Just a New York minute!

New York City Vacation Packages (NYCVP) is offering a 2-night stay in midtown Manhattan so locals can see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and take part in some of the festivities that attract tourists to the City during the holiday season. 

“Thanksgiving Staycation” packages begin on November 25, with accommodations at a choice of several midtown hotels including The Warwick Hotel, Flatotel, Intercontinental Barclay, New York Helmsley, W New York, Westin New York at Times Square and several Hilton properties. Package prices start at $409 per person based on two adults sharing a room at the Holiday Inn NYC-Manhattan 6th Ave. 

Vacations include a Wednesday afternoon guided excursion to the balloon inflation and parade staging area, followed by a tour of department store window displays. On Thursday morning before the parade, guests are invited to a private continental breakfast at Applebee’s Grill on 50th St., one-half block from the 7th Ave. parade route. “Staycationers” can step outside the restaurant to watch the parade and use the comfort and convenience of the facility during the entire parade. 

Also included is a Thursday evening traditional Thanksgiving buffet dinner at the Manhattan Club and an exclusive Breakfast with Santa on Friday morning. Guests will receive admission passes to several popular sites and attractions in the City, including the Empire State Building Observatory and the American Museum of Natural History, and special reduced rate parking coupons for Central Parking garages. All taxes and most gratuities are included in package prices. 

Space on NYCVP’s Thanksgiving Staycation is limited and must be reserved in advance. Bookings can be made at travel agencies, on the company’s website www.nyctrip.com or by phone at 877 NYC-TRiP. 

New York City Vacation Packages is a tour company devoted exclusively to leisure travel in the Big Apple. The company is a member of NYC & Company, the National Tour Association, American Society of Travel Agents, ASTA Tour Operator Program, Greater Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, New York State Travel and Vacation Association and the Better Business Bureau. 

Fifteen or so years ago my wife and I went into the City for the first time together. We had only been married for a few months and weren't going on our honeymoon until our first anniversary (I decided long ago that I wanted to make sure the marriage "took" before I spent gobs of bucks on a honeymoon. Practical of me, don't you think? She didn't.)

We had tickets to see Miss Saigon at the Broadway Theatre. I hadn't seen a Broadway show in such a long time, but I really wanted to see this particular show. I was part of the 60s-70s Vietnam era so to me a show about that war was appealing. Well, as appealing as a musical about a war that cost over 50,000 American lives could be. Nonetheless we enjoyed the show immensely.

As we exited the theatre that Saturday night at 10:30 it was raining. Not too hard, just hard enough to make it uncomfortable. The gentleman that I am, I gave my wife my sport jacket so she could stay dry. Gentle or not, the man that I am has never let her forget my chivalry that evening (and every time I remind her of it she calls me a cheapskate for not simply buying an umbrella.)

We walked a couple of blocks downtown as the rain continued, finally taking shelter under a canopied entrance to what looked like a bar, on 47th Street just off Broadway in Times Square. By now I was dripping wet, miserable, hungry and not much fun to be around. "Let's just go in here, have a drink and decide what we want to do." "Fine," she said. "You're buying."

And that was that. We had found a home.

We were in Langan's Bar & Restaurant. Had dinner. I had veal, or a steak, or something from a cow. My wife had, uh, something too. I don't remember the details, but I do remember what a wonderful experience it was. Past the crowded bar was a quiet, white-tablecloth dining area. The service was excellent. People were friendly. Food was great.

We stayed long enough for me to dry off. Long enough, too, to have enough glasses of wine to turn a planned 10-block walk back to our hotel into a cab ride, even though the rain had stopped.

We never fail to stop in at Langan's every trip into the City. It might just be for lunch, or for a nightcap, or just to say hi to owner Des O'Brien or manager Katherine. Regardless of what's going on in the City, or in the world, or in our lives, Langan's has that warm, friendly atmosphere that forces us to just relax. And eat well.

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Take my suggestion. Try Langan's on your next visit to NYC. You can even pre-purchase a prix-fixe dinner (tax and gratuity included) here!

Beginning this Sunday, May 24, the City of New York is closing Broadway to traffic in Times Square.

This is the first step in the City's experiment to make all of Broadway in midtown Manhattan a pedestrian zone (see Mayor Announces New Route for 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for details).

So what does this mean for visitors? More room to walk! The sidewalks along Broadway in Times Square were always too crowded. Now, new pedestrian plazas from 47th Street to 42nd Street will ease the congestion, at least for walkers. For vehicles? It remains to be seen what effect closing a main artery for 5 blocks will have on midtown car, truck, bus and taxi traffic. Will it put an unmanageable burden on parallel-running 7th Avenue? I'm sure the City will be watching very closely.

It's a simple question. But it heralds, for some, the ride of their life.

Hailing a cab in Manhattan isn't hard. All taxis are the same color, all drivers are licensed by the City's Taxi & Limousine Commission and are required by law to pick up anyone and transport them to any destination within the City (and a few outlying counties as well).

For New Yorkers, taking a cab is almost an involuntary reflex. Need to get from point A to point B? Stick your arm out at a 45 degree angle and a yellow vehicle will appear. (Why are all NYC cabs yellow? If you really want to know, look it up on google. I did and the answer's not all that exciting. I do recall, however, escorting a group of travel agents through the top floor of the Doubletree Guest Suites in Times Square when one looked out the window and said, in all sincerity and naivete, "Why do so many New Yorkers drive yellow cars?")

Once in a lifetime, though, a magic cab appears. You get in, you tell the driver your destination, you buckle your seatbelt, and you hear a loud synthesized sound as disco-like lights surround you. The driver turns around and announces, "You're in the Cash Cab. It's a TV game show played right here in my taxi. I'm your host, Ben Bailey, and I'll ask you general knowledge questions until we reach your destination. Whaddya say, You In?"

Before you even notice the tiny cameras in the vehicle, you're riding through the streets of Manhattan answering questions (hopefully correctly) worth anywhere from $25 to $200 each. Three strikes and you're out, though, as Ben will pull you over and boot you out if you miss three questions.

Cash Cab is a Discovery Network show. I watch it every day. I love it not just for the game aspect, but for the New York City scenery as it rolls along out the cab's windows. It's just so New York, and most of the contestants are so New Yorkish. "Clear the meter please," one crotchety lady orders twice before Ben can finish his You In spiel.

Someday I'm going to get in the Cash Cab. I know its license number (I'm not telling you). I know what the cab looks like (it's yellow). I'll answer every question right. I'll get the Red Light Challenge. I'll even do the Video Bonus. I'll be so charming and intelligent that the Discovery Network will want me on full time. Ben Bailey will be my best friend. We'll hang out together and sign autographs and write books and make movies and be in a rock band.

Yeah, I'm in.

Mayor Bloomberg’s office has announced that the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will take a new route through Midtown Manhattan, using 7th Avenue through Times Square and along 6th Avenue to Herald Square.
According to today's Press Release:

So does that mean that each float driver, band leader and parade participant will be equipped with a GPS? Whew, it was so much easier when the parade just came down Broadway. "Go straight until you come to Macy's. Then stop." That's all one needed to know.

But who can argue with the Mayor's reason for working with Macy's to change the route? His plan is to transform much of Times Square and Broadway into a pedestrian plaza, starting in late May. The result, he hopes, is to reduce both traffic and pedestrian congestion as well as to "greenify" (my word, not his) the midtown area.

We'll see how it works. And whether it works is probably dependent upon one's perspective. Will it benefit the tourist? I think so and certainly hope so. Will it benefit commercial drivers, like cabbies and delivery men? I can't see how. Will it benefit the local residents? Probably, once they get used to new traffic patterns and increased/decreased automotive noise/emissions.

From our company's perspective the change means we have to scramble to assist our guests who rely on us to provide them with comfortable, convenient viewing venues for the Thanksgiving parade. We're busy doing that as we speak - or as I write - or as you read - or whatever. We're confident we'll be totally successful in arranging excellent locations along the new parade route. Fortunately for us, one of our primary venues is the Broadway Lounge at the Marriott Marquis, perched high above both Broadway and 7th Avenue right in the heart of Times Square. It affords an outstanding view of the parade which will still pass right by.

Also fortunately for us the parade will now pass in front of our most popular hotel, the Sheraton New York, and its sister the Sheraton Manhattan at Times Square. We have a large allotment of rooms at both hotels so our guests can be accommodated in the perfect location this Thanksgiving.