New York, NY
Thanks to Fung Wah Bus[a], going from Boston to New York is only $30 ($15 one-way). The buses go every hour, and the trip takes about four and a half hour in each direction. If you take the 7am bus (the earliest one) from Boston, and the 7pm bus back, you have about six hours of New Yorking. The last bus leaves at 2230, if you don't mind coming back to Boston at about 0300. However, if you intend to sample the NY nightlife you should plan on being in NY at about 2100, have dinner at 2300, and then party until about 0600, and take the 7am bus back. I've never tried that, but that's what I've been told.
This is a public service announcement. When you buy tickets at Empire State Building, you will be offered to go to the 102nd floor observatory for another $14. This is what you will get. A submarine-like room with dirty windows. As the life operator said: "It's stopid. Nuthin' disastrous, juss' stopid." Stay on the 88th floor and save your money.
The World Trade Center Cross[b], a cross-shaped remnant of the exterior wall of WTC.
The statue of liberty. The vertical smudge to the right in the image is caused by lens damage.
Of all streets in NY, I think Wall Street is the only one where I've really felt the high-rise buildings on the sides of the street really give the area a claustrophobic feel.