Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to get the tickets (which aren't actually tickets but are spots on the standby line, should anything open up and
should you have correctly identified Biff Henderson's real first name as James). You must arrive an hour and a
quarter before tape time, be 18 or older, and be ready to show some ID.
Ed Sullivan Theater, 1697 Broadway, btw. 53rd and 54th
sts.
212/247-6497.
www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow
(click on “Get Tickets”). Subway: B/D/E to Seventh Ave.
The Today Show
Watching NBC's morning mainstay is free and easy; just show up outside
Today
is glass-
walled studio at Rockefeller Center, on the southwest corner of 49th Street and Rockefeller Plaza. Tapings are
Monday through Friday from 7 to 10am, but if you want to be up front, 7am is way too late to be rushing over
with your goofy hat and hand-painted sign. In the summer,
Today
holds a series of concerts in Rockefeller Center,
generally on Friday mornings at 7am. It's always big names playing (that is, Usher or Bieber), and they attract
commensurate huge crowds so don't get there any later than 6am.
Southwest corner of 49th St. and Rockefeller Plaza.
212/
664-3056.
www.today.msnbc.msn.com
.
Subway: B/D/F/M to 47th-50th sts./Rockefeller Center; N/Q/R to 49th St.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Millionaires miss out on all the fun listed in this topic, but you can look
on with condescending pity should anyone run the table against Meredith Vieira. Tapings are usually Monday
through Wednesday at 2:30 and 4pm when the show is in production. Note that they'll want you there 2 hours
early and the show can take 2 hours or longer to tape, so make sure you're fed and watered before you go in
(and be warned that as posh as the set looks on television, those benches are hard). Requests for tickets can be
made online; you must be 18 or older to attend.
ABC at 30 W. 67th St., btw. Columbus Ave. and Central Park West.
212/479-7755.
www.millionairetv.com
.
Subway: 1 to 66th St./Lincoln Center.
10 Big Leagues, Little Prices
It's said that it's now cheaper to be an opera fan than to follow a professional sports team, and with big league
ticket prices racing well ahead of inflation it's easy to believe. The NFL long ago climbed into the stratosphere,
and with new stadiums the Mets and Yankees seem eager to follow suit. Premium Knicks seats? Prices top out
over $330. And this for a team that hasn't played a second-round playoff game since the last millennium and let
Jeremy Lin go to
Houston
? Fortunately, outside of the occasional bout of Linsanity, athletics can be accessed for
not too much scratch in NYC. (To get out on a field of play yourself, see p. 168 in chapter 5, “Local Living.”)
The Amazin' Mets
Citi Field has replaced mostly charmless Shea, but Yankee-level crowds have yet to material-
ize. That doesn't make this a cheap ticket, but “dynamic pricing” will let you in to Promenade Outfield seats for
less-popular matchups for as little as $12. That's just on the official website—for better bargaining head right to
StubHub
(
www.stubhub.com
)
. This reseller lets the market set the value of tickets, and you'll see folks ditching
their seats for as little as $4 a pop. This is a strategy that often works with early season games, or games against
cellar-dwelling opponents.
Citi Field, 126th St., at Roosevelt Ave., Flushing, Queens.
718/507-8499.
www.mets.com
.
Subway: 7 to Mets/Willets
Point.
Baby Bombers
The
Staten Island Yankees
have a waterfront stadium just a few steps from the ferry terminal.
Running from $13 to $22, tickets are slightly easier to come by than the Cyclones', although they're scarce and
pricey when the two rivals play. Gluttons in groups can take advantage of $22 all-you-can-eat specials.
Richmond
County Bank Ballpark, Staten Island.
718/720-9200.
www.siyanks.com
. Subway: R to Whitehall St.; 1 to South Ferry, take the ferry to Staten Island and follow
the signs.
B-Ball in Brooklyn
Brooklyn got its own NBA team in 2012 when the Nets headed over from Jersey to the brand
new Barclays Center, in downtown BK. It remains to be seen whether they'll sell out or stink up the joint, but
it'll cost you a minimum of $30 (ouch) for the cheapest ticket at the box office, though we found some for $10 on
StubHub.
Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn.
718/933-3000.
www.nba.com/nets
.
Subway: 2/3, 4/5, B, D, N/Q/R to Atlantic Ave.
Damn Yankees
The new Yankee Stadium has been derided as a “mallpark” rather than a ballpark, but there's no
disputing the time and effort put into all those smooth finishes. Despite the pricey build-out (and the pricey vir-
tual all-star squad that plays there), you can find a few ways to get in the building for cheap. The Yankee website
will lead you to $15 outfield seats, which is as cheap as you'll get. As with the Mets, the better option is StubHub,
