New York Know-How

New York Know-How

Getting Around

Without a doubt, the best way to explore New York is on foot. No matter what neighborhood you're headed to, you'll get a better sense of it by wandering around; you can check out the architecture, pop into cool-looking shops and cafés, and observe the walk-and-talk of the locals. Our easy grid pattern makes it hard to get lost for more than a few blocks -- and if you do, you'll find New Yorkers are surprisingly helpful with directions.

The days when New York's subways were dirty and dangerous are long gone; now, the city's network of underground trains is, quite simply, the fastest, most efficient way to get around. (City buses are equally cheap, but can take forever to navigate through traffic.) Just $2 will get you to almost any neighborhood in Manhattan or the outer boroughs, even if you have to change trains a few times; the lines that service the most popular destinations are clean, with maps, signs, and loudspeaker announcements that clearly show where you're going. The one drawback: the crowds. Especially during rush hours, you'll likely find that all the subway car seats are taken -- and have to join your fellow riders in the particular New York sport of hanging on for dear life.

If you've got a long way to go and would rather be comfortable than save money, you can hail one of the ubiquitous yellow cabs that troll New York's streets around the clock. A December 2006 hike in taxi fares means that a 20-minute ride can now set you back more than $10. But you'll get to look at the scenery as you go and talk to the driver (who might be from as far away as Bangladesh or Dubai). Avoid trying to hail a cab between 4 and 4:30 PM, unless you want to do a lot of futile street-side arm-waving; it's when the drivers change shifts.

Getting Oriented

The map of Manhattan is, for the most part, easy to follow: north of 14th Street, streets are laid out in a numbered grid pattern. Numbered streets run east and west (crosstown), and broad avenues, most of them also numbered, run north (uptown) and south (downtown). The main exception is Broadway, which runs the entire length of Manhattan, but on a diagonal. Below 14th Street, street patterns get chaotic. In the West Village, West 4th Street intersects West 11th Street, Greenwich Street runs roughly parallel to Greenwich Avenue, and Leroy Street turns into St. Luke's Place for one block and then becomes Leroy again. There's an East Broadway and a West Broadway, both of which run north-south and neither of which is an extension of Broadway.

Safety Tips

Avoid deserted blocks in unfamiliar neighborhoods. A brisk, purposeful pace helps deter trouble wherever you go.

Keep jewelry out of sight on the street; better yet, leave valuables at home. Don't wear gold chains or gaudy jewelry, even if it's fake. Men should carry their wallets in their front pants pocket rather than in their back pockets. When in bars or restaurants, never hang your purse or bag on the back of a chair or put it underneath the table.

Never leave any bags unattended, and expect to have you and your possessions inspected thoroughly in such places as airports, sports stadiums, museums, and city buildings. Police officers stationed by subway token booths also reserve the right to check your bags before you pass through the turnstile to enter the platform.

Politely ignore panhandlers on the streets and subways, people who offer to hail you a cab (they often appear at Penn Station, the Port Authority, and Grand Central), and limousine and gypsy cab drivers who (illegally) offer rides priced according to how desperate you look.

Knockoff wristwatches will keep excellent time until you're about an hour away from the vendor, so don't bother with them; ditto for pirated DVDs. Trust us, they work poorly and, not for nothing, their sale is highly illegal.

If you wander into a cold snap, do as the locals do and buy an inexpensive hat or scarf from a sidewalk vendor. Similarly, if it rains, scan the mouths of subway stairwells for umbrella salesmen who materialize so quickly you'll think the raindrops hydrated them into existence.

Hours

Subways and buses run around the clock, and so do plenty of businesses -- including restaurants, pharmacies, copy shops, and even fitness clubs (you never have to wait for a treadmill at 4 AM). Other shops and services have more extensive hours than you'll find elsewhere in the United States; for example, there are quite a few places where you can get groceries -- or get your hair and nails done -- at 11 PM. In general, though, you can safely assume that most shops are open seven days a week, from about 10 to 7 Monday -- Saturday, and noon to 6 on Sunday. Bars generally close at 4 AM; clubs usually stay open later.

Two Ways to Save

Consider buying a CityPass, a group of tickets to five top-notch attractions in New York: the Empire State Building, the Guggenheim Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art, and Circle Line Cruises. The $53 pass, which saves you half the cost of each individual ticket, is good for nine days from first use. It also helps beat long ticket lines at some attractions.

Discount coupons, as well as maps, are also available at the city's official tourism marketing bureau, NYC & Company (www.nycvisit.com), near Times Square on 7th Avenue and at kiosks throughout the city.