CLICK HERE TO BACK TO THE PRE-TRIP OVERVIEW

Pre-Trip Wednesday, August 27th

Note: Below is a tentative list of activities.
The final schedule is subject to change, and activities may be added, removed, or adjusted as necessary.

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.

We3 Park to Park (two guided tours)

Highline

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

Circle Line Cruise6:00 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 for purchase on board 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
  • Click here for the beverage menu (tax and fees are not included in the 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

Times Sqaure

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.

Bus

Train: 

Contact

Contact the Pre-Trip Co-Chairperson at Pre-Trip@MosaicOutdoor.org for questions. 






Print
X This site uses cookies. By your use of this site, you agree to all of the Policies for this site.