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.
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.
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.
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.
$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.
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.
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).
There was a “How I met your mother” episode last year (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.
