New Yorkers here?

[FVBrewerFan]

Taking a trip to NY during Christmas, and I havent been there in many years. Will be all adults going centered around Packers game in the Meadowlands.

 

Is Midtown still the best place to stay, any recommendations for nice, reasonable hotel?

 

Is MSG walking distance from Midtown hotels?

 

Trains- Most likely flying into Newark, can we get to Midtown from that airport? And back again of course. Can we get to Meadowlands stadium by train from Midtown?

 

Restaurants, sites, sounds, hidden gems.... open to any and all suggestions. 911 Memorial is only must see/do on our list. We're not Broadway people, but open to anything else.

[trwi7]

MSG is basically right smack dab in the middle of Midtown. Go to a NJ Transit vending machine at Penn Station (Midtown) and buy a roundtrip ticket to Meadowlands Station. Board the next train that has a stop at Secaucus Junction and then use your ticket to transfer to Meadowlands Service. It drops you off right at the stadium. You can also get to Midtown directly from the airport (and vice versa). Take the AirTrain monorail at the airport to the NJ Transit Newark Airport train station and transfer to a NJ Transit train. The last stop is Penn Station in Midtown. There is also a Penn Station in Newark so make sure you don't get off at that one.

 

TRYP Times Square South is a nice hotel but it's 200+ per night. Couple blocks from MSG though.

[LouisEly]

I don't know if there is such a thing as a reasonable hotel in NYC/Midtown. If they aren't, look at hotels in Hoboken and take the Path right to MSG/Midtown. Do know that hotel rooms will be small. Really small.

 

Pretty much everything in Midtown is walkable with comfortable shoes. The north/south blocks are short; the east/west blocks are long.

 

Do the Christmas Tree/ice skating at Rockefeller Center. It's pretty cool. If you get lucky and there is a light snow, it's pretty special.

 

I think you're somewhere around my age, perhaps a bit older (late 40's?); I don't know if it is still playing, but there is a Broadway show that centers around 80's hair band rock (Rock of Ages) and it's pretty cool. It's much more of a "regular person" crowd; people in the balcony were creating "beer-a-mids" of empty Coors Light cans. Also, the one about the four singers from the 60's (Million Dollar Quartet) is really cool too. You can sometimes get cheap seats that are along the ends of the rows on the side; you can still see 90+% of the stage, but tickets are half the price if not less.

 

Times Square - a block or two off is a BBQ restaurant called Virgil's. Get the smoked wings - you get the whole wing, they are big, and they just fall off the bone. Spicy BBQ sauce - not too hot, not too bland. I always go to Virgil's when I'm in NYC. The M&Ms store in Times Square is pretty cool - you can get any color under the sun, and color combinations for teams.

 

The only thing about Midtown is that there aren't a lot of good restaurants there. If you happen to be nearby, I really enjoyed Tavern29.

[JimH5]

I have been meaning to get to Foley's, the bar known for being a baseball mecca. It's near the Empire State Building.

[RobDeer 45]

I’d love to put something together for you, and hopefully will have time soon. My wife and I go to NY almost every year and we live in NJ for a year. Life is busy right now but will try to get back to this.