things to do in New York City- TRL TICKETS, BROADWAY TICKETS, TELEVISION SHOW TICKETS

New York City is one place you can spend a week in and find yourself wanting more. Here are some interesting things to do and see.

The least expensive way to get from the airport into NYC is using the SUper Shuttle. You should contact them and arrange pick up prior to leaving for New York:

http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/nyc.htm

Take advantage of the New York City official website : http://www.nyc.gov Click on visitors information. You can find virtually any and all info on what to do in New York City on that website.

The Subway System in New York can get you virtually anywhere you want to go. Review the routs online, and ask for a map at any manned subway booth - it is really easy to get around if you use the maps. There are many buses in New York City as well, but the buses can seem exceedingly slow. Bus maps are available online as well.

A Metro Card will allow you to use the buses and subways. There are many types of cards available, as well as an unlimited one day pass. Read about them here: http://mta.info/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm#unlimited

There are two companies in New York City that offer Hop On Hop Off Double Decker Bus tours. These are tours where you can get on and off the buses as various locations to take advantage of sightseeing in many area of New York City.

City Sights NY: www.citysightsny.com Offers Downtown, Uptown & Night Tours.

Gray Line Bus Tours: http://www.coachusa.com/newyorksightseeing/ Offers uptown, downtown, Brooklyn, night tours and combination tours. On to the many classic "must sees" of New York:

The Empire State Building: http://www.esbny.com/index2.cfm Take advantage of the Sky Ride, a breathtaking view of New York City as seen through a helicopter.

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - http://www.circlelinedowntown.com/ Buy tickets online in advance to guarantee you will get in to visit the Statue. While tickets can be purchased at the Ferry itself, only a limited number of tickets are given out daily to visitors who want to access the inside of the Statue. If you purchase your tickets in advance, you will guarantee entrance to the Statue. Then take the ferry to Ellis Island for a tour of the place where millions of immigrants arrive in the U.S.

While you are on the website for tickets, you can also take a look at the Circle Line Ferry schedule for other areas - you can get a great "cruise" around Manhattan Island and see many interesting areas.

Take a look at Grand Central Station: http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/pages/default.aspx

New York is home to many interesting museums - I can personally recommend many of the Art Museums as well as the Museum of Television and Radio, the Intrepid Museum and the Museum of Natural History: http://www.amnh.org/ http://www.nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?epi_menuItemID=5344998baa00eff6a62fa24601c789a0&epi_menuID=b89ffdd82b13aff6a62fa24601c789a0&epi_baseMenuID=27579af732d48f86a62fa24601c789a0

No trip to New York is complete without visiting Times Square for tickets to a show! In the middle of Times Square is the famous TKTS booth, where you can purchase half price tickets for shows the day of the show. Read about the TKTS booth here: http://www.tdf.org/tkts/

If you don't see the shows you like available at the TKTS booth (many of the most popular shows aren't available at the Booth) on the day of the show, got o the theater box office - unsold tickets may be available.

If you know in advance what you'd like to see, go to Broadway.com to see if tickets are available in advance of arriving in New York: http://www.broadway.com/

Don't forget off Broadway Shows as well - great family shows are "Stomp" and "The Blue Man Group".

Take a tour of the South Street Seaport. Take a subway to the Bronx Zoo or Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium for a game. Don't miss Chinatown or Little Italy. Visit Soho. Go to Central Park, you can spend days there., There is also a small zoo in Central Park, the Central Park Zoo. Take a horse and buddy ride through and around the park.

Many talk shows are taped in New York City with free tickets available. Most of them you do need to request well in advance of your arrival, however, many shows have stand by lines detailed on their websites with info on how to obtain them. Here is a partial list of show tapings - you can go online and see if tickets are available for many (please note - some shows, such as The People's Court, don't tape in the summer):

Live with Regis & Kelly: http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/regisandkelly/showinfo/tickets.html

The Late Show with David Letterman: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/show_info/ls_show_info_get_ticket.shtml

Late Night with Conan O'Brien: http://www.nbc.com/nbc/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/tickets/

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/tickets/tickets.jhtml

Saturday Night Live: e:mail - snltickets@nbc.com

The People's Court: Call 1-888-780-8587

Montel Williams: http://www.montelshow.com/misc/tickets

The View: http://abc.go.com/daytime/theview/tickets.html

Good Morning America: http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=144752 or Come by weekday mornings from 7am to 9am to see Diane Sawyer. Robin Roberts and Charles Gibson. (You will usually be seen outside the studio - e-mail for tickets inside)

The Today Show: The Today Show's studio is on the ground floor at the corner of 49th Street and Rockefeller Center. Inside, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer tell the country what's going on; outside a crowd of people waves signs and hopes to get on television. The show airs Monday--Friday 7am--10am. If you want a good spot, get there pre-dawn, try to stand toward the southeast corner (directly behind the anchor desk) and carry a sign that says something goofy enough to be noticed.

The Early Show: The ground-level set, located in the General Motors Building at Trump International Plaza next to FAO Schwarz, is visible to passersby through huge glass windows. Join Dave Price on the plaza weekdays at 8 and 8:30 as he does the weather forecast. CBS News also films other national and local news broadcasts here. Early Show audience services: 212/975-7636.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire: http://www.millionairetv.com/tickets.html

Total Request Live: (1550 Broadway, bet. 44th and 45th Sts., 212/258-8000) -- Young visitors gather at 3:30pm weekdays outside MTV's studios hoping to catch a glimpse of Total Request Live host Carson Daly. Although part of the studio faces the street, it's on the second floor, so street-level fans can't see too much. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who want to be part of the studio audience can call the TRL audience hotline at 212/398-8549 or try for standby tickets starting at 2pm by lining up at 44th St. and Broadway.

Emeril Live: A ticket lottery is held at least once a year. Emeril Live will notify fans of entry dates through the Food Network newletter and on www.foodnetwork.com

New York City is a place full of yearwide events ? check out this calendar for events to take advantage of during your stay: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?epi_menuItemID=bd175b51da17d74f472ae1852f8089a0&epi_menuID=bd175b51da17d74f472ae1852f8089a0&epi_baseMenuID=27579af732d48f86a62fa24601c789a0

The rebuilding of Ground Zero is ongoing. Travel down to the area to see the massive effort at rebuilding this area.

New York City if for kids ? check this portal to see many of the things available for kids: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?epi_menuItemID=40e9c8417fc1a007a62fa24601c789a0&epi_menuID=e2a1b26d9be35ff6a62fa24601c789a0&epi_baseMenuID=27579af732d48f86a62fa24601c789a0

New York City is home to two of the most famous toy stores in the world ?

FAO Schwarz, located at 767 Fifth Avenue (Fifth Avenue at 58th Street) New York, NY 10153 212-644-9400 ext. 4242 Hours: Mon - Sat: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sun: 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Take a Ferris Wheel ride in the largest Toys R Us in Times Square ? see their huge Lego display and the roaring dinosaur. Located at 44th and Broadway.

While you are in Time Square, have your picture taken with the Naked Cowboy, a sight you won?t soon forget. (P.S. ? He?s not naked but is in his undies even when it?s cold and he?s not a real cowboy either!)

Visit Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Times Square as well: http://www.nycwax.com/

As you can see, there is plenty to do on your visit to New York City.