Live Webcams in NYC

Thanks to Jazz Hostels (again,) who keep a really great blog of interesting NY things going, posted this list of live webcams from all around the city and different monuments.

I could spend all day people watching and pretending I'm sitting in a Starbucks in the city instead of sitting behind my desk in Virginia.

"5 Free Things to do in NYC in November" via Jazz Hostels

Check out these "5 Free Things to do in NYC in November" over on Jazz Hostel's website. Not only are the Jazz Hostels my best personal experience when staying at a hostel in NYC (so far,) but they are great at keeping their website updated with current NYC tourist events and information for people interested in visiting or already planning a trip. So go book a bed for yourself and a friend and go enjoy NYC this November! It's a beautiful time of year! (And they're starting to put up Christmas decorations!! Go see those famous window displays and that huge tree in the Rockefeller Center!)

"All of Broadway"

 I saw this time lapse video today on Gothamist, and just had to share. This biker travels the entire 13 mile stretch of Broadway from the Bronx to Bowling Green (very southern tip of Manhattan.) Check it out; it's really awesome to see all of the landmarks he passes, including "That Guy," (personally my favorite part,) and it has a great soundtrack too.

Remember my pathetically-drawn map of the way the roads work in Manhattan? Virtually ride down it now...

3 Day Trip to NYC for $150 per person

I just have to share my latest budget for an upcoming trip to NYC!

In a few weekends my husband, another couple who are good friends with us, and I will be taking off to NYC for a short but fun-filled weekend. We're all on a budget for this trip, so we're trying to do this all as cheaply as possible - and it is very possible! We've decided to leave town at about 5am and catch an early morning bus out of Washington DC on the Megabus and arrive in NYC at around 2pm (we have a 3 1/2 hour drive to get to DC.) Wanting to stay in a hostel but also somewhere south of Midtown, I found Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel of NY, which is perfectly located in the Lower East Side. Located on Bowery at 2nd Street, we'll be just a few blocks north of SoHo, a few blocks east of Washington Square Park, and close to 2 great subway lines. I'll lay out our budget for you below:

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2 Rooms for 2 nights at the Bowery Whitehouse Hotel (including taxes) = $345.99 total / $86.50 per person
4 DC > NYC Megabus Tickets = $33 total / $8.25 per person
4 NYC > DC Megabus Tickets = $32 total / $8 per person
4 Roundtrip Metro card fares in DC, Huntington Station >/< Union Station = $30.40 total / $7.60 per person*
Parking at Huntington Station in DC = $4.50 total / $1.13 per person
4 7-Day Unlimited Subway Passes = $116 / $29 per person
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Total for 4: $561.89
Total per person: $140.48

*We decided we're going to go ahead and buy the 7-day unlimited subway passes for while we're there, which are $29 each. If you think about it - at $2.50 per ride - 10 rides will cost you $25. Better to have the unlimited and not need it than have to keep refilling a card with the possibility of spending over $29. We expect to do a lot of running around town since this is our friends' first time to New York.

Of course, I didn't factor in the gas money that it will take to get us to DC and back; we're expecting with the great gas mileage on our friends' car we can get there and back for about $50 (probably less,) which is about $25 a couple, or about $12.50 per person.

This also does not include food, but we're going to take it easy and not go out for any elaborate meals. Slices of or a shared pizza work great for an affordable evening meal, as well as visits to pop-in shops like the Creperie or Pommes Frites for small lunches or afternoon snacks. Throw in a couple of stops at diners and delis and we have a cheap weekend of food!