at 
O T H E R R E C R E A T I O N A L S P O R T S 4 0 3
and that several are easily accessible by subway: the Rockaways, by the A train; Orchard Beach, in Pelham Bay Park at the terminus of the 6 Line; Coney Island, by the B, D, F, or N; and Brighton Beach itself, by the D or Q. (Surfers, note: There’s a section of the Rockaways set aside year-round for surfing only.)
Only a few hotels have swimming pools—The Peninsula, Hotel Gansevoort, and Soho House among them—so if lapping is your thing, check into Chelsea Piers (see page 398) or
another of those we-do-it-bigger sports facilities, with an Olympicsize (50-meter) pool, indoor and outdoor tracks, a cutting-edge gym, etc. A day pass ($10 to $35) gets you into both the pool and the gym, but access to the pool for nonmembers is limited (York Avenue at 90th Street; # 212-369-8890; www.asphaltgreen.org).
If tennis is your racquet, the city parks department operates many courts in every borough that you can use for $7 an hour (two hours for doubles), but you need a permit (# 212-360-8133; www.nycgov parks.org; click on “Permits & Services”), and you have to sign up on a first-come, first-served basis. Among the nicest are the 26 clay and 4 asphalt courts in Central Park, and the 10 clay and 10 hard at Riverside Park. The rather more expensive ($90 an hour for nonmembers) Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club has five courts on the roof—there’s a bubble in bad weather—at 450 West 43rd Street; # 212-594-0554; www.manhattanplazaracquetclub.com).
Horseback riding through Central Park is legendary, but, unfortu-
nately, the old days of riding straight over from an Upper West Side stable are over. However, the Riverdale Equestrian Center at
in the Bronx will make arrange-
ments to bring your mount to the North Meadow unofficial T I P Recreation Center and guide you on the bridle
path. Trail rides cost $100 per person per hour; contact the center at # 914-633-0303 or go to www.riverdaleriding.com. There are also other outer-borough trails; for information on these, go to www.nycgov.parks.org/facilities/horseback.
You’ll see in Central Park— it’s called Rat Rock, and it’s near Fifth Avenue around 62nd Street—but if you want something tougher, drop $15 at the
Club (482 West 43rd Street, near Tenth Avenue;
# 212-563-7001; www.mphc.com), or check the gyms mentioned previously.
and volleyball are visible all over town, but the competition is really tough, especially when it comes to B-ball:
just watch a few minutes outside the cages at West Fourth and Sixth Avenue near famous as the original stomping
4 0 4 P A R T 9 E X E R C I S E A N D R E C R E A T I O N
grounds of Dr. J. There are more than a dozen golf courses in the city, but if you wish to waste most of a day in New York leaning over a little white ball, you’re on your own.
Kayakers should check out Manhattan Kayak Company at Pier 66 (# 212-924-1788; www.manhattankayak.com), New York Kayak Company at Pier 40 (# 800-KAYAK99; www.nykayak.com); or the at Pier 26 (# 646-613-0375 or 646-613-0375; www.downtownboathouse.org); they’ll take you “around town” in a
whole new fashion.
The Hudson River Park Trust, which maintains the entire stretch of the West Side from the tip of the Battery up to 59th Street as a park, allows fishing at several places, including the Battery; Pier 46, at Charles Street in the West Village; and Pier 96, at 56th Street. In fact, during the summer, it provides free fishing poles, reels, bait, and even a lesson for participants of all ages; call # 212-627-2020 or visit www.hudsonriverpark.org.
There is one bowling alley in the Port Authority Bus Terminal (550 Ninth Avenue, between West 40th and 41st streets; # 212-268-6909; www.leisuretimebowl.com) and one near Union Square, the retrofunky Bowlmor Lanes (110 University Place, between East 12th and 13th streets; # 212-255-8188; www.bowlmor.com).
But for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, make like the man on the flying trapeze: Trapeze School New York is on top of Pier 40, at the end of Houston Street (with views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the river). Call # 212-242-TSNY or go to newyork.trapezeschool.com.
SPECTATOR SPORTS
N E W YO R K ’ S P RO S P O RT S T E A M S are legendary and seemingly legion; it’s no wonder that Madison Square Garden is a cable network as well as a venue. However, this is one time when “New York” means all five boroughs, and more—namely, New Jersey and Long Island.
Both NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, play “at home” in New Jersey, at the new $800 million, 82,500-seat Mead- which has been carefully constructed to give them equal status. (The extravagant interior light scheme will change colors
depending on which team is playing, turning green for the Jets and blue for the Giants.) But tickets are almost impossible to get unless you’re visiting friends with connections (or you’re willing to pay a high price to a scalper). However, if you feel like making a stab at it, you can call the Meadowlands box office at # 201-935-3900 or visit www.meadowlands.com. You can also see if there are any odd seats left with Ticketmaster at # 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster
.com, or you can check the newspaper classified ads or StubHub!
S P E C T A T O R S P O R T S 4 0 5
(# 866-788-2482; www.stubhub.com) for tickets or ticket-resale packagers. And if you do score a ticket—or one for a concert or other special event expected to draw at least 50,000 fans—you can take advantage of the new Meadowlands station on the NJ Transit rail system, which runs out of Penn Station on event days, with shuttle-bus service for smaller events: # 973-275-5555 or www.njtransit.com.
The New York Red Bulls (formerly the MetroStars) have departed the Meadowlands for a huge, state-of-the-art facility in nearby Harrison, New Jersey, which is accessible by public transit from Manhattan (the PATH train from World Trade Center station) as well as Hoboken and Newark. For tickets, go to redbull.newyork.mlsnet.com.
One of the region’s two NBA teams, the New Jersey Nets, is at home at the Meadowlands’ Izod Center, though there is a proposal to relocate the team to Brooklyn (# 201-935-8500; www.njnets.com).
One of the three metro-area NHL teams, the
has already moved into new digs at the Newark Prudential Center (# 973-757-6000; www.newjerseydevils.com). Another NHL team, the New York Islanders, is actually in New York—at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum—but east of New York City in Uniondale, and it takes both the Long Island Rail Road (to Uniondale) and then a bus (N70, 71, or 72) to get there, so only fanatics need apply (# 516-501- 6700; islanders.nhl.com). On the other hand, the Islanders did win four straight Stanley Cup titles in the 1980s.
But you don’t have to leave town to score. If you’ve never seen baseball live, you’ve never seen baseball. (And you’ll never see baseball fans the way you’ll see them in New York, for good or evil.) Yankee Stadium—the fancy new 52,000-seat replacement for the House that Ruth Built—is in the Bronx; hence the team nickname “Bronx Bombers.” It’s an easy subway ride to the 161st Street– Yankee Stadium station. (Hint: Transfer to the D line at Columbus Circle or 125th Street, because it’s an express during peak times.) Do not take a taxi; it’s not only about 20 times more expensive, but it might also take you 5 times longer to get there. Besides, you’d miss
an essential part of the experience: joining the |
unofficial T I P |
fan crowd. You can also take a direct Metro- |
|
North shuttle from Grand Central Station to the |
One-hour tours of Yan- |
new Yankees–East 153rd Street Station. (There |
kee Stadium are offered |
will be a hotel on-site, and parking, but at $25 |
at midday most days dur- |
a space . . . ) Call the box office at # 718-293- |
ing the season, though if |
6000 or Ticketmaster at # 212-307-7171, or |
the team is in town the |
visit www.yankees.com. Get there early enough |
locker rooms will not be |
to wander around and check out the plaques |
open; for timed tickets |
beyond the outfield saluting Mickey Mantle, |
and info, go to www |
Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and |
.yankees.com. |
4 0 6 P A R T 9 E X E R C I S E A N D R E C R E A T I O N
others. (Some of these memorials used to be actually in play, but cooler heads prevailed.)
The New York Mets’ new stadium, Citi Field, was constructed right alongside the Mets’ old Shea Stadium and has the same easy subway access. (Its design partly echoes the Dodgers’ old Ebbets Field, and a statue of the number “42” inside the entrance honors Brooklyn Dodgers great Jackie Robinson, who wore that number and who in 1947 broke the color barrier in major-league baseball.) Citi Field is in Queens, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Take the 7 line subway (you can get it from Grand Central or 42nd Street–Times Square, among other stops) right to the Mets–Willetts Point Station; or take an 18-minute ride on the Long Island Rail Road from Penn Station. You can quite possibly walk up and get tickets, but it might be better to call the stadium box office at # 718-507-8499 or visit www.mets.com.
Both the NHL New York Rangers and the NBA New York Knicks call Madison Square Garden home. Unfortunately for tourists, they both have strong followings, so tickets are problematic. Call # 212- 465-6000 for Rangers info, # 212-465-6741 for the Knicks, or Ticketmaster at # 212-307-7171 (www.ticketmaster.com), or see rangers
.nhl.com or www.knicks.com.
You can also catch women’s pro-basketball games; the
York Liberty also tends the Garden (# 212-564-9622; www.wnba
.com/liberty). So do the Golden Gloves boxing cards in January and February and college basketball’s National Invitation Tournament in March and sometimes early April. For any of these events, contact the Garden box office (# 212-465-6741; www.thegarden.com) or Ticketmaster (# 212-307-7171; www.ticketmaster.com).
Horse racing has a long and aristocratic tradition in New York, and though the crowds may be more democratic these days, the thoroughbred bloodlines are as blue as ever. You can take the subway (Far Rockaway A) to Aqueduct Race Track in Queens from mid-October to May (# 718-641-4700; www.nyra.com) or the Long Island Rail Road’s Belmont Special from Penn Station to Belmont Park (# 516- 488-6000; www.nyra.com/Belmont) from May through July and again from Labor Day to mid-October. (In between, the very old-style racing circuit moves upstate to hallowed Saratoga Springs.) The Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of the Triple Crown, is run the first or second Saturday in June.
P A R T T E N
E N T E R T A I N M E N T and N I G H T L I F E
LIGHTS, TICKETS, ACTION . . .
I T ’ S H A R D TO B E AT T H E S C O P E A N D B R E A D T H of entertain-
ment options in NYC. If you haven’t already figured it out, there are countless events, free or otherwise, occurring every single day and night. Modern, classical, tap, jazz, international, and experimental dance; jazz, classical, rock, blues, alternative, and hip-hop music; light and dramatic opera; performance art; street busking; and of course theater—legitimate, semi-legitimate, and comedy—are presented in all areas and many venues. Musicians perform in the subway, on the sidewalk, and in the parks.
So where to start? It helps to break down the options. Consider the area of town where you’re staying (or would like to visit), your budget, the type of entertainment that tickles you, how late you’re prepared to stay out, and, obviously, ticket availability. If you’re treating the whole family, you also need to consider the suitability of the subject matter, the length of the performance, any fright factors, and so on. The annual “home stand” of the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center is a major draw, but it’s very up-close and personal, so if anybody in the party has coulraphobia—the infamous fear of clowns—you’ll regret the investment.
Once you’ve weighed these factors, you can peruse the listings and eliminate or focus on some of the possibilities. For the latest information, check either the Web sites or the papers, including Time Out
(newyork.timeout.com), the Village Voice (www.villagevoice.com), the online arts and culture L Magazine (www.thelmagazine.com), the New Yorker (www.newyorker.com), and New York magazine (www.nymag
.com). The New York Times (www.nytimes.com) has an extensive Arts & Leisure section, which expands over the weekend for some of the latest previews and reviews. (At press time, the Times was considering charging for online content, but casual readers would likely be able to
4 0 8 P A R T 1 0 E N T E R T A I N M E N T A N D N I G H T L I F E
sample it before subscribing, so you could still check the marquees.) The latter part of this chapter profiles more than 40 club and bar options that can be enjoyed either before or after your chosen diversion, or can even be the main entertainment of the night.
Finally, don’t underestimate the value of spontaneity. If you can’t get tickets to one thing, you might end up going to something you like even better. Ask people for suggestions, and by “people” we mean the hotel concierge, the Times Square restaurants’ staffs (they hear a lot of post-theater chatter), and the folks next to you in the TKTS line; they may already have seen a show you’re wondering about. Almost everything here is at a pro level, so it’s a good place to try out a genre you know nothing about. Who knows? You might turn out to be the first opera buff on your block.
T I C K E T S T H E E A S Y W A Y
S U R E , T H E R E ’ S A C E RTA I N C AC H E T to having opening-night seats
for a big performance. But often with big-time events, such seats are taken up by the press, luminaries, and those with connections and/ or deep pockets—not to mention an expensive wardrobe. Here are some useful numbers and Web sites, and ways you can avoid going bankrupt in the process of pursuing hot tickets.
If you decide to buy tickets in advance, you’ll probably deal with one of the two main ticket-handling agencies for New York theatrical, sports, and concert events: Ticketmaster (# 800-745-3000, 866-448-7849, or 212-307-7171; www.ticketmaster.com) or Telecharge (# 800-432-7250 or 212-239-6200; www.telecharge.com). The individual performing-arts companies (Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, etc.) and such venues as Carnegie Hall and New York City Center sell tickets to their performances online (see “The Big Tickets,” page 412).
If you have an American Express gold, platinum, or Centurion card, call # 800-448-8457 or visit www.americanexpress.com to see if any special promotional seats are available (this usually applies only to hot new shows).
There are plenty of ticket resellers that are sort of corporate scalpers; they “find” tickets to sold-out shows either by buying in bulk or buying tickets already sold by the box office. (Look under “Tickets” in the Yellow Pages, or do a Web search.) This is a sort of gray market: all the tickets are guaranteed authentic, but you may be paying extra, and you will certainly face handling charges. And these days, the ticket agencies and the resellers are getting hard to tell apart: eBay owns StubHub!, for instance, and Ticketmaster owns TicketsNow.
Still, if money’s no object, if you don’t have the patience or leisure to deal with the big, automated phone-charge networks yourself, or if time is at a premium, they are easy and reliable sources. Among the more reputable firms are Prestige Entertainment (# 800-243-8849; www
.prestigeentertainment.com) and Manhattan Entertainment (# 212-
L I G H T S , T I C K E T S , A C T I O N . . . 4 0 9
T I C K E T S T H E E C O N O M Y W A Y
I T A I N ’ T C H E A P P U T T I N ’ O N A S H OW, as those old movies used
to point out, and ticket prices reflect the costs. Whether the venue is
Off-Off-Broadway or the Metropolitan Opera House, salaries and rent need to be paid; costumes, lights, and props need to be rented, borrowed, made, and/or insured; and publicity needs to be generated. Chances are that a ticket for an Off-Off-Broadway production won’t cost more than $20 and will more likely be $5 to $12. However, the bigger the event, the more expensive, and tickets for some events can be, easily, upwards of $100 before a handling or scalping fee is even added. An average Broadway or Lincoln Center ticket costs about $80, though in recent years ticket prices have unabashedly risen to at least twice that. But that shouldn’t put you off one of the great adventures of New York; theater deals do exist.
The first place to start is TKTS (www.tdf.org), a branch of the
Theatre Development Fund, which has outlets in Times Square, South and This nonprofit arts organization has persuaded most of the major Broadway and Off-Broadway
venues to offer same-day tickets (in some cases, next-day) to their shows for 25% to 50% off, plus a $4 surcharge; the only trick is that you have to go in person and take your chances on getting into a show you want to see.
Or another. The best idea is to have three alternatives, in order of preference, already in your head; that way, if your first choice is sold out when you finally make it up to the sales window, and there are only obstructed or nosebleed seats for your second choice, you’ll still have something else to go for.
Show up well in advance. TKTS is no secret to residents or tourists, and even though the official lines don’t form until an hour before the windows open, the formidable informal queues, especially at the Times Square booth, coagulate at least an hour before that.
The main TKTS outlet is at the north end of the Times Square area at 47th and Broadway, a row of ticket windows beneath a fabulous underlit red amphitheater of scene-watching bleachers in the traffic island officially called Duffy Square. The shows for which tickets are available that day are listed on electronic boards at either side of the kiosk; it’s usually lit at least an hour early, or you can study it while in line.
Windows at the Times Square location open at 3 p.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. (which just gives you time to sprint for the theater door) Monday and Wednesday through Saturday; open at 2 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday; and open from 3 p.m. until a half hour before curtain time on Sunday. These are all sales times for evening performances only; for matinee performances, you must be in line between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday, and between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday. (Tickets for evening shows are not
4 1 0 P A R T 1 0 E N T E R T A I N M E N T A N D N I G H T L I F E
unofficial T I P |
sold during the matinee sales hours, and vice |
You can’t buy musical |
versa.) |
tickets at the drama |
You should also be aware that there are two |
window, so if your top |
separate queues at the Times Square TKTS, |
two choices are a Shake- |
one (the longer one, with more ticket windows) |
speare play and Chicago, |
that sells tickets to musicals, and another, on |
you’d best split up, get |
the west side of the steps, that handles only |
into both lines, and keep |
nonmusical plays. |
in touch by cell phone. |
The South Street Seaport TKTS outlet is at |
|
John and Front streets. Hours are 11 a.m. to |
6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. (The booth has been open on Sundays only during warm months.) At this location, matinee tickets are sold the day before rather than the day of: Wednesday matinee tickets are sold on Tuesday, Saturday matinee tickets on Friday, and Sunday matinee tickets on Saturday.
The newest TKTS booth is at MetroTech Center in Brooklyn, at Jay Street and Myrtle Avenue. It’s accessible by several subway lines and only a block or so from the Brooklyn Marriott, a popular convention site. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. except 3 to 3:30. As at South Street Seaport, matinee tickets are sold the day before.
Although until recently TKTS required cash or traveler’s checks, it now accepts credit cards as well its own gift certificates, available in $25, $50, and $100 denominations—great stocking stuffers for theater fans. Gift certificates are available at the booths; at # 212- 912-9770, ext. 374; or at www.tdf.org.
The Theatre Development Fund also offers discount voucher packages—currently four for $36—for smaller Off-Off-Broadway and alternative venues; again, go to www.tdf.org. (As TDF reminds you, it’s important to call the theater and make sure the vouchers are good on that night.)
While you’re standing in line—actually, before you even get there— you are likely to see young actors and actresses,
unofficial T I P |
often in costume, touting various shows and |
A few shows (at press |
handing out discount coupons. (Chicago and |
time, these included |
Cabaret hawkers in particular are famous for |
Hair, Rock of Ages, and In |
their outfits, as were the performers of both |
the Heights) have lotter- |
sexes wearing Princess Leia–style honey-bun |
ies for tickets that are |
wigs while promoting Carrie Fisher’s Wishful |
discounted or in special |
Drinking.) If you are interested in one of the |
seating areas; call indi- |
longer-running shows rather than a new hit |
vidual theater box offices |
or don’t care so much which show you see, |
for information. |
look for discount coupons (some coupons are |
|
known as “twofers,” that is, two for one) at the |
various NYC & Company branches and stalls (www.nycgo.com). You’ll also hear plenty of offers from the street sellers who wan-
der up and down outside the TKTS lines offering tickets to popular
L I G H T S , T I C K E T S , A C T I O N . . . 4 1 1
shows, including some that aren’t on the TKTS marquee. These are not “cast members,” but the more old-fashioned sort of semiscalpers. The street sellers will be out as soon as potential buyers hit Times Square—that is, by about 11 a.m.
This is something of a gamble; although in our experience these have been legitimate tickets, there have been instances when people have shown up at the theater with computer-generated fakes or even tickets that had been reported lost, replaced by the theater, and then resold either online or on the street. In any case, if the person selling won’t show you an ID, walk. And you need to be quite sure you understand whether the seat is partly obscured, right up front (if you tend to get a crick in your neck) or way in the back (if you have any hearing problems). If you do know where the seat is, it can be fine; as an experiment, Eve bought a ticket to Hair that was slightly obscured but in the second row and found herself the recipient of two flowers, three kisses, a guitar pick, and an invitation (happily accepted) to
join the onstage dance party.
Matinees are generally less expensive than eve- unofficial T I P ning performances, although tickets to Wednesday
matinees are harder to come by because it’s a big locals day; it was always popular with Manhattan ladies who lunched before the show, and later became so with senior citizens because matinees are less expensive and the city’s less frantic than over the weekend. You’re also more likely to score a ticket if you can go at an off-peak time, such as Monday (though many theaters are dark then), Tuesday (another day the principals might choose to rest), or after the holidays.
More strategies: Go directly to the box office of the show you want to see with cash or a credit card and avoid the handling charge; this also frequently allows you to look at a seating chart and pick the best ticket available. There might even be some really good tickets turned in by patrons who could not use them: New Yorkers, having such a long theatrical tradition, are good about that.
Broadway shows, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall have nightly cancellation lines that form about 90 minutes before the curtain rises. It’s also common for theaters (and sports venues as well) to release their own unneeded house seats at the end of the afternoon. Such tickets, if available, are released shortly before curtain and are a real coup to acquire. (You may even luck into a free ticket, if a kind soul approaches you in line to offer an extra one.) Obviously there’s no guarantee of getting a seat by depending on the kindness of strangers, but what’s to lose but another few minutes?
Other ways to see a show on the cheap include standing-room- only (SRO) tickets, discounted student prices (you’ll need your ID, of course), and what are now called “rush” tickets (discounted