Location and accessibility

Getting to New York

As a long haul destination, nearly all visitors from the UK and Europe arrive by air. A tiny minority arrive by cruise ship; some may drive or arrive by plane after entering the USA at a different gateway.

Three major airports serve New York
You should be aware of the location of these and be able to find them on a map.

• John F Kennedy Airport (JFK)
www.kennedyairport.com

JFK is situated in the borough of Queens, some 24 kilometres from central Manhattan and is New York’s busiest airport, handling about 30 million passengers each year.

• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
www.newarkairport.com

Newark International Airport is not situated in New York State but in New Jersey, which is to the west of New York City, across the Hudson River. The airport is located just over 25 kilometres from central Manhattan and handles nearly as many passengers each year as JFK. As with JFK, the website will provide valuable information about the ways of getting into Manhattan and how much it might cost.

• LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
www.laguardiaairport.com

This is the smallest of the three airports and handles about 20 million passengers each year. The airport only handles domestic flights; however it is possible for UK visitors to enter the USA in another city and then fly into New York on an internal flight.

Direct flights to New York can be made on UK based carriers such as British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.

Also, UK visitors can fly on USA based carriers such as Continental Airlines, American Airways or United Airlines.

Alternatively, it is possible and sometimes cost effective to fly on an indirect flight using carriers such as Air France, changing at Paris, Aer Lingus, changing at Dublin.

As in any city, there are a number of options for getting from the airport to the centre of the city, or to where the visitor may be staying. Taxis, buses/coaches, trains and even stretch limousines may be available.

‘The traffic is horrendous, local drivers are impatient, parking fees are exorbitant and street parking is elusive’.

Car hire is also available, but not many tourists fancy driving into the centre of Manhattan!

Which option is chosen will depend on a number of factors such as:

The cost of flying to New York varies a great deal according to the time of year and the time the booking is made before the travel date. Because of the number of airlines operating between the UK and New York prices are competitive.

Activity 2

Getting around the city

Public transport – the New York Subway system is safer than it used to be, but it is not recommended that the subway is used late at night. www.mta.nyc.ny. is the Metropolitan Transport Authority website.

	Taxis – the famous yellow cabs are everywhere and are well controlled.
	Tour buses – companies such as Gray Line operate circular ‘hop-on hop-off’ tours around the city.
	Water transport – harbour tours are popular and the Staten Island Ferry is a very popular way of seeing Liberty Island and Ellis Island cheaply.

Activity 3

Different groups of tourists will choose different ways of getting around the city, and there is always the chance of doing something a bit more unusual!

Activity 4