# Best way to get from JFK to Lower Manhattan? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818 "2016-10-07T01:49:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/21 "2016-10-09T21:04:25Z")
Plus, if you take the Airtrian to the subway- get the 7-day pass ($32 each, IIRC) and your trip to and from the airport is part of your overall NYC transportation experience… because like Mhendo I assume you’re there for the New York experience which included hopping on and off the subway whenever you need to go more than a few blocks. So then your airport transfer is almost free unless you’re there for more than 7 days. We do that from La Guardia; get the metro cards at the airport vending machine, and it covers the M61(?) bus to Jackson Heights then the subway. Our hotel was just 2 blocks from the subway station in Manhattan and the E train was a express, only a few stops. Beats paying $70 ($35 each way) for to and from the airport, and encourages us to pack light. Flying into Newark, don’t take Amtrak. Times sucked and the scanners wouldn’t take tickets sometimes. Take the bus to MTA bus and Grand Central. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/22 "2016-10-10T01:15:32Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Plus, if you take the Airtrian to the subway- get the 7-day pass ($32 each, IIRC) and your trip to and from the airport is part of your overall NYC transportation experience… because like Mhendo I assume you’re there for the New York experience which included hopping on and off the subway whenever you need to go more than a few blocks. So then your airport transfer is almost free unless you’re there for more than 7 days. The AirTrain doesn’t take unlimited-ride Metrocards. You have to get a cash-value card with $5 on it. However, you can get 7-day unlimited and cash-value on the same card. ---
**Author:** ![Hayden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/91b2a8/32.png) [@Hayden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayden)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/23 "2016-10-10T01:24:09Z")
Via Helicopter. 6 minute flight to Manhattan. Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/24 "2016-10-10T05:56:42Z")
> [@Hayden](#): > > Via Helicopter. 6 minute flight to Manhattan. > Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk They still do that? I though with all the post 911 rules they would have stopped commercial helicopter flights in and out of midtown. And didn’t one of the helicopters fall off the PanAm building and kill a few people way back in the 70s? Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/25 "2016-10-10T08:03:33Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The AirTrain doesn’t take unlimited-ride Metrocards. You have to get a cash-value card with $5 on it. > > However, you can get 7-day unlimited and cash-value on the same card. Yeah, you’d still have to pay for the Airtrain ride. But odds are you’ll get the unlimited Metrocard for your stay in Manhattan anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/26 "2016-10-10T10:01:40Z")
> [@Nightaudit](#): > > They still do that? I though with all the post 911 rules they would have stopped commercial helicopter flights in and out of midtown. And didn’t one of the helicopters fall off the PanAm building and kill a few people way back in the 70s? My partner and I were there a year ago. There weren’t helicopters flying up the streets (as my partner saw in the 80s) but there were huge numbers of them buzzing around, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/27 "2016-10-11T18:14:23Z")
We saw plenty of helicopters landing and taking off at a Midtown site by the Hudson River in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/28 "2016-10-11T18:28:25Z")
Yes the Helo service still exists - as hire/charter services, with smaller aircraft than the old helicopter shuttle. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/32 "2016-10-11T21:36:41Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > My partner and I were there a year ago. There weren’t helicopters flying up the streets (as my partner saw in the 80s) but there were huge numbers of them buzzing around, yes. Yeah, we took one of those a few years ago. They are mostly from down by the ferry terminal, doing 15-minute tours of Manhattan. If you see them hovering cicling over a spot for a while, then something newsworthy (YMMV) is going on, like VIP visit to CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/33 "2016-10-11T22:13:48Z")
Surprised nobody in this thread has mentioned Uber/Lyft. Last time I was at JFK, it was cheaper than a cab and nicer to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/34 "2016-10-12T21:11:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Since the poster has other posts on other subjects, I’m not seeing it as necessarily so. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Sorry I’ve been out of cell range for the last couple days. I’m going to have a mini vacation on the way home from seeing family in the Portlandia area…I need to decompress after seeing them for a week. And figured what the hell I’ll stop in NYC on the way home. Thus my question about the best way to get back and forth between the Hilton and JFK… Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/35 "2016-10-12T21:17:10Z")
Sorry if it ruffled feathers. The comments about taking a helicopter took me by surprise, I knew they did that back in the 60s and 70s. But with the post 9-11 concerns, I figured the authorities would have curtailed commercial flights in and out the heliports. Like the one on the PanAm building. Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/36 "2016-10-12T21:20:21Z")
> [@Nightaudit](#): > > Sorry if it ruffled feathers. The comments about taking a helicopter took me by surprise, I knew they did that back in the 60s and 70s. But with the post 9-11 concerns, I figured the authorities would have curtailed commercial flights in and out the heliports. Like the one on the PanAm building. > > Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk I think the concern with the Pan-Am building was the side effect of raining debris on the traffic below - not a problem if the takeoff and landings (the trickiest part) is on the water’s edge. Plus, winds can be much worse at 50 floors up. ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/37 "2020-11-11T04:00:14Z")
Just as a follow up I loved my trip to the city… in fact i went back in 2017 and saw the upper east side and love it and i branched out and went to coneys island, and the cloisters, and Russ and daughters and fire island and spent the night ridding the E,A D J1,2,3,4, a bunch of trains and walking through time square at 3am and getting tossed out of the bar at the Marriott near the old world traide c ente once this covid shit is done i can;t wait to get back ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/38 "2020-11-11T04:02:36Z")
sorry i clicked on something and poof it posted… so any how i can’t wait to get back!!! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818/39 "2020-11-11T04:33:59Z")
Since the factual aspects of this were answered four years ago, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-get-from-jfk-to-lower-manhattan/767818.md?page=1)