MY NEW YORK TRIP (DETAILS)

Details of my trip in case they are useful for people unfamiliar with the city who are planning a similar trip.

I was interested in the areas around the bridges as much as Manhattan itself so I stayed in Brooklyn at The Marriott hotel, 333 Adams Street, Brooklyn Heights. This is close to the end of Brooklyn Bridge and a short walk to Water Street & Front Street (the gang's walk after depositing cash in a suitcase), Adams Street & the Arch (the shooting of Dominic), Main Street (Max & the gang watching as young Noodles is taken to prison) and John Street & Adams Street (Chambers Paper Fibres - the entrance to the Capuanos secret distillery prior to rescuing a shipment using salt).

The first evening we walked over Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan - many people do the same walk frequently - some use bicycles. One advantage of staying in Brooklyn is the fantastic views of Manhattan from Brooklyn's waterfront but Leone's locations can be reached easily by those who prefer to stay in Manhattan.

During our stay we used the subway every day. It was very easy to purchase Metro cards from the machines in the subway stations and we used mainly:

$2 - single journey $7.50 - fun day multi trip

There are other cards available e.g. full week.

The following day we found a good value diner (Celeste's, Adams Street) for breakfast and took a subway to Manhattan (lines A, C or F).

Visited: Ground Zero - former WTC Site Statue of Liberty (ferry from Battery Park) Ellis Island Central Park Plaza Hotel Rockefeller Center Times Square Hard Rock Cafe Empire State Building Macy's

The following day we went to Williamsburg. There's no direct subway line between Brooklyn and Williamsburg and we had planned to go by bus. The hotel has a good taxi service however and we used one of their cars ($15). We also used taxis for the journeys between the airport (JFK) and the hotel (standard charge $45).

Parts of Williamsburg are quite run down and my female companion was a bit reluctant to walk along South 6th Street and South 8th Street. During the last 25 years, some new buildings have been erected and a few trees have been planted. Traditionally dressed Jews can still be seen.

From Williamsburg we took a subway train to Queens (G line), visited Court Square (Max collects Noodles from prison) and had a drink in a nearby bar (The Shannon Pot). Took a subway train (lines E or V) to Manhattan.

The weather so far had been very sunny (80 degrees plus) but rain was forecast for the following day so we headed off to Manhattan for more sightseeing and shopping. The weather forecasts in general tended to be overly pessimistic and in fact it rained very little. I wanted to check out McSorley's Old Ale House (Noodles picks a drunk to roll) but we arrived there in late afternoon, the place was packed with boisterous males in a merry state, and there was sawdust on the floor. My female companion refused to go in and she also refused to take a subway train to Woodlawn Cemetery (Max's mausoleum). I didn't think we'd be able to get onto the rooftops so we gave them a miss and also didn't visit Hoboken (suitcase and locker scenes) where the interiors have changed a lot during the last 25 years. In any event we already have fairly up to date photos of these locations. Visited: Delancey Street Lower East Side Tenement Museum (closed) Mott Street & Chinatown Little Italy

The following day we took a subway train to Penn Station and an NJ transit overland train to Spring Lake (Noodles gets out of car after date with Deborah). The journey took about 2 hours and cost $21.50 (return). Spring Lake is a quiet seaside resort in New Jersey with some houses that I would love to own and affluent people. Beautiful beach and white sand but no drinks or food allowed on the beach and dipping a toe in the Atlantic ocean there costs $8. Lovely place but the resorts to the North may be a little livelier. On return to Manhattan we visited the Chrysler building and Grand Central Station. We had intended to go to a Broadway show or the cinema but couldn't find anything interesting.

There are several good websites which help with planning trips to New York.

For example about.com offer a free 10 week Travel Planner by email covering: 
Getting There/Accommodation/Things To Do/Getting Around & Maps/Where To Eat/Shopping etc

http://gonyc.about.com/cs/gettinghere/a/flying.htm

The distances from the airports to Midtown Manhattan are as follows:

La Guardia - 8 miles
JFK - 15 miles
Newark - 16 miles

Being from the U.K. I was restricted to using either JFK or Newark. JFK worked fine for me especially as I was staying in Brooklyn and I didn't have to travel across the rivers or through Manhattan to get to my hotel. People staying in Manhattan may find Newark better. Traffic was fairly heavy when we arrived and the journey to the hotel took almost one hour. The return journey was on Labor Day and took 20 mins. Instead of a taxi, I could have used a shuttle or the subway ($2) but handling baggage on a subway train is not particularly easy.

Some more photos

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