Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For individual company websites, visit
•
Megabus
(
877/GO2-MEGA
[462-6342];
www.megabus.com
)
•
Boltbus
(
877/BOLTBUS
[265-8287];
www.boltbus.com
)
•
Vamoose
(
877/393-2828
;
www.vamoosebus.com
)
•
DC2NY
(
888/888-DCNY
or 202/332-2691;
www.dc2ny.com
)
Getting Around Town
By Subway & City Bus
The
MTA
(
511,
out of region
877/690-5116;
www.mta.info
) cooked its books and put the screws to subway
and bus riders—$2.25 is now the price of a single ride, and they've cut back service to boot. Until straphangers
are called upon for our next bloodletting, there are a couple of discounts. When you spend $10 or more on a pay-
per-ride
MetroCard,
you get a 7% bonus. Unlimited rides are available in 7-day ($29) and 30-day ($104) formats.
Children under 44 inches tall ride free.
By Boat
The
Staten Island Ferry
(
718/815-BOAT
[2628];
www.siferry.com
; subway: R to Whitehall St., 4/5 to Bowling
Green, 1 to South Ferry) is hard to beat for scenic satisfaction, with great views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis
Island, and Governors Island. The boat runs 24/7, leaving from the new terminal at Whitehall, on the southeast-
ern tip of Manhattan. On the far side you can enjoy the distractions of St. George, Staten Island (such as they
are—see p. 315), or you can follow the boat-loading sign and circle back across the harbor. Other
ferry services
(
www.nywaterway.com
)
and the
New York Water Taxi
(
www.nywatertaxi.com
)
also offer great views, but it's
hard to compete with free. Staten Island ferries leave every 15 to 30 minutes on weekdays, less frequently during
off-peak and weekend hours.
By Car
New York's spectacular public transportation and surfeit of taxis should be enough to dissuade you from city
driving, but I can add a few cautions. Traffic can be miserable, and at weird hours, too (mile-long backup to get
across the Brooklyn Bridge at 3am, anyone?). Parking is difficult: Lots charge king's ransoms, and street parking
can be impossible to find. If you leave your car too close to a hydrant (or another infraction) you're looking at
least at a $100 ticket in Manhattan, or a visit to the tow pound. Driving in the city is doable, but with so much
that can be accessed by foot power alone, why risk the hassle?
On Foot
This town is built for walking. The dense clustering of neighborhoods makes for great overlaps and cultural col-
lisions, which are best enjoyed at a pedestrian's pace. You can get a taste of the city's diversity within just a few
blocks. For example, standing on the corner of Grand and Broadway downtown, you're less than a 10-minute
walk from Chinatown, TriBeCa, SoHo, NoHo, the West Village, the East Village, Little Italy, and the Lower East
Side. Supplement with a train ride here or there, and you can enjoy plenty of city without resorting to more com-
plicated (and expensive) modes of motion.
By Bike
Under the Bloomberg administration, the city has become exponentially more bike friendly. Swaths of asphalt
are now reserved for the pedaling crowd, in bike lane, shared lane, and bike path form. The latter category is
buffered against vehicular traffic, and all three types provide extensive city access. The free
NYC Cycling Map
has all the details, along with bike shop and bike rental coordinates. Libraries and bicycle shops are among the
map distributors, or you can call and request one for free (
311,
or 212/NEW-YORK (639-9675) outside of the
city). To download the map as a PDF, see
www.nyc.gov
.
By Taxi
My senior citizen mother gets all around the city by foot, train, and bus. She considers resorting to taxis “un-
sporting.” Now I wouldn't think less of you for not making your way as ruggedly as a little old lady, but cabs
aren't cheap, and if you're traveling at anything close to a peak hour it's much slower than zipping under clogged
