^ this.
If shopping is on your agenda last week of Jan is superb for bargains. I bought a £400+ coat for £100 about ten years ago and it's still rocking on, to this day...although that was in the 'fucking incredible exchange rate' days...

Cold though it is, if you're correctly dressed it's not such a biggie (that said the fatal flaw in the Roman-style grid street plan becomes abundantly apparent: those avenues become wind tunnels from hell). Summer is stifling and you won't get half as much done.

If you're looking for nightlife etc Manhattan is no longer the city that never sleeps: Giuliani put paid to that shit some years back. You're better off in the other boroughs (accomodation is instantly cheaper too) like Brooklyn.

New York is fucking brilliant.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 May 2009, 12:17, Reply)