# Flying in and out of NYC
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 13, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582 "2011-10-13T22:55:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/21 "2011-10-15T22:25:26Z")
Thanks again, everyone–you’ve eased my anxiety and reaffirmed my conviction that Dopers know EVERYTHING! Will load $25 on the pass, take the AirTrain to the E to 7th avenue and walk from there since I’ll only have an overnight bag. And back again after the conference.
Will report back on how I fared.
If you’re ever in my neck of the woods, I’d be happy to help you navigate the highways and byways of southern coast/central Maine. There is no subway pass to buy, but I can help you find some wicked good whoopie pies. 😛
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### Author:  [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/22 "2011-10-15T23:06:40Z")
Probably repeated, but I always used Newark (NWK IIRC) and took a public bus to Penn Station. I was young and poor(er) but it never failed me.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/23 "2011-10-15T23:27:58Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> New Yorkers like to give directions, because we like to show off. 😛
Exactly. New Yorkers are know-it-alls, so they like tell people stuff they don’t know. (I know this because I am a New Yorker.)
The downside of this is that if you happen to ask directions within earshot of more than one New Yorker, you may end up with contradictory advice from four or five other kibitzers who all know a better way. 😃
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/24 "2011-10-16T02:21:21Z")
Thanks for another thead to bookmark. We’ll be flying in to NYC in a few months ourselves but will take a taxi into Manhattan the first time. However, eventually on our way back out we’ll be flopping overnight somewhere near JFK and need to get into and back from the city easily and cheaply.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/25 "2011-10-16T03:06:50Z")
Columbus circle is 59th and 8th Ave.
The E stops at 50th and 8th or 53rd and 7th.
Very short walks. More like 5 minutes.
Is this the weekend?
The E is undergoing work and is frequently not running the weekends. You can still take the AirTrain and then use the Long Island Rail Road. (LIRR) and that would still be the quickest.
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### Author:  [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/26 "2011-10-16T19:41:43Z")
> [@Proudest\_Monkey](#):
>
> Arriving and leaving from JFK. I’m traveling by myself and am totally comfortable navigating once I’m in the city (have spent many a long weekend there, traveling in by train), but am a bit anxious about getting out of and back into the airport. Taxi fare looks to be about $40; public transportation appears to be an option but a complicated one. Private shuttles seem like the best option but would like info on how timely and reliable they are.
>
> What say you frequent flying Dopers? What’s my best bet to get to my mid-town hotel late on a Friday afternoon? And back to JFK around 4:00 p.m. on Saturday?
>
> I’ll be using the subway while in town–someone told me to buy a pass before I even leave JFK. True?
The Airtrain is good. Also not bad is the New York Airport Service. Link: [http://www.nyairportservice.com/](http://www.nyairportservice.com/)
$15. It’s quite reliable, in my experience. If you’re carrying luggage, it’s easier than the Airtrain. No transfers, no stairs. Just get on the bus, which stops at all the terminals at JFK, then get off at their stop near Grand Central, in midtown Manhattan.
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### Author:  [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/27 "2011-10-23T21:15:13Z")
I’m back, and keeping my promise to report on my commute from JFK to midtown. Apologies if it’s bad form to bump my own thread up from page 2.
At JFK, I followed signs for AirTrain and located it with no problem. Confirmed with the attendant that I was boarding the correct train, and that you pay upon exit. Bought the Metrocard, went through the turnstile, past the LIRR platforms, and down the elevators to the E subway line. Everything was well marked throughout and I never felt lost. Total cost: $7.25. Total time: slightly less than an hour from exiting the plane to exiting the E on 53rd St.
The subway station indicated it was at 7th and 53rd, but when I came up the stairs, I was on Broadway/53rd and recognized exactly where I was. Hoofed it up to the hotel on 58th near Columbus Circle–15 minutes. Heading out, I just reversed the whole thing.
Thanks, Dopers. A taxi was never in the running as an option; a shuttle would have been twice the price.
BTW, conference was good. Keynote opening and closing addresses were in Riverside Church which I had never seen before, but which is AMAZING.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/28 "2011-10-24T06:37:05Z")
Glad everything went well.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/29 "2011-10-24T07:59:04Z")
> [@Jaledin](#):
>
> Probably repeated, but I always used Newark (NWK IIRC) and took a public bus to Penn Station. I was young and poor(er) but it never failed me.
EWR actually. Also has a relatively convenient AirTrain option to Penn Station. Another option is to call for an NJ taxi to take you to Hoboken for $25. From there you can either take the PATH subway to World Trade Center or Christopher through 33rd Street from the Hoboken Terminal or take a ferry from 14th Street to Midtown (depending on time of day).
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### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/30 "2011-10-24T17:01:43Z")
Yeah, but that’d put you in… Joisey :eek:
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### Author:  [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/31 "2011-10-24T19:01:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Exactly. New Yorkers are know-it-alls, so they like tell people stuff they don’t know. (I know this because I am a New Yorker.)
>
> The downside of this is that if you happen to ask directions within earshot of more than one New Yorker, you may end up with contradictory advice from four or five other kibitzers who all know a better way. 😃
There was a “How I met your mother” episode last year ([Subway Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_Wars)) about the 5 directions NYers would give a visitor or at least the idea is similar. Only a NYer (or former one) could appreciate the taxi, bus, subway, walk, pedicab bet.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-in-and-out-of-nyc/599582/32 "2011-10-25T00:05:50Z")
> [@Disheavel](#):
>
> There was a “How I met your mother” episode last year ([Subway Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_Wars)) about the 5 directions NYers would give a visitor or at least the idea is similar. Only a NYer (or former one) could appreciate the taxi, bus, subway, walk, pedicab bet.
That’s pretty funny. A few years back some of my office friends and I actually did have a race to see who could get from Union Square to some bar on Ave A fastest by walking, talking the L subway line or the M14 cross town bus. For all intents and purposes that also ended up a tie.
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