NYC subway, New Orleans or Wash. DC?

In article ,
Hans-Christian Grosz wrote:

Hi!

I'll fly to NYC (La Guardia Airport, Hotel in Manhattan East Side) for
a weekend and intent to use the subway most of time. I'm 28 years and
might visit some events which last 'till 3-4am.

Is it save at such nightly hours, to take subway and walk around in
Queens, Brooklyn and Manhatten, or should I head for the first cab to
get me back home? Does the subway is out of service during night or
runs 24h?

In general the subways are safe, the late night trains they group the
people into 2-3 cars and often have police. However, the approaches to
the subway could be a consideration. You have included huge areas for
us to comment on generally... very hard to do.


Any other hints I should know? I'm from a european town (vienna) where
its pretty save to walk around everywhere anytime a day/night.

Also, another trip might bring me some days to New Orleans or
Washington DC or some other nice city in the eastern states. I wonder
which might be a good choice, for reasons like historical,
architectural value, getting an impression of urban lifestyle or
similar. Not of interest are beaches and/or single monument
attractions, instead I'd like to get the feeling of living at some
location.

Washington DC would be an excellent choice.

jay
Fri, Oct 3, 2003




HC

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

Hans-Christian Grosz wrote:

Go Fig wrote:

In general the subways are safe, the late night trains they group the
people into 2-3 cars and often have police. However, the approaches to
the subway could be a consideration. You have included huge areas for
us to comment on generally... very hard to do.

Hm... I don't know NYC yet, but I'll stay East Side, 51st Street near
2nd Av., and I might have to get home long after midnight from West,
14th Street btw. 9th&10th Av. one day (Friday) and from Brooklyn,
Smith Street, near Douglas&Butler Street another (Saturday).


You shouldn't have a problem with any of those locations.

Larry


--
Larry Finch

N 40° 53' 47"
W 74° 03' 56"

In article ,
Hans-Christian Grosz wrote:

Go Fig wrote:

In general the subways are safe, the late night trains they group the
people into 2-3 cars and often have police. However, the approaches to
the subway could be a consideration. You have included huge areas for
us to comment on generally... very hard to do.

Hm... I don't know NYC yet, but I'll stay East Side, 51st Street near
2nd Av., and I might have to get home long after midnight from West,
14th Street btw. 9th&10th Av. one day (Friday) and from Brooklyn,
Smith Street, near Douglas&Butler Street another (Saturday).

I had no problems taking a cab if you recommend, but if its safe, i'd
love to take the sub and/or walk a little bit.

Thanks already for your hints,
HC

You'll be fine in these areas, but a NYC cab really isn't that much
compared to other big cities. During the day the subway is the way to
go. NYC has express trains that are incredible. That said, walking is
best.... Start at Sheridan Sq... before you know it your at Herald Sq,
which is almost Time Sq and then its just a short hop to the Met.

jay
Fri, Oct 3, 2003


--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

In article ,
Rita wrote:

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 18:24:55 -0700, Go Fig wrote:

In article ,
Hans-Christian Grosz wrote:

Go Fig wrote:

In general the subways are safe, the late night trains they group the
people into 2-3 cars and often have police. However, the approaches to
the subway could be a consideration. You have included huge areas for
us to comment on generally... very hard to do.

Hm... I don't know NYC yet, but I'll stay East Side, 51st Street near
2nd Av., and I might have to get home long after midnight from West,
14th Street btw. 9th&10th Av. one day (Friday) and from Brooklyn,
Smith Street, near Douglas&Butler Street another (Saturday).

I had no problems taking a cab if you recommend, but if its safe, i'd
love to take the sub and/or walk a little bit.

Thanks already for your hints,
HC

You'll be fine in these areas, but a NYC cab really isn't that much
compared to other big cities. During the day the subway is the way to
go. NYC has express trains that are incredible. That said, walking is
best.... Start at Sheridan Sq... before you know it your at Herald Sq,
which is almost Time Sq and then its just a short hop to the Met.

Not exactly a short hop to the Met. From 42nd Street
on the West Side to 83rd Street on the East Side is more than
a short hop. You do mean the Metropolitan Museum of Art, don't
you?

Yes, I guess it is just relative when it comes to walking distances...
but on a nice day, I've done this walk a number of times.

jay
Fri, Oct 3, 2003




I agree walking about is great, but take some buses to cover
some of the distance.

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 20:44:02 -0400, Hans-Christian Grosz
wrote:

Hm... I don't know NYC yet, but I'll stay East Side, 51st Street near
2nd Av., and I might have to get home long after midnight from West,
14th Street btw. 9th&10th Av. one day (Friday) and from Brooklyn,
Smith Street, near Douglas&Butler Street another (Saturday).
[snip]

Definitely no problem, as far as I'm concerned, understanding that
your safety is never guaranteed anywhere.

Michael

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On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 01:20:06 GMT, Rita wrote:

[snip]
My advice is not to wander around the streets at that hour of the
morning. We want you to enjoy your visit and not for you to have
an unpleasant incident.

I have to disagree. I wander the streets of New York at all hours of
the day and night and seldom experience anything more unpleasant than
aggressive beggars or an occasional insane ranter.

Michael

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On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 01:30:20 GMT, Rita wrote:

[snip]
And from Brooklyn, I'm
not sure how he would go -- the F train does not go to the
East Side

He could change trains, or he could take the F to 63 St. and Lex and
walk from there.

and I think he would have to take the F to 14th Street,
the L to Union Square and get the #6 uptown.

That's a pain in the neck - why would he do that? If he decides to
change trains, the most sensible thing to do would be to change for
the E at W. 4 St. and take it to 51 St. and Lex.

I would not want
to do that in the wee hours.

Would you be afraid of changing trains at W. 4 in the wee hours? I
wouldn't.

Trains run far less often in those
hours, and due to track work, some trains don't run at all after
midnight. It would be a long trip from Brooklyn, and confusing
making those transfers. In stations that would be pretty much
deserted.
[snip]

Smith St. won't be deserted, though it would be deserted further
downtown in Brooklyn, where Smith becomes Jay St. But he wouldn't be
able to get a cab from there either, would he?

Michael

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On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 12:58:25 GMT, Rita wrote:

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 03:04:50 GMT, Pan wrote:

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 01:30:20 GMT, Rita wrote:

[snip]
Would you be afraid of changing trains at W. 4 in the wee hours? I
wouldn't.

I would not take the subway at 3 or 4 a.m. And especially not if I was
a visitor and did not know my way around. I think it is a bit foolhardy
to recommend taking the subway at those hours to just anyone.

I might not recommend it to someone who doesn't want to do it. He
does. Why discourage an intrepid explorer? It's not as if I think it's
dangerous. If I did, I would indeed discourage him.

[snip]
Another thing to keep in mind -- more and more trains skip certain
stations, particularly late at night and on weekends, because of track
work. One can't expect visitors to figure this out -- the "advisories"
posted are confusing even to regular subway riders.

True. And the alternative is to deal with anything that comes up. How
much do those car services cost at 3 A.M., by the way?

It is one thing
for an experienced subway rider to consider risks vesus benefits
of late night travel, and quite another for someone who has never
been in the city before. I think back to my early exposure to the NY
subway and to the reactions of visitors I've taken around town.
I don't think it is good advice to tell a visitor to go anyplace at any
hour and there will be no problems. That is overstating the case.

OK, it's possible there may be diversions because of track work. Our
internet-savvy traveler can minimize problems by surfing to
www.mta.info and checking on service advisories for any line he'll
need to take.

I agree that New York is very safe to visit but that is not the same
as saying there is nothing to be concerned about. There are things
I would do if I was in the company of others that I would not do alone,
and times of the day I would be very cautious indeed. I have been
stuck in subway stations early morning hours when I had to wait 45
minutes for a train and barely another soul around. I did not enjoy
that experience and don't do it anymore. Some subway lines are
more well traveled in these hours than others -- but visitors are not
privvy to this info as a rule.

But one can always wait in the "Off-hours waiting area," which is in
plain sight of a token booth.

Michael

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On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 10:56:26 GMT, Rita wrote:

[snip]
Some stations no longer have token booths, only Metro card
machines.
[snip]

Really? How could someone find out which ones? I know that this was
discussed, but it met with such loud and well-justified opposition,
I'm very surprised to hear that it went through. The City Council
didn't fund the token booths in their districts?

Michael

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On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 13:41:02 GMT, Rita wrote:

On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 06:09:44 GMT, Pan wrote:

On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 10:56:26 GMT, Rita wrote:

[snip]
Some stations no longer have token booths, only Metro card
machines.
[snip]

Really? How could someone find out which ones? I know that this was
discussed, but it met with such loud and well-justified opposition,


I'm very surprised to hear that it went through. The City Council
didn't fund the token booths in their districts?

The City Council does not fund token booths -- the MTA does.

I guess you're right. I recall that when Mayor Bloomberg made the very
foolish statement that "New Yorkers will just have to get used to
paying 50 cents more" for the subway, it was pointed out that he was
choosing to discuss something he has no direct power over.

The governor vetoed a bill to stop the closings.

See:

http://1010wins.com/topstories/winst...229091415.html

The closed token booths are listed at:

http://www.mta.info/nyct/subway/closings.htm

I still don't get from those links which _stations_ don't have any
manned token booths anymore. It's unclear how many of the listed
stations previously had more than one manned token booth.

Michael

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