New York City on a shoestring: penny-pinchers can see the nation's biggest city on a small budget

Travel America, Nov-Dec, 2003 by Randy Mink

ALTHOUGH NEW YORK HAS A reputation for being, one of the most expensive cities on earth, visitors who do their homework will find that no-cost and low-cost pleasures abound. You don't have to live like Donald Trump to enjoy the "Capital of the World," the epicenter of high fashion and high finance, of live theater and the visual arts. In fact, travelers on a shoestring usually reap a bounty of riches by mingling with the common folk and wandering a bit off the beaten path.

If you know where to look, the Big Apple is bursting with juicy bargains. And happily for vacationers at all income levels, New York City has never sparkled more. The past decade has seen dramatic revitalization of long-neglected neighborhoods mad waves of brand new construction. Spirits are high, and crime is way down. Times Square, once seedy but now exploding with family-friendly appeal and mote bright lights than ever, is the most vivid example of the renaissance. A citywide hotel boom has created dozens of spiffy places to rest your head in the "City That Never Sleeps."

Walking is the best way to discover this freshly polished Apple. Not only is foot travel fast, easy and cheap, but it thrusts you fight into Gotham's street life, an essential element of the whole experience.

You'll most likely be staying and sightseeing in Manhattan, a densely populated, 22-square-mile island that boasts the lion's share of NYC's big-time attractions. Because streets for the most part are numbered and laid out in a grid pattern, even first-timers soon feel comfortable charting their own way. Keep in mind that north-south blocks (20 to a mile) are short and seem to zip by. The east-west blocks are longer, so allow more time when going crosstown.

With a good guidebook and map, pedestrians can spend hours strolling Manhattan's broad avenues and poking into its nooks and crannies. This free activity is most satisfying when you branch out into the neighborhoods, away from midtown's hotels, Broadway theaters and tourist-packed sidewalks.

New York's history and ethnic fabric are most evident in enclaves like Chinatown, a teeming slice of Hong Kong jam-packed with tea shops, street vendors and indoor markets; Little Italy, with its Italian trattorias and pastry cafes; avant-garde Greenwich Village, its leafy lanes lined with townhouses; and hip SoHo, where browsers take in art galleries, trendy boutiques and a wealth of 19th century cast-iron architecture.

Savvy travelers seeking an insider's perspective can take advantage of countless guided walking tours, many of them absolutely free. Big Apple Greeters, for example, offers a personalized, one-on-one visit with a New Yorker, who conveys the big city's small-town charm to individuals and groups up to six people traveling together. At no charge, volunteer guides reveal the hidden treasures and overlooked details that give a neighborhood its flavor. Greeters and visitors are matched by their interests. Tours last two to four hours and should be reserved at least three or four weeks in advance. Tipping is not permitted.

For 40 years, Howard Goldberg as operated Adventures on a Shoestring walking tours (212-265-2663). A 90-minute ramble through such neighborhoods as Chinatown/Little Italy, Greenwich Village or SoHo (an abbreviation for South of Houston Street) costs only $5--the same fee charged in 1963 and he vows "it will never go higher". Theme tours include "Lights! Action! Camera!" (movie filming sites), "Marilyn Monroe's Manhattan," "Salute to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis" and "Salute to Katharine Hepburn."

For those who want to relive the romance of rail travel, the Municipal Arts Society offers a tour of beautifully restored Grand Central Terminal every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. (suggested donation $10). A starry ceiling caps the 1913 station, now gleaming with smart shops and restaurants. Grand Central Partnership's weekly, 90-minute Friday walk focuses on the surrounding business district, which includes the 1931 Chrysler Building, a New York icon.

On Thursdays, the 34th Street Partnership conducts historic tours of the area around the Empire State Building and Macy's Department Store. A free walking tour offered by the Times Square Business Improvement District spotlights Broadway theaters and other landmarks every Friday at noon.

In the heart of midtown, around Rockefeller Center, a walk up Fifth Avenue will take you past some of the world's most famous stores and exclusive boutiques, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co. and the upscale toy emporium FAO Schwarz. (A bonus from Thanksgiving to New Year's: decorated Christmas windows.) You'll also want to peek into St. Patrick's, a soaring Gothic jewel and the largest Catholic cathedral in the country.

More of the area's tony shops await on Madison Avenue, a block east of Fifth. If you're with kids, stop at the free Sony Wonder Technology Lab, four floors of high-tech, hands-on fun at Madison and 55th Street.

Brochures for self-guided walking tours of Rockefeller Center, a treasure trove of 1930s Art Deco art and architecture, are available at the GE Building's information desk.