Cheap Things To Do in New York

View of Manhattan from Staten Island Ferry

New York City can be a pretty expensive trip. Depending on where you are coming from and how much you like to spend on your trips, you might already be spending more than you would like to just to get there and have a place to lay your head at night. Thankfully, New York has plenty of things to do when you get tired of opening your wallet. 

1. Staten Island Ferry

Film Picture of the Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry

a Ride on the Ferry

​If this is your first trip to the Big Apple, then I assume you will want to see the Statue of Liberty in all of her glory. In my personal opinion, Miss Lady Liberty is a monument that you can just view from a distance for free especially if you do not feel like paying to go over to Liberty Island. You can take the Staten Island Ferry for free where you will get a great view of not only the Statue of Liberty but Manhattan as well depending on what side of the ferry you sit on. Once you get to Staten Island, you do have to hop off and get on a new ferry before you are able to go back to Manhattan since it is not a round trip. Overall, it is a fun ride with a great view and a price that you literally cannot beat.

2. Roosevelt Island / Tram

Something so simple that became my favorite part of my trip to New York City was riding the Roosevelt Tramway and exploring Roosevelt Island, and it costs as little as a subway ticket. The tram takes you over Manhattan making you eye level with the tops of buildings and giving you great views from above at a very low cost. It then takes you above the East River and finally on over to Roosevelt Island. Once you have arrived at the island, I highly recommend renting a Citibike and riding around. It is such a simple and fun activity that really gives you the opportunity to relax (something you do not get too often in NYC) . The island itself is super adorable with its own city and community, but it also has a very intriguing history of insane asylums and smallpox hospitals. When riding around, you can view the ruins of these historic places as well as a Roosevelt memorial park and a cute little lighthouse. The island is also a unique spot to just have a picnic and look at Manhattan from afar making it the perfect escape from all the craziness.

3. Get a Slice of New York Pizza !

DUH! There is no way, you’re going to New York and leaving without having had a slice of the city’s famous pizza. Scattered throughout the city are more pizza restaurants than you can count, and from a majority of them you can get a giant slice of pizza for five dollars at the most, making it the perfect cheap meal when in NYC. The pizza place that I went to was called Patzeria Perfect Pizza located on W 46th St. Most of their slices were under five dollars unless they were a specialty slice, and they are HUGE. I was literally full after one slice. Not only that, but they had some pretty unique toppings. I chose to get the Margarita slice as well as a slice of their Lasagna pizza which is something I had never seen before. Both slices were super yummy and lived up to the hype of New York Pizza.

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