We're looking for a way to get from LaGuardia to midtown Manhattan for a price somewhere between a taxi (about $25 - $35) and the bus ($1.50). I saw Grey Line has a shuttle for $14.50 per person. We're going to W. 48th, between 8th and 9th avenues.

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

A taxi from Laguardia shouldn't be more than about $25-$30 to midtown...if you are two (or more) people spending 14.50 each on a bus, then why not just take the taxi for about the same amount? The shuttle would require a reservation and then if you're late...a taxi is easy to grab and there are no anxieties about missing the scheduled shuttle.

Of course, if its raining, all bets are off! Taxis seem to disappear in the rain ;-)

What time/day is your arrival?

Janet
www.jczinn.com

We arrive on June 20at 10:40 a.m. I thought a taxi would be preferrable, but wanted to know if there's something locals know that I don't about not getting ripped off on airport transfers. Any advice is welcome!

New York is indeed the big city it thinks it is, and the best way to get in town from the airport is by taking one of the yellow cabs lining up at the terminal. They have a supervisor, who will ask where wish you go and will give you a ticket with the cab licence written on it. The cabs are efficient and, mostly, pretty clean. The drivers can be characters, and so, if you're not too tired, you may have a pretty funny conversation with the cabbie. Or not.

We have been using the New York cabs from and to the airport for years, every time we (or just myself) go to New York, whether in the morning, mid-day or evenings, and never had any reason to complain (although, on one occasion, I had a real Manhattan experience, with racing down 5th Avenue and giving chase, but this is another story…)

Average cost, when traffic is normal (i.e. very busy), from La Guardia to 57th and 7th is about USD 20-22, plus tip. If the traffic is New York-busy (i.e. stuck) it will cost more. The driver has the obligation to let you know that he will pay the tolls and will include them in the final fare, but you may not see him actually paying any money because most have now transponders, which charge the toll directly to the cab licence. At the end of the ride, do ask for the receipt (a paper strip printed at the end of the ride). Remember, the receipt will not include the tolls. You will not be ripped off-it is all on the level.

This info is as fresh as it gets since we have been in New York only a few weeks ago.

We too always hop in a cab at the airport. Easy, quick, not expensive.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Thank you all for the information. I will feel comfortable using yelllow cabs. That information about tolls and transponders was also very good!

Oh, and Ann-- I'm sure its on your list, but the current exhibits at the Met are wonderful. Art of the First cities. MMMM.

Oh, and let me know if you'd like a dim sum recommendation.

Amy in MA
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

quote:

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Originally posted by Amy:

Oh, and let me know if you'd like a dim sum recommendation.

Amy in MA

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Amy, I'm always up for a good dim sum recomendation - do tell....

Plus, let me throw a rec in for Gelatone on 3rd avenue (I believe between 28th and 29th street). Good gelato, but don't get there right when he opens (about 3 PM) b/c he'll still be making the fruit flavors in the back and you'll miss out on them.

Yes. Yes. The gelato place on 3rd, around the corner from Kalustyan's!

For really authentic dim sum (complete with chinese wedding hall decor and non-English speaking staff), go to Chinatown. Get off subway at Canal Street, walk up Canal to Bowery, turn right, go down three blocks then left onto East Broadway The Nice Restaurant (and yes, that is the name!) is at 35 East Broadway, and they serve dim sum upstairs. Noisy, busy, and filled with Chinese families. You'll need to share a table, most likely. There's a buffet table in front with seafood, and the other dishes come around on carts, as usual. The steamed dishes (shu mei, har gow, etc) are particularly wonderful here.

I've finally found a decent place to get a nice snack or light lunch near the Met, by the way. Down the street at 5th and 86th (entrance is on 86th) is a gallery with a Viennese cafe. Cafe Sabarsky
The food is (I think, anyway)on the expensive side, but the desserts and coffees are fabulous.

Amy in MA
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

[This message was edited by Amy on 02 June 2003 at 12:56 PM.]

Thanks for the Dim Sum rec - mind if I add it to the restaurant review page, so I can always find it ?

Also, if anyone's interested, another great thing to do in the city is visit Vino on Friday or Saturday afternoon - they do Italian wine tastings - good way to try some different things (for free).

They're on 27th street I believe either between 3rd and lex or lex and park (?) - across from I Trulli restaurant.

Dim sum!!!! And gelato!!!! I share your eclectic tastes, Amy. The recommendations from all of you will go into my travel notes for the trip.

My husband always tells an amusing story about his first encounter with dim sum at Three Happiness in Chicago's Chinatown. (There are two places by that name; this one's on Cermack and Wentworth.)

We were two of very few European-origin people in the restaurant, and had been seated in the roughly square dining room to one side of the kitchen door. The steam carts would exit the kitchen and turn to the other side of the room to begin their circuit, finally reaching our table. My husband chuckled that the servers were serving offering all the good stuff to the Asians, and coming to us last- we, who didn't know what we might be eating anyway. Sure enough, the dishes were all pretty standard dumplings, etc. Then he was surprised when the cart made only one or two stops before arriving at our table. "Oh, good- the good stuff will be still there." And it was: braised duck feet. We had a good laugh on that one! (Actually, they reminded me of the chicken feet my grandmother used to make soup.)

Ann:

Sorry it's taken me so long to chime in on this thread. How long will you be in New York? Do you want to try to get together?

I agree with what has been said about taking a taxi into Manhattan. Although the dispatchers at LaGuardia aren't necessarily as polite and disciplined as Doru might lead you to believe... I always take a yellow cab from LaGuardia when I'm coming home from somewhere. When I'm leaving home to go to LaGuardia I frequently call a car service the charges $27 plus tolls and tip. It's more expensive than a yellow cab but I can be assured of leaving and getting to the airport (barring any unforeseen traffic tie up) when I want to. Also I always have coupons for three or four dollars off of that $27 fare, so it's not too bad. But typically, from LaGuardia to my house on the Upper West Side, the dollar amount on the meter in a yellow cab will be about $19. It's a bit farther to midtown so the estimates of $20-$25 plus tolls and tip should be correct. For you guys going back to the airport, it should not be a problem getting a yellow cab from your hotel.

By the way, if you would like some delicious duck feet, you can find plenty in New York's Chinatown as well as in Chicago!

David, usually in New York

Thanks for the further insights, David. We won't be in a hurry coming in; it'll be an early Friday afternoon, though. Will that complicate traffic coming INTO the city? We are leaving by train from Penn Station, so that's not so complicated I don't think.

Now, I never said I ate the chicken feet!

I'll e-mail you about a possible GTG. Thanks for the offer!