Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The delights of the Upper West Side via talk show legend Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett made a career out of his ability to spot societal trends or size up wily politicians, but when it comes to New York City, his adopted hometown, he's downright wistful. The Midwest native got his first taste of the city while on a three-day layover en route to his first semester at Yale.
"My favorite place in New York is the first step I ever took when I came from Nebraska on the train," he says. "I remember the exact spot: 44th Street and Grand Central. I stepped out into the night air and kept saying to myself over and over, "Am I in New York City at last?"
After graduating from college, Cavett knew there was only one place he wanted to live. "I knew I belonged in New York, and I had not being there," he says. His first Big Apple residence was a studio on West 76th Street. "It was a roach-infested dump and $60 a month," he recalls. "My second apartment (on the same street) was wonderful because it had two rooms and looked down in the garden of Carl Ballantine." Now Cavett's life as a New Yorker revolves largely around the Upper West Side, the neighborhood he has called home for more than 40 years.
Cavett's is still passionate about the city, and his mind is a steel trap for memorizing addresses. He can rattle off the street names and building numbers of every place he has lived in Manhattan during his rise through the world of television writing, and later as host of his own Emmy-nominated talk show. Cavett got his start writing jokes for Jack Paar's Tonight Show in the '60's. That stint led to a brief stand-up career at clubs such as the Bitter End and his own acclaimed talk shows on various networks. His 2010 memoir Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Sectets, was a best-seller, and he currently contributes to a blog for The New York Times.
Cavett has come a long way from his one-room bargain. His current digs overlook Central Park and hes fonder than ever of his neighborhood.
"I do love the West Side. I would never use the word funkier... God, I just did," he muses. "But I love the kinds of stores, restaurants and museums that are here. Theater is nearby and, of course, there's the park. I don't go to the usual hangouts in Central Park. I've discovered a few secret places where no one can find me."
RECOMMENDATIONS
Best place to get away from it all: Central Park (particularly in the more northern sections).
Practice your Japanese: Raku restaurant at 57 West 76th Street (Tel: 212 873 1220)
Sip a cocktail with atmosphere: The Bar at the Algonquin Hotel at 59 West 44th Street (Tel: 212 840 6800)
"My favorite place in New York is the first step I ever took when I came from Nebraska on the train," he says. "I remember the exact spot: 44th Street and Grand Central. I stepped out into the night air and kept saying to myself over and over, "Am I in New York City at last?"
After graduating from college, Cavett knew there was only one place he wanted to live. "I knew I belonged in New York, and I had not being there," he says. His first Big Apple residence was a studio on West 76th Street. "It was a roach-infested dump and $60 a month," he recalls. "My second apartment (on the same street) was wonderful because it had two rooms and looked down in the garden of Carl Ballantine." Now Cavett's life as a New Yorker revolves largely around the Upper West Side, the neighborhood he has called home for more than 40 years.
Cavett's is still passionate about the city, and his mind is a steel trap for memorizing addresses. He can rattle off the street names and building numbers of every place he has lived in Manhattan during his rise through the world of television writing, and later as host of his own Emmy-nominated talk show. Cavett got his start writing jokes for Jack Paar's Tonight Show in the '60's. That stint led to a brief stand-up career at clubs such as the Bitter End and his own acclaimed talk shows on various networks. His 2010 memoir Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Sectets, was a best-seller, and he currently contributes to a blog for The New York Times.
Cavett has come a long way from his one-room bargain. His current digs overlook Central Park and hes fonder than ever of his neighborhood.
"I do love the West Side. I would never use the word funkier... God, I just did," he muses. "But I love the kinds of stores, restaurants and museums that are here. Theater is nearby and, of course, there's the park. I don't go to the usual hangouts in Central Park. I've discovered a few secret places where no one can find me."
RECOMMENDATIONS
Best place to get away from it all: Central Park (particularly in the more northern sections).
Practice your Japanese: Raku restaurant at 57 West 76th Street (Tel: 212 873 1220)
Sip a cocktail with atmosphere: The Bar at the Algonquin Hotel at 59 West 44th Street (Tel: 212 840 6800)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Why we depend on the success of hotels: a look at the B and B industry through the lens of hotels
As a bed and breakfast owner since 1991 operating in North America's most competitive market (Manhattan) I have learned to accept that we will always play second fiddle to the behemoth that is the hotel. We simply don't have the budget or scale to compete with them and by competition I mean marketing. With the advent of the internet it has become increasingly difficult to get noticed. As an innkeeper I have tried everything from studying the mechanics of SEO to web design to phone manner to the power of the special offer, to of course loyalty.
There is no doubt that every little move we make or new strategy that we implement has an impact on the success of our businesses but in the final analysis nothing is more integral to our success than the success of the hotels, in as much as the more hotel rooms that are booked the greater the likelihood that tourists or business travelers alike will look elsewhere. Demand drives up rates and when rates get high travelers are more apt to seek out alternatives. When this occurs (particularly during the busier periods in the spring and fall) travelers get more creative with their searches which creates a greater opportunity for the likes of ourselves
Ultimately in order to thrive in an environment as competitive as New York where the number of hotel rooms has increased dramatically in the last several years, we have to, as a small player, provide more for less. To alleviate the manifest financial burden we have to cut corners of course, and as noted in previous blogs, service is chief among them. Unlike the majority of hotels, we provide limited services while increasing the amount of space and quality in our suites for a price that is below the hotel average and considerably below similar hotel suites. We don't do this because we want to beat them at their own game, we do it because we have to. Hotels will always get the lion's share on account of their greater reach. However, if the numbers of travelers coming to New York City was to revert to the previous highs none of this would be quite so critical.
As alluded to in previous blogs we (hotels and b and b's alike) are all dependent on the number of travelers coming into the city. Statistics have shown that foreign travel is down considerably as a result of post 9/11 restrictions. Before 9/11 the total US share of the worldwide travel market was 17 percent. If is now just 12%. Marriott's new CEO in Arne Sorenson is trying to change this, claiming that if the US had the shame share as it did pre-9/11, it would translate into 500,000 more jobs. Sorenson is focusing on visa reform to help boost international tourism to the US. Long visa wait times in the wake of 9/11 are a major reason international travel to the US hasn't rebounded. Chinese travelers, for example, have had to wait as long as 100 days for a US visa, prompting many to go elsewhere such as Europe. Sorenson estimates China will send 100 million travelers to foreign countries in the next 3 or 4 years, up from 1 million a few years ago. Happily, after years of political bollixing, President Obama is starting to demand visa reform as well.
We are Country Inn the City are not alone in hoping that the likes of Sorensen and Obama will prevail...more hotel rooms booked means more action for the small but invaluable players such as ourselves.
There is no doubt that every little move we make or new strategy that we implement has an impact on the success of our businesses but in the final analysis nothing is more integral to our success than the success of the hotels, in as much as the more hotel rooms that are booked the greater the likelihood that tourists or business travelers alike will look elsewhere. Demand drives up rates and when rates get high travelers are more apt to seek out alternatives. When this occurs (particularly during the busier periods in the spring and fall) travelers get more creative with their searches which creates a greater opportunity for the likes of ourselves
Ultimately in order to thrive in an environment as competitive as New York where the number of hotel rooms has increased dramatically in the last several years, we have to, as a small player, provide more for less. To alleviate the manifest financial burden we have to cut corners of course, and as noted in previous blogs, service is chief among them. Unlike the majority of hotels, we provide limited services while increasing the amount of space and quality in our suites for a price that is below the hotel average and considerably below similar hotel suites. We don't do this because we want to beat them at their own game, we do it because we have to. Hotels will always get the lion's share on account of their greater reach. However, if the numbers of travelers coming to New York City was to revert to the previous highs none of this would be quite so critical.
As alluded to in previous blogs we (hotels and b and b's alike) are all dependent on the number of travelers coming into the city. Statistics have shown that foreign travel is down considerably as a result of post 9/11 restrictions. Before 9/11 the total US share of the worldwide travel market was 17 percent. If is now just 12%. Marriott's new CEO in Arne Sorenson is trying to change this, claiming that if the US had the shame share as it did pre-9/11, it would translate into 500,000 more jobs. Sorenson is focusing on visa reform to help boost international tourism to the US. Long visa wait times in the wake of 9/11 are a major reason international travel to the US hasn't rebounded. Chinese travelers, for example, have had to wait as long as 100 days for a US visa, prompting many to go elsewhere such as Europe. Sorenson estimates China will send 100 million travelers to foreign countries in the next 3 or 4 years, up from 1 million a few years ago. Happily, after years of political bollixing, President Obama is starting to demand visa reform as well.
We are Country Inn the City are not alone in hoping that the likes of Sorensen and Obama will prevail...more hotel rooms booked means more action for the small but invaluable players such as ourselves.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Bed and Breakfast statistics for 2011 courtesy of the Professional Assocation of Innkeepers
Info from the PAII industry study done in 2011
Performance (in medians)
· Occupancy Rate 43.7%
· Average Daily Rate $150
· Revenue per Available Room $58
About The Inns
· Typical B&B has between 4 and 11 rooms, with 6 being the average
· 29% were in rural locations, 23% were urban, 5% suburban, and 43% were village
· 94% of rooms have private baths
· 36% have achieved an "historical designation" by a local, state or national historic preservation organization
· 94% of rooms have private baths
· 36% have achieved an "historical designation" by a local, state or national historic preservation organization
· 5,700 square feet is the average size for a B&B
· 93% offer free high speed wireless internet
· Most inns provide the following in common areas: internet, magazines, hot/cold beverages, board games, fireplace, refrigerator, newspapers, telephone, cookies/cakes/candies/fruit, fresh flowers and televisions.
· Most inns provide the following in guest rooms: internet, television, luxury bed/linens, premium branded toiletries, robes, fireplaces, magazines and jetted tubs.
About the Inn Owners
· 72% of inn owners are couples, 18% are individual females, 5% are individual males, 5% are non-couple partnerships· 79% of owners live on premises
Thursday, January 5, 2012
January blues means 'white sale' for Manhattan accommodations
It is no secret for New York City that January is the best month to snatch up bargains, a time when accommodation businesses, particularly the smaller boutique style ones such as ours at Country Inn the City, have to fight that much harder to attract travelers. Price is the single most important factor in determining whether or not nights are filled, and quality is secondary. January presents two problems that contribute to this phenomenon and that is the weather (typically cold) and post holiday blues, a time (particularly during a tough economy such as this one) when most are recovering from the holidays both in terms of time spent away from work and money spent.
For a high quality boutique like accommodation such as ours we have a choice; either to sell less nights at the regular rate or more nights at the lower rate, or to try to meet the two somewhere in the middle. And so you have pride on the one hand (no one likes to undersell themselves) or economics on the other. Reality bites hardest at this time of year and it's best to give in when you have to rather than suffer the consequences of missed nights.
But there is a way out and it is not always about spending. We run email campaigns in the fall (using the free service in 'mail chimp') and we educate our guests as to the advantages of visiting NYC in Jan/Feb, chiefly among them lower pricing and no lines/crowding. Education often includes informing guests who might not have been able to afford us in the fall (peak) that January and Feb are the best months to visit for those on a small budget. Those in the Southern Hemisphere can also be a strong target for business, particular during a hot summer as we had in the case of Australia in 2010 when we got swamped with Aussies who were looking for an escape.
However, there is only so much we can do to attract travelers in large numbers and our biggest frustration is that the city itself doesn't do enough to promote the fact that the winter is a great time to visit NYC. After living here for 25 years I cannot imagine life without all four seasons and each very much has its virtues. Winter brings with it the shorter days, warm coats, see your breath weather along with cleaner-seeming air, and landscape changing snows, and not forgetting the unmistakable scent of roasting chestnuts, honey-roasted peanuts, and pretzels. But most of all it reveals the strength and character of New York; those who are not deterred from braving her streets, no matter how harsh the conditions, and it is not always harsh. There are of course days when the weather takes breaks and the coats come off. New York City is nothing without her streets so come brave the party and enjoy fantastic rates everywhere, including right here with us!
Wth very best wishes for the season,
Fergus O'Brien
The Innkeeper
For a high quality boutique like accommodation such as ours we have a choice; either to sell less nights at the regular rate or more nights at the lower rate, or to try to meet the two somewhere in the middle. And so you have pride on the one hand (no one likes to undersell themselves) or economics on the other. Reality bites hardest at this time of year and it's best to give in when you have to rather than suffer the consequences of missed nights.
But there is a way out and it is not always about spending. We run email campaigns in the fall (using the free service in 'mail chimp') and we educate our guests as to the advantages of visiting NYC in Jan/Feb, chiefly among them lower pricing and no lines/crowding. Education often includes informing guests who might not have been able to afford us in the fall (peak) that January and Feb are the best months to visit for those on a small budget. Those in the Southern Hemisphere can also be a strong target for business, particular during a hot summer as we had in the case of Australia in 2010 when we got swamped with Aussies who were looking for an escape.
However, there is only so much we can do to attract travelers in large numbers and our biggest frustration is that the city itself doesn't do enough to promote the fact that the winter is a great time to visit NYC. After living here for 25 years I cannot imagine life without all four seasons and each very much has its virtues. Winter brings with it the shorter days, warm coats, see your breath weather along with cleaner-seeming air, and landscape changing snows, and not forgetting the unmistakable scent of roasting chestnuts, honey-roasted peanuts, and pretzels. But most of all it reveals the strength and character of New York; those who are not deterred from braving her streets, no matter how harsh the conditions, and it is not always harsh. There are of course days when the weather takes breaks and the coats come off. New York City is nothing without her streets so come brave the party and enjoy fantastic rates everywhere, including right here with us!
Wth very best wishes for the season,
Fergus O'Brien
The Innkeeper
Friday, November 18, 2011
Check out our latest 'smartphone apps' for everything that is NYC
Whether you're looking for a bite to eat or the nearest (and cleanest) public restroom, smartphone applications can help you explore New York City with ease. Here is a list of some of our favorite NYC-centric apps so that, wherever you are, you can have the City at your fingertips.
Navigation
Attractions
Dining
Museums and Art
Miscellaneous
Navigation
Making your way through the streets of New York has never been easier thanks to these navigational apps, which provide detailed street and subway maps, transit information, the best corners for hailing a taxi and more.
CabSense NYC
Use with: Android
CabSense NYC analyzes data from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission and other sources to help users find the best nearby street corners to hail a taxi based on the day of the week, the time and their location. The app even comes with a built-in "cab hailer"—simply shake your phone and it will whistle and display a flashing message.
iTrans NYC Subway
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
In a rush? This app finds the fastest route between any two New York City subway stations, taking into account current schedules and service changes. iTrans NYC Subway provides users with detailed maps and walking directions, and even works off-line (or underground).
MyCityWay
Use with: iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry
Find yourself longing for the nearest wireless hotspot, craft beer bar or pharmacy with late-night delivery? MyCityWay combines urban reference apps and app platforms with important City info and its own user community to bring you a super-loaded City navigating tool.
New York City Compass
Use with: iPhone and iPad
This minimal app provides users with one simple but vital piece of information for efficient urban orienteering: whether they're going uptown, downtown or crosstown (east or west).
NYCMate
Use with: Android and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Suburban commuters can now breathe easier; not only does this app contain the official NYC subway map and every neighborhood map and bus maps for each borough, it also comes with maps of the Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and PATH trains.
UpNext 3D Cities
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (Android coming soon)
This fun app gives users a real-time 3-D map of the City, as well as tappable buildings, detailed venue and site information, reviews and personalization options.
WayFinder NYC
Use with: Android
This award-winning augmented reality app helps users identify the subway or PATH train stations that are closest to their current location. Using GPS and your phone's camera, WayFinder locates your position on any street and offers step-by-step directions to the nearest transit stops.
Attractions
Whether you're a lifelong local or a first-time visitor, there's always plenty to discover in NYC. These apps provide key information on the City's top tourist attractions as well as on lesser-known destinations that might not have been on your radar.
Central Park
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
The official mobile guide to one of New York's most popular green spaces, this app from the Central Park Conservancy provides users with a wealth of information about the many attractions and activities in Central Park. View a fully interactive map, read up on the park's history, get the latest news on concerts and other events and much more.
Citysearch
Use with: BlackBerry and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Find out where everything is in your current neighborhood or elsewhere in New York City with this app, which gives users information on restaurants, bars and shopping in NYC. Citysearch also includes local business listings, reviews and ratings and maps.
Explore 9/11
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
The official mobile app of the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan offers information and insight regarding the tragedy. Users can view a timeline of the day’s events or take a walking tour of the area around the World Trade Center, accompanied by audiovisual narration and first-hand reports by first responders, rescue workers, volunteers and others. The app also includes an augmented reality mode, which overlays images taken by survivors and witnesses on your phone’s camera view.
myNav: Central Park
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Considering its size—over 800 acres—it can sometimes be difficult to navigate through the sprawling green spaces of Central Park. Worry not with this app, which provides users with an accurate and interactive map of the Park’s pathways, destinations, amenities and surrounding neighborhoods streets and subway locations, as well as realtime directions to destinations.
New York: Condé Nast Traveller City Guide
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This all-inclusive app has everything you need for a trip to NYC: GPS; hundreds of searchable restaurant, bar, hotel, shopping and attraction listings; off-line maps; and exclusive recommendations.
NYTimes The Scoop NYC
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app from The New York Times provides users with the paper's staff picks on places to go and things to do in the City. Browse a variety of restaurant, café, event and shopping listings, as well as compilations of "New York experiences" and day trips around the five boroughs.
Time Out New York
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Time Out's app provides up-to-date event listings as well as reviews of art exhibitions, concerts, bars and restaurants. Listings can be further broken down into the Critic's Picks and Free & Cheap categories. Users can also save their favorite venues and locations and send listings to their friends.
VanDam NYC ShopSmart
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app features a helpful shopping guide that provides information on hundreds of the City's best stores, in addition to an interactive map and top attractions.
VanDam NYC StreetSmart
Use with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With so many attractions to visit in New York City, planning a trip can sometimes feel daunting. This app provides users with a guide to the top 120 New York sights, complete with clear and detailed maps that let you zoom in quickly and search off-line.
Dining
With some 18,000 restaurants and countless bars located within the five boroughs, New York City has a dining destination suitable for every budget and taste. With these apps, you can browse some of the City's finest eateries, find reviews by critics and locals and more.
New York BlackBook
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Get the lowdown on New York's hottest shops, hotels, restaurants, bars and nightlife with this app, which gives users information on noteworthy venues nearest them at any given time. BlackBook also provides exclusive discounts, deals and VIP access at certain spots.
OpenTable
Use with: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Nokia, Palm webOS and Windows Phone
The perfect app for the foodie on the go, OpenTable allows users to search for restaurants, see menus and reviews and make reservations. Users can also earn Dining Rewards Points redeemable for "Dining Cheques" good at any restaurant on OpenTable.
Real Pizza of New York
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
New York City is truly a great pizza town, so you don't want to waste time filling up on mediocre slices. This app provides recommendations for New York pizzerias that would get the stamp of approval from discerning local pie aficionados. Real Pizza of New York also includes the history of select pizzerias as well as all the information you need to go on self-guided pizza tours.
Tweat.it
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Hunt down your favorite gourmet food truck with this easy app that offers a real-time food-truck map. It follows vendors’ tweets to mark their locations and share the day's specials, secret discounts and more.
Urbanspoon
Use with: Android, BlackBerry and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With this app, you can search for and browse nearby restaurants and read ratings and reviews from newspapers, bloggers and other diners. Still can't decide where to eat? Depending on the type of mobile device you own, just shake your phone or press the app's "spin" button and the Urbanspoon slot machine will choose for you.
Yelp
Use with: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Palm Pre and Windows Phone
This app allows users to search for nearby restaurants, bars, businesses and stores and also provides photos and—as you'd expect—plenty of opinionated user reviews of venues.
Museums and Art
The importance of New York's role as a center for art and culture cannot be overstated; with hundreds of world-class museums, galleries, concert halls and theaters to choose from, there's something for everyone. These apps can help you navigate and explore some of the best cultural attractions New York City has to offer.
Carnegie Hall
Use with: iPhone, iPad; an Android version is forthcoming
Celebrate the 120th anniversary of the legendary music hall with exclusive content from the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, a Tchaikovsky walking tour and more, with new content added throughout the season.
CultureNOW: Guidebook for the Museum Without Walls
Use with: Android, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Some of New York’s best art isn’t found in the Met or MoMA—or within the walls of any museum, for that matter. This app showcases the vast number of public works of art to be found throughout the City streets. Users can find information on artists and individual pieces, browse photos, take neighborhood tours and listen to podcasts featuring artists, architects, historians and curators.
Explorer: The American Museum of Natural History
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app serves as a personal tour guide through the halls of this world-renowned museum, providing users with customized information and step-by-step directions to exhibitions. Users can also share their discoveries with family and friends via email, Facebook and Twitter. The American Museum of Natural History also offers some exhibition- and collection-specific apps, which you can find at amnh.org.
ILoveNYTheater
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With this app, you can browse current and future Broadway productions, as well as see show info, curtain times and ticket prices. Users can also find hotels and restaurants in the Theatre District.
MoMA
Use with: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android
The next time you're planning a visit to The Museum of Modern Art, use this app to plan the best way to navigate the museum's permanent collection and current exhibitions. You can thumb through thousands of works, take multimedia tours or learn about featured artists. This app also allows users to take a photo via MoMA Snaps to send to family and friends.
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Use with: iPhone, iPad and Android
The museum's first app offers a free mobile app walking tour that expands on its latest exhibition, Emma Lazarus: Poet of Exiles. Explore 19 historic New York sites, from Lower Manhattan to Chelsea, through the eyes of the 19th-century poet who penned the famous lines memorialized at the base of the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . .”
New York Philharmonic
Use with: Android and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With this app, you can listen to the New York Philharmonic's weekly radio broadcast, hosted by Alec Baldwin, and also access podcasts, videos and event information.
Miscellaneous
Best Parking
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
The bestparking.com app hunts down the cheapest and most convenient parking lots and garages near you.
Bookzee
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This helpful app allows book lovers to search for titles and see the branches of the New York Public Library closest to them that stock the works.
iParks NY
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app provides users with a searchable off-line database of the thousands of City, state and private parks throughout New York. Users can filter searches by category (large parks, parks with playgrounds, etc.), browse park events and read about and see photos of NYC's best parks.
Leafsnap
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Leafsnap is perfect for the amateur botanist. The first in a series of electronic field guides from Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian, this app uses recognition software to identify tree species based on photos of their leaves.
Night Light NYC
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Have you ever wondered why the lights atop the Empire State Building change color? This app provides the meaning of each color change, as well as the events they represent.
NYC City Hall
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app is your key to the City. Get the latest New York City news—mayoral announcements, photos and videos—and connect to the NYC 311 app.
NYC Tip
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This simple app allows users to calculate the tip for meals or services and includes standard tipping percentages.
Rama
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
This digital guide allows you to take fascinating history tours of the City on your own schedule. Relive the construction of the Statue of Liberty, explore the Jewish heritage of the Lower East Side and more. Or try one of the free tours—of Union Square, Chinatown and the Brooklyn Bridge.
SitOrSquat
Use with: BlackBerry and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
When nature calls, you'll be glad you have this app. SitOrSquat will pinpoint your exact location at the press of a button—or you can enter an address, intersection or zip code—and the app will find the nearest public restrooms. Users can even see which bathrooms are currently open and which have changing tables, as well as browse ratings to find the cleanest facilities.
Sportaneous
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Find and join a nearby pickup game of all sorts of sports, or propose and start your own. Sportaneous has been featured in publications like The New York Times, WIRED and ESPN The Magazine.
Navigation
Attractions
Dining
Museums and Art
Miscellaneous
Navigation
Making your way through the streets of New York has never been easier thanks to these navigational apps, which provide detailed street and subway maps, transit information, the best corners for hailing a taxi and more.
CabSense NYC
Use with: Android
CabSense NYC analyzes data from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission and other sources to help users find the best nearby street corners to hail a taxi based on the day of the week, the time and their location. The app even comes with a built-in "cab hailer"—simply shake your phone and it will whistle and display a flashing message.
iTrans NYC Subway
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
In a rush? This app finds the fastest route between any two New York City subway stations, taking into account current schedules and service changes. iTrans NYC Subway provides users with detailed maps and walking directions, and even works off-line (or underground).
MyCityWay
Use with: iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry
Find yourself longing for the nearest wireless hotspot, craft beer bar or pharmacy with late-night delivery? MyCityWay combines urban reference apps and app platforms with important City info and its own user community to bring you a super-loaded City navigating tool.
New York City Compass
Use with: iPhone and iPad
This minimal app provides users with one simple but vital piece of information for efficient urban orienteering: whether they're going uptown, downtown or crosstown (east or west).
NYCMate
Use with: Android and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Suburban commuters can now breathe easier; not only does this app contain the official NYC subway map and every neighborhood map and bus maps for each borough, it also comes with maps of the Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and PATH trains.
UpNext 3D Cities
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (Android coming soon)
This fun app gives users a real-time 3-D map of the City, as well as tappable buildings, detailed venue and site information, reviews and personalization options.
WayFinder NYC
Use with: Android
This award-winning augmented reality app helps users identify the subway or PATH train stations that are closest to their current location. Using GPS and your phone's camera, WayFinder locates your position on any street and offers step-by-step directions to the nearest transit stops.
Attractions
Whether you're a lifelong local or a first-time visitor, there's always plenty to discover in NYC. These apps provide key information on the City's top tourist attractions as well as on lesser-known destinations that might not have been on your radar.
Central Park
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
The official mobile guide to one of New York's most popular green spaces, this app from the Central Park Conservancy provides users with a wealth of information about the many attractions and activities in Central Park. View a fully interactive map, read up on the park's history, get the latest news on concerts and other events and much more.
Citysearch
Use with: BlackBerry and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Find out where everything is in your current neighborhood or elsewhere in New York City with this app, which gives users information on restaurants, bars and shopping in NYC. Citysearch also includes local business listings, reviews and ratings and maps.
Explore 9/11
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
The official mobile app of the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan offers information and insight regarding the tragedy. Users can view a timeline of the day’s events or take a walking tour of the area around the World Trade Center, accompanied by audiovisual narration and first-hand reports by first responders, rescue workers, volunteers and others. The app also includes an augmented reality mode, which overlays images taken by survivors and witnesses on your phone’s camera view.
myNav: Central Park
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Considering its size—over 800 acres—it can sometimes be difficult to navigate through the sprawling green spaces of Central Park. Worry not with this app, which provides users with an accurate and interactive map of the Park’s pathways, destinations, amenities and surrounding neighborhoods streets and subway locations, as well as realtime directions to destinations.
New York: Condé Nast Traveller City Guide
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This all-inclusive app has everything you need for a trip to NYC: GPS; hundreds of searchable restaurant, bar, hotel, shopping and attraction listings; off-line maps; and exclusive recommendations.
NYTimes The Scoop NYC
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app from The New York Times provides users with the paper's staff picks on places to go and things to do in the City. Browse a variety of restaurant, café, event and shopping listings, as well as compilations of "New York experiences" and day trips around the five boroughs.
Time Out New York
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Time Out's app provides up-to-date event listings as well as reviews of art exhibitions, concerts, bars and restaurants. Listings can be further broken down into the Critic's Picks and Free & Cheap categories. Users can also save their favorite venues and locations and send listings to their friends.
VanDam NYC ShopSmart
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app features a helpful shopping guide that provides information on hundreds of the City's best stores, in addition to an interactive map and top attractions.
VanDam NYC StreetSmart
Use with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With so many attractions to visit in New York City, planning a trip can sometimes feel daunting. This app provides users with a guide to the top 120 New York sights, complete with clear and detailed maps that let you zoom in quickly and search off-line.
Dining
With some 18,000 restaurants and countless bars located within the five boroughs, New York City has a dining destination suitable for every budget and taste. With these apps, you can browse some of the City's finest eateries, find reviews by critics and locals and more.
New York BlackBook
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Get the lowdown on New York's hottest shops, hotels, restaurants, bars and nightlife with this app, which gives users information on noteworthy venues nearest them at any given time. BlackBook also provides exclusive discounts, deals and VIP access at certain spots.
OpenTable
Use with: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Nokia, Palm webOS and Windows Phone
The perfect app for the foodie on the go, OpenTable allows users to search for restaurants, see menus and reviews and make reservations. Users can also earn Dining Rewards Points redeemable for "Dining Cheques" good at any restaurant on OpenTable.
Real Pizza of New York
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
New York City is truly a great pizza town, so you don't want to waste time filling up on mediocre slices. This app provides recommendations for New York pizzerias that would get the stamp of approval from discerning local pie aficionados. Real Pizza of New York also includes the history of select pizzerias as well as all the information you need to go on self-guided pizza tours.
Tweat.it
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Hunt down your favorite gourmet food truck with this easy app that offers a real-time food-truck map. It follows vendors’ tweets to mark their locations and share the day's specials, secret discounts and more.
Urbanspoon
Use with: Android, BlackBerry and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With this app, you can search for and browse nearby restaurants and read ratings and reviews from newspapers, bloggers and other diners. Still can't decide where to eat? Depending on the type of mobile device you own, just shake your phone or press the app's "spin" button and the Urbanspoon slot machine will choose for you.
Yelp
Use with: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Palm Pre and Windows Phone
This app allows users to search for nearby restaurants, bars, businesses and stores and also provides photos and—as you'd expect—plenty of opinionated user reviews of venues.
Museums and Art
The importance of New York's role as a center for art and culture cannot be overstated; with hundreds of world-class museums, galleries, concert halls and theaters to choose from, there's something for everyone. These apps can help you navigate and explore some of the best cultural attractions New York City has to offer.
Carnegie Hall
Use with: iPhone, iPad; an Android version is forthcoming
Celebrate the 120th anniversary of the legendary music hall with exclusive content from the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, a Tchaikovsky walking tour and more, with new content added throughout the season.
CultureNOW: Guidebook for the Museum Without Walls
Use with: Android, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Some of New York’s best art isn’t found in the Met or MoMA—or within the walls of any museum, for that matter. This app showcases the vast number of public works of art to be found throughout the City streets. Users can find information on artists and individual pieces, browse photos, take neighborhood tours and listen to podcasts featuring artists, architects, historians and curators.
Explorer: The American Museum of Natural History
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app serves as a personal tour guide through the halls of this world-renowned museum, providing users with customized information and step-by-step directions to exhibitions. Users can also share their discoveries with family and friends via email, Facebook and Twitter. The American Museum of Natural History also offers some exhibition- and collection-specific apps, which you can find at amnh.org.
ILoveNYTheater
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With this app, you can browse current and future Broadway productions, as well as see show info, curtain times and ticket prices. Users can also find hotels and restaurants in the Theatre District.
MoMA
Use with: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android
The next time you're planning a visit to The Museum of Modern Art, use this app to plan the best way to navigate the museum's permanent collection and current exhibitions. You can thumb through thousands of works, take multimedia tours or learn about featured artists. This app also allows users to take a photo via MoMA Snaps to send to family and friends.
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Use with: iPhone, iPad and Android
The museum's first app offers a free mobile app walking tour that expands on its latest exhibition, Emma Lazarus: Poet of Exiles. Explore 19 historic New York sites, from Lower Manhattan to Chelsea, through the eyes of the 19th-century poet who penned the famous lines memorialized at the base of the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . .”
New York Philharmonic
Use with: Android and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
With this app, you can listen to the New York Philharmonic's weekly radio broadcast, hosted by Alec Baldwin, and also access podcasts, videos and event information.
Miscellaneous
Best Parking
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
The bestparking.com app hunts down the cheapest and most convenient parking lots and garages near you.
Bookzee
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This helpful app allows book lovers to search for titles and see the branches of the New York Public Library closest to them that stock the works.
iParks NY
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app provides users with a searchable off-line database of the thousands of City, state and private parks throughout New York. Users can filter searches by category (large parks, parks with playgrounds, etc.), browse park events and read about and see photos of NYC's best parks.
Leafsnap
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Leafsnap is perfect for the amateur botanist. The first in a series of electronic field guides from Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian, this app uses recognition software to identify tree species based on photos of their leaves.
Night Light NYC
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Have you ever wondered why the lights atop the Empire State Building change color? This app provides the meaning of each color change, as well as the events they represent.
NYC City Hall
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This app is your key to the City. Get the latest New York City news—mayoral announcements, photos and videos—and connect to the NYC 311 app.
NYC Tip
Use with: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
This simple app allows users to calculate the tip for meals or services and includes standard tipping percentages.
Rama
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
This digital guide allows you to take fascinating history tours of the City on your own schedule. Relive the construction of the Statue of Liberty, explore the Jewish heritage of the Lower East Side and more. Or try one of the free tours—of Union Square, Chinatown and the Brooklyn Bridge.
SitOrSquat
Use with: BlackBerry and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
When nature calls, you'll be glad you have this app. SitOrSquat will pinpoint your exact location at the press of a button—or you can enter an address, intersection or zip code—and the app will find the nearest public restrooms. Users can even see which bathrooms are currently open and which have changing tables, as well as browse ratings to find the cleanest facilities.
Sportaneous
Use with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Find and join a nearby pickup game of all sorts of sports, or propose and start your own. Sportaneous has been featured in publications like The New York Times, WIRED and ESPN The Magazine.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The New York City Marathon and what it means to us and New York City
The New York City marathon is one of our favorite events and certainly among the busiest weekends of the year, attracting over 35, 000 athletes, 12, 000 volunteers and 2 million spectators. The 2011 New York City Marathon will take place on November 6, 2011, as per tradition (the first Sunday in November).
It was first run in 1970 in Central Park and featured just 126 runners, 55 of whom completed the race. The first winner Gary Muhrcke, was incidentally a former boss of the innkeeper's (a former runner himself), back in the 1990s when he worked at one of Gary's much touted Super Runners Shops to get himself through college.
The event now begins in Staten Island, and runners travel throughout all five boroughs of New York City before reaching the finish line in Central Park. The first wheelchair division in the New York City Marathon was in 2000. It is now one of the most competitive wheelchair marathons in the world. The event will be aired live on NBC from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. We wish all participants the very best of luck.
In the meantime we still have two suites available for this great event. Book them while you can or suffer the consequences of inflated hotel prices.
http://www.nycmarathon.org/
It was first run in 1970 in Central Park and featured just 126 runners, 55 of whom completed the race. The first winner Gary Muhrcke, was incidentally a former boss of the innkeeper's (a former runner himself), back in the 1990s when he worked at one of Gary's much touted Super Runners Shops to get himself through college.
The event now begins in Staten Island, and runners travel throughout all five boroughs of New York City before reaching the finish line in Central Park. The first wheelchair division in the New York City Marathon was in 2000. It is now one of the most competitive wheelchair marathons in the world. The event will be aired live on NBC from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. We wish all participants the very best of luck.
In the meantime we still have two suites available for this great event. Book them while you can or suffer the consequences of inflated hotel prices.
http://www.nycmarathon.org/
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