NYC on the Cheap: Have Fun Without Breaking the Bank!

For many, traveling to New York City brings the following question to mind: What's it going to cost? It won't shock anyone to hear that the Big Apple is the most expensive place on earth; but then again, you won't find a destination quite like New York either, where there's excitement for just about everyone within such a small radius.

Don't despair when hearing stories of $60 cab rides, $200 meals, $300 Broadway shows and $400 per night hotels. There really are a number of terrific entertainments in the city that will keep at least some of your hard-earned money in your pocket. Since we know you're busy and there are far too many conflicting reports on where to stay, how to get tickets to shows, and how to do sightseeing without being ripped off, we've pulled together some suggestions for painting the town red while leaving your balance sheet in the black.

Where to Stay:

When venturing to any metropolitan city, check out the Kimpton chain - in New York, all hotels tend to be pricey, but if you're looking for value, Kimpton is always a good deal. You won't find a more comfortable, relaxing and elegant hotel than the 70 Park Avenue (http://www.70parkave.com) located in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan.

Recently renovated, this boutique hotel is high-end in terms of comfort and elegance, but you won't pay excessively. Need to spice up the romance a bit? Choose the weekend getaway package "Bed, Bath and Bubbly" - it features rose petals in a Jacuzzi tub, a bottle of champagne, and strawberries with whipped cream (yum). At the other end of the heat index, the soothing "Family Night" offers a complimentary in-room movie and milk and cookies for up to four people. Besides AAA discounts and reasonable group rates, 70 Park Avenue also has some great fall specials.

Another Kimpton hotel is right in the heart of the city's hottest gayborhood. Ink48 is on Eleventh Avenue and West 48th Street, only a block away from the Hudson River waterfront, around the corner from megaclub Pacha and within walking distance of the dozens of Hell's Kitchen gay bars, clubs, restaurants and gyms. Stunning city and river views make it impressive in every direction. Print, the in-house restaurant (the hotel is at the site of a former printing plant), has received raves for its farm-to-table cuisine.

Another great choice (if you can manage to score a room) is the Chelsea Pines Inn Bed & Breakfast (www.ChelseaPinesInn.com). Located in Chelsea at West Fourteenth Street west of Eighth Avenue, this charming B&B was renovated from an 1870s residence in the 1980s and immediately became "the" place to stay in the world-famous gayborhood.

All the rooms are decorated with vintage movie posters surrounded by a classy yet comfortable d�cor, and you can choose a standard, deluxe or one-bedroom suite based on your budget. You're within a short walk of the shopping, restaurants, bars and clubs that have made Chelsea synonymous with "sophisticated urban gay male."

If you're booking well in advance, and want to kick it around Times Square, try the Skyline Hotel (www.skylinehotelny.com), a short block from Broadway but situated on Tenth Avenue, also in Hell's Kitchen. We almost hesitate to tell you this little secret of ours, but for a dirty rack rate, you can score clean, albeit standard, accommodations. It's not as queer-hip as those listed above, but if you're not planning to be in the room a whole lot, you could do worse. Besides, as soon as you step outside, you're in the middle of the city's major gayborhood.

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Where to Party:

Wanna hit the nightlife? You're in the right place; New York City has an extraordinary number of gay bars. One of the hottest spots to meet Chelsea boys - and certainly one of the friendliest -is Boxers (http://www.boxersnyc.com/).

The city's major gay sports bar just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Hit the Happy Hour, which extends to 9:30 p.m. for the two-for-one drinks weekdays, while ogling the hot bartenders wearing (what else?) boxer shorts.

A real Chelsea staple is G Lounge (http://glounge.com/), which has been pouring drinks since 1997. This may be the �r-Chelsea bar, with its well-dressed, handsome crowd and open, unisex bathrooms. Happy Hour specials, great DJs, and hot go-go boys ensure a good time. To make it that much better, sidle up to the bar and try a signature frozen cosmo.

More into "The Dukes of Hazzard" than "Mad Men"? Then check out New York City's newest (and only) country & western gay bar, Flaming Saddles (http://flamingsaddles.com/).

Bad to the bone bartenders pour sexy drinks and you can also get your two-step on (figuratively of course) with the tight-jeaned stud who was giving you eyes when you first walked in. If you get hungry, check out the Chuck Wagon menu. There's an array of nightly drink and shooter specials to keep your inner cowboy (or cowgirl) happy. The bartenders periodically get up on the bar and do a Coyote Ugly-style line dance if the mood hits them. It's a sight to see.

If you crave the club atmosphere, don't miss local landmark Splash (http://www.splashbar.com/), featuring its own two-for-one Happy Hour every day except Sunday. Whether you stop by for Musical Mondays, Ocean Thursdays, or just a regular night with hot DJs and ultra-hot go-go boys, this Chelsea megabar deserves its excellent reputation.

If you're headed to the Village, we recommend you check out the legendary Stonewall Inn (http://www.thestonewallinnnyc.com) on Christopher Street - you can take your photo by the infamous sign or head into the historic, albeit tiny, inside space. We also love hanging around The Monster (http://www.manhattan-monster.com), with its exceptionally mixed crowd and late-night basement dance parties.

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Broadway Theater

Here's the truth: Broadway shows are just plain expensive. These days decent seats go for at least $100 each, and if you must have the best seats in the house, you'll pay a lot more than that.

You can see shows for half or more off by visiting the TKTS booth. You'll be lucky to find seats there for one of the hotter shows on the Great White Way ("Wicked" and "Book of Mormon" are sold out way into the future), but you can find almost everything else.

Current recommendations include the new revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" with Bernadette Peters and the final months of Daniel Radcliffe in "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying". "Glee's" Darren Criss will succeed Radcliffe January 1 through January 22; then Nick Jonas takes on the leading-man role. And you have to see "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark" if only to regale the folks back home about how over-the-top it is.

The main TKTS (http://www.tdf.org/TDF) booth is located in the middle of Times Square at Broadway and West 47th Street (same day only). The South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn locations may offer more selection than the super-heavily trafficked Times Square home base does.

If you plan ahead, you can also find offers for discounted tickets at Playbill. While the trend has been to do away with standing-room tickets, a handful of Broadway shows still honor this aged tradition, usually only when the performance is completely sold out. Rush tickets (day of performance only) include such hits "Anything Goes," "The Book of Mormon" and "Wicked."

Each show has its own policy: some issue them on a first-come, first-serve basis. Others use a lottery system. It's best to go to the individual show's website for details (or just arrive early in the day at the ticket booth). Those with student IDs are also in luck, as many shows offer student rush tickets. A handy guide to standing room, student rush or general rush tickets is also available at Playbill.com (http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/82428-Broadway-Rush-Lottery-and-Standing-Room-Only-Policies)

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Other Entertainment Options

This year's New York Comedy Festival (http://www.nycomedyfestival.com/) runs from November 9 to 13 and features many of today's hottest comics as well as some new faces destined to become stars. Gay favorites Kathy Griffin, Wanda Sykes, Sarah Silverman and Judy Gold join Louis C.K., Ricky Gervais, Tracy Morgan, J.B. Smoove and Jo Koy.

Even if you don't know the difference between Verdi and Wagner, a visit to the Metropolitan Opera is an absolute "must."

This world-class opera house invariably features a starry line-up of legendary operas and high-end performers. The Lincoln Center building itself is an artistic marvel. This season, which runs through May, you can catch everything from the Baroque (Handel's "Rodelinda") to the contemporary (Philip Glass's "Satyagraha"), with familiar titles like Mozart's "Don Giovanni" (in a new production this year) Verdi's "La Traviata" and Puccini's "La Boheme."

Two major events to catch are the premiere of a new opera, "The Enchanted Isle," a pasticcio devised from scores by Baroque masters such as Handel, Rameau and Vivaldi; and the completion of Robert Lepage's highly acclaimed "Ring Cycle," with the premieres of the final two operas in the cycle, "Siegfried" and "Gotterdammerung."

Be warned: regular tickets for the opera are prohibitively high. But the Met remains one of the few major opera houses with a large pool of standing room tickets, available on the day of the performance. At less than $25, this may be the best bargain in town.

New York City has some of the greatest art collections in the world housed in such august institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of Art. While entry fees to these museums might seem high, most offer a day of the week with times that are either free or pay-as-you-go (http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2011/07/museum_free_hou.php).

For instance, the Museum of Modern Art is free on Friday evenings. On that same evening, the Whitney offers a "pay what you wish" policy. On Saturdays at the Guggenheim you can "pay what you wish" from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m.

On Sundays, the Frick Collection (a real jewel box and one of the city's loveliest museums) has "pay what you wish" hours from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. As for the city's greatest museum, the Met has a "pay what you wish" policy in effect all day.

We all grew up watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (http://social.macys.com/parade2011) on our televisions every Thanksgiving morning, but those balloons just have to be seen in person. If you're in town for this unique event, you're in for an extra treat: the Parade celebrates its 85th anniversary this year.

It begins promptly at 9 a.m. on the corner of West Seventy-Seventh Street and Central Park West. But make sure to keep Thanksgiving Eve open to check out the inflation of the festive giant balloons that will fly down the streets of Manhattan on Thanksgiving morning. Watch them go from flat to fearsome across from the American Museum of Natural History.

The best views of Lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island can be had free of charge on the Staten Island Ferry [http://www.siferry.com/], which commutes between the Battery and Staten Island across New York Harbor.

The ferry is just slow enough for you to have plenty of time to get photos or just enjoy the view, along with commuters and hordes of tourists. Once on the Staten Island side, you can get off and line back up to re-board immediately.
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Getting Around

At first glance, the city's subway system (http://www.mta.info/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm) can seem daunting. Yes, it's the largest in the world. Yes, you'll need a map (available from your hotel concierge). And yes, you'll probably have to transfer at least once to get where you're going.

Make sure you buy a Metro Card via ATM/credit card machines available at every subway stop. Even if you're only going to be in the city for a few days, get the seven-day Unlimited pass. For only $29, you'll save a hell of a lot over paying $2.25 for each trip, which adds up quickly.

The above should get you started on your New York City adventure - for updated information about what's happening in the Big Apple, check EDGE New York. Remember to keep your wallet close by you; it's a good idea to put it in your front pocket if you're on the subway during rush hour. Try not to look too much like a tourist. Not only does it look uncool, there are those looking to take advantage of those they deem rubes. If you're lost, whip out your iPhone and head to the nearest gay bar (you can get a date while you get directions). But don't be afraid: New York is not only the safest large city in the United States, it's also the most fun if you step just a little out of your comfort zone. Don't forget to send us a postcard!

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