Jump to content

Best NYC/Downstate Bus Routes for sightseeing/"seeing" the real NY


Deucey

Recommended Posts

Just curious as to what you think are the best bus rides in the city/downstate for people and tourists to see the most photogenic or the "essence" of what makes NY NY.

Example:

Mine are M5/M55 - M5 shows the Hudson Parks, Grant's Tomb, then all the UWS rich folks Hangouts and west Harlem. With M55, see the 6th Av corridor's skyscrapers, all the activity in Chelsea and the village, then the new money in Battery Park.

M15 - see old FiDi, Chinatown, City Hall, the old Five Points tenements, some of the major NYC hospitals, East River Bridges, Old UES money and mansions, and the last real "ghetto" in Harlem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


The real, gritty NYC, or the really fake NYC?

 

In any case, the quintessential route for what you're asking (as far as Manhattan goes) used to be the M6... I believe it was one of the few routes that had more weekend service than weekday service.... But yeah, if we are just talking about in Manhattan, I guess it would be the M31/57 along 57th, the M50, the M42, and any of the 5th av routes below 59th.... The usual touristy crap....

....bonus points for anything running around the clusterf**k b/w Columbus Circle & Lincoln Center, along Broadway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

The real, gritty NYC, or the really fake NYC?

 

In any case, the quintessential route for what you're asking (as far as Manhattan goes) used to be the M6... I believe it was one of the few routes that had more weekend service than weekday service.... But yeah, if we are just talking about in Manhattan, I guess it would be the M31/57 along 57th, the M50, the M42, and any of the 5th av routes below 59th.... The usual touristy crap....

....bonus points for anything running around the clusterf**k b/w Columbus Circle & Lincoln Center, along Broadway.

All boros; gritty NY, Disney NY, and richfolk NY.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me it'd have to be the M100, B103, Q23, and Bx1.

 

Not considering SI because honestly, when have tourists ever gone there? 

It would be like telling them to go to White Plains and back on the BxM4C. 😆

Edited by R10 2952
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Queens I’d say Q60 because it travels through so many different hubs and shopping areas and ethnic neighborhoods in one trip. 
 

It starts off in the residential area of South Jamaica and passes through Jamaica, Briarwood, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Elmhurst, Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City and finally East Midtown. 
 

In Manhattan I’d probably give it to M7 since it passes Times Square, Penn Station, the Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Lincoln Center and Harlem. I personally wouldn’t ride the whole thing but maybe the bottom half of it from around 81 street to 14th street since these North and South Manhattan routes deal with tons of traffic. 
 

In Brooklyn I’d want to say the B41. Flatbush Ave in general has a lot of points of interest along the way. 

I’m not too familiar with the Bronx and I don’t think anyone goes to Staten Island to sightsee but I could be wrong lol. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want different phases of NYC, the first route that comes to mind is the Q44.

If you want nice and scenic NYC, the M79 takes the cake.

If you want straight grit NYC, while still passing something that's nice, Bx19.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/28/2020 at 10:15 PM, R10 2952 said:

For me it'd have to be the M100, B103, Q23, and Bx1.

 

Not considering SI because honestly, when have tourists ever gone there? 

It would be like telling them to go to White Plains and back on the BxM4C. 😆

hey, they're getting a big wheel and an outlet mall. put respect on that name

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The BxM2 has a little bit of everything. Southbound you'll start with the quaintness of Riverdale, skims by the grittier hoods of Marble Hill and Harlem (you'll see Yankee Stadium from a distance on the highway along the way too), transitions to the Upper East Side and the Museum Mile, through Central Park to the Upper West Side, and towards the end you start seeing the hustle and bustle of the city (skyscrapers and all) as you pass right thru Columbus Circle and Times Square, and at the very last stop you have Macy's, the Empire State Building, and Madison Square Garden all within 2 blocks of you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Deucey said:

....Wheel's never coming

7 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

Apparently a (smaller) wheel is back on the menu.

It'd be great if one was reinvented for Staten Island in a different manner (and I'm not talking about any observation wheel either)....


 

On 10/28/2020 at 5:44 PM, Lex said:

To be honest, not a single Manhattan bus route remotely comes close to my mind.

M35.... Lot of f***ing nutcases in this city!

On 10/28/2020 at 6:38 PM, Deucey said:

All boros; gritty NY, Disney NY, and richfolk NY.

Eloquently stated Disney NY & richfolk NY are in the same category AFAIC....

Anyway, as far as gritty NY, just take your pick at riding just about any ENY (depot) route, or any route in the West Bronx at & south of Fordham rd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Anyway, as far as gritty NY, just take your pick at riding just about any ENY (depot) route, or any route in the West Bronx at & south of Fordham rd.

But what routes would you tell a tourist to take to see that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/29/2020 at 8:16 AM, NBTA said:

If you want different phases of NYC, the first route that comes to mind is the Q44.

If you want nice and scenic NYC, the M79 takes the cake.

If you want straight grit NYC, while still passing something that's nice, Bx19.

I agree with the Q44. It passes through a few gritty areas, but mostly middle-class areas, and skirts through some of the nicer parts of Briarwood (plus it passes over the scenic Whitestone Bridge...considering NYC has a lot of water-based boundaries between boroughs).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Deucey said:

But what routes would you tell a tourist to take to see that?

None of them.

If a tourist wants to go on their own grand tour of the hood, they can do so at their own discretion.

To be quite honest, I don't know what you're really asking, or expecting with this type of a question.... It's why I initially asked what I did in the very first sentence of my OP in this thread.... Why would I direct a tourist to see the real NY, if some facets of the real NY encompasses the not-so-nicer parts of the city......

.....unless this is some roundabout way of inquiring what we think "the real NY" encompasses.

Edited by B35 via Church
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Eloquently stated Disney NY & richfolk NY are in the same category AFAIC....

Anyway, as far as gritty NY, just take your pick at riding just about any ENY (depot) route, or any route in the West Bronx at & south of Fordham rd.

Nah, one is going to Sbarro's Times Square and the other is shopping at Bergdorf Goodman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Deucey said:

NYC - where good and great ideas die forever, and bad ideas get reincarnated often.

It could be worse. No one has brought back that "floating bridge across the East River to Williamsburg" idea.

(People had wild overreactions to the (L) shutdown. You never saw people asking for crap like this to LIC when the (7) was down all those weekends.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.