Re: OT: Seeing Dr. Agin next year, hotels, sights in NYC advice?

[Guest guest]

Jill,

I'm from Central NJ and haven't been to NYC for a while, but I can

tell you that there is a Marriott right at Newark Airport. If it's

not too expensive, that might be the easiest. Not sure how the

buses/trains run from there, but I'm sure that there must be some

form of Mass Transit available so that you wouldn't have to drive

into the city. If you call the airline, I'm sure that they can give

you info on that. As far as where to eat, there are lots of places

(most of which are expensive, so I would recommend bringing some PBJ

sandwiches and cereal bars with you to at least save yourself some

money on B'fast and lunch), some of which are nice and others of

which are dives, though I can't give you any suggestions either way.

Hopefully someone from NYC can give you specific suggestions.

I was also wondering exactly *when* your appt is? Just wondering how

far from now she is booking?

Well, congrats on getting an appt, and I hope that it all goes well.

Laurel in NJ (mom to Evan, 32 mo)

PS: I would offer to let you stay with us, but it's not all that

close to NYC.

> I got an appointment to see Dr. Agin in NYC next year. I was

> told to fly into the Newark, NJ airport and stay in Newark or

> , New Jersey so I'd be just across the bridge from where

> she is at in NYC. I checked weather for that time and it can

> average anywhere from 75 to 59 degrees during that time of year. I

> would appreciate any advice on where to stay, how to get around,

> places to see, places to eat, etc. since we've never been to either

> New York or New Jersey before? Most likely as there is no one to

> watch 's sister while my husband is at work, we will all fly

> there and make it a family trip. Any advice would be appreciated.

> You may e-mail me directly at Jills2Daughters @ . com (take

> out the spaces) Thank you.

>

> Couldn't get an appointment with her in time to help the preschool

> IEP meeting that's coming up next month, but it should be able to

at

> least help where placement is concerned for Kindergarten next

year.

> At this point, I'm leaning towards blowing off preschool with the

> district and just finding a private preschool for this fall.

>

> Jill - 's Mom (4 1/2)

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reply. I've had Newark Airport, LaGuardia Airport,

and JFK Airport all suggested, so I suppose which ever one I can get

the most direct flight into from California will be the one picked.

I noticed that some hotels come with little refrigerators so that

would be nice, so that I can buy some snacks to save on eating out

some. We originally had an appointment for February, but I had

forgotten that New York's weather differs so much from southern

Calfornia's...that and February traditionally is not a good month

for (with either stomach flu's or croup), so we booked it out

to early summer (I don't believe they were booked out that far yet)

so that it wouldn't interfere with my 7 year old's school schedule

too much. I don't have anyone to take 's sister to school etc.

while I'm gone, so I thought a family trip would be in order since

I'm already paying for two plane tickets and a hotel, why not add

two more plane tickets? I've always wanted to see New York anyway

and the kids would enjoy it. :-)

I looked up the address for Dr. Agin on whitepages.com and it shows

it at: 79 Laight St, New York, NY 10013 and that appears to be in

Manhattan near the Hudson River below the Holland Tunnel? I'd call

her office at (212) 274-9180 and get on her waiting list if you are

interested in getting an appointment as I had been on the waiting

list to get that Feb. appointment, so it's hard to say how far out

they are booking for someone just calling in (prior to being on the

wait list). She seems to be quite in demand. I can't wait....

Still looking for hotel suggestions, sights to see, places to avoid

so that I don't get mugged...lol Laurel, I appreciate the input as

well as you even thinking of letting us stay with you...lol Thank

you. I wouldn't impose the 4 of us on anyone though....as the kids

don't sleep as well on vacation....so I never get much rest and

neither would you. :-) The couple of times the kids have stayed in a

hotel, they really loved it. How many members here have flown in to

see Dr. Agin?

Jill - 's Mom

> Jill,

>

> I'm from Central NJ and haven't been to NYC for a while, but I can

> tell you that there is a Marriott right at Newark Airport. If

it's

> not too expensive, that might be the easiest. Not sure how the

> buses/trains run from there, but I'm sure that there must be some

> form of Mass Transit available so that you wouldn't have to drive

> into the city. If you call the airline, I'm sure that they can

give

> you info on that. As far as where to eat, there are lots of

places

> (most of which are expensive, so I would recommend bringing some

PBJ

> sandwiches and cereal bars with you to at least save yourself some

> money on B'fast and lunch), some of which are nice and others of

> which are dives, though I can't give you any suggestions either

way.

> Hopefully someone from NYC can give you specific suggestions.

>

> I was also wondering exactly *when* your appt is? Just wondering

how

> far from now she is booking?

>

> Well, congrats on getting an appt, and I hope that it all goes

well.

>

> Laurel in NJ (mom to Evan, 32 mo)

>

> PS: I would offer to let you stay with us, but it's not all that

> close to NYC.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reply! I looked at staying in Newark, but was

concerned with getting to the appointment on time as it's a 10 am

appointment. I wonder if it would be best to stay at a hotel in

lower Manhattan (that's the financial district isn't it?). Would

that be the least expensive areas of Manhattan (is there such a

thing?). I did get a map of New York from AutoClub so I am studying

it now (I always start planning early...lol). I also picked up

their travel book and ordered a free travel brochure from the NYC

web site.

I don't suppose anyone on the list has connections with any of the

major hotel chains, where they could get one to cut me a deal? :-)

LOL

Thank you for the suggestions, I'm gathering them all up and then

reading about them. Is the Statue of Liberty still closed

(where you can't go inside)? Any chance it'll be reopened next

year? Do they have any sort of World Trade Center Memorial yet? I

saw there is a Police and Fire Dept. Museum and think we'll go to

that as well. I like old Churches, so we'll hit those too. How is

the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum? I think the kids would like that as

well. Central Park has a zoo as well?

I uploaded a new picture of (on the left) and her big sister

Caitlin (on the right) in my profile. Refresh if the new one

doesn't come up. let me know how your Dec. 14th appointment

goes.

Jill - 's Mom

[Guest guest]

Hi Jill,

I lived in Manhattan for 20 yrs - just moved to the

burbs a year or so ago. I still commute into the city

everyday. Let's see what I can help you out with.

1. AIRLINE - Laguardia does not have non stop service

to the coart, so I would reseach JFK & Newark. I had

friends fly in from LAX about 3 weeks ago into JFK on

JetBlue. They raved about the airline & it was non

stop. I don't know wher ein CA you are, but they also

have a non stop from Long Beach. FYI..each seat back

has a screen & they show cartoon network.

2. It seems you are looking to make a vacation out of

the trip, so I would sugget stying in the city, not in

New Jersey & not by an airport. I really think you

would be better off staying mid town or so rather than

way downtown near Dr. Agin. You can take a taxi, bus

or subway that day to her office. My 2 cents. I think

mentioned this already, but hotels.com is great

as is expressreservations.com.

3. HOTELS - Just a few thoughts. Embassy Suites in

times square - somewhat new, have kitchens & 2

seperate rooms...great for hte kids. Please don't be

afrais of Times Square, it's not what you

think...REALLY! Oh, it also a stones throw away from

the largest ToysRUs in the world, the kids wold love

it. They have a ferris wheel inside, a big one.

Some ohter ones to look at are:

The - they also have small suites w/ kitchen

The shelburne - " "

The Dumont Plaza - this is in Murray Hill, a great

mroe residential neighborhood, but yet convenieitn.

That hsould get yo started. Hotels rooms should run $

150.00 - $ 200.00 per night. I don't know of anything

cheaper that I could suggest.

PLACES OF INTEREST, RESTAURANTS, ETC...you have tons

of time for that stuff. Feel free to email me directly

if you need any help, suggestions etc.. I would be

more htan happy to help.

One othert hting, New York ahs this horrific

reputation of being like " Dodge City " Really, it's

not like that, over the years I have had

friends/realatives vist & they all comment that it's

not waht htey expected as far as safty & that they

were surprised that New Yorkers were so frindly &

helpful.

FYI..i ahve an appt. with Dr. Agina t the end of

November, I am thinking of postponing it though. Right

now my daughter is getting all the services she needs

through the early intervention pprgram, it's been

wonderful. She gets 5 x wk PROMPT therapy & 2 x wk OT.

[Guest guest]

" FYI..i ahve an appt. with Dr. Agina t the end of

November, I am thinking of postponing it though. "

Hey ...you could probably put that time slot up for auction at

EBay at this point!

I agree with all the advice you gave. Jet Blue, and Song (through

Delta -they tell jokes and have better food, games and TV too) are

two of our family's favorites to fly to NY with..., so much so that

most times even if we are flying in to go to NJ we make a trip to NY

just to fly in through either of those 2 airlines. Fly to JFK and take the

air train to NYC

http://www.panynj.gov/airtrain/index.html

I also agree and

would stay in NYC over NJ... if you want to make a vacation out of

the trip. There is no other city anywhere like New York City -in

fact I can honestly say other than our friends, family -it's the

only thing we miss at all from up North- New York City.

I also agree not being afraid of Times Square and 42nd street -so

much fun, energy and excitement...and theater -Disney plays too!

You can buy tickets to the shows 1/2 price at TKTS in Time Square

the day of the shows -which is great.

http://timessquare.nyctourist.com/broadway_tkts.asp

(actually http://timessquare.nyctourist.com is a good website to

check out)

There are so many restaurants and things to do in every single price

range in NYC, and unlike elsewhere, at any time of the day or night

it would be hard to list them all. Fodor's books are usually good

to pick up -just get the NYC one.

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=new_york_city@111

My favorite restaurant for years was Serendipity 3 which is on 60th

street all the way on the East side. I miss so much their frozen

hot chocolate!

I sent an email to Dr. Marilyn Agin to see if she has a list of

places she recommends to people flying in. I'll forward that too if

she sends me anything good...but would have to be pretty darn up

there good to beat Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate!

Oh -and the real " original " original Rays Pizza is on the corner of West 11th

and 6th Ave in the Village -a great area too! (used to be better, but great

'famous' pizza and not far from Dr. Agin's office)

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