Michael’s apartment in the West Village is very stylish and lovely. It is very comfortable and so handy for everywhere and Michael is a terrific host. Michael’s flat is close to two different metro stations servicing different metro lines. We bought $32 dollar weekly metro cards and thanks to Google maps we could get anywhere using the subway. When we were leaving we got the subway to Penn Station and then paid $26 for two tickets to Newark International on the Amtrack. Very cheap for New York.
My advice would be to do the big bus uptown and downtown tours on day one and make a note of places you want to visit. I’d have liked to stroll around Harlem and the East Village. They looked a lot more interesting than many of the “attractions” we did visit. Highlight of the trip was probably the Ellis Island immigration museum. So many life stories we’ll never hear.