Getting around NYC for Dummies

In My Humble Opinion
1

In December, a friend and I are going to see a show at the Beacon Theatre. My friend has been to NYC, but never there. I have only been to the city as a child.

We are trying to figure out the best way to get there. We worry about mass transit a little because I’m afraid that either we’ll miss a bus or ferry or get on the wrong ones. I’ve heard it can be confusing. It’ll also be pretty late when we leave and I’m not sure it’s safe for two women to use mass transit late at night.

I’m not opposed to driving. I’m not sure where I’m going, but I can follow a map. My husband says I’d be crazy to drive. He drives a truck in the city often. He said the traffic is unbelievable.

We are going to try to get into the city between 4 and 6 P.M. And we’re coming from N.J.

What do you think is the best way for us to get there ?

2

Mass transit is the way to go. You can ask the bus driver if you are the right bus, and you’ll get off at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, which is two blocks long and easy to find at 8th Avenue and 40th to 42nd Street. Just start walking up on the street numbers (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45) and make a right to walk over the Broadway. From there, finding the theatre will be easy.

That section of NYC is one of the safest spots in the country. It’s a tourist spot, and there’s about two cops on every corner. I’m a single woman, and never worry there.

3

Getting around in New York is easy. The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down. (And the people ride in a hole in the ground.) It’s a wonderful town.

4

Actually, I think it sort of depends on where in Jersey you’re coming from, and what public transportation is available to you conveniently.

For instance, if you’re coming from Hoboken or Newark, you can take a PATH train to Penn Station, then hook up to the 1,2,3,9 trains and head “Uptown and the Bronx” on the 1,9, getting off at 72nd St.

If you’re coming from Central Jersey, you should take NJ Transit to Penn Station, then transit to the 1,9 subway and go “Uptown and the Bronx” getting off at 72nd St.

However, if you’re coming from northern New Jersey, you might consider driving. Take the George Washington Bridge to Route 9A (West Side Highway) south. Get off the highway at 79th St. or 72nd St. Drive East to West End Avenue. Park along any of the sidestreets here (70th-77th between WEA and Riverside), and walk two avenue blocks to the theater.

The area around 72nd St. and B’way is really really safe. Penn Station is also very safe, and the subway between 72nd and Penn Station is much safer than driving. This is a question of convenience, not safety.

All these options are better than taking a bus, but you can also take a bus to the Port Authority, transfer to the 1,9 with a 1-block (underground) walk, and then take the 1,9 uptown. One note of caution: the neighborhood around the Port Authority is one of the last seedy neighborhoods in Manhattan; I don’t think it’s dangerous, but if you go this route, you may want to use the underground transfer, rather than going outside. Any one at the Bus Terminal should be able to show you the way.

Cheers from the greatest city in the world!

  • Bjorn240
    89th/WEA “Home of the Stroller Mafia”
5

I agree with Dragongirl and Annie-Xmas that the subway is the way to go. Pretty much any time of night you will see plenty of people coming and going from work or fun. This city gets a really bad rap, but I can name at least 10 cities within 100 miles of NYC where I would shudder to walk down the streets at night (and I’m 6’1, 220lbs.) I never feel that way here in New York, and you will be fine.

So my advice is to take the 1 / 9 train up to 72nd Street.

Oh, and if you leave the theater even at midnight (which you won’t) that is still relativley in NYC.

But, if you are still worried, then grab a cab. It will only cost you somewhere around $10.00-$15.00 each way, so you should decide if your piece of mind is worth that.

6

Yes, the traffic does suck (no worse than L.A. or Chicago, though), but if you feel more comfortable coming in your car, you’ll survive it.

Take the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan and swing downtown on the West Side Highway. Come east into the city on whatever exit is in the West 70s (72nd, I think) and look for a parking garage, and be prepared to pay top dollar.

Against my better instincts, the wife and I drove from Brooklyn to Lincoln Center last week to go to the opera…she didn’t want to ride the IRT home late at night. Took a little longer than the subway would’ve, but no visible scars.

7

Driving in New York is not breathtakingly simple, but it’s far from being something you would not survive.

Parking in New York, on the other hand,…just don’t go there. Take the subway. Really.

8

Car.

Manhattan.

December.

Oooooo, my head.

Really, it’s a colossally bad idea, unless you’re coming on the GWB and even then it’s best avoided. But definitely, if your drive would take you anywhere near Midtown, Rockefeller Center, or Madison Square Garden, leave your car at home or at a train station. Waiting in hours of gridlock - and in December it can really be hours - is much, much more likely to spoil your evening than crime. Even with the recession, NYC crime has mostly dropped or held steady so I really wouldn’t worry.

As a general matter, if where you’re going is near a subway stop it’s faster to travel underground than above ground. An example. On Sunday afternoon, several friends and I had tickets to Hairspray, playing at the Neil Simon Theater at 8th Ave and 52nd. I live at 8th and 15th, so this would theoretically be a ten-minute cab ride. We got in at 2:30, but by 2:50 we’d only got to 36th Street. So we bailed and ran the last 16 blocks, arriving just as the lights were going down. Not fun. By subway, it’d have been about 15 minutes, including buying MetroCards for the out-of-towners and waiting.

It’s worse at the holidays. And there’s virtually no available on-street parking by the Beacon, so even if you make it on time you’ll pay through the nose for a lot or garage. (Brace yourself for $12/hour or more.)

Tips for subway safety: at night, stay around other people. Crowds are better, unless the crowd is clearly a bunch of toughs. (And you won’t see many of those on the Upper West Side, even at midnight–trust me.) Wait near the center of the platform, which is usually marked in yellow as the Off-Hours Waiting Area.

That’s really all. Enjoy!