Wednesday Morning
6:00 am – 9:00 am - Breakfast in the Breakfast Room adjacent to the hotel lobby (included for
those staying in the hotel)
Click HERE for details about public transit between the hotel and NYC
Daytime Activity Options
We1 Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on Statue Cruises from Liberty State Park, NJ. Your cruise
ticket will include entry to the Pedestal and the Statue
of Liberty Museum. Lunch is available at the Statue of Liberty Café or Ellis
Island Café (pay as you go). Visitors can take ranger-led or self-guiding tours of Liberty Island. Audio
tours that can be used on Liberty Island and Ellis Island are available as part of the ferry ticket.
During the afternoon, we will spend a few hours touring the Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island. Between 1892
and 1954, the island was the entry point for twelve million immigrants. The National Museum of Immigration has
thirty galleries and exhibits that chronicle immigration history to the United States.
Highlights include the baggage, registry, and hearing rooms of the American Family Immigration Center, a
computerized genealogy center.
Patience and understanding are expected. There could be extended waiting times to clear security checkpoints.
After clearing security, expect to spend about five hours overall splitting the time between each island. You
will need to choose your time wisely.
We will depart Ellis Island on the 4:25 pm ferry for Battery Park in time for our evening cruise.
- Activity Duration 8:00 am ~ 6:00 pm
- Activity Fee: $32 / $27 Senior (62+) (includes Statue
City Cruises and access to both islands + NJ Transit Rail from North Elizabeth to Newark Penn)
- Other Fees:
- PATH $3.00 (not included)
- Hudson–Bergen Light Rail $2.55 (not included)
- MTA Subway. $2.70 (not included)
- Please bring adequate water, sunscreen, walking shoes, money for lunch, and plenty of patience!
- Two security screenings. Thirty minutes before boarding the ferry and 30 to 90 minutes before entering
Pedestal.
- No large bags are permitted on the ferry. The pedestal does not allow backpacks, food and drink, laptops,
long umbrellas, or tripods.
- Locker facilities are available for rental at $2.00 (quarters only). Bring change! Locker
size dimensions are 12” L x 12” W x 18” D. Lockers are located near the secondary screening building.
- Lunch is available at the Statue of Liberty Crown Café
or Ellis Island Café
- Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island Tour YouTube
- This tour does NOT include walking up the stairs to the crown due to the
restrictions on purchasing said ticket. Please let us know if you plan to purchase Crown
tickets prior to purchase to discuss options. These tickets tend to sell out months in
advance.
- Click HERE for more details.
We2 Jewish Lower East Side Walking Tour
The first stop this morning will be to the National September 11 Memorial, a
place of profound significance dedicated to honoring those who were killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks. The names of those who died are engraved on two bronze panels flanking the Memorial pools. The pools,
each an acre in size, mark the footprints of the Twin Towers that once stood on that site.
Our next stop is the Museum of Jewish Heritage, a treasure trove of modern Jewish history, life, and culture.
Here, you can delve into the complexities of Jewish life in the 20th and 21st centuries before, during, and
after the Holocaust. Check out exhibits like The
Holocaust: What Hate Can Do, which provide an overview of the Holocaust through artifacts and personal
stories. Tour Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark, which discusses the rescue of Danish Jews through
ordinary actions in an accessible, interactive format. Another exhibit just released, Survivor Stories, will be on view, as will an interactive dialogue with Holocaust
survivors.
On our way to lunch, we’ll walk through the financial district, stopping for photo ops at “The Charging Bull,” Trinity Church (where Alexander Hamilton and a few other famous figures are buried), the
New York Stock Exchange, and Federal Hall, where George Washington gave his first Presidential
inaugural address in 1789. The walk to lunch continues past City Hall, the
Brooklyn Bridge, Foley Square, and the infamous Five
Points.
Lunch is at Buddha Bodai, a kosher vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown. Here, you can savor New
York City's cultural diversity with various dishes, including dim sum, spring rolls, and tasty noodle
dishes.
Following lunch, we visit the restored historic Eldridge Street Synagogue. A
19th-century landmark with stunning architecture that initially opened its doors to a wave of Eastern European
Jewish immigrants, it recently reopened as a vibrant arts and education center for all ages and backgrounds,
with exhibitions and tours of the restored synagogue.
Take a guided tour of the historic synagogue and a guided walking tour of the Lower East Side. The Lower East
Side was once home to the largest Jewish population in the world as Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe
streamed in to settle in the crowded tenements that lined the street. Your knowledgeable guide will stroll the
neighborhood streets, visiting old synagogues, Yiddish newspaper buildings, socialist hot spots, and the best
pickle shop in New York.
After our Lower East Side tour, two options exist for getting to the Circle Line Cruise Line by 6:00 p.m.
A. Stopping at Yonah Schimmel’s for a knish, then use a combination of subway and bus to
get to the Circle Cruise Line with minimal walking.
B. Take the NYC subway uptown and walk through Times
Square to arrive on time at the Circle Cruise Line. The cruise offers non-kosher food.
- Tour Duration: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Tour Cost: $38 Adult / $32 Senior (+65) (Price includes admission to both museums, a tour of the Lower East
Side, and the first leg on the NJ Transit Train to Newark).
- Other Fees (one-way):
- Bring comfortable walking shoes and money for lunch.
- Note that this tour involves a lot of walking, some along very crowded, narrow streets in possibly hot,
humid conditions. If you do not like crowds, do not sign up for this tour.
- The Museum of Jewish Heritage requires final counts and non-refundable payment for the group rate by Monday,
July 28th. No refunds for this activity will be allowed, and the price will increase by $8 / $1 for Seniors
65+ after this date.
Click HERE for more info.
We3 Park to Park (two guided tours)
Join us on a tour of two iconic parks in New York City: the renowned Central Park and the High Line, a park
built on an abandoned elevated rail line that serves as a model for other railway-to-park conversions worldwide.
Lunch will be at a traditional NY Kosher Deli. Afterwards we will head downtown to explore the High Line, an
excellent spot for photography and people-watching, before concluding our adventure with a Mexican vegan
dinner.
Our first stop of the day will be Central Park, an urban oasis in the center of Manhattan, where we will
embark on a guided tour of the southern end of the park, showcasing landmarks and great people-watching sites
such as Bethesda Terrace, The
Mall, The Ramble, and the Alice in
Wonderland Statue. The tour concludes near Strawberry
Fields, which honors the late Beatle John Lennon, who was tragically killed in front of his apartment
building just steps from the park on the Upper West Side. After exiting the park, we will walk a few minutes to
Pastrami
Queen, a popular kosher deli.
After lunch, we will take the subway south to the High Line, an elevated
railway transformed into a public park that offers stunning views of the Hudson River and the New York City
skyline. Our guided tour will cover the 1.5-mile-long park, where we will explore its lush horticulture and art installations.
After the tour, we will take a break at Hudson Yards, Manhattan’s newest neighborhood, featuring impressive
buildings and a high-end shopping mall. Finally, we will enjoy an early dinner at Jajaja Mexicana,
a vegan restaurant, before walking to Pier 83, where we will meet up with the rest of the group for a Circle Line Cruise.
• Please bring water, comfortable walking shoes, a hat, an extra layer for when it gets chilly, and a
backpack to carry your belongings.
• Cost: $36 per person (Includes NJ Transit from Elizabeth to NY Penn
Station, tips for tour guides for both tours, and Mosaic administrative fees).
• Not included in the base
price are the costs of lunch and dinner, two subway fees ($2.90 per ride) and any mics purchases along the
way.
• Time: 8:00 am ~ 6:00 pm
• Expect to walk approximately five miles in total, broken up into
parts.
• Click HERE for more info
Wednesday Evening
WeEve4 Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise
6:00
pm—6:15 pm All groups will meet in front of the Circle Line Cruise Ticket Office at Pier 83, 43rd
Street and 12th Avenue, to regroup and begin boarding. Pier 83 is the dock for the Circle
Line Harbor Cruise.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm The Circle
Line Harbor Cruise. See the City the way it was meant to be seen from the water, admiring the stunning
evening lights of New York's celebrated skyline and landmarks. Narrated by informative and entertaining
guides, this tour aboard NYC's most iconic and state-of-the-art boat is an unforgettable experience.
Sail down the Hudson River, passing the colossal Hudson Yards,
impressive Chelsea Piers, and the towering One World Trade Center, before rounding the spectacular tip of
southern Manhattan and ultimately cruising only a few feet away from the magnificent Statue of Liberty.
Get your camera ready for some of the best selfie opportunities of your
life. And you won't miss a thing as our award-winning tour guides narrate the story of New York City as you
sit back and relax in the comfort of one of our state-of-the-art boats.
Food will be available on board for purchase at the Circle Line Café. It
will include sandwiches, salads, hot dogs, and chips. Beverages include soda, juice, bottled water, iced tea,
lemonade, coffee, and hot chocolate. Wine and beer are also available for purchase.
- Tour Duration: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
- Tour Cost $54 Advanced Registration Only (includes Harbor Lights Cruise and one soft drink ticket)
- Bring money to purchase dinner, a sweater, or a light jacket, as it could be cool or windy on the water.
- Meet at Pier 83 @ W. 43rd Street Circle Line Ticket window @ 6:00 pm
- An add-on beverage package, including an open bar throughout the cruise and one food item per package,
including a pizza, loaded nachos, a hotdog, a pretzel, or garden salad, is available. Click HERE for
the beverage menu (tax/fees to be added, NOT included in base price).
- Circle Line Café – Pay as You Go. No outside food is permitted on the Circle Line
- YouTube 1 | YouTube
2
- TripAdvisor (4.5 stars, 865 Reviews)
- Interactive map of the cruise
- Click HERE for more info
WeEve5 Self-Guided Walking Tour of Times Square
We will take a self-guided walking tour of Times Square, the Crossroads of the World. Our tour will include the
Theater District, the “Great White Way,” and Broadway.
Bright lights, award-winning Broadway shows, window shopping, diverse restaurants, and eclectic performers are
among the top reasons to explore this famous spot. Add one-of-a-kind people-watching to the list, and you will
find endless things to do there.
About a mile after the cruise, we turn right onto Broadway; we enter the heart of Times Square and its razzle,
the dazzle of lights and billboards. Eat the best-glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme (best when they are still hot and freshly made). Check out
some unique flavors in the three-story-tall store filled with candy in M&M's
Store. See the largest chocolate bars around at Hershey's Chocolate World. Stop to watch an impromptu on-street performance. Pass the
famous TCKTS booth in the “heart of Times Square,” where half-price tickets to Broadway Shows may be purchased.
Pass iconic theaters where many Broadway stars performed, such as the J Barrymore Theater (Broadway &
47th Street), Lunt Fontaine Theater (Broadway 46th Street), and Paramount Theater at
Broadway and 44th Street. Look up at the Times Square Building on Broadway at 43rd Street
to see the Times Square Ball lit up by LED lights above and viewed by millions each year. We will end
the tour by taking the subway downtown to Penn Station at 34 Street and then transferring to an NJ Train for the
ride back to our hotel in Elizabeth.
No need to register for this option. We will ask who wants to do what at the end of the cruise.
- 9:00 pm ~ 11:00 pm
- Transportation back to the hotel (You can take public transit or walk to Penn Station) Pay as you go:
- Wear comfortable walking shoes. Dress appropriately for the weather.
- Transportation: Walking to Times Square, then MTA and NJ Transit to return to the hotel.
- Click HERE for more details
9:00 pm—2:00 am Travel back to the hotel at your
discretion. The Port Authority Bus Terminal is just south of Times Square, and Bus #112 is non-stop to the bus
stop near the hotel. The last bus is at 11:35 pm, or go to Penn Station to catch the last train at 1:22 am. See
below for details.
Public Transit
- Click HERE for details on Public transit, either by bus or train.
- Click HERE for a map of bus and train locations around the hotel.
Contact
Contact the Pre-Trip
Co-Chairperson at Pre-Trip@MosaicOutdoor.org for
questions.