First timer looking for help....

Hi all.

A friend has recommended you lovely people to me to help out with some questions about my first trip to NYC coming up late Nov/early Dec. So here goes:

Could someone please direct me to a web site that details the price of subway tickets? My guess is that it uses a similar zone system to London, but I could be wrong.

One thing I plan on doing is walking from the northern point to the southern point of Manhattan. I鈥檓 quite a keen walker so the 16 odd miles should not be an issue, but I need some guidance on the route, more specifically the northern section above central park. I鈥檓 unsure if there are still no go areas in New York but if there are, plainly I don鈥檛 want to end up walking through them. So has anyone done this type of thing before that could help me out, or could give me some ideas of pedestrian friendly areas etc. Any help that could be given would be grateful, as this is one particular trip I鈥檓 desperate to make.

SteveR

First timer looking for help....

Subway tickets cost $2 to get you anywhere in the city. No zones or any of that tricky stuff (tricky to me, that is).

Walking the length of Manhattan is pretty safe. If you plan to take a whole day to do it, consider starting uptown so as to avoid the relatively more dangerous neighborhoods at night.

First timer looking for help....

Being a tourist. I%26#39;ve only been to the top end of central park a couple of times mainly playing soccer, so don%26#39;t know that area well. I have got the train from Yonkers down through the northern parts of New York once, but didn%26#39;t really see any bits I would be happy jumping off at.

I have walked from around the 70th street all the way down to Battery Park. After the park Broadway is probably the main street to walk down not the most direct, but more to see on the way.

Generally the usual tips of not looking like a tourist and keeping to the main streets and there shouldn%26#39;t be a problem.

As you%26#39;ve been told, we don%26#39;t use a zone system for the mass transit prices. There are some discount options though for metrocards. Info can be found here

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/metrocard/index.html

I%26#39;m not familiar enough with the uptown areas to give you walking advice. I%26#39;d say though if you started at 96 st on either the east or west sides and walked all the way down to Battery Park, that would be plenty and you%26#39;d be safe, although the western most area along the Hudson River from about 50th st. heading south will be a bit difficult as you%26#39;ll reach the piers, the Lincoln tunnel entrances etc. Are you planning on doing this all in one go???

Search this forum for words like ';itinerary'; or ';walk';, and search for posts by babymac, Jackiee19, dimsum67, amstanley and tina84.

Also, here is along thread about the subway

http://tinyurl.com/9e8o3

Here%26#39;s another couple of posts about traveling around town via subway.

http://tinyurl.com/7leuz

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k260479-鈥?/a>

Re: walking the length of Manhattan.

Over the past few years, the perimter of Manhattan has been refurbished and connected into a very long pedestrian/bicycle path. You still can%26#39;t go all the way around the island, but you can com pretty darn close.

The west side of the path is called Hudson River Park.

www.hudsonriverpark.org/parkmap/lower.html

You won%26#39;t go through the actual neighborhoods, but you will see beautiful views (of New Jersey), and see things like other parks with similar names (Riverside Park and Riverbank State Park), Chelasea Piers, Chrisopher Street Piers, etc. another caveat - you%26#39;ll be walking alongside West Street (aka the Westside Highway, Route 9A) - could get a faceful of car exhaust.

If you want to walk through - as opposed to around - the island, I%26#39;d take Broadway. The only depressed area it goes through is Washington Heights, which is being gentrified as we speak. More local chains such as Duane Reade and Payless Shoes are there now. There%26#39;s even a Starbucks or two! Harlem and Washington Heights have large poor populations and neglected housing stock, so don%26#39;t expect the Taj Mahal. All of this is changing, what with renovations and scaffolding on every corner. Also, you can get some really good, cheap Dominican and Puerto Rican food there - I use a dressmaker in Wash Heights, and have friends there, so I%26#39;ve been exploring it lately.

If you can get this video of ';A Walk Up Broadway'; by David Hartman and Barry Lewis, I%26#39;d say you%26#39;d be well prepared.

http://www.barrylewis.org/broadway.html

I walk it everytime I visit, down one street or crossing over to another. I love the walk. Sometimes I get tired and take the bus or subway back up to the upper west or east side. I always buy a Metro Pass for the length of time I will be there to smooth the subway/bus trips and skip buying tickets or paying cash each day. I have found all areas to be pedestrian friendly in Manhattan from 80th on down.

Just like to say a huge thankyou for all your help. I doubt I would have got even half this much information without it.

My plan for the walk from the top of central park was to walk alongside Central Park, onto broadway and then through times square, past empire state, through little Italy, Chinatown, under the Brooklyn bridge and ending up looking at the statue of Liberty. It was the north part of Manhattan I was having the problems with, but hopefully I can now find a decent route.

SteveR