New York City
New York City
Getting Around
From JFK
From LaGuardia
From Newark
Taxi
Limo
Minibus
Public Transport
Guided Tours
New York Subway
Accommodation
New York City
New York City is made up of five island. Manhattan being the central island and four outer smaller island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island. To many Manhattan is New York where you'll likely to stay and spend most of your time. The Central Island Manhattan is divided into three areas. Downtown ( Below 14th St ), Midtown ( From 14th St to Central Park 59th St ) and Uptown ( North of 59th St ). You may spend day and still barely scratch the surface however there's some key attraction and interest you won't want to miss. This includes the different Ethnics Neighborhood. Chinatown, SoHo, TriBeCa, and the East and West villages, as well as many fabulous museums. Other then just Metropolitan and MoMA there are countless other smaller collections scattered around the city that offer weeks of happy wondering. In between visiting those collections you can eat just about anything, any time, anywhere, any drinks in any kind of company of your choice. The more establish arts, dance, theater and music are presented superbly. There are also vast choice of shops for more avid consumer, almost numbingly exhaustive in this heartland of great capitalist dream.
Other then Manhattan, the four outer island is residential by nature. However all are still worth visiting. Brooklyn Height in the one of the city's most beautiful neighborhood. Long Island City and Astoria both in Queens, hold many innovative museums and a visit to Bronx Zoo is sure to be a rewarding trip. Last but not least, a free trip on the Staten Island Ferry is not to be miss. It provide excellent views of the city.
Getting Around
There are three major airport in New York City. John F. Kennedy or JFK in Queens. La Guardia which is also in Queens and Newark in New Jersey.
From JFK
New York Airport Services buses offer transport to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Grand Central Station. Alternatively you can also use the bus, subway link. Take the free shuttle bus labeled ("Long-term parking") to Howard Beach Station on the #A subway line, then the 65 min subway ride to Central Manhattan
From LaGuardia
New York Airport Services buses take 45 min to get to Grand Central and Port Authority. Alternatively, for $2 you can take the M60 bus to 125st Street in Manhattan where you can transfer to multiple Downtown-bound subway lines.
From Newark
Olympia Airport Express go to Manhattan where they stop at Grand Central, Penn Station, Port Authority and multiple location in lower Manhattan. Journey takes about 40 minutes. Alternatively you can also use the AirTrain service which run for free between all Newark terminals, Parking lots ans the Newark Airport Rail Link Station. You can connect with NJ Transit or Amtrak trains into New York Penn Station.
Taxi
Taxi are more expensive from the airport, it traveling time into the city take anywhere from 30-60 minutes. Expect to pay$18-24 from LaGuardia. A Flat fee of $45 from JFK and $35-55 from Newark. NOT including bridge tolls and tip. Taxis are cash only. Make sure to hail a cab in the designated areas or ask a uniformed airport employee to help you. Generally, it's polite to tip at least a dollar per bag if the taxi driver assists you. They are convenient and can be hire anywhere. Knowing the exact address will help you keep the cost to the minimum. You should only use Official Yellow taxis.
Limo
For a little more than a taxi, you can have excellent service in a limo or sedan. Services such as opening doors, helping with luggage, curbside assistance, airport baggage claim greeting, suit & tie attire, and advance reservations are all standard. Visit Gotham Limo for a special discount coupon and more information or call (800) 227-7997. Other car services: Dial Car (800) 342-5106, Carmel (800)924-9954
Minibus
Minibus Shuttle service are a decent mid price option if you don't mind longer traveling time and multiple stop alone the way. Super shuttle minivan run 24 hrs and arrange pick up three hour before domestic departures and five hours before International one. Be Forewarned that if you van has many pick up, the time spend is not always equal to the money saved.
Public Transport
There's also Public Transport available. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) operates the world's largest fleet of buses -- 4,373 public buses -- serving over 666 million people per year. The bus system services routes not served by the subway system such as crosstown (East-West) routes and outlying areas.
New York's Bus system is clean, efficient and fairly frequent. The only disadvantage in general is the buses stop every 2 blocks making them agonizingly slow, but for those who have the time to spend it can also double as a scenic tour of the city. MTA buses also serve as the main mode of transportation for K-12 students traveling to and from school. From 8-9am and 2-3pm, expect heavy amounts of school children/teens in certain areas.The bus authority can be reached at (718) 330-1234;
Exact fare of $2.00 is required, payable using either coins or a subway token. Transfers to connecting buses are free, and are usually time stamped to the closest hour. Mag-stripe metro cards are also available.
Metro cards can be bought on a pay-per-ride basis or an unlimited ride basis at almost all subway stations. With pay-per-ride, you get 11 rides for the price of ten and you can add more money to your card if need be. With unlimited ride Metro cards, you can get a 7 day card for $17 and a 30 day card for $63.
Children under 44" tall ride for free; senior citizens and disabled people ride for a reduced fare.
Guided Tours
There are countless tour operator compete to offer all type of guided tour. One of the least expensive way is by the Big Apple Greeter. They are non-profit group that matches you with a local volunteer that will show you to place of interest. So get in touch well ahead of time because it's free.
Sightseeing Curises from Circle Line Ferry offers you a good way to see the city skyline. It sails around Manhattan in three hours from peir 83 at the west end of 42nd street (at 12 ave). Alternatively the Staten Island Ferry too, offers a beautiful panorama of the Downtown skyline for free.
If you like bird eye view of the city. Liberty Helicopter Tours provides you Helicopters flight to see the whole city in the air.
New York Subway
The fastest way to get from point A to Point B in Manthattan and the Boroughs is still the New York Subway, open 24hrs a day. The New York Subway map may look intimdating at first glance but the system is actually quite user friendly. Each train and route is identifies bt a letter or number and most routess run either uptown or downtown rather then crosstown and all rides must use a MetroCard. MetroCard can be purchase at station booth or Credit/Debit/ATM card-capable vending machine.
Once you are inside the station. Forget everything you've seenin the movies. New York City Subways are generally quite safe as they are always crowded even at night. But the key to saftly is to use your common sense. Always use the more crowded center car late at night.
Accommodation
As a whole, the price of accommodation in New York are well above the norm. Most hotels charge more then $100 USD per night althought decent double rooms from $75 USD do exists. most of the New York Hotels are in the Midtown Manhattan which is consider a good location but you may like to travel to downtown Manhattan for less expensive rooms and usually better food and nightlife.Booking ahead is strongly advisable. Most New York Hotels are likely to be full in certain period of the year like Christmas and early summer in particular.
Apartment stay are an attractive alternative. Staying in New Yorker Spare rooms is an increasingly popular and somewhat less expensive options. Hostels offers the most savings but compromise in terms of quality, safety and amenities. It pays to do research ahead of time to ensure satisfaction upon arrival.