On these days, hotel rates drop, theatres and museums are more empty than usual and you may even get a look in at the city's best restaurants.

That's according to the city's tourist board, NYC & Company. The organisation has uncovered a series of dates throughout the year when Americans, who visit the city more than any other nationality, are less likely to be in town.

Many of the dates will surprise British travellers, such as the week before Christmas - a perfect time to stock up with presents, particularly now, as the dollar approaches two to the pound.

Like the week ahead of Christmas, most of the dates are either before or during American public holidays, such as Thanksgiving at the end of November and Labor Day Weekend in early September.

That's all very well, but finding affordable flights is the next problem, particularly at those dates around Christmas and New Year. In the week leading up to Christmas the cheapest fare we could find to New York is £419, flying indirect at unfavourable times of the day, and in excess of £550 to go direct.

If the other windows of opportunity to visit New York appeal, outlined in the graphic linked above, then the trick to finding a cheap flight is to start looking early. Go to the airline's website direct first to find out a fare (British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Aer Lingus, Air India, Silverjet, Maxjet and Eos are among the airlines that fly there from the UK). If the fare is over your budget, sign up to the carrier's email alert so you can get in early when a route goes on sale. There are also price comparison websites such as www.cheapflights.co.uk and www.netflights.com.

Those 84 days:

Thanksgiving (the week surrounding the third Thursday in November)

Christmas (December 18-25)

New Year’s Eve (January 2-15)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Weekend (January 12-15, 2007)

President’s Day Weekend (February 1-19, 2007)

Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-28, 2007)

July 4th Holiday (July 1-8)

Rosh Hashanah (September 13-16, 2007)

Halloween (October 31)

New hotels and new happenings in New York

Once you've booked your flight, for British travellers wanting to take advantage of the quiet periods in New York, there is plenty that is new in the city, this year and next, for Big Apple veterans and first-timers. Here's a brief round-up:

New hotels

The Gramercy Park Hotel is an Ian Schrager property, and the hottest hotel in New York right now, with over-th-top design and artwork by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst.

The Rockefeller Center Hotel offers state-of-the-art rooms, with flat panel high definition television and ergonomic work stations for business travellers, in the historic surroundings of Rockefeller Plaza.

Hotel Mela opened last month and is a boutique property on 44th Street and Broadway Avenue. Luxuries include 400 thread count bedsheets and custom-designed furnishings, from $509 a night.

London NYC is a trendy new hotel on West 54th Street and the site of Gordon Ramsay's first US restaurant.

New things to do

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will launch its Greek and Roman galleries on April 20 2007. The collections, which have been 15 year in the making offer sculpture, paintings, glass and artefacts from the fourth Century BC to the fourth Century AD. The gallery is open 9.30am to 9pm Fridays and Saturdays and until 5.30pm on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The recommended admission is $20 for adults and $10 for students.

There are a host of new services to help you get into the right nightspots, rather than hanging out with all of the other tourists. These include, Club Planet has listing a chat room and guest list opportunities, as does Joonbug and Partythisweek.com, plus gallery openings and parties, or there's My NYC Nite (tel. 212 201 2007), a phone service that directs you to the best parties in town.

A host of new shopping tours include Safari Shopping, for the inside track on discounted designer goods; the wittily-named Elegant Tightwad, a shopping tour with Pamela Parisi , who also promises to find designer clothes at bargain prices; and Shop Gotham, which offers private and group shopping tours to the shops that only New Yorkers know.

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