New York City (NYC), more precisely, Manhattan, is a destination we have put off for many years. We have often discussed wanting to experience what the city offers, but the choices of trips to the desert or mountains have always won out when decision-making time arose.
In the spring of 2024 we finally pulled the trigger for a road trip to NYC. Though our stay was brief, we benefitted from having almost no crowds to complete with (our longest lines were at a pizza joint.) We were lucky to be able to see almost everything we prioritized as we ate our way through the lower half of Manhattan and a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Drive to Youngstown Ohio from Chicago; stay the night
Day 2: Drive east to Scranton, PA; continue east to New Haven, CT; drop south for the beginning of a three-night stay in Jersey City
Day 3: Lower Manhattan, a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn
Day 4: Central Park south to Greenwich Village
Day 5: Drive to New Haven, then start the journey home
Accommodations: We chose to stay in Jersey City at the Holland Hotel. A 10-minute walk to two different PATH (Jersey subway) stations, reasonably priced and clean and comfortable, we’d highly recommend this place if you are visiting on a budget. Though older, the hotel was clean, the staff were superb and everything felt very safe.
Scranton PA:
Driving east from Ohio, we ran into torrential rains (some of which flooded roads further east) that remained with us until nightfall. Realizing we would not want to wander Manhattan during this deluge, we opted for a few side trips.
The first was a very brief stop in Scranton, PA, solely based on our love of the TV show “The Office”. We took a minute to check out a large outdoor mural of the cast of characters from the show. We then spent an hour at the Steamtown Mall to grab pictures with the Welcome to Scranton sign, followed by what felt like a trip back to the 80’s as we wandered through stores in the mall. This wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was a great choice for us given the storms.
New Haven, CT:
We made our first of two stops to New Haven solely for their famous pizza (I know – absurd, not one but two separate stops for food?) The first was to Sally’s Apizza, one of the well known joints that dates back to the 1930’s. Known for their “charred” apizza (spelled with an “a” on the front end) we were happy we went, but probably do not need to come back to this joint.
NYC Day 1:
If you have read any other posts on this blog, you know we often prioritize wandering over specific destinations. NYC offered a best of both worlds’ situation- we had many places we wanted to see, but being as walkable as it is, we chose strolling over the subway in most instances.
We started our first full day with a trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, departing from the Jersey side at the earliest time available (8:30.) Based out of a historic commuter station, we hopped on the ferry first to the statue. Upon arrival, we climbed up to the top of the pedestal for a better view (the weather rebounded from the previous day and was nearly perfect with super clear skies) of the whole of NYC. We didn’t spend a lot of time on the island with the statue, besides a few pictures and a stroll through a museum in the statue’s base. There is another museum on the island that details the history of the statue, but as crowds began to swell, we opted to spend our time catching a ferry to Ellis Island and spending 2 hours at the museum there.
Ellis Island, the processing center for millions of immigrants between 1890-1940, was a unique and rewarding experience. While we did not take advantage of all that was offered, we spent a good bit of time on the top two floors of the museum (located exactly where arriving immigrants were processed.) The artifacts, information and individualized stories painted a picture of what life was like for those who had made the journey from around the world. If history is your thing, this was a “can’t miss” experience. In total, between ferry rides and our time on the two islands, we spent about 4.5 hours before taking a ferry back to Manhattan.
Upon arrival on the south end of Manhattan at Battery Park, our goal was to stroll over to the Brooklyn bridge. Along the way we wandered the financial district (Wall Street and the bull – there was an enormous crowd there to take pictures). We briefly stopped for bagels before finally making our way onto the Brooklyn Bridge (a total of an hours walk, with stops, to the base of the bridge from Battery Park).
The bridge itself is an amazing structure, and the history behind it is well worth looking into. We walked across (no admittance fee) the imposing landmark, which lent itself to amazing views all around. Though crowded, it never felt fully congested and was well worth our time. 45 minutes after our start on the bridge, we ended up in the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights (BH).
We spent a few hours in the BH and DUMBO neighborhoods snacking on ice cream, coffee and bubble tea, along with a quick stop at a bar. The areas around the shores of the East River were coming alive with people and blossoms on the beautiful spring day. We spent a short time here relaxing and taking pictures. Without a doubt, if we were to revisit the area, we would make time to explore Brooklyn and the other boroughs, but that was not to be on this trip.
As late-afternoon hit, we caught a subway back to Manhattan’s lower east side. After some neighborhood walking, we stopped for slices at Scarr’s Pizza (amazing,) before taking some time to stroll through Chinatown where we stopped for dumplings and soup. We could have spent much more time in this area, but exhaustion was creeping in as the sun was swallowed by the skyscrapers.
We ended out first day needing to catch a PATH back to Jersey from near World Trade Center. Though not on our list, we spent a bit of time at the memorials during sunset. Located in the heart of Manhattan, the area was shockingly serene. We’d recommend even a brief stop here.
NYC Day 2:
Central Park was the starting point for our second day. Taking the subway north right to 72nd Street, we took a few of the crisp but sunny morning hours walking the enormous public green space. With few crowds, the park, framed by the surrounding skyscrapers, offered a wonderful escape from the action of the metropolis. Definitely worth a visit – one could easily spend a day here.
From the park we made our way south for a flurry of sights on our checklist. Stopping for more bagels at Ess-a provided some additional energy as we rebounded from all of the walking of the preceding day.
We made our way through the growing crowds as we walked the maze of Midtown – Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center (very cool), and Times Square- before heading eastward to Grand Central Station. One of the great parts of this rush was seeing all of the varied architecture. Rockefeller and Grand Central in particular felt like jumping back in time for a moment with their distinct decorative designs. These observations came together perfectly as we next stopped at the Empire State Building to see NYC from the top of the iconic building.
If there was one stop we were incredibly fortunate for not having crowds it was Empire State – we literally made our way through (the very lengthy and often loaded with people) route to the elevators that took us to the 86th floor without standing in line. Entering the Empire State felt like walking into 1933, with the dark art deco stylings and staff dressed in historic uniforms. However, it was the views from the top that will be etched into our memories. The city, walkable and accessible on the ground, literally was never ending from the view from above. If it weren’t for the waters to the south, and some green space visible in Jersey, the city’s buildings stretched far into the horizon. It was an unbelievable view.
Leaving the Empire State Building mid-afternoon, it was clear our energy levels were waning. We relaxed briefly at a neighborhood park before making our way to the Harry Potter store and then for pizza at the oldest consistently open pizza joint in the city.
John’s on Bleeker in is a pizza institution located Greenwich Village. Absolutely worth the brief wait for a style all it’s own.
After a filling meal, we strolled a few blocks to the iconic Friends building before catching our PATH back to Jersey City…exhausted.
All in all, this was a great trip – experiencing the city and much of what it had to offer through our sprint felt like the right way for us to enjoy ourselves. Though there were a few places we had wanted to go (MOMA and the Tenement Museum) the weather we had invited us to stay outdoors as much as possible. We did have the opportunity for one more day in the city, but we opted for a return to New Haven for a pizza at historic Frank Pepe (possibly the best we have had) as we felt we had had a perfect visit to NYC.
Pics and Places 