Chilly NYC warms your back pocket

Visiting the Big Apple can be expensive, but get your timing right and you can save.

New York in winter. There's no doubt it's chilly, but it offers experiences the warmer high season does not: a winter wonderland with lower prices and shorter queues.

Visitors heading to the Big Apple in January and February will be greeted with deals on dining, attractions and theatre tickets, along with the lowest hotel rates of the year.

“Winter is one of the most attractive and value-oriented times of the year to visit New York City, with unique and magical experiences across all five boroughs,” says Fred Dixon, chief executive of the city's official destination marketing organisation NYC & Company.

The organisation has released its recommendations by borough for both indoor and outdoor activities, as well as some freebie tips, for a wintertime visit.

To warm up from the inside out in the Bronx’s Belmont neighbourhood, enjoy an espresso and feast on Italian food along Arthur Avenue, the “real Little Italy”. The Bronx Museum of the Arts is one of several free museums in NYC.
Enjoy a family outing in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, where the kids and the young-at-heart can build snow forts in Prospect Park and then explore global exhibitions in the Brooklyn Museum. Don't forget to walk to the iconic Brooklyn Bridge while you're there.
Nothing says winter in New York like ice-skating at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, the Rink at Rockefeller Center or the Winter Village at Bryant Park, all in Manhattan. Afterwards, head to the Museum of the City of New York for the New York at Its Core exhibit.
You can then head uptown to catch jazz, dance or theatre at Harlem’s Apollo Theater followed by a soul-warming dinner at the nearby Sylvia’s Soul Food Restaurant.

Take a ride on the free and enclosed Staten Island Ferry, which departs Lower Manhattan frequently, to St George and explore the new Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, or warm up to an evening performance at the historic St George Theatre.
Experience a Queens winter adventure, where Himalayan, Indian and Latin American cuisine are part of the Jackson Heights experience. Flushing has an impressive scale model of New York City at the Queens Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City has art with a view of the city skyline.

NYC & Company's new Nonstop NYC campaign has offers on theatre, restaurants and attractions. Included are popular programs NYC Broadway Week (January 17 to February 5), NYC Restaurant Week (January 23 to February 10), NYC Off-Broadway Week (February 27 to March 12), and the first-ever NYC Attractions Week (January 17 to February 5), with two-for-one tickets to more than 70 attractions.