In the movie “I Love You Philip Morris,” Jim Carey finally called out the big white elephant of gay existence when he revealed to the audience “being gay is expensive.” Sad, but true. The clubs, the drinks, the dates, the movies, the vacations—yadda, yadda, yadda. Am I the only one with sparks flying off my AmEx
It should come as no surprise that New York is the most expensive city in the USA: A typical drink in the Meat Packing District costs around $13, and let’s not even start with the hotels. Throw all that on the pre-existing “being gay is expensive,” which is as ingrained in NYC as it is the Magic City, and voila! This is why Netflix and microwave popcorn were invented.
Thus was invented New York CityPASS. It’s something like a discount coupon to the Big Apple’s best and brightest. The Metropolitan Museum of Art may take whatever “donation” you give them—you can get in for a penny, really—but the Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, Circle Line Cruises and lots of other must-dos are not nearly so magnanimous; the observatory at the Empire State Building costs a whopping $40 alone. Whip out that CityPASS ($109 for adults) and watch those prices drop by about 40% or so. You can even skip the ticket lines. The program doesn’t cover every last site in New York—say, the Bronx Zoo or the Museum of Sex (damn)—or any particular bar or eatery, but it does a bang-up job for a laundry-list of places that will rock your Instagram feed. Even better, it lasts for nine days from the moment you start using it, so it’s not like you have to race across Manhattan to get everything done in a day.
If any of you are migrating north for New York Pride in June, my guess is that your plans are already underway, and CityPASS is a perfect add-on to the trip. NYC Pride it is a great party, but you would be insane to go all the way to New York JUST for Pride and not experience what else the city has to offer. As an FYI, the pass is not limited to New York. Philadelphia, Atlanta, Toronto, Southern California, and Chicago all have their versions as well (you cannot use a Philly pass in Toronto, by the way. They are city-specific).
And as for drinks in the Meat Packing District? Ditch it and head over to Henrietta Hudson in Greenwich Village. It may be a lesbian bar, but it has some of the best drink specials in the city.
For more info, go to citypass.com/new-york. Steele Luxury Travel, based in New York City, knows the ins and out of our 5 boroughs. Be sure to contact us at [email protected] for all your NYC bound travel needs!