Outrageously Priced Apple

Ginny and I were having lunch a week or so ago at Del-Way in Nevada, and happened to strike up an informal conversation with a couple of attractive young mothers and their five pint-size kids, whom neither Ginny nor I had previously met. (You know how those free-and-easy talks get started, how unexpected and fun they are, in small towns). One of the mom asked me what point of interest she and her family should visit on their hoped-for upcoming visit to New York City. She'd evidently read one of my Sunday "At Random" columns on the Big Apple..

Hopelessly flattered, Ginny and I both began rattling off the names of alluring current Broadway plays and restaurants, before I, however, suddenly remembered just how expensive NY is.

When I had my first adventures in the city, at age 15 (1955), 1 was concurrently working at a menial job at the American Oil Company, 45th Street and Fifth Avenue, at a salary of $51 a week. That may seem miniscule now, but back in the early 1950s it was nothing to sneeze at, especially for a young teenager who was earning his first real money. Plus, it put me in the heart of New York City, where, for a short walk and a couple of dollars, I could feed my growing hunger for movies and plays. (I still have the $4.50 ticket stubs to first-run plays by Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Arthur Miller, and many other writers.) I could buy a dollar lunch nearly anywhere, or I could walk up to 75th Street and get a "heavenly hamburger" at the aptly named Hamburger Heaven. Such could be said of the whole town, I thought. I couldn't begin to understand my father's frequent intolerance of the City's "strange" ways (he'd grown up outside Cincinnati, Ohio, and never grew to understand New York's rude drivers). I loved New York, its very air and atmosphere. It was excitement embodied.

But what about now, in 2006? First of all, I hear the average price of a Broadway ticket is $100. That means the young, no-frills Nevada family would have to shell out more than 300 bucks to sit through what might, or might not, be an entertaining show. I think we'd all agree the odds aren't very good.

When I was growing up, and exploring New York City, the rider could get from one place in New York City to any other, by bus or subway, for 15 cents. For a family with several children that was a significant amount, but not unmanageable. In the summer of 2006, however, it's the subway token that's gone through the roof, to at least $1.50. A parent who plans to transport his toddler-age family from one place to another by subway had best be advised to invest in walking shoes instead.

When Ginny, toddler Jessica, and I visited Paris, in the summer of 1971, when Jess was four, we had no money to blow on the frills, like taxis or buses, so before we flew off from Kennedy International, in New York, we sat Jess down in her crib and informed her that we had a lot of ground to cover and didn't have any money for cabs and buses. I believe Jess must have fully understood our economic plight, because the young girl kept up with her two parents every step of our trip. And there were quite a few steps. That I must've given her a crippling guilt complex bothered me for years afterward, whenever Jess woke up from her crib and then her little bed at midnight and cried out in a pathetic, plaintive tone of voice, "Wait! WAIT!"

The fact remains, however, that once your subway lets you out in midtown Manhattan (42d Street), a little walking will take you to more new and exciting sights than you can possibly take in in one day, including the magnificent concrete lions guarding the front doors of the New York Public Library, on 42d Street and Fifth Avenue (If you want a preview of this familiar New York City point of interest, stop by Greg Hoffman's beautifully restored front of the old Nevada Pubic Library, on Austin Boulevard, complete with its two snazzy, miniature lions guarding the front door.) The savvy tourist doesn't have to spend a great deal to see the "sights." A family doesn't have to go to Rockefeller Center to see the tourists on ice trying to outdo each other and cracking their knees in the process. They can just as easily walk up Fifth Avenue to the Woolman Memorial Ice Rink and, for much less money, skate to their hearts' content.

Or, for no cash at all, you can station yourself above the Rockefeller rink and watch the skaters below for as long as you want.

I had it easy when I was a young kid and had an itch to explore New York City. First of all, my family lived in nearby Larchmont, N. Y., that I could easily reach after a day full of wandering and exploring for a dollar ticket on the no-longer-functioning New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which carried me from Grand Central Terminal to my little suburban station in 45 minutes. Well, I'm boring myself and my readers -- with my anetdotes about how cheap New York was in the days immediately following Peter Stuyvesant and the coming of the Half Moon up the Hudson River. Those cheap days aren't coming back, alas.

But there are still bargains available for the wide-eyed and wary, who know a bargain when and where they see one. For one thing, don't buy the first thing you see. Don't be afraid to bargain. Don't be afraid to walk off and then return. Ask yourself, "Do I really need this rubber necktie of the Statue of Liberty?" Second, be smart with your money. Ask yourself, "Five years from now, what am I going to remember about this trip? What am I going to regret not doing on this trip? How can I redistribute my money so that I can afford it now?"

Think, so that, five, 10 years from now, both you and the kids you took, can agree it was one gangbuster of a trip! You'll have learned to appreciate your kids and the other folks with whom you walked the sidewalks of New York. It's not ALL you need, but ingenuity and determination are the MOST IMPORTANT of the qualities you need to pack for a trip to New York City.! If you pack a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that'll be enough food to stave off the Grim Reaper for one whole day. And if you're content to walk a whole lot, you can see much of New York that way, without having to spend a lot of time worrying about money.

I think the most important thing about a trip to New York City is actually reaching the island of Manhattan with a stout pair of shoes and an eagerness to walk the hell out of them. You won't be sorry. Good luck, and take heart!