Me, wifey and kid are planning to go to New York end of this year for a week. With a toddler and all I thought it would be a bit more convenient to rent an apartment for a week instead of an hotel room. But on the TripAdvisor site they warn people not to rent apartments in NY since they are mostly scams or illegal private rentals. So I thought I'd check here to see if anyone could, based on experience, recommend legit and scam-free vacation apartments that are located in (or very close to) Chinatown in NY. Oh, and is NY enjoyable in December ? I always see those massive winter storms on TV and stuff, so that has me a bit worried. I've only been there during summer when it was extremely hot, so I can only imagine that it is going to be extremely cold during winter.
prolly not inside chinatown, maybe not too legit o___O enjoyable?.. depend on the day, otherwise better than super hot summer i guess.. storm starting @ late december, wouldnt say very cold (comparing to states like wisconsin), dry windy..shouldnt be too worried about big storms cus the streets woud be pretty much cleared shortly
Will be there in the 2nd week of December, so hopefully the weather will be ok. I booked an hotel in Chinatown already, but I'll keep searching for apartments in the meantime. If anyone has any suggestions for legit apartments let me know.
The Second week in December is usually not that cold, as most of the extreme weather comes rather in the beginning of January. As for sub-letting an apartment for one week; that's kind of hard to do. New York City apt's in general, are notoriously expensive rent wise; those that are not (like rent stabilized) are subject to lots of rules that would prevent sub-letting on such a time share basis. Your best and safest bet would be to stay in a hotel. Are you looking to stay in Chinatown proper or one of the other two in Flushing or Sunset Park? Each has different character and flavors; though all are Chinese, their regional influences are distinct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Manhattan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Flushing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Brooklyn
There are other Chinatowns in NY ?!?! Lol, this is new to me. Well I am looking to stay at the Manhatten one, but I'll definitely try to visit the other two now that I know about them. Thanks a lot! I did check on the HomeAway site itself (of which vacationrentals.com is part of), but I got a bit of a cold feet after reading the stories about NY apartments on TripAdvisor. I'll check Vacation Rentals as well and see if I can find anything trustworthy. Oh, for those who are wondering ... I'm from Holland. And for those who were not wondering ... now you know anyway
because many chinese lived in that section, so yeah, but ofc they're not well-known as the official chinatown. The one in Queens is okay, but u dont wanna visit the sunset park one with ur toddler, it's dirty and crowded (well they're all crowded but this one is smaller), tbh nothing is there to look at but chinese restaurants, chinese markets, and some stores, plus the not so good security....
Just one word of caution, while in Chinatown, I would advise you to not use a credit card, especially in the restaurants. This was the epicenter of credit card skimming a few years ago, and they still have a significant problem. For those that don't know what a "credit card skimmer" is, it's a small hand held device about the size of a USB key with a slot to pull a credit card through. The device then records the card info and is then downloaded later into a computer. From that point your card info is in the hands of thieves. They also know your secret number on the back of the card as the dishonest waiter looked at it, and he will try to keep a copy of your receipt with your signature (usually a carbon or other copy). By the time you leave the restaurant, there would have been multiple charges on your card from all over the world. Card issuers tend to be smarter nowadays, but depending on your bank they may give you a hassle. At any rate, if they have to cancel your card in the midst of vacation, then you're screwed. A police friend of mine once told me that these waiters get about $10 USD per number that they can skim. As for the subtle regional ethnic nuances, I would stay away from the very small shops as they tend to be very region centric. That is, the Fuzhou folks tend to sneer at the Cantonese, and vice versa. The Chinese in Flushing tend to be a better mix, and the shops are also a bit better. If you get the chance, you should visit the museum of Chinese in the Americas (formerly known as the Chinatown Museum): http://www.ny.com/frame?url=http://www.mocanyc.org/&frame=/frame/museums.html ...it gives one a real sense of what Chinese life was like in the US Chinatowns during the century between 1900 and 2000. Good luck with your trip.
I am just curious .. why do you wanna live near ct anyway? Most visitor prefer to stay away despite wanting to visit. I've been to NYC on business every now and then but still have not visited ct yet .. lol I am not sure about your religion but my friend told me that the people at the temple helped them set up everything ... call Tzu Chi and see if they can help you ..
Well our vacations evolve mainly around shopping and eating, so the eating part is covered in Chinatown Reminds me of when we went to HK 2 years ago, I gained like 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) a day and we stayed for 2 weeks, so do the math. All these new and good food (compared to the Dutch food) !!! So I am not kidding about the eating part, lol. For shopping I guess we will go to the other parts of NY. Thanks for the advices and tips, they are really helpful. I guess I'll skip the Brooklyn Chinatown then since Kay wasn't really enthusiastic about it either. I have a feeling that 1 week is not going to be enough though. Last time we only went for like 4 days and we didn't even finish looking at the Manhatten Chinatown. Wooo, can't wait for December ... and hope there won't be any volcanic eruptions in Iceland or something.
The thing is, we would travel everyday to Chinatown if we would stay far away and I want to prevent as much hassle as possible. I guess the main reason would be the food (like I mentioned above) and the feeling that you are somehow in little China Originally we wanted to go to China again, but since we are traveling to the Caribbean around December/January we thought we would take a detour via NY. Unfortunately I do not have a money tree in the garden, so that will have to do for now instead of going to China Uhhhh ... religion ... hmmm ... uhhh ... I'll skip this one ... lol. Thanks for the tip though.
manhatten ct........ it was okay in my opinion but after dark its very empty. we ate a family dinner there one night and walked back to my relatives place. like i said very little ppl walking around. i wasnt scared because i was with so many ppl but i wouldve been if i were just with my hubby. if you're just in the outskirts of chinatown you're ok. close to little italy and tons of shopping within walking distance. you guys shop at century??? i love it there! tons of name brands at a discount price.
well ... not religion per se .. i am not religious either .. just like people attending fellowship to meet friend when they move to somewhere new .. these "local" people are nice and can help you with information. of course, if you're affiliated with them (doing volunteer work or member); sometimes, some places have dorm like room you stay for free. another low budget idea is to call local universities .. with current econ, i heard a lot of them offer their dorm/apartment for rent so try that .. these are the trustworthy sources that i can think of on top of my head and CHEAP or FREE .. lol
I recall walking till late at night in Chinatown last time we went there and I thought it was ok. I didn't feel in danger at any time. Anyway, this time it's with a toddler, so we won't be staying outside that late. Century ??? ... website maybe ? ... I still need to research the shopping part actually. Last time I believe we only shopped around Times Square and spend most of the days walking through Chinatown ... eating and drinking bubble tea ... I'm addicted to bubble tea Thanks for the tip! I'll look into this direction as well.
I think the best option you have is to live in a hotel for the one week stay in NYC since Chinese landlords don't tend to rent apartments for a week. Apartments in Chinatown aren't worth the money anyway considering that they're mostly tenements(small, dirty, etc)
I'm from NYC. I wouldn't rent those apartments in Chinatown for vacation. Majority of buildings in Chinatown are old anyhow. They raised a few small hotels around though. December, if you're lucky, it'll be just dry and cold. If not, snow might pile up the city. But weather has been kind of gentle last few years, we'd usually just get a few snow storms but the snow would be gone pretty soon after.
I know you are going to NY. And I'll let the New Yorkers on this site to comment on the food at the 'official' and 'unofficial' Chinatown. But in LA, the 'official' Chinatown food is actually really terrible whilst the 'unofficial' Chinatown has incredible food.
Like I mentioned in my initial post, because apparently those are illegal rentals. I was looking for *legit* apartments in or around Chinatown (e.g. Soho). 5 years ago we stayed in an hotel in Chinatown and we liked that experience, which is why we wanted to stay in that area again. Anyway, we booked an hotel in Chinatown again while still searching for alternatives. Last time we went there, the food was good in general. At the end I guess it's all about knowing which restaurant to go to.
