Student Blog: One Cheap Day in New York City

This story starts in early August of 2026, when it was announced that Bowen Yang would be taking over the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! As a fan of his, who has never seen the show, I was immediately desperate to get there. It just so happens that my school’s fall break fell right in the middle of Bowen’s run, and I know my best friend Lily (a Buffalo Native) is always up for an adventure. And if we are good at one thing, it is committing to plans. But this trip could only work for us on one condition : we spent as little money as possible. 

So here we were on Friday October 9th driving 7 hours to my house on Long Island. So the first, and most crucial ways we saved money, were on housing and transportation. We are lucky that I live on Long Island, and can stay at my own house, and that we did not need to fly or take a train home. We went to bed early that night because we needed our rest. 

Saturday morning started at about 4:40AM. If you haven’t checked recently, Oh Mary tickets are mega expensive. So keeping to the theme of our budget, we sacrificed a little bit of sleep to find ourselves on the Long Island Railroad to the rush line. Now remember, Lily and I are two teenage girls in New York City. No matter the hour, I think it is important to remind you to always be aware of your surroundings and a trusted person at home with your location. 

We were on the line by about 6:30, armed with two Alani’s. This experience was true proof to me, that with the right friend, time will fly by. 10AM came pretty quickly, and the line grew behind us greatly. There were two shows that Saturday, but we knew we needed tickets to the latter one at 8:30. We arrived at the perfect time, and left the box office with two $43 tickets to sit in the second row of the balcony. 

Next stop, food! We found ourselves at Liberty Bagels, which are a favorite of Lily’s, and relatively cheap at around $6 for a bagel with cream cheese. And New York bagels fill you up, they are huge. And don’t let the line fool you, it is usually people waiting for their grill orders. We headed straight back, ordered our bagels with cream cheese, and were out in about 10 minutes. We hung outside with our bagels and then were off to my favorite free bathroom in midtown : The Eighth Floor Lobby of the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Clean and free, if you act like you know where you are going. 

Like all college kids, we wanted to go shopping, and had time to kill. So we headed to Rockefeller Center. We both love records, but Rough Trade can be expensive. My tip? Head downstairs to Rough Trade underground, they have some good quality used records, and for cheap too! They also have some lounge chairs outside on the ground floor that we definitely took advantage of. 

We didn’t have much time to kill though, because we had tickets to the 1PM performance of Hamilton. I am very lucky to have an October Birthday, and generous grandparents, who gifted us tickets to see the show. Shockingly, I had never seen it live, but a million times on Disney+, and Christopher Jackson is playing George Washington right now! The show was phenomenal, our seats were wonderful, and I only let myself spend $10 on souvenirs. As a girl who loves a souvenir, my strategy to save money at every show I see has been tried and true : I get the same souvenir, a $10 magnet, at every show! I save time debating at the merch stand, and money on souvenirs! 

After the show, my nana treated Lily and I to a wonderful dinner at Osteria Al Doge in midtown. We had wonderful Italian food, and if you are willing to drop a pretty penny, I would recommend it. For some cheaper dinner options, I would send you to the Broadway Lounge for great views and American food. And if you want Raising Canes, the Penn Station one is always less crowded than the Times Square one. 

We had some time to kill before our evening show, so we grabbed dessert in Rockefeller Center with some Dirty Sodas at Cool Sips! We both rather enjoyed ours, though they were more expensive than our bagels at around $8. The drinks did however have caffeine, and by that point we had been awake for nearly 17 hours. 

To end our night we headed back to the Lyceum Theatre for Oh, Mary! Our seats were high up, but for a rush seat, I will never complain! After both shows we saw we went to the stage door, and the culture at the two was vastly different. The Hamilton crowd was quite respectful and willing to let everyone have their turn. However at Oh, Mary! Lily and I found us getting shoved, separated, and watched multiple groups of adults argue with each other. However, Bowen himself was wonderful to meet. He stayed outside for over an hour and took his time talking to every individual group. Lily and I waited out the crazy, and ended up having a wonderful conversation with him. 

We stayed on the busier streets for our late night walk back to Grand Central, and were home in my house by midnight. Was it a late night and an early morning? Yes. And we slept for a long time. But by doing everything in one day, we saved money on Long Island Railroad tickets (and I was able to spend time at home with my family). Did our one short day realistically last 19 hours? Yes. But with a good friend by my side, and leftover money in my pocket, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.