15

Here is a link for hostels and cheap hotels in New York City:
traveljournals.net - new york hostels

16

Here's a link to a site that lists just about every official public transit in the world, including the USA.

worldwide public transit links

17

Here's some Denver area links:

www.denverpost.com (major newspaper)
www.flydenver.com (denver airport - DEN)
www.westword.com (weekly paper with entertainment info)
www.rtd-denver.com (city buses)
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/160d5/4f8/ (personal Greyhound tips)
www.flycos.com (Colorado Springs airport)
www.gazette.com (major newspaper for Colorado Springs)

18

another personal favorite site follows... got an airport layover and need a place to crash, maybe grab a shower? Looking for specific airport info? Want to see how an airport was rated as a place to sleep? Have a look at:

Budget Traveller's Guide to in Sleeping Airports

19

What to eat on a budget in NYC thread.

20

I am visiting New York/NJ area from India for more than a month and this thread really, really helps me out.

But, maybeall of you are americans or are familiar with western travel. But, let me tell you that for folks coming in from countries extremely different, particularly infrastructurally, there is LOT, LOT more info that one needs that will never be captured in all these otherwise excellent links. Most of this info is taken for granted in the West but is more like space travel for some from the Third World and maybe if there is a timid query to that effect, hey, it should be answered, no problem, right?

But, anyway, coming back to my impending visit, I visited TT all set to type in "What the el cheapo things to do in NYC?" and lo and behold, most answers are in this thread, the admonition not to clutter with yet another "whattodoinnyc?" notwithstanding.

21

I publish a quarterly print zine about living in NYC with 2 small children - i've got an online guide to some of my favorite idiosyncratic places that will be nicely cheapie cheap:

East Village Inky Guide to NYC and Brooklyn

22

To add on to my previous post, here are some more NY nightlife links (Thanks Risen_Feenix)

Village Voice

New York Press

Murphs guide

23

The TT doesn't automatically pick up links, so to get your links to work you can post them in one of two ways:

1) You could click on the http button above the text area and follow the prompts, or (if you prefer doing things by hand, or the prompt doesn't appear):

2) you could copy'n'paste this template: **L=Description of websitehttp://yourURLgoeshere.com**/L

24

here's the links for schedule and ticket info for the four major professional sports in the US.

Basketball

football

hockey

baseball

25

Top 10 Beaches in the US

26

NYC airport transfer form JFK to LaGuardia (or visa versa): N Y Airport Service

27

Looking for restaurants? Perhaps somewhere to grab breakfast before you head off sightseeing? Maybe you have a special event to celebrate? Where to go to find this information so you can at least narrow it down to a couple of choices before asking the Thorntree?

First, the popularly mentioned ones:

Check out Zagats who developed guides to restaurants (and now a whole raft of other things like theatre and shopping spots) which are based on recommendations received from the general public. Their website is a bit locked down these days for non-subscribers (ie. you can't do advanced searches allowing you to search on 50+ criteria unless you subscribe, you can't actually read the reviews unless you subscribe). Subscriptions aren't expensive though, at $14.95 a year, $2.50 for 30 days, and $1.50 for one day access. Free registrations allow you to search for a particular restaurant by name, or browse by neighborhood/cuisine (but the only details you can access is the address and phone number). Zagats is also published in book form (available from their site and others like Amazon) which might be worth it for visitors on the move. You can also get the information in a form suitable for your handheld Palm or PocketPC device, and they are currently (late May 2003) allowing a 14 day free trial for this service. Zagats covers many US and now international cities.

Chowhound has been billed as the "'anti-Zagats' for people who like food a little spicier" and is a real foodies site (though they say that foodies are people following the trends, chowhounds are hunting down good food anywhere!). Their message boards (arranged by region) are populated by these chowhounds, who are bound to give you plenty of tips, or read what has gone before to see what you can find. Chowhounds also does summaries of the weekly media restaurant critics reviews. No registration required.

Have a look at the restaurant review section from the newspapers of the city you're visiting, such as:
New York Times Restaurant Review Search and Best of.. Lists. No registration required to use the restaurant search function (which shows short summaries) or look at the lists, but you need to register (FREE!) to read the weekly review columns.

One that I find useful:

If you want to actually take a look at a menu, check out the food and prices and see what others have had to say about it, Amazon runs a restaurant section (go to their main page and scroll down to the restaurant link on the left). They have scanned in copies of menus from stacks of restaurants. This is useful for those unfamiliar with US prices. Amazon allows you to search on cuisine, neighborhood and then arrange by criteria such as price or consumer ratings. No registration required.

And another one about the place:

Dinesite also has menus on its site (although these are not direct scans like the Amazon one, and tend to give a list of dishes and an only indication of the price range for that category e.g. entrees), as well as the ability to search on various criteria or look at lists developed already such as "Locals Pick", "Most Reveiwed". It accepts reviews from visitors to the site. Dinesite doesn't seem to require registration.

28

The Green Card Lottery (officially known as the "Diversity Lottery")

This post covers the basics of what this lottery is, if you are eligible to enter, how to enter and the scams to look out for.

What is it:
A lottery to provide green cards (permanent residency) for the US, for people from countries which don't send many immigrants to the US. The lottery is open for entry in October, and the information about entering it is usually available in August.

Winning the lottery doesn't mean you automatically get a greencard. It only makes you eligible to apply. More people are given offers than there are visas available (plus people may win and take their spouse/children, thus taking up more visas), so you still may not get the greencard.

Who is eligible to enter:
Native born citizens of countries which have sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the US over the past five years. Each year, a new calculation is done to determine which countries are eligible. Note that your native country is determined by where you were born, not where you may now hold citizenship. You may be eligible to change your native country to that of your parent's birth in certain conditions. There is also potential to claim via your spouse's place of birth.

The countries which were NOT eligible in the most recent lottery were: Canada, China (mainland born), Colombo, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Pakistan, Phillipines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and Vietnam.

You also must have a high school education (taken to be a sequence of education at least 12 years long) or two years of work experience in the past five years for an occupation that requires at least two years of training. See Department of Labor's Database to see if your occupation fits into this category.

How to enter:
To enter, you must follow the instructions given by the US government EXACTLY. Every year, millions of applicants are disqualified (2.6 million in the last lottery, 6.2 million entered the lottery successfully) because they don't follow the directions or they send it in at the wrong time/to the wrong address. Instructions for the last lottery give you an idea of what you have to do, but you should watch for new instructions each year around August, at The State Department.

Scams to watch for:
Any search for 'greencard lottery' on the internet will turn up many sites and immigration attorneys willing to take your money to enter you in the lottery (and many of these sites are made to look like official US government sites). ENTRY IS FREE (yes, free!). As long as you follow the instructions, you have equal chance of winning by entering yourself. There is no official form, you need only follow the directions. Simply read the directions carefully, or check out How to Enter the Greencard Lottery.. Without an Attorney.

29

Greyhound Hop on Hop off Option

As I've not been able to find this gem of information elsewhere I'll put it here. Although Greyhound does not advertise it, passengers may hop off the bus at any stop along their route and rejoin at a later date so long as they reach their final destination within 30 days. This can work out to be considerably cheaper than their 30-day pass if you are planning on travelling along a direct route with side trips off of it -- ie Seattle to Chicago via Salt Lake City and Denver; New York to Miami via Philly, Washington etc. It's something I'd remembered from years ago and recently rang to inquire if the policy still held and it does -- you merely have to infom them of your intentions at each hop-off point.