New York City, New York - Getting Around

Getting Around

Most of Manhattan is laid out in a grid. Accounting for Manhattan North, which is the convention stating that the island of Manhattan is oriented exactly north to south (it's actually northeast to southwest), streets run south to north and avenues run east to west. This makes it relatively easy and straightforward to find your way. Streets are numbered (except in downtown Manhattan) and the numbering rises as you go north. Most avenues are numbered from East to West (so First Avenue is east of Second, etc.) below 59th Street. Building numbering on avenues starts at the south end of the avenue and rises as you move north. Above Washington Square, Fifth Avenue divides Manhattan into east and west; numbering starts at Fifth Avenue on each side (except where Central Park interrupts) and increases in either direction. Addresses west of Fifth are written as, for example, 220 W. 34th Street, while those east of Fifth are written as 220 E. 34 Street. However, for numbered streets below Washington Square (fortunately, there are only two, 3rd and 4th streets), Broadway divides the streets into East and West. Because of this dual-numbering system, it is always advisable to keep in mind the closest intersection to your destination (6th Avenue and 34th Street, Broadway and 51st, etc.). In Greenwich Village and downtown Manhattan (generally considered as below Houston (HOW-ston) Street), all bets are off as streets meander, dead-end and intersect themselves. Streets in Greenwich Village are particularly notorious for defying logic. For instance West 4th Street intersects with West 10th Street and West 12th Street, and you can stand on the corner of Waverly Place and Waverly Place. As a convenient guide to distance, there are 20 blocks per mile along the avenues (walking North/South). The average person can walk roughly 1 block per minute. Walking East/West on the streets, the blocks are generally much longer.

On foot

For shorter distances, there is no better way of getting around New York than hitting the sidewalk. If you use the subway or buses, you will almost certainly need to walk to and from stations or stops. In all areas of New York a traveler is likely to visit, all streets have wide, smoothly paved sidewalks. For long distances, walking is also fine and a great way to see the city.

Jaywalking is extremely common among New Yorkers, but can be extremely dangerous. If you cannot properly gauge the speed of oncoming cars it is recommended you wait for the walk signal. An average New Yorker typically jaywalks 10-15 times a day, so do not blindly follow one as they are quite adept at making split-second choices. If you do jaywalk, driving is on the right-hand side of the road on two-way streets so remember to look left to check for on-coming traffic on your side of the road. Be aware that most streets are one way, so you may have to look right. Most New Yorkers who know which streets go which way will only look in the direction traffic is coming from rather than looking in both directions. A useful mnemonic to remember which way streets (not avenues) go is "evens go east". This helps about 98% of the time. But beware of any bicyclists unlawfully going against the proper flow of vehicular traffic.

If you do not wish to jaywalk, be considerate of New Yorkers by not blocking them from crossing at an intersection while you are waiting for your signal.

MetroCard

The New York City Transit Authority issues MetroCards for using the bus and subway system in the city. While it is possible to pay for a bus using exact change (in coins) you must have a MetroCard to enter the subway system. Cards can be bought online, at stations (either from a vending machine or from a token booth), or at many grocery stores and newstands (look for a MetroCard sign on the store window). Information on types of MetroCards and fares can be found online at the Metrocard website. [1]

Which MetroCard is right for you? It depends on how long you plan to stay, how you intend to use the system, and how often you intend using the system. The base fare is $2 which you pay when you enter a bus or pass through a station turnstile for the first time. However, most MetroCards discount this fare:

• The Single Ride MetroCard available for $2 at stores and at MetroCard vending machines in stations. You cannot buy this card at a token booth.
• Pay-per-ride MetroCards are available from $4 to $100 at vending machines and token booths. Any purchase over $7 gives a 15% bonus (every $10 gives you an extra $1.50). Transfers between bus and subway are available. This is the best option if you are spending a few days in New York and plan on using public transportation intermittently.
• One day funpass available for $7.50 from stores and MetroCard vending machines (but not at token booths). Unlimited use of subways and buses from the time you buy the card till 3am of the next day. A great deal if you plan on using the transportation system heavily over a day.
• Seven day unlimited ride MetroCard available for $25 from token booths and vending machines and valid from the time you buy it to midnight of the seventh day. At under $3.60 a day, this is an amazing deal for anyone spending a week in the city. Even with moderate use of the transport system, you'll break even in five days.
• Thirty day unlimited ride MetroCard available for $81 and valid from the time you buy to midnight of the 30th day. If you pay by credit card, MTA will replace the card if you lose it.

By subway

The New York City subway is easily the best way to travel around. It may look grungy and dirty, but few New Yorkers will trade their 24 hour, extensive, and fairly reliable subway system for a better looking one. The much-feared subway crimes of the 70s and 80s are for the most part a thing of the past, and it is almost always completely safe. Just use common sense when traveling late at night alone and try to use heavily traveled stations.

Subway basics:

• Every line is identified by either a letter or a number. Ignore the colors; unless you restrict your subway use to the midtown area, relying on colors is a sure way to get lost.

• Uptown/downtown in Manhattan- Almost all lines in Manhattan go North/South and the direction is always clearly noted on the platforms and in train announcements. In general, 'Bronx Bound' and 'Queens Bound' are synonymous with uptown, while 'Brooklyn Bound' is synonymous with downtown. Station entrances will also indicate the direction (e.g., "uptown and the Bronx") so be careful when entering the station. If no direction is indicated, then you can use that entrance for both uptown as well as downtown tracks.

• Maps- A free subway map can be found online [2], or at staffed token booths, so do pick one up. Token booth attendants can also be very helpful in advising you which line to take to your destination. There is also a subway map [3] that has been overlaid on top of google maps. This version can show you exactly where the train stops (and entrances/exits for Manhattan). A useful map that finds the closest subway to any given address in New York City is available [4]. Alternatively, use HopStop.com [5] for directions on how to travel between two addresses in the city.

• Important lines in Manhattan:
  • The Lexington Avenue Line (4, 5, 6) are the only trains on the East Side above 23 St. Useful for the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, and other east side museums (any to 86th or the 6 to 77th). Also for the Statue of Liberty (4, 5 to Bowling Green), Chinatown (6 to Canal Street), and Yankee Stadium (4 to 161 St./Yankee Stadium).
  • The Seventh Avenue Line (1, 2, 3) serves Broadway above 42nd Street, and Seventh Avenue below 42nd Street. Useful for the West Village, Chelsea, and Tribeca neighborhoods as well as the Staten Island or Statue of Liberty ferries (1 to South Ferry) and Columbia University (the 1 to 116th).
  • The Eighth Avenue Line (A, C, E) serves Eighth Avenue between 14th and 116th streets, then St. Nicholas Av., Broadway, and Ft. Washington Av. starting at 125th St. in Harlem. Useful for the Natural History Museum (C to 81st), the west side of Central Park (C makes local stops on Central Park West), Cloisters Museum (A to 190th), JFK Airport (A to Howard Beach or E to Jamaica).
  • The Sixth Avenue Line (B, D, F, V) runs on 6th Av. from West 4th St. to 57th St. (or to 47th-50th Sts. for all but the F), and is useful for accessing the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and St. Patrick's Cathedral (47th-50th Sts.); and Coney Island (Stillwell Av.). Grand St. on the B and D is the best all-purpose stop for Chinatown. The D train also converges with the 8th Av. Line from 59th St./Columbus Circle to 145th St., and is useful for traveling to Harlem, or to Yankee Stadium (161 St./Yankee Stadium).

• Transfers- With a metrocard, you can transfer from subway to bus or bus to bus (but not to the same bus route) during a two hour period for free. You can transfer from one subway line to another for free as often as you like at designated transfer stations (any station where you can cross over to a different line/direction without exiting through a turnstile). While the PATH system accepts payment by metrocard, no free transfers are available.

• Local/Express- Some lines are express, i.e., trains don't stop at every station so make sure you get on the right train. Local and express lines use different tracks and there is always a local line accompanying the express. For example, the 2, 3 are Express between 96th Street and Chambers Street in Manhattan and the 1 runs as a local alongside.

• Metro Cards- You must have a metro card to enter the subway system but, once you enter, you can spend the rest of your life there as long as you don't leave the system. Most stations have either (or both) a metro card machine or a token booth where you can buy cards. Single rides are $2 (single ride cards must be purchased at a machine).

• Swiping Technique/Etiquette- To pass through the turnstile you must slide the card with the logo facing you. The cards are designed so that experienced users can swipe through without breaking stride. If you stand at the turnstyle and try to jerk the card through the reader you will likely fail. The trick is to hold the card out to your side in a fixed position and walk it through as if it were coming in for a landing. Beware of failure, though. It can be quite discomforting to walk into the bar if your swipe failed (you'll know it succeeded because the display will flash "Go"). If you've never used a Metrocard before it is best to ensure that there is no one behind you while you perfect your technique as a huge line can form very quickly.

• The off-hour/weekend mess- Be aware that while most of the subway is available for use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, trains take on a life of their own during the weekends and late nights. Some trains don't run with other trains picking up the slack. Express trains often run local and some entrances to the subway are closed. For a detailed look at what exactly each train line does during the different hours of the day, consult the individual line maps located on the MTA website [6]. Track work notices are also clearly posted at stations so, if you expect to be out late, look out for them. Before leaving on weekends, check the MTA website [7] for diversions that might get you sidetracked. It's better to know before getting lost somewhere. Remember: If you do feel confused, ask someone for help. And, that there's always more than one way to get somewhere, especially here.

By bus

There are many different bus lines, which provide good transport away from the subway. Bus lines are identified by letters followed by numbers. The letters indicates the borough in which the line mostly operates (M=Manhattan; Bx=Bronx; B=Brooklyn; Q=Queens; S=Staten Island). Bus maps for each borough can be found at the MTA website [8].

Even in Manhattan, with its dense subway network, buses can often be the best way of making a cross-town (i.e. east to west or vice versa) journey. And outside peak hours, a ride by bus from the tip of Manhattan at Battery Park to Midtown is a good and cheap way of taking in the sights.

Buses are particularly useful when going across Central Park (e.g., going from the Metropolitan Museum to the Museum of Natural History). The buses that traverse the park are the M66, M72, M79, M86, M96, and M106. These generally operate on or around 66th, 72nd, 79th, 86th, 96th, and 106th Streets, respectively; however, the eastbound M66 runs on 65th St on the West Side and 67th St. east of Madison Av., the westbound M66 runs on 68th St. on the East Side east of Madison Av., the M79 uses 81st St. to go around the Museum of Natural History on the West Side, and the M106 crosses the park at 96th/97th street and travels the same route as the M96 on the West Side.

When boarding a bus with a MetroCard, insert the card into the card slot in the top of the farebox by the driver. The farebox will swallow the card, read it and return it to you. You should see the front of the MetroCard and the magnetic strip will be facing you and on the right side as you stick it in the machine. It will be vertically oriented. This is different from entering the subway where you don’t stick it in as much, but slide it horizontally oriented through the swipe device, with the front toward you and the magnetic strip on the bottom.

The fareboxes also accept coins but not paper money as they are unable to read paper money, and even so, bills would be shredded in the "fare collection vacuum". As a safety precaution, drivers do not handle money. Change is not given, so exact fares must be paid. The fareboxes accept dollar coins, and will also add up your pennies, even though it says not to use pennies. Rarely used half-dollar coins cannot be used because the coin slots on the fareboxes are not big enough.

By ferry

Ferries provide an interesting alternative to getting around New York. The most famous ferry is the Staten Island Ferry [9], running from the tip of Manhattan at Battery Park to Staten Island. The ferry carries passengers and bicycles only, runs every 15 minutes during rush hours, and is free. As it gives a really good view of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor on its way, this is a very popular trip for visitors. Ride on the starboard (right facing forward) side of the ferry from Manhattan and the port side from Staten Island for the best views (to the west).

Most of the other ferries you will see are operated by New York Waterway [10], connect the city with the New Jersey Hudson River Waterfront and are not free. Inquire as to fares before boarding.

New York Water Taxi[11] runs ferries between points within Manhattan, with some connections to Brooklyn and New Jersey. Their boats are painted to look like taxis.

By taxi

Yellow Cabs- Real NYC taxis are yellow, have a metal seal on the hood ("medallion"), a light with a taxi number on the roof, a meter for billing, stickers on the windshield for various licenses, special taxi license plates, and a divider in the car. If only the medallion number on the roof is lit, the taxi is available for hire. If the medallion number on the roof is not lit or the off-duty sign on the roof is lit, the taxi is not available for hire. However, sometimes the taxi will stop for you even if the off-duty sign is lit, usually if you are going in the same direction as the taxi driver to turn the cab in after his shift, so if you are desperate, it's worth a try to hail it. The meter starts at $2.50, and then $.40 for each 1/5 mile afterwards. There is a night surcharge of $0.50 (8pm to 6am) and a rush hour surcharge of $1.00 (4pm-8pm M-F). A tip of 10-20% is expected and passengers must pay all tolls. "Yellow cabs" cruise in most of Manhattan and are available at dispatcher lines at airports, but are harder to find in the other four boroughs. Some cabs accept credit cards for payment and all will be required to do so by the end of 2008.

Info on fares, flat fares, group rides and rules is online at the NYC.gov website [12]. An estimation of the fare for a particular ride can be obtained at the World Taxi Meter website[13].

Livery or Black Car- Known as car services or livery cabs, these cars may only be called by phone, are flat rate rather than metered (ask for the fare before getting in), and are not allowed to cruise the street or airports for fares. Their license plates will say either "Livery" or "TLC" on the bottom. Since yellow cabs are hard to come in the outer boroughs, limos are particularly useful for getting to the airport (your hotel can arrange one or look up the yellow pages). In some areas, livery cabs can be flagged on the street. Though this is technically illegal (the cabbie, not you, can get into trouble), it is useful in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs and is accepted practice. Negotiate the fare before you get inside. A tip of 10-20% is expected and passengers must pay all tolls.

Tipping- Tips of 10-20% are expected in both yellow cabs as well as livery cabs. A simple way of computing the tip is to add 10% of the fare and round up from there. Thus, if the meter reads $6.20, you pay $7 and if the meter reads $6.50, you pay $8. Always tip more for better service (for example, if the cabbie helps you with your bags or stroller). Don't tip at all if the service is lousy (for example, if the cabbie refuses to turn on the AC on a hot day). For livery cabs, tip 10-20% depending on the quality of the service but you don't need to tip at all if you hail the cab on the street and negotiate the fare in advance (leave an extra dollar or two anyway!).

All licensed taxis and sedan limousines are authorized to take 3 passengers in the backseat and 1 in the front seat for a total of 4. However, some of the newer minivan and SUV yellow cabs can seat more passengers and may take more than four passengers (even though the licensed limit is posted in the cab). Larger than sedan limousines can be reserved, also useful for airport trips with lots of luggage, by calling any of the dozens of companies in the yellow pages.

Be wary of unlicensed cars (known as 'gypsy cabs') cruising for passengers, especially near the airports. While drivers may claim to offer you a cheaper rate than an actual taxi, your chances of actually getting this rate (not to mention getting to your destination safely and quickly) are slim. If you are in doubt, ask an airport staffer for help finding a cab or cabstand. Major airports have taxi information cards for passengers.

For all cabs, you pay the tolls for bridges, tunnels and highways, even if the cab has an E-ZPass to use the express toll lane. Be careful of being overcharged by cabbies for toll crossings—on some bridges and tunnels (like the Queens-Midtown Tunnel) rates are not posted in plain view. So, a crossing which actually cost the cab driver $4 is easily passed onto the unsuspecting passenger as a $5 charge. Outside the city, other than flat fare destinations and Newark Airport, meter rates are doubled (when going to Westchester or Nassau County).

There are also bizarre van and shuttle services in different parts of the city. You will have to ask where it is going and how much it costs. Usually, you will see people lining up and some mysterious van will appear and they will board. There are services between Chinatown and Queens (you won’t have to make any transfers if it goes where you need to go!), and also there are separate services in Brooklyn, and Queens. Many of these services are branded as "Dollar Vans" (actually costing $1.25), and follow major bus routes. One should use good judgment before using these vans to prevent getting cheated out of money, or something considerably worse than losing money.

By car

A car is not only unnecessary but also inadvisable; street parking is practically nonexistent near crowded areas and tourist attractions, and garage parking ranges from very expensive to plainly extortionate. Note that a large percentage of city cab drivers are aggressive drivers. Traffic can be mind-blowing for the uninitiated, especially in midtown and around rush hours. Manhattan is compact and has excellent public transportation. While this is somewhat less true of the other boroughs (particularly Queens and Staten Island, the only boroughs to be developed with auto and expressway in mind), visitors to New York do not need a car and indeed will be hampered by having one. (One exception can be blamed on Robert Moses: certain outer-borough parkways are perhaps best seen by car, although this is best done outside of peak periods, as that is when the parkways get clogged by rush hour traffic.)

Traffic in New York City roughly follows a hierarchy of precedence, which is unwise to challenge. Fire engines, ambulances, and police cruisers are at the top of the heap, followed by other public service vehicles such as buses, road crews, and sanitation trucks. Beneath them are the cabbies and the delivery trucks. Below those are the locals and the "bridge & tunnel" crowd, but even they will devour you alive if you don't know what you're doing. Note also that driving a car with out-of-state license plates (save for perhaps New Jersey, though that may be a stretch) will instantly mark you as an outsider, sometimes resulting in other drivers being more aggressive around you than they would with a local. Suffice it to say, driving in New York is not for the timid, fearful, or otherwise emotionally fragile.

The major car rental agencies have offices throughout the city. Smaller agencies are also well represented. Be warned that car rentals in New York are generally more expensive than elsewhere in the United States, and frequently require a deposit of up to $500, if you do not have a credit card. Insurance rates also tend to be higher in New York than in most other cities.

While cheap or free parking can be found in some parts of New York at some times, parking is generally extremely expensive. Paying $40 a day is not at all uncommon. Street parking can be free or at least much cheaper, but can be extremely hard to come by. Note also that New York has "alternate side of the street" parking rules [14], which may require street parkers to move their cars at different times of the day (such as early morning, or overnight in a few business districts). Alternate side rules are suspended on many obscure holidays, while parking meters and other weekday restrictions are only suspended on a few major holidays (not even on all Federal holidays). Parking enforcement officers are very efficient in New York and quite enthusiastic about their jobs - trying to leave a car parked illegally for very long will often end with a ticket, and a vehicle illegally parked in an overcrowded place is very likely to be towed away. In fact, the whole of the city is a Tow Away zone, so if you're parked illegally, it's safe to assume your car probably won't be there when you come back, especially if a sign reading "TOW AWAY ZONE" or showing a tow truck towing a car (symbolic sign) is posted. The New York Police Department operates the tow pounds. [15]

Also, note that gas stations are few and far between, especially in Manhattan, where only a handful exist around the perimeter of the island. Be prepared to pay much higher prices than in the surrounding suburbs, sometimes up to 50 cents per gallon more.

Words of Warning

Unlike other places in the United States, right turns on red lights are illegal within New York City limits, except where otherwise posted, like a sign reading "AFTER STOP RIGHT TURN PERMITTED ON RED". Given the number of pedestrians on the streets, they are also dangerous, and will be met with a hostile reception and possibly a kick to the side of your beloved vehicle. However, as gateway signs reading "NYC LAW - NO TURN ON RED - EXCEPT WHERE POSTED" are sometimes but not always posted when entering the city limit, do be aware of vehicles driven by out-of-state drivers who do not know this.

Talking on hand-held cell phones (without a hands-free device) while driving is also illegal and punishable in New York State, and very dangerous, though this regulation is still fairly new and spottily enforced, and you will see other drivers doing this. But don't even think of driving while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs! The NYPD will seize your car and sell it at auction if you are caught DUI. And please, if there is an emergency vehicle trying to get through with its siren blaring, pull over to the right and move forward as necessary. Pedestrians understand the need for emergency vehicles to go through red lights and are usually cooperative, mostly because dashing in front of a fire truck is a great way to leave your mark on the city (in a manner of speaking). There are red light cameras at 100 intersections in New York City used for issuing summonses, officially called Notices of Liability, for running red lights [16], but they take the pictures of vehicular license plates only without attempting to identify the drivers, so the summonses, which can be paid or disputed in person or by mail [17], are sent to vehicular owners without any points against drivers' licenses.

Also, check all parking signs carefully, especially if you're lucky or persistent enough to score a parking spot in Manhattan. Parking meters demand constant feeding, and are hungry late into the night in some areas. In some parts of Midtown Manhattan, there are pay-and-display meters which are only in effect from 6 pm to midnight on weekdays (and all day on weekends), during the workday, parking is prohibited except for commercial trucks. It is a good idea to keep a roll of quarters in your glove compartment. Parking is permitted at broken meters, but only for one hour, even if the meter would have let you park longer. Parking is prohibited in bus stops and within 15 feet of fire hydrants. Yellow lines on the curb have no legal meaning in NYC, so they cannot be relied upon to tell you if you are parked far enough from a hydrant. Many motorists simply pay garaging fees to relieve the anxiety of finding a parking spot and avoid the risks of parking tickets, which can be expensive (especially if a vehicle is towed away) and serve as a major source of income for the city treasury!

Some avenues and many streets in Manhattan have only one-way traffic.

Buy a map

This advice is even more important for intrepid travelers to the outer boroughs, where the street patterns seem to have been designed by drunks playing pick-up-sticks. There is no north-south or east-west. In Queens, numbers identify not only avenues and streets, but also roads, places, and lanes, all of which might be near each other. Read the entire street sign. Outer borough highways are confusing and often narrowed to one lane; the potholes could trap an elephant; the signs are sometimes misleading; exits which should appear do not; signs directing a highway approach drag you through miles of colorful neighborhood (in the wrong direction) before finally letting you onto the highway with a stop sign and six inches of merge space.

That said, there are several points of entry/exit into the city from the New Jersey side: the Lincoln Tunnel (midtown/41st Street), the Holland Tunnel (downtown/Canal Street), and the George Washington Bridge (way uptown/178th Street) — all are accessible from the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) and from I-80. The Midtown Tunnel under the East River is convenient for Long Island travelers, as it becomes the Long Island Expressway. The Queensborough Bridge (aka The 59th Street Bridge) also crosses the East River into Queens, is toll-free, and lands near the mouth of the Midtown Tunnel but requires some automotive manipulation to get onto the Long Island Expressway. Other routes head north and east out of the Bronx, including Interstates 87 (north to Albany) and 95 (northeast to Boston) and the Henry Hudson Parkway, which is along the Hudson River.

Traveling at off-hours makes sense to avoid rush hour traffic, but some highways and roads are surprisingly packed even so. The Cross Bronx Expressway, which is part of I-95 and leads to the George Washington Bridge, is almost always choked with traffic. The Long Island Expressway has heavy eastbound traffic between the morning and evening rushes. The Holland and Lincoln Tunnels are 10 minute waits on good days. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) is notorious, and an accident on the Verazzano Bridge without shoulders can cause a backup all the way through the northern part of Staten Island into New Jersey. It is a good idea to check radio traffic reports, especially before crossing a bridge or tunnel. Three different stations have reports every 10 minutes around the clock: 880 AM (on the 8's), 1010 AM (on the 1's), and 1130 AM (on the 5's).

Driving cross-town (east-west) in Manhattan during rush hours is especially troublesome because the street lights are optimized to move traffic along the north-south roads. Your best bet is to avoid driving in Midtown Manhattan (between the 30s and 50s) whenever possible. If you do drive in Midtown Manhattan cross-town, posted Midtown Thru Streets [18] may reduce delays.

By bicycle

Cycling[19] in Manhattan can often be quicker than taking the subway or a taxi, but it isn't for the fainthearted. New York City's tumultuous traffic makes biking difficult. Aggressive cab drivers, jaywalking pedestrians, potholes and debris on the roads create a cycling experience that might just as well have been taken from Dante's Inferno. If you do venture into the concrete jungle on a bike, make sure you wear a helmet and have sufficient experience in urban cycling. Despite the hazards, around 100,000 New Yorkers commute to work by bicycle every day, taking advantage of the reasonably flat geography and compactness of the island. Conditions are likely to improve in future, as the city expands the cycle lane network and completes the traffic-free greenway encircling the whole of Manhattan.

PATH to Jersey City, Newark, and Hoboken

PATH [20](Port Authority Trans-Hudson) is a subway type system connecting Newark (New Jersey)|Newark and various points on the New Jersey shore of the Hudson River with New York City. Two lines pass under the Hudson and enter the city, one terminating at a temporary World Trade Center site station in downtown, the other at 33rd Street in midtown. The 33rd Street Station was once connected underground to Penn Station, but now, presumably due to security concerns, the underground passage is closed and you must walk a block west on the surface of 33rd.

PATH train fares are $1.75 per trip. An RFID-type stored value card known as the Smartlink [21] affords PATH users discounts: $13 for 10 trips; $26 for 20 trips. However, the card itself must be purchased ($5, $18 including 10 trips). Fortunately, the PATH system accepts the Metrocard. For the visitor traveling from New Jersey daily, it is more convenient and possibly cheaper to purchase the Metrocard to travel on both the PATH and the MTA systems.