How to get to New York City?
The city of New York is the gateway to the USA, and most travelers from outside the USA typically land there. The metropolis has three airports – Kennedy, Newark Liberty, and La Guardia. The airports serve tourists arriving in the city and also serve as a gateway to other airports in the United States by transfer.
- From the airports, you can reach Manhattan by car or train with a relatively short journey
- For those looking to reach cities in the megalopolis (the huge urban area between Boston and Washington), you can rent a car at the airports and drive from there
- You can also reach Manhattan by car with a huge variety of main roads branching off from the I-95, and with the I-80, the New York – San Francisco highway that crosses the USA from east to west. Entering Manhattan from New Jersey there are two tunnels and a bridge.
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How to reach New York City by plane?
John F. Kennedy International Airport – JFK
Named after John F. Kennedy, this airport is the largest in New York City itself. Located in the southern part of the Queens borough by Jamaica Bay, it is conveniently connected to Manhattan. The massive airport serves as a hub for major American airlines like Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue, offering connections to every corner of the USA.
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Access from JFK to Manhattan
Travel time by car from JFK (taxi or shuttle service) to Manhattan is less than half an hour, depending on traffic, of course. The journey is via Van Wyck Expy (Highway 678) and access to the city is via Highway 495. There is also convenient subway access, on the A or E lines, east of Manhattan, connected to the airport by the AirTrain JFK.
Map of Airports and Major Train Stations in New York City
Newark Liberty International Airport – EWR
The second largest airport in the metropolitan area is located in New Jersey, between the city of Newark to the north and Elizabeth to the south. The airport has three terminals connected by an efficient overhead tram system. This airport is one of the home airports for American Airlines, JetBlue, and American Express, making it accessible to every corner across the USA.
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Access from Newark Liberty to Manhattan
The AirTrain Newark monorail system connects the three terminals with the Newark Airport Railroad Station east of the airport. From there, there are direct trains to Pennsylvania Station in New York. The train ride to Penn Station takes just about twenty-five minutes. The drive or taxi ride to Manhattan also takes about half an hour, depending on traffic.
LaGuardia Airport – LGA
New York's municipal airport is located north of the Jackson Heights neighborhood in Queens, a short drive from Manhattan. LaGuardia is mainly used for domestic flights within the USA, with a few international flights, mainly to Toronto and Montreal in Canada (not really considered international).
Access from LaGuardia to Manhattan
LaGuardia Airport is just a twenty-minute drive from Manhattan (depending, of course, on traffic). The airport is accessible via MTA buses. The M60 line connects the airport with northern Manhattan through Harlem (reaching Broadway's 106th Street). You can take this line to the Roosevelt Avenue subway stations on Line 7, from there continue to Times Square.
How to get to New York City by train?
Pennsylvania Station (Penn Station)
New York's central train station is located beneath Madison Square Garden, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 31st and 34th Streets. The station serves Amtrak lines to many major destinations in the USA and Canada. It also serves important metropolitan lines connecting New York to the megapolis urban legends, such as the Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit Rail Operations. It also houses a central subway station for the 1,2,3 (red) lines and the A,B,C (blue) lines.
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Grand Central Station
Grand Central is located on Park Avenue and 42nd Street. It was established in 1913 by Cornelius Vanderbilt and today primarily serves as an interesting tourist site due to its magnificent great hall. Like its sister station, Penn Station, Grand Central combines important transportation functions with intriguing architecture that attracts visitors just for the sake of the visit. In its heyday, the station served Amtrak train lines, but due to its limited size, the traffic into Manhattan shifted to Penn Station.
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How to get to New York City by car or a bus?
Access to Manhattan from New Jersey and mainland America
Access from mainland America to Manhattan is via the I-95 highways (a north-south axis from Miami to Maine) and I-80 (an east-west axis from New York to San Francisco). Entry to Manhattan through the Hudson River includes the George Washington Bridge in the northern part of Manhattan, connected to the Henry Hudson Parkway; the Lincoln Tunnel connecting Union City in Jersey with Midtown; and the Holland Tunnel linking Jersey City with Soho. You can also arrive from the south via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Highway 278, crossing Staten Island and reaching the southwest corner of Brooklyn.
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Access to Manhattan from Brooklyn, Queens, and JFK Airport
There are many connections of highways or central routes between the different boroughs of New York. Between Manhattan and Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, there are numerous bridges and tunnels such as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, and more.
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Port Authority Bus Terminal
The main bus terminal of Manhattan and New York is located along 8th Avenue and 40th to 42nd Streets, not far from Times Square. The terminal is the busiest in the world and serves approximately two hundred thousand to a quarter of a million people daily. It centralizes the bus traffic of New York and the entire metropolitan area, as well as Greyhound buses.
