Yes, You Can Do New York City On A Budget

Driving in NYC 

Traveling to NYC last minute and on a budget, possible? Yes! New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but if you plan it right even last minute, you can stay within your budget and have a great time.
Flights and hotels take the biggest bite out of the budget. For flights, using google.com/flights will let you know what flights are available and then you can check each airline to find out how many miles you will need. Sometimes, you can find last-minute flights for as little as 12,500 miles each way.
For this last minute flight, I found a flight from San Diego to JFK for 12,500, but the return would cost 20,000 miles so I opted to pay for the return. Booked my American Airlines flight using my Citi American credit card so I would get one FREE checked bag, extra miles, and priority boarding.

The Wyndham New Yorker Hotel

Now Wyndham hotels are always 15,000 points per stay so I checked awardmapper.com  to see if there were any Wyndham hotels in NYC. There are about 8 Wyndham hotels in the city and two still had rooms available including The New Yorker, an iconic relic. Awesome! This hotel runs about $350 per night so it's a huge savings. The hotel is well located, but no breakfast included.
The hotel even has a deal with the parking garage next door so you can leave your car $40 for 24 hours. You don't need a car in NYC, in fact, it's probably better not to bring a car. But I picked up my daughter from school so it made sense this time. I almost always try booking my car through costco.com since it seems to offer the best deal.  For this weekend, I was able to book a car for just $100 for the weekend and I earned American Airlines miles on that rental too. Remember to join the car rental loyalty club and give your information when you pick up your car.

Of course, we had to split the hot trend in NYC of an egglu or soft waffle cone ice cream spectacular. This one is from New Sensations. Cost $8. 

And I always head for bagels in NYC. Found this new bagel shop right around the corner from the hotel. Liberty Bagels Mid Town had dozens of bagel flavors and smears including vegan and tofu. Yum!
Check out the 1/2 price ticket booth in Times Square for show tickets or try https://www.todaytix.com/x/nyc for great online deals.
Have fun and enjoy the city!