Engler Silberman below.
There Is Much More To NYC Than Manhattan
All New Yorkers will tell you that you did not actually see the city until you went out of Manhattan. Most people associated the city with Manhattan but there are so many other options you want to consider. Visiting neighborhoods like Queens or Brooklyn will offer a whole new view of the city. Since the town is safer than it ever was, with the number of scammer and fraud attempts constantly going down, there is a pretty good possibility you can go almost anywhere.
NYC Cabs Are Slow
Most people are used to quickly reach their destination with a taxi but in NYC there is a good possibility you will reach your destination much faster if you just take the subway. At the same time, taxes are quite expensive. If you are in a rush and traffic is slow, you will pay a lot and you might have gotten to your destination faster if you just walked. As an extra related tip, when you want to call a taxi, you stay on the curb, put the arm up and stand there looking at cars. This is the proper way to call a cab in New York.
NYC’s Public Transit System Is Really High Quality
Tourists generally avoid the transit system, including the subway, because they are used to how it is like in most cities from around the world: horrible. In reality, in New York, the public transit system is really good. You should not be afraid to ride the subway. You can easily go for an unlimited pass and save a lot of money, all while quickly traveling the city from one destination to the next.
The only thing you should consider, especially to avoid pickpockets, some shady people, scammers or even frauds is to never make eye contact with people. Also, you do want to plan the trip before you reach the subway station since everything can be quite overwhelming. The subway system is the largest in the world.
Seriously Consider Avoiding Times Square
Times Square is definitely impressive but it does not attract the best that NYC has to offer. Here it is easy to be scammed, the crowds are sometimes shady, prices are way too high for everything and the chain restaurants do not offer the quality they should. If you want to visit Times Square, at least avoid the rush hour. This place is the most visited by tourists but not for the good reasons. If you want something really special in Times Square, go for a Broadway Show. New Yorkers actually say this is the only reason why they tolerate Times Square.