New York City on the cheap

  • Melissa Herrera (COLUMN)
  • April 30, 2012
  • 314
                        
COLUMN! Opportunities come only once in life time for certain things. When they do come you need to grab them and run fast. My husband and I had the chance to go on a mission trip to New York City to The Menno House. Yep, I’m talking about that New York City, the Big Apple, Gotham at its finest. The Menno House is a guest house, VS house, and much more all rolled into one. From its website http://mennohouse.org/I’ve taken this description of it: “Menno House is a 19th-century townhouse in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, just east of Second Avenue on 19th Street. We are surrounded by an inviting neighborhood of townhouses, restaurants and shops and are within walking distance of Soho, Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Midtown. The house was bought by Mennonites--members of a Historic Peace Church--in 1957 to house conscientious objectors to war while they completed their alternative government service. Since 1977, it has been a residence for church volunteers, students and employees of local non-profits, and has provided affordable short-term accommodations for visitors to New York City and others in need of temporary lodging.” I plan on writing several different articles about our time here. Why am I including it in my column on saving money? Because I’ve learned that you can do NYC on the cheap – and budget travel is what I’m all about. Our fearless leaders provided transportation, and because we were doing painting in the house, our lodging was provided also. If you want to see NYC and have an affordable place to stay, then Menno House is the place. Rooms start at $75 per night for one person, with a charge of $20 for extra persons. You won’t find cheaper in Manhattan. Any time spent in NYC will involve walking. Most New Yorkers don’t own a car, because you can walk to most destinations, take the subway, or bus. We walked everywhere and dipped down into the subway to have it whisk us anywhere we wanted to go. Metro cards are the way to go. Refillable and swipable at any subway entrance, you can put as much or as little on the card as you need. Subway fare to anywhere is $2.25, so once underground you can keep transferring to your destination. We loved the subway as it was fast and efficient. If you stand in one spot and look around, though, you felt like a small little things in a sea of people. It’s all part of the experience. Make sure you study the maps before you step on the trains – you may end up in the wrong burrough! The wonderful Menno House manager Sara typed up a paper for us with directions on it and which trains to take. She was the best. As far as sights to see, anywhere in NYC is happening. Lots of them are free. The parks are some of the lushest places I’ve ever seen and they seem to be on every corner. We explored Battery Park, caught the tip of Central Park, and many others we did a walk by on. Remember to pack comfortable shoes to walk in – New Yorkers mean business when it comes to shoes. I learned my lesson the hard way! Lots of the greatest stores are there for the exploring. FAO Schwarz where I played chopsticks on the big piano, the M & M Store, the Hershey Store, and even Trump Tower which is open to the public. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was amazing. You are struck dumb when you walk in and take in the majesty of it. It is also free to enter and explore. We walked through Rockefeller Plaza and saw where they film the Today Show, and ended up in Times Square which is a visual experience all in itself. Eating is never a problem in NYC as there are hot dog stands on every corner, along with small, inviting cafes where the food is plentiful and cheap. If you choose the bigger places, you will also pay for them. I would recommend any of the small cafes and diners you might find. We went to a lot of them and rarely broke the budget. And may I say that NYC has the best French fries anywhere – just ask my niece Heather who was on the trip with us. We sampled them at most of the places we went - gravy and cheese on top all the way. A highlight of the trip was our excursion on the Staten Island Ferry. This ferry takes off from the tip of Battery Park (which by the way holds a myriad of historical things to see), and makes its way past the Statue of Liberty and on to Staten Island. The cost for this fabulous excursion? Free. I recommend going at sunset, which our wonderful leaders timed perfectly. Painting at the Menno House did many things for my husband and I. It allowed us to give back in a way we knew how to do well. We met wonderful people there at the house, and in return took much more away from NYC than just how busy it is. You can make a trip to New York City as expensive or as frugal as you want it to be. The choice is yours. 1) Go to http://mennohouse.org/ and check out everything about Menno House. Shoot them an email with questions at manager@mennohouse.org and tell Sara Versluis, the manager there, that George and Missy told you about them. 2) One of our favorite cafes was The Sunburst Café on 18th St. Go here to check out their http://sunburstnyc.com We sat here many an evening with a steaming cup of coffee – the atmosphere is great. 3) Check out this website on all of the NYC parks http://www.nycgovparks.org/ They are lush, fabulous, and best of all free. 4) I promised myself I would visit a few thrift stores while in NYC. Here is the Goodwill website for NYC http://www.goodwillny.org/ My biggest purchase of that day was a few t-shirts for the kids which they and we love to buy while on vacation. Be it soccer club shirts or random ones, they have to have the current city we are visiting on them. I scored at the 23rd St. Goodwill!


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