Ethan Wolff - Frommers NYC Free & Dirt Cheap

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ISBN: 978-1-118-36901-2 (paper); 978-1-118-51765-9 (ebk); 978-1-118-51763-5 (ebk)

Editor: Kathleen Warnock

Production Editor: Michael Brumitt with M. Faunette Johnston

Cartographer: Roberta Stockwell

Photo Editor: Alden Gewirtz

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Interior design by Melissa Auciello-Brogan

Photo on p. 1 by Elinor Stible, p. 4 & p. 46 by Cherie Cincilla, p. 2, 80, 180, 222 by Alden Gewirtz, p. 136 & p. 296 by Shayna Marchese, and p. 318 by Justin Appenzeller.

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About the Author

Ethan Wolff is a fourth-generation New Yorker. How he happened to grow up in Virginia is a complete mystery to him. He lives with his wife and daughter in Brooklyn.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to John Vorwald, who came up with the idea for this book and shepherded it through development; to Kathleen Warnock for her stellar editing; and to Stephanie Wolff, Evelyn Grollman, Anna Sandler, and Elroy Wolff for pitching in. Apologies to everyone who has had to put up with my cheapness over the years. It was all just research.

Ethan Wolff

How to Contact Us

In researching this book, we discovered many wonderful placeshotels, restaurants, shops, and more. Were sure youll find others. Please tell us about them, so we can share the information with your fellow travelers in upcoming editions. If you were disappointed with a recommendation, wed love to know that, too. Please write to:

Frommers NYC Free & Dirt Cheap, 5th Edition
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
frommersfeedback@wiley.com

Advisory & Disclaimer

Please be advised that travel information is subject to change at any timeand this is especially true of prices. We therefore suggest that you write or call ahead for confirmation when making your travel plans. The authors, editors, and publisher cannot be held responsible for the experiences of readers while traveling. Your safety is important to us, however, so we encourage you to stay alert and be aware of your surroundings. Keep a close eye on cameras, purses, and wallets, all favorite targets of thieves and pickpockets.

Free & Dirt Cheap Icons & Abbreviations

We use four feature icons that point you to the great deals, in-the-know advice, and unique experiences that separate urban adventurers from tourists. Throughout the book, look for:

Events, attractions, or experiences that cost no more than your time and a swipe of your Metrocard.

The unspoken conditions or necessary preparations to experience certain free and dirt cheap events.

The best free and dirt cheap events, dining, shopping, living, and exploring in the city.

Special events worth marking in your calendar.

Travel Resources at Frommers.com

Frommers travel resources dont end with this guide. Frommers website, www.frommers.com, has travel information on more than 4,000 destinations. We update features regularly, giving you access to the most current trip-planning information and the best airfare, lodging, and car-rental bargains. You can also listen to podcasts, connect with other Frommers.com members through our active-reader forums, share your travel photos, read blogs from guidebook editors and fellow travelers, and much more.

The best things in life are free

If you have Patience (and Fortitude) you can seek out many of the finer things in NYC for little or no cost.

Its no secret that NYC costs are out of control. Great Recession or no, there remain plenty of local prices steep enough to make a Park Avenue plutocrat wince. Weve got $275 plates of pasta (with white truffles at Nello), $295 burgers (served on a gold-dusted bun at Serendipity 3), and $1,000 omelets (lobster and caviar from Normas at the Parker Meridian). For more prosaic tastes, New York City will serve you a $12 cup of coffee (Caf Grumpy), a $26 cocktail (Jimmy at the James New York), or a $36 salad (the Cobb at Michaels).

Extremes aside, prices are up all across the city. The subway has gone to $2.25, accompanied by cutbacks in service. Slices follow fares, and the average piece of pizza is approaching $2.50. Even the price of the humble bagel has jumped over 65% in recent years. The national housing market may be in the tank, but youd never know it in Manhattan. One-point-five million covers your average price tag. If you opt to rent instead, $2,569 is your going rate. For a studio in Manhattan. So, in a town with $12 coffees and $1,000 plates of eggs, where an apartment that would make a convict feel claustrophobic costs a million and a half dollars, a book about living on the cheap must be a pretty slim volume, right?

Wrong.

New York takes a lot of pride in being the cultural capital of the world, and to maintain that reputation we let many of the goods go for free. Art, music, dance, and drama can all be found for simply the price of showing up, and theres plenty of it to go around. When I visit another city and see that theyre putting on a production of alfresco Shakespeare I think, How sweet. This book lists eight of them. Weve got another dozen or so spots that host free outdoor films. Over 40 cultural institutions are always free, and most of our top-tier museums set aside several hours a week where you pay what you wish to enter. The best work of the worlds emerging artists hangs in our galleries, which never charge for entry. New Yorks libraries circulate thousands of books, videos, and albums, in addition to offering us free films, classes, and lectures that add up to 38,000 giveaways a year. From La MaMa to the MoMA, you dont need to be a millionaire to cash in on great culture here.