Travel Tips: Getting Around
By Foot
For shorter distances, there is no better way of getting around New York than hitting the sidewalk. If you use the subway or buses, you will almost certainly need to walk to and from stations or stops. In all areas of New York a traveler is likely to visit, all streets have wide, smoothly paved sidewalks. For long distances, walking is also fine and a great way to see the city.
Most of Manhattan is laid out in a grid. Accounting for Manhattan North, which is the convention stating that the island of Manhattan is oriented exactly north - south, streets run east - west and avenues run north - south. This makes it relatively easy to find your way. Both streets and avenues are numbered. Building numbering on avenues starts generally at Houston St., and their addresses rise as you move north. Fifth Avenue divides Manhattan into east and west; numbering starts at Fifth Avenue on each side (except where Central Park interrupts) and increases in either direction. Addresses west of Fifth are written as, for example, 220 W. 34th Street, while those east of Fifth are written as 220 E. 34 Street. Because of this dual-numbering system, it is always advisable to keep in mind the closest intersection to your destination (6th Avenue and 34th Street, Broadway and 51st, etc.). In downtown Manhattan (generally considered as below Houston (HOW-ston) Street), all bets are off as streets meander, dead-end and intersect themselves. Streets in Greenwich Village are particularly notorious for defying logic. For instance West 4th Street intersects with West 10th Street and West 12th Street, and you can stand on the corner of Waverly Place and Waverly Place. As a convenient guide to distance, there are 20 blocks per mile along the avenues (walking North/South). The average person can walk roughly 1 block per minute. Walking East/West on the streets, the blocks are generally much longer.
Jaywalking is common. Be aware of any bicyclists unlawfully going against the proper flow of vehicular traffic.
MetroCard
New York City has a great transit system consisting of subway and bus lines with many (but not all) lines operating 24 hours a day. A single ride on the transit system currently costs $2. MetroCards can be purchased from either the machine or manned booth at each Subway station using cash, ATM or credit cards. You can buy also a weekly or a monthl MetroCard for a discounted price
The rules on transfers are not complex. If you purchase a cash fare on a bus, you may request a transfer for another bus, with a 2 hour time limit. This transfer cannot be used to transfer to subway. If you purchase a cash fare for the subway, you may make unlimited subway transfers with no time limit, as transfers are intergrated into the structure.
Subway
The New York Subway has 26 lines, all of which accept MetroCards. Most lines are identified by letter or number, although a few shorter lines, designated with the letter "S", are referred to as "shuttles". A subway map can be found at http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm
An interesting facet of the New York subway is the local/express system, where different trains runs on the same track, but with express trains bypassing some stations.
Generally, you will be able to get free printed subway and bus maps from station attendants if you ask nicely. In most places the subway runs only just below street level and is entered by stairways from the sidewalks. In some stations, different sidewalk level entrances serve different platforms; the entrances display the lines and directions accessible from that entrance. If you are used to entrance barriers or gates on other subway or underground systems, you may find the turnstiles on the subway rather different.
Instead of inserting your MetroCard into a slot in the gate, you are expected to swipe it across through a vertical swipe reader located on the top of the turnstile; this is something of an art which may take a couple of attempts to get right. You are not required to swipe your MetroCard to exit the system.
Uptown and downtown trains refer to north and south in Manhattan. Crosstown only refers to the L train which runs across 14th St. in Manhattan to Brooklyn, and to the G train which connects Brooklyn and Queens, but does not go to Manhattan.
Subway cars are air-conditioned, but the rest of the system, including the stations and platforms, is not. As a result, with New York summer temperatures outside and the air conditioned cars adding to the heat load in the stations and tunnels, waiting for a train can become a somewhat unpleasant experience on a hot day.
The subway may look a bit grungy but the much-feared subway crime of the 80s and 90s for the most part no longer exists. It's still good to use common sense though, so avoid using the subway late at night, and try to get in a car where the conductor or operator is in, and when waiting in the station, stay behind the yellow line on the platform.
Navigating the subway can seem like an intimidating task to newcomers, but visitors will find that New Yorkers are generally very helpful with directions, and will sometimes even volunteer information if they see you looking bewildered.
Buses
There are many different bus lines, which provide good transport away from the subway. Bus lines are identified by letters followed by numbers. The letters indicates the borough in which the line mostly operates (M=Manhattan; Bx=Bronx; B=Brooklyn; Q=Queens; S=Staten Island). Bus maps for each borough can be found at http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mta/maps.htm
Even in Manhattan, with its dense subway network, buses can often be the best way of making a cross-town (i.e. east to west or vice versa) journey. And outside peak hours, a ride by bus from the tip of Manhattan at Battery Park to the Midtown district is a good and cheap way of taking in the sights.
Buses accepts MetroCard and coins but not paper money. Change is not given, so exact fares must be paid.
Commuter Rail
The Metro North Commuter Rail and Long Island Railroad are primarily services between New York City and suburbs to the north and east, but they do provide some service within the city, especially between Manhattan and Brooklyn on the one hand and Queens and The Bronx on the other. NJ TRANSIT provides commuter service from New Jersey into Penn Station-New York.
Ferries
Ferries provide an interesting alternative to getting around New York. The most famous ferry is the Staten Island Ferry (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/masstran/ferries/statfery.html), running from the tip of Manhattan at Battery Park to Staten Island. The ferry carries passengers and bicycles only, runs every 15 minutes during the day, and is free. As it gives a really good view of the Statue of Liberty on its way, this is a very popular trip for visitors. Ride on the starboard (right facing forward) side of the ferry from Manhattan and the port side from Staten Island for the best views (to the west).
Most of the other ferries you will see are operated by New York Waterway (http://www.nywaterway.com/), connect the city with the New Jersey Hudson River Waterfront and are not free. Enquire as to fares before boarding.
New York Water Taxi (http://www.nywatertaxi.com/) runs ferries between points within Manhattan, with some connections to Brooklyn and New Jersey. Their boats are painted to look like taxis.
Taxi
Real NYC taxis are yellow. Start off rate is $2.50 now (2004), and then $.40 for each 1/5 mile afterwards. "Yellow cabs" cruise in most of Manhattan and are available at dispatcher lines at airports, but not in the other four "boroughs." See "Livery or Black Car" below.
Any other type of car ("Livery or Black Car") may only be called by phone, for a trip and are flat rate rather than metered (ask for the fare before getting in), and are not allowed to cruise the street or airports for fares.
In some areas, hopping into livery cars is widely practiced. This is useful, especially in outside of Manhattan, where there are few yellow cabs. Negotiate the fare first. They are almost all Lincoln Town Cars, and can be very nice. However, be advised, that if you do get into a livery cab on the street or at an airport, there is a VERY HIGH chance you could be cheated out of upto $10.
Be wary of unlicensed cars (known as 'gypsy cabs') cruising for passengers, especially near the airports. While drivers may claim to offer you a cheaper rate than an actual taxi, your chances of actually getting this rate (not to mention getting to your destination safely and quickly) are slim. If you are in doubt, ask an airport staffer for help finding a cab or cabstand. Major airports have taxi information cards for passengers.
For all cabs, you pay the tolls for bridges, tunnels and highways, even if the cab has an E-ZPass to use the express toll lane. Be careful of being overcharged by cabbies for toll crossings - on some bridges and tunnels (like the Queens-Midtown Tunnel) rates are not posted in plain view. So, a crossing which actually cost the cab driver $4 is easily passed onto the unsuspecting passenger as a $5 charge. Outside the city, other than flat fare destinations, meter rates are doubled (when going to Westchester or Nassau County).
Tipping 15 to 20% of the fare is customary. As only very few yellow taxis are equipped to accept credit cards and drivers are very unlikely to accept personal checks, passengers should always carry cash. Always take a receipt when paying the taxi fare.
Car
Best advice is that a car is not only unnecessary but also inadvisable; street parking is practically nonexistent near crowded areas and tourist attractions and garage parking ranges from very expensive to prohibitively expensive. Note that a large percentage of city cab drivers are originally from the developing world and have brought their aggressive, take-no-prisoners driving style with them. Traffic can be mind-blowing for the uninitiated, especially in midtown and around rush hours. Manhattan is compact and has excellent public transportation. While this is somewhat less true of the other boroughs (particularly Queens and Staten Island, the only boroughs to be developed with auto and expressway in mind), no visitor to New York will need a car and indeed will be hampered by having one.
The major car rental agencies have offices throughout the city. Smaller agencies are also well represented. Be warned that car rentals in New York are generally more expensive than elsewhere in the United States, and frequently require a deposit of up to US$500. Insurance rates also tend to be higher in New York than in most other cities.
While cheap parking can be found in some parts of New York at some times, it is generally extremely expensive. Paying US$40 a day is not at all uncommon. Street parking can be much cheaper but can be extremely hard to come by. Note also that New York has alternate side-of-the-street parking rules, which may require street parkers to move their cars at different times of the day. Parking enforcement officers are very efficient in New York--trying to leave a car parked illegally for very long will often end with a ticket and a vehicle illegally parked in a overcrowded place is very likely to be towed away.
Also, note that gas stations are few and far between, especially in Manhattan, where only a handful exist on the fringes of the island. Be prepared to pay much higher prices than in the surrounding suburbs.
Unlike in most other parts of the United States, within New York City limits, turns on red lights, except where there are special turning arrows on traffic lights (in which case the turning arrow must be green) or turning branches of roads, are illegal and punishable by a fine. Given the number of pedestrians on the streets, they are also dangerous, and will be met with a hostile reception and possibly a kick to the side of your beloved vehicle. Talking on hand-held cellphones while driving is also illegal and punishable in New York state, and very dangerous, though this regulation is still fairly new and spottily enforced, and you will see other drivers doing this. But don't even think of driving while under the influence of alcohol! And please, if there is an emergency vehicle trying to get through with its siren blaring, pull over to the right and move forward as necessary. Pedestrians understand the need for emergency vehicles to go through red lights and are usually cooperative.
Also, check all parking signs carefully, especially if you're lucky or persistent enough to score a parking spot in Manhattan. Parking meters demand constant feeding, and are hungry late into the night. It is a good idea to keep a roll of quarters in your glove compartment. Parking is prohibited in bus stops, in front of places of worship and funeral homes, near fire hydrants, and wherever there is a yellow line on the curb. Many motorists simply pay garaging fees to relieve the anxiety of finding and maintaining a parking spot and avoid the risks of parking tickets, which can be expensive and serve as a major source of income for the city treasury!
There are several points of entry/exit into the city from the New Jersey side: the Lincoln Tunnel (midtown), the Holland Tunnel (downtown), and the George Washington Bridge (way uptown)--all are accessible from the New Jersey Turnpike. The Midtown Tunnel over the East River is convenient for Long Island travelers, as it becomes the Long Island Expressway. The Queensborough bridge (aka The 59th Street Bridge) also crosses the East River into Queens, is toll-free and, lands near the mouth of the Midtown Tunnel but requires some automotive manipulation to get onto the Long Island Expressway. Other routes head north and east out of the Bronx, including Interstates 87 (north to Albany) and 95 (northeast to Boston).
Driving crosstown (east-west) in Manhattan during rush hours is especially troublesome because the street lights are optimized to move traffic along the north-south roads. Your best bet is to avoid driving in Midtown Manhattan (between the 30s and 50s) whenever possible.
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