Visitors' Information

Reaching Manhattan

Railroad

New York City is located on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, on which the Acela and Northeast Regional trains offer relatively speedy travel to Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Amtrak also offers travel to Albany and upstate New York via the Empire Service. Trains stop at the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station in Midtown at Eighth Ave. and West 33rd St.

Commuter rail service is provided by the Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), and New Jersey Transit (NJT). Metro-North connects the city to communities on the Hudson River as far north as Poughkeepsie and in Connecticut as far east as New Haven, and terminates at Grand Central Terminal. Serving towns out on Long Island, the LIRR stops at Penn Station. NJT connects to various towns in New Jersey and also operates out of Penn Station.

Airports

The New York metropolitan area is served by LaGuardia (LGA), Kennedy (JFK), and Newark-Liberty (EWR) airports. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey website has detailed pages for each airport that include sections on ground transportation options between the airports and Manhattan. We describe a few options below:

LaGuardia MTA Bus:
The only mass transit option between LaGuardia and Manhattan is the M60 Select Bus route (PDF) of the NYC Transit system. It travels back and forth between the airport terminals and the Morningside Heights (Columbia University) neighborhood, including two stops fairly close to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, on Broadway at West 116th St. and at West 106th St. The M60 makes stops in Astoria, Queens, and in Harlem along the way. Although the bus schedule indicates the M60 should take 40 to 60 minutes to travel between the airport and GISS (depending on time of day), adverse traffic conditions can sometimes cause it to take as long as 90 minutes, most likely during weekday rush hours or if there is road work occurring.

If on leaving LaGuardia your destination is somewhere in Manhattan other than GISS, note that the M60 has several stops where it is possible to transfer to the subway. At 31st St. and Astoria Blvd. in Astoria, you can transfer to the N or Q train. As the bus crosses Harlem along 125th St., you can transfer to the subway at Lexington/Park Ave. (4, 5, or 6 train), at Lenox Ave. (2 or 3 train), or Frederick Douglass Blvd. (A, B, C or D train). Finally, from the bus stop at Broadway and West 116th St., you can transfer to the 1 train.

The airport bus stops are green-framed glass shelters located alongside the ground transport road just outside terminal baggage claim areas. As of August 2023, the fare is $2.90 and must be paid in advance using one of the Select Bus Service kiosks adjacent to the shelters.

JFK AirTrain and Subway:
At JFK, the AirTrain monorail circulates around the various terminals and then leads off to the Howard Beach stop of the subway A train, to the Sutphin Blvd. stop of the subway E train, and to the Long Island Rail Road's Jamaica station. As of summer 2023 the AirTrain costs $9.25, and then you have to pay the subway ($2.90) or train fare ($7-$16) to get to Manhattan.

Depending on whether you connect with the A or the E, the AirTrain-plus-subway combo takes 50-80 minutes to get from the airport to Midtown Manhattan. The A is more convenient in traveling directly to GISS from the airport as you would only need to make one relatively easy transfer in Manhattan (at Columbus Circle), but is 20-30 minutes slower reaching Midtown than is the E (which requires a trickier transfer at Penn Station). The LIRR train from Jamaica station also connects to Penn Station in Manhattan.

Newark-Liberty AirTrain:
Newark-Liberty Airport also has an AirTrain service that circulates around the terminals and connects with the Newark Liberty International Airport Train Station. From the airport station, you can take a New Jersey Transit or Amtrak train to New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. (Note that you pass through Newark Penn Station on the way, so be careful that you do not exit the train at the wrong Penn station.) The AirTrain itself is free. NJT fare from the airport station into Manhattan is $15, which is much less than Amtrak charges. Travel time between EWR and New York Penn Station should take about 25 to 30 minutes, but is dependent on the NJT schedule and is subject to train delays.

Airport Shuttles, Van Service, and Taxis:
There are various airport van, shuttle and bus services that connect the airports to Manhattan. Some have set routes, typically with drop-off/pick-up locations in Midtown Manhattan locations such as Grand Central Terminal (Park Ave. at East 42nd St.), Penn Station (Seventh Ave. at West 33rd St.), and the Port Authority Bus Terminal (Eighth Ave. at West 42nd St.). See the LGA, JFK, and EWR ground transportation webpages for more info and for links.

City taxi cabs operate between Manhattan and JFK or LaGuardia. However, NYC taxis may only deliver you to Newark, and only Newark cabs can bring you into Manhattan from that airport. When cabbing in from one of the airports, be sure to get a cab from the taxi stand outside the baggage claim area so that you will be charged the legally specified rate. Livery cab drivers who may be trying to pick up fares in the baggage claim areas may try to charge you more than a regular cabbie.

As of the end of 2022, cab fare between Manhattan and LaGuardia (LGA) is around $35-$45, and there is a flat fare of $70 (plus rush-hour surcharge and bridge toll) between Manhattan and JFK airport. The fare to/from Newark (EWR) is around $65, plus a $5 surcharge if you are coming from the airport or $17.50 if you are heading to the airport. Add to the fare about $5 for bridge/tunnel tolls as well as a tip. Cab fare can thus be quite expensive. Using one of the alternative mass transit or airport bus services might be a bit slower and and less convenient but is significantly cheaper.

The NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission has more on their FAQ.

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