Biz Travelers Can Enjoy N.Y. Without Breaking The Bank

Assuming workdays don't always extend into the evenings, business travelers often face a conundrum—what to do after hours?

Fortunately, for those doing business in New York City, there are plenty of viable diversions and enjoying them does not require a prince's purse. In fact, affordable entertainment options are readily available—if you know where to look and what to spend.

Attending a Broadway show is a popular choice among visitors, but many are put off by the fact that box office prices can reach or even exceed $100 per ticket. However, paying top dollar usually is only necessary to see the latest and/or hottest shows. Tickets for The Producers, Lion King, Aida and Urinetown continue to be tough to acquire even at full price. Similarly, recently opened revivals of Oklahoma and The Crucible aren't likely to be bargain-priced anytime soon.

But these hits are the exceptions, not the rule.

At the red and white TKTS Times Square booth—between Broadway and Seventh Avenues at 47th Street—more than half of Broadway offerings, and many Off-Broadway shows, usually are available for half the box office price plus a $2.50 per seat service charge. While a few shows only discount 25 percent, most are available at 50 percent off.

Electronic signs at the booth display the shows available for that day. TKTS only accepts cash and traveler's checks—not credit cards. TKTS Times Square hours are 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday for evening shows, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Wednesday and Saturday matinees and 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for Sunday matinee and evening performances.

Though lines tend to be lengthy when sales start at 3 p.m., from 5:30 p.m. until closing, lines either are short or nonexistent. The best selection of shows usually is available Tuesday through Thursday evenings. And for those bunking down in Times Square, the booth couldn't be more convenient.

A second TKTS outlet downtown, just outside the Bowling Green subway station (on the Lexington Avenue line) near the Customs House in lower Manhattan, is convenient to those visiting Wall Street or the financial district. The booth last fall was relocated from its former location inside the World Trade Center.

Bowling Green hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for Monday through Friday evening performances and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This location also sells matinee tickets on Tuesday for Wednesday shows and Friday for Saturday and Sunday performances. The Bowling Green TKTS booth is closed on Sundays.

Another source for reduced-price entertainment options is the New York City Visitors Center at Seventh Avenue between 46th and 47th streets, across the street from the Times Square TKTS booth.

Here travelers can find "two-fers," vouchers that can be exchanged for roughly half-price tickets for long-running shows. There are no lines here, and two-fers usually can be exchanged at box offices right up until curtain times. Also, two-fers are available for various sections and prices within a theater, whereas TKTS only discounts the top-priced seats. Currently, two-fers are available for such shows as Cabaret, 42nd Street and Chicago.

Opera and dance fans also can benefit from two-fers, particularly those offered by the New York City Opera and New York City Ballet. Exchangeable at their Lincoln Center, New York State Theatre home, these vouchers can put you in the best seats in the house for $45 or less.

Actually, that sum is a good yardstick for entry to many of New York City's other cultural centers. For instance, while one can spend hundreds to attend the Metropolitan Opera, you can see and hear perfectly well from the balcony where Monday through Thursday prices are in the under-$50 range. Similarly, a concert at Avery Fisher Hall by the New York Philharmonic can be enjoyed from the third tier for less than $40.

Moreover, a similarly priced ticket almost always provides access to the front balcony of Carnegie Hall, America's most prestigious concert venue. On any given night, the best of the world's classical ensembles may be performing at the legendary Seventh Avenue and 57th Street hall. But whatever is on stage, remember that while orchestra-level seating can be extraordinarily pricey, the sound and the view often is better above the performers than at ground level.

Of course, if—on a given evening—all this seems too erudite or simply too much of a hassle—don't overlook a recent addition to revitalized Times Square. Two movie complexes, the AMC 25 and Loews—opposite each other near the intersection of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue—offer a combined 38 screens with most theaters featuring stadium seating.

For travelers staying at the Hilton, Marriott Marquis, W or any of the other nearby properties, catching the latest flick in cinematic splendor also can provide a viable answer to, "What should I do tonight?"

But some travelers staying in New York may prefer to do something they otherwise may not have the opportunity to do back home. For the price of a movie, visitors on any night of the week can enjoy some of the world's finest stand-up comedy at any of the city's well-known comedy clubs.

Whether travelers are staying Downtown, Midtown or Uptown, prominent comedy clubs are scattered throughout Manhattan. Downtown, the famous Comedy Cellar is situated in the heart of Greenwich Village. Gotham Comedy Club, located in the Flatiron District on 22nd Street near Fifth Avenue, features two-hour shows each weeknight as well as performances on the weekends. Stand-Up New York is located on 78th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side, and directly across town on the Upper East Side is the famous Comic Strip Live, one block from Rodney Dangerfield's club Dangerfield's. In Times Square, visitors can see daily performances at Carolines On Broadway, located on Broadway between 49th and 50th streets.

All the clubs have at least one evening show during the week and three or four shows on weekend nights. Admission to comedy shows ranges from $8 to $12 on week nights and $10 to $20 on weekends and feature from as little as one comic to more than 10 comedians per show. Most clubs also require a two-drink minimum per person.

~Additional reporting by Moses Frenck