You mean the one Macy’s hosts in the Fourth of July? Usually you line up along the East River in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens, but that’s ~3 months away & the actual spots, talent, and other things haven’t been formally announced yet.

Iirc there should be a program/initiative nowadays for PSE&G (or w/ a contractor) to go door to door to upgrade meters to a smart meter, and although it’s optional, they won’t knock and/or show up if they can access the meters outside.

My dad had his old/manual style meter changed for a smart meter for his house inside the basement today via a contractor, and the process only took 5 minutes in the morning since the service man just happened to be in the neighborhood. To be fair though, they did give a heads up for ~1 month now (w/ 3 letters) saying it was an option (not a mandate) for homeowners to upgrade to smart meters, and he’s always at work ≠ bad timing.

PS: YMMV, but if a homeowner doesn’t install the smart meter and/or opts out, there’ll be an additional 12$ monthly charge for billing in 2024. Businesses can’t opt out, or at least plenty by now should have them.

Also w/ the rest of baseball season, you’ll have to figure out the Yankees games that exclusively air on:

• Apple TV+ for Friday Night Baseball. (2 games)

• ESPN (2 games).

• Amazon Prime Video (iirc around 20), or sometimes on TBS (2 games, inc. one Subway Series).

• Fox (local channel), sometimes separate on FS1 too, ~7 games combined.

YES doesn’t broadcast or cover those, but for those who already have a cable package that includes them (me), great news. Also good news if you already have MLB.tv for free (T-Mobile, also me), so you wouldn’t miss out on them.

I did hear about it on the Michael Kay show yesterday on radio (& saw on DVR on YES), MSG network’s supposed to have a similar one for summer, a bit more expensive, and in theory not much to see. Only benefit with this one is that if you choose to subscribe month to month or yearly, there’ll be more programming w/ Nets games, Yankees games, NY Liberty, some golf & college sports games, AC Milan games, and more.

Recap: PATH Debuts 9-Car Service On The Newark-World Trade Center Line - Port Authority NY NJ.

> The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will take the first step tomorrow in a planned major expansion of PATH service along the Newark-World Trade Center line. On Thursday, March 23, PATH will operate 9-car trains on the NWK-WTC line for the first time in its 100-year history.

> Gradually over the next 12 months, PATH will place increasing numbers of 9-car trains in service and, by the beginning of 2024, nearly all trains on the NWK-WTC line at peak times will be 9-car trains. The addition of a ninth rail car to trains during peak hours is part of an ambitious program to increase capacity and provide a safer, more convenient commuting experience for customers

> The increasing number of 9-car trains along the NWK-WTC line beginning later this year will utilize the start of delivery of 72 new rail cars later this year to augment PATH’s current operating fleet of 350 cars. The new cars will be added to service over the course of this year and 2024. The 9-car train is an essential element of PATH’s plan to increase capacity on the NWK-WTC line by 40 percent.

More capacity, really helpful for the Newark-WTC route for AM/PM rush hour service. Normally they’re 8 cars per train set. Sometimes it feels like stations are crowded, even though service does come in every 10-15 minutes during that time (20 minutes off-peak). It’ll slowly be introduced this Thursday, and a goal to have almost all trains on the route become 9 cars by next year, and possibly accommodate 10 cars if needed/feasible. Some stations on the route are already seeing projects to lengthen platforms, like Exchange Place.

This is in addition to a 75 72 car order from Kawasaki that should be rolling out around now that’s been ordered around mid September 2022, increasing the PATH fleet by 20% and allowing more capacity. Ridership already is ~80% of what it was pre-pandemic.

As what others have said, go to r/AskNYC (rule 2, questions, suggestions, recommendations go there), and to avoid having your post removed on that sub, two words: be specific. Give an insight on your budget (you did now), time you’ll travel (also did that now), what specifically you’d want to do or interested in for early summer/late spring? Are you open to taking the subway everywhere (or bus), renting a bike, or walking? The more info, the better!

However as the only mod who doesn’t live in NYC, admittedly getting by as a tourist w/ no connections, no experience, and having a second person with you to try and be as frugal as possible isn’t easy, especially since you’re going on vacation again in Europe soon-ish. There’s other accommodations out there for budgeting, or having to trust another person, but be mindful.

Also helps to check out the individual borough subs, unless if you want to keep this strictly have this Manhattan centric: r/Manhattan, r/Brooklyn, r/Queens, r/StatenIsland, r/Bronx. Also check out r/FoodNYC for food recommendations.

Consider asking on r/NYCApartments, flair/start your post with something like [advice] so it wouldn’t be automatically removed by their AutoMod. Good luck!

Also consider asking on r/AskNYC

Glad the subreddit finally has 700K subscribers as of today (13 March 2023)! 🎉

Onto 750000 subscribers, which shouldn’t be too far off.

Photographer here (mostly food), and I agree, you do not want to leave your camera/phone unattended, especially for a precious moment like this. Whether it’s shot interference, or even someone wants to take the camera. Maybe consider hiring a photographer, or a trusted friend to help!

Brooklyn Botanic Garden/Wave Hill/NY Botanic Garden can be great spots, but you’ll have to most likely pay/set up a permit for the pro-style photo shoot. Jefferson Market Garden’s a bit low key (& tiny) so you can maybe get away with it.

Just to make sure, the temporary relaxation of rule 3 during the pandemic was reinstated in August 2021, about a year and a half ago. Once upon a time r/NYCPics was founded as a subreddit for people to share photos on, and it’s working as intended. If not, there’s a litany of other subs to share photos: 5 individual borough subreddits (r/Manhattan, r/Brooklyn, r/Queens, r/StatenIsland, r/Bronx), individual neighborhood subreddits (r/LongIslandCity, r/Astoria, r/Harlem, etc), even r/NewYorkCity (which I also help moderate) on weekends! Same applies if people want a different choice on content to consume or share, so there’s always a choice if someone wants to go to another community, or just create a new subreddit - a lot more niche/specific interests to New York City has a subreddit by now, from asking questions, to hip hop, to food, to biking/Micromobility, making friends/hanging out/events/meeting w/ people, the list goes on.

I’ll keep my opinions to myself for the time being, but to be neutral, everyone could agree the subreddit rules could use some clarification for people to understand, and more moderators as we gradually grow into a larger community.

Pretty much how the mall’s been since the “phase 2” opening (shops/restaurant/water park) in March 2020 was pushed back due to the early stage of the COVID pandemic in NJ & delayed that by 7 months.

Still, gonna get the popcorn ready for the legal drama we’ll see for American Dream in the months (& years) to come over debt & how it’s both in an over saturated retail market, and too much of a Jack of All Trades business.

Consider asking or searching on r/AskNYC helpful megathread / r/FoodNYC!

I don’t really take the bus often in NYC, but admittedly I forgot this was a feature, and only used this twice, even though nowadays prevalent 5G is reliable & fast anyways.

Still, it would be nice in the late 2020s/2030s to have (underground) subway WiFi/cell phone service coverage. Not only could it be useful in an emergency situation (or for individual needs), but you might never know in a time like this.

Correct, the owner of Brownstone Pancake Factory’s sister runs Life Pancake Company, and it all stemmed from the OG family diner in Jersey City. Won’t expect too much of the fun as BPF and not as expensive, but it works like a charm.

Agree with others here, the hours are a bit wonky for a diner restaurant like this, feels like they’d miss out on business if they only opened a bit earlier (maybe 7-8 AM some days), and/or did dinner service.

True, that part of US-1 / around the shopping centers are full of chains, and nowadays it’s hard pressed to see an independent restaurant inside a mall due to the competition/expensive leases/high cost of running business. Probably Seasons 52 would be the “best” option available in that area if I had a similar choice in the area if you had to avoid downtown Princeton or the University as parking street side or in a garage could be an inconvenience.

Princeton Junction (West Windsor) near the train station has a few options too, like PJ’s Pancake House, Terakawa Ramen, Asian Bistro, or Shanghai Bun, then again, a lot of them maybe are just casual for people who live in the area and/or commuting to/from Princeton, Amtrak or NJ Transit.

Consider asking (or searching) on r/FoodNYC if you’d want good recommendations on where to eat!

Trial/vote was until Sunday (8 January 2023/day before this comment) as the last sentence indicated, so wait and see until the votes/results are made public on whether the community at large wants a crime thread or not!

If you were referring to the month long experiment we had in November 2022 on consolidating crime posts in a thread, we did held a vote (mentioned above) last week whether it should be reinstated again on a more permanent matter, or not.

#Happy New Year 🎊

May 2023 bring a bundle of joy to you & those in your lives. I’m hopeful it’ll be a better year for us all in/near the city, so much is in store for our journals to chronicle in life.

(Also MTA & NYC gods, don’t make the city even more expensive than it already is with the almost certain fare hike & rise in cost of just about everything that’s due this year. 🙏🏼)

Agree, there’s 4 other boroughs in the city, and yes, you could consider New Jersey, or even Long Island/Hudson Valley if you’d want space + not too confined in city life. It did help to have the money, but if you’re budget savvy, it’s of no worry.

Maybe Staten Island could be the most “affordable” place to live in the city if you’d want space & be a homeowner, but >6 million other people in the city live outside of Manhattan, some thriving, and other getting by. It’s possible after all, will be next year beyond.

PS: For a lot of people, helps if you’re a DINK: no kids/obligations (or even pets), you won’t be too saddled by toning it down in life.

Tonight’s the big night, and whether you’re celebrating at home, at a bar or restaurant, with friends/family/loved ones or alone, even in person at Times Square, may 2023 be a better year for us all, and your storybook in life continue to be filled with positivity.

Happy New Year! 🎊

True, most of them run early in the morning and some in the PM rush hour. If there’s no issues w/ tracks/other trains, the trip from Metropark (Iselin) to Newark Penn Station is ~20 minutes on NJ Transit’s NEC route, no extra stops. It’s around 30 minutes for the normal Northeast Corridor route. Some Amtrak routes can do it in 10-15 minutes, but really saving time is almost negligible for a distance like this. You’d notice it more if you took a Amtrak route from Trenton-Newark Penn: 35 minutes (or 30 w/ Acela) vs 75 minutes (or ~50 minutes for express) w/ NJ transit, or even further outside the state like the service was intended.

Also, it’s not like you’re going to magically save time by taking an express/“high speed” train 14,6 miles. As of now (11:20AM, Christmas), you could book a ticket for Tuesday 27 December on Acela for either 95$ or 74$ (one left), and the other Amtrak routes for 83$. Meanwhile NJ Transit’s ticket costs 6,50$ to achieve basically the same thing from Metropark-Newark Penn, sometimes w/ express or local.

I’ve never worked for anyone before, but even in days like this, you still have to go to work & mandated to do so. The only notable ones who said not to go to work was NJ’s state offices, which are closed today. Of course that’ll be an interesting variable once it gets cold by evening.

PATH as of now (10:05AM) is running on/close to schedule to cross the Hudson.

It seems to be a recurring question on the sub re: NJ Transit tickets expiring since there’s been multiple threads in days ^(^1 ^/ 2) , so again: the physical/digital tickets do not expire. The only way they’d expire is if you’d brought one that’s time sensitive, whether it’s a weekly pass, a monthly pass, or a FlexPass (20% discount for 20 one way tickets, valid for a month). If it’s unused, then those (time sensitive tix) are gone for good.