Even Up, Even East

Anytime you are turned around or lost in Manhattan, find the nearest street sign and remember one simple saying: "Even Up, Even East". Many New Yorkers don't even realize it, but with very few exceptions the even numbered avenues (4th, 6th, 8th and so on) all go north---thereby "up", and almost all of the even numbered streets (22nd, 24th, 26th etc) go east. At just about any given place and time of day you can walk out to a corner and identify which direction is north, south, east or west based on this easy rule of thumb. If you see 6th ave and 22nd street, for example, you can quickly orient yourself because 6th ave goes north, period, and there is ALWAYS at least some traffic.

If you are a visitor, peruse a map of Manhattan at least a little bit when arriving to orient yourself to where in the city you are staying. The exceptions to the Even Up, Even East rule are on the far east side----1st, 2nd and 3rd streets do not follow this rythm. In additon, keep in mind that many major east-west streets are two way and thus the rule can't apply. Some of the main east-west arteries in Manhattan are the following streets: 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th and Central Park South. Some avenues in the center only go partway up and down and are two way avenues also, such as Park Avenue. Below 10th Street and into Downtown you are going to have roads that sometimes run at angles, sometimes are straight and also have names instead of numbers. However a fairly decent amount of activity is going to be done in the areas from 10th Avenue up, so if you ARE in those areas, memorize the easy slogan of "Even Up, Even East" and see for yourself how helpful it is!

While it's true that Broadway shows, many concerts, ballet, opera and the like are in fact costly, almost all of them have last minute deals, rush tickets, and discounted periods. My regular continuing blog, SlowLifeintheFastLane.com, will document and feature special promotions as they are happening, but anyone can use Time Out New York magazine and smartphone mobile apps such as TKTS, Broadway Box and even ScoutMob to quickly find recently marked down or limited sale events. Sign up for the free emails of each application and set it for New York temporarily if you are a visitor. In addition, Lincoln Center has an excellent email program that sends out listings for tons of events held there including their full roster of movies---they now have 5 movie theatres which generally show foreign and art films but also show a variety of standard recent movies as well. Many of these are eligible for "rush" ticket status, meaning whatever is not sold one hour prior to show time can be bought for half price----IF you know enough to ask. Dont ask, and you are charged full price---it's as simple as that and a nice little NYC local secret.

The MoMA has free admission every Friday night from 4pm to 8pm called Target Fridays (yes, sponsored by the retail giant) which incidentally is the only night they are open past 5.30. The Metropolitan Museum has a somewhat well kept secret, even though there is a sign blatantly explaining it: it is basically a free public museum and admission there is donation only. They can't make you pay anything at all to enter, and trust me many a New Yorker knows this. The admission of $15 is "suggested".....therefore everyone I know merely gives a $5 donation and it is gladly accepted and not frowned upon. They have so many foreign and out of town people paying the "full admission" that they seem to care less about the lower donations. Some people might go in completely free but hey, its a magnificent museum and worth supporting---I say throw in a minimum of five bucks. Heck, even the Gug (Guggenheim) has pay-as-you-wish Friday nights, from 5:45 to 7:45. Check these things out, people!!

The park system in NYC is so vast and fantastic that it would take an entire novel to detail it, if possible at all. People watching in any of the numerous parks is an entertainment form all it's own as far as I'm concerned. The Green Thumb Project micro-parks in East Village are a secret gym. High Line Park, running built on long abandoned elevated train tracks on the west side of Chelsea, is one of the newest additions to a long roster of public parks as well, and it is particularly interesting one. My Slow Life in the Fast Lane will have an entire entry on this park alone, as well as explore many of the parks of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. You could easily fill a whole week of time just wandering around these and never see half of them.

NYC Metro is truly one of the finest transportation systems in the world and the subway system itself is, in my opinion, possibly the greatest feat of human engineering ever built. Simply put: it's mind-boggling. How they thought this up so many years ago is beyond me. The Metro system itself encompasses the subway and bus system both.

Who needs $15, $25 and $50 cab rides when you have perfectly good transportation for $2.50 each way (plus you get a free transfer on the bus system in any direction if you use the ticket within two hours of the first trip)? Better yet, if visiting for a week, buy the Unlimited Ride Metro card for only $29, an unbelievable bargain considering a single cab ride can easily run that high! It is an insanely good deal, as is the monthly ride card for $104.

My philosphy on travel is not to be in a hurry in the first place, but that being said, whoever thinks taking a taxi is going to be any faster than a bus or a subway is sorely mistaken in most cases. Want to get to and from JFK Airport or La Guardia? When arriving into JFK, follow signs within airport for "Airtrain". You will pay a $5 fee at the end of the short Airtrain ride to connect to the Blue Line A subway. Take that to ultimately connect to any subway or bus in the system. Subway fee: $2.50 for a one-way or $29 for an entire week of unlimited use--a mega deal. If you travel relatively light like I do, this is very easy and just as fast as a $50 taxi most of the time. Arriving into La Guardia? Follow signs for Public Transportation and take the quick M60 bus (complete with luggage racks in it) to the Astoria Boulevard Yellow Line N/Q subway---again ultimately connecting into any subway and bus in the city. Amazing----- HOWEVER I do admit that, quality of life being a key issue, if you arrive exhausted at the airport and just want to sit in a cab, rest and be whisked away, by all means don't sell yourself short----spend the money. I don't cut corners at the risk of my serenity and overall well being. But I'd say maybe half the time I go the public transportation route, particularly TO the airport.

I particularly like the bus system in Manhattan because at non-traffic hours, it is literally as fast as the subway. Busses run every 7 minutes or so. By the time you count going down underground, waiting for a train, and coming back above ground, you could have already jumped on a bus and been there. PLUS my favorite thing of all----you can see everything! Think of it as a nearly free Tour Bus. Also the bus system is ridiculously simple---but don't ask a New Yorker. They are likely to tell you that they don't understand the bus system because truly a lot more people take the subway. It's as simple as any grid: they all go either east and west, or north and south, period. There are only very rare exceptions to it. And as the mantra Even Up, Even East dictates, you can jump on a bus at 14th Street and 8th Avenue and ride it north for a long, long distance---at least as far as 145th street. Want to get across town real quick from West Chelsea to East Village? Just jump on the M23 cross-town bus, and get off at 2nd, and then jump on a bus going south (remember that 1st, 2nd and 3rd Avenues are the ones that don't follow the Even Up, Even East program...I think it's kinda weird but hey, I didn't invent it.

The true best way to learn you way around this city is to see it above ground, nothing against the subway of course. I like to use a very healthy mix of the two, according to whichever is going to pick me up first---and many times the bus wins that race. As you will see in SlowLifeintheFastLane.com, part of the whole way I can afford to live my life the way I do is thanks to my embracing of public transportation everywhere. Luckily I simply don't think I am too good to take it!

Admittedly it's a little trickier finding a decent inexpensive meal in NYC, especially if you eat out pretty consistently like I do. I highly recommend downloading phone apps Living Social and ScoutMob (from iTunes), and subscribing to Amazon.com's emailed restaurant specials. This is by far the quickest way to find a discounted meal and, in fact, often the most fun. Everyday Living Social sends me several emails curtailed to my city, which can be changed as you travel. Thousands of merchants are on their system. The primary best deals are medium-to-upscale restaurants with 40-50% off the value of the voucher itself---ergo you buy a $50 voucher for $25. They are all over town, and run the special for one-two days until X amount of the vouchers are sold. They are then valid for use generally for about 2-4 months so watch the dates when you buy them.

The highest price and most popular chic places don't do this of course but the whole idea is to get more traffic in for places that want to promote and get more business. There are a ton of really great newer places running specials all the time, and often I like make a total adventure of it. It gets me to all areas of the city to try new places and I get to sightsee along the way and learn new sections of town.

On a daily short term basis, Living Social also an "instant" section, that you click on and it brings up restaurants running what is usually a lunch special valid right NOW.....or for example from noon to 5 pm that day only. You buy it instantly online and it's only valid for that period-----if you don't use it, it expires, usually without a refund. I personally love to make an excursion adventure out of this one, because when I am ready for lunch I simply pull out my iPhone (or smartphone if you have that), open the app and pick whatever lunch deal jumps out at me---almost always at the most it is $6 for $10 worth of food. If the place is over in Upper East Side, or Harlem or wherever, I jump on the subway and run over there lickity split----it's really fun and gets me out of my regular haunts of Chelsea, West Village and East Village. I love to pick the ones that are way across town somewhere, especially if they are on an easy subway line or connection. The subway fare is a non-issue because I buy the unlimited monthly Metro passes so I don't have to nickel and dime myself over $2.50 fares each way over and over. If I did that I would rarely use it!

Another good way to find the good deals is to have a small snack first and then just walk around areas and look at the restaurant signs, leisurely. I am constantly surprised at the number of deals on the sidewalk chalkboards and window signs. It is a very, very competitive restaurant world here in NYC and the savvy and patient consumer can really clean up on the deals, like the pizza dinner for two and two drinks for only $10 that I enjoyed recently at a very nice white-tablecloth restaurant in Little Italy. When time is on your hands, so is money because the deals are out there right in front of you if you look. In SlowLifeintheFastLane.com I will document the individual deals that I buy from time to time to remind readers of how well this works.

There is one important rule about post-recession reality: everything's negotiable. At least quite a lot of things are, lodging for travelers included. My favorite thing to do is rent a furnished apartment at any destination, because i usually stay from 4-7 days or more, and in NY there are plenty of them to be had. Why pay $200 and up per day for a hotel when you can rent an entire well located apartment with kitchen for $700-$1000 for a whole week, and save a ton of more money by eating at home part of the time. There are many ways to do this, including websites and apps like AirBnB, VRBO and Vacation Rentals.com. They are reliable, have quite a lot of offerings and since there is so much competition among them, they have incredibly well priced inventory most of the time. You can go straight to their website or download their smartphone app directly, and start searching as early or as close to your trip as you wish. You can easily rent a very nice stuido in Chelsea, East Village, West Village and half the city for a fraction of the price for a hotel. They generally have rating systems and reviews from former renters so you can also see how well received they are or not. Please note that I don't personally recommend Craigslist for travel lodging because unfortunately that website has been beseiged by scams and false ads for quite some time, in all categories. Plus you cant get a review or rating of anything, and you can waste a LOT of time going back and forth with scammers.

The apartment rental method often doesnt apply to short stays of 1 or 2 nights but even for those, NEVER pay full price for a hotel room. There are a million tricks to getting the price down---among them using sites such as Orbitz and Priceline (use the name-your-price module), checking for web-only specials on the hotel's website, or simply calling the hotel, asking for the desk manager and negotiating a below market deal if they have free rooms or if it is off season. In NY that would be Jan and Feb by the way. An immediate paying last-minute client is literally a windfall for the hotel, so why would they not fill a room at a discount right on the spot rather than it sit empty? A smart manager will indeed negotiate.

My favorite way to travel is by the week and as such, I like to feel like I somewhat live at the destination by getting a small apartment or studio rental. I like to have a small kitchen and at the very least eat breakfast there, and several nighttime meals per week. I go grocery shopping upon arrival, buy a ton of food and even pack sandwhiches and snacks to eat when I am walking around. I don't travel so much as a tourist than as a "Global Citizen", so I don't believe in eating out every single day. For these reasons alone, renting an apartment over a hotel room literally saves me quite a bit of money on a constant basis! It's plain common sense.