When we go we ALWAYS take 3/4 of our spending funds in cash as we have noticed a trend to no cards allowed in many places,,,,both food and bars.
When we go we go to live it up and for us that means $250 in cash per person, per day PLUS credit cards for upscale restaurants and stores for merch.
NYC is an expensive city and often times depending on the time of year, the subway and its myriad of issues has gotten us sour to that method of travel The last trip we got stuck on two main line subways the last one having to get out of the car by walking through the entire line of cars then walking down a dark track to the next station. This took nearly two hours out of our day! This was supposedly because a subway car had broken down in front of us btwn stations. To top that off, we were dressed nicely for upscale lounges then dinner and when we finally reached the station we had just left, we encountered an unavoidable "water fall" from rain nearly three stories above the track.
This meant catching a taxi 4 miles back to the hotel, fare and tip, a ruined outfit (Versace shirt and Gucci jeans) three hours wasted and three must see locations off out list. This MTA delay cost us $250 when all was said and done plus the irreplaceable time THEN getting back in a taxi to the fourth place on our list after three catch up cocktails in our room. Again,,,,this was the second disasterous subway experience leaving us to take taxis only the rest of the trip which added up quickly!!
We learned 15 trips ago, ALWAYS take more money than you need, if you plan on $1000 cash....take $1500 PLUS your Credit cards. YOU NEVER KNOW what is going to happen and exactly how super expensive this city truly is.
Our last trip was in May where the two of us went through $3000 for a four day trip. And hardly any shopping other than a replacement items that were ruined by the waterfall. Better to be safe and bring cash home with you then to be there and be without $$$$ to make your trip enjoyable/
But then we never do NYC on the cheap because....well, we did that the first few trips before we graduated to thehigher end places now. NYC does that to you. YOu see all of these killer (expensive places) and the people frequenting them then you want to see the city from that rarefied point of view....and THAT takes money!!
And remember....tipping is the way many people who make your trip memorable make a living in this expensive but glorous city. so carry lots of singles and fives with which to tip those people.