"New York City" a New York City Travel Page by Dabs

Most Chicagoans have a natural bias against New York City, after all for a long time Chicago was the 2nd largest city behind NYC (now 3rd after Los Angeles) and we were always trying to prove we were just as good.

New York in the Fall
I finally broke down and visited NYC in October several years ago and found many of the unkind things I had heard about NYC to be untrue. People weren't any ruder there than they are anywhere else and it seemed no more dangerous than any other large city. And I believe my first visit was after Guiliani was already Mayor, many of the seedy areas that I had read about, such as Times Square, were spiffed up.

But, Chicago pizza is still better, no one will ever convince me otherwise :-)

I went back for a 2nd visit in mid December 2004 to see NYC during the holiday season, so many movies are set in NYC just before Christmas. It's a very popular time to visit NYC so be prepared for crowds and very high prices. Although I enjoyed seeing all the holiday decorations, I preferred our first visit when Central Park was still green and it was not so chilly.

My 3rd visit was in July 2007 with my two teenage nieces, my young nephew and my two sister in laws, we took the NJ transit in from Trenton NJ and just stayed for the day. Unfortunately I was stuck in a knee high aircast after I sprained my ankle just days before visiting but we still managed to fit in a quick stop at the Central Library, the Top of the Rock, lunch at Carnegie Deli, a short visit to Central Park, the Toys R Us in Times Square where my niece was thrilled to see two celebrities, Harry Hamlin and his wife Lisa Rinna, and finally a round trip on the free Staten Island ferry.