<p>H and I will have a layover at Kennedy from around 10 AM until 6 PM next fall. What could we do in that time? We are from FLorida and do not know NYC at all. Total novices. We’d like to do something fun if it’s possible in that time, have lunch somewhere, see something interesting…??? Obviously we’d have to take public transportation or taxi.</p>
<p>Can anyone out there come up with an “itinerary” for our short visit?</p>
<p>You could probably hit nearly every major landmark. Consider that you need to be at the airport at least an hour early. It takes about 45 minutes to get in and out of the city on a good day by taxi. So that leaves you about 5 and a half hours to do stuff. There are a number of things to see. You won’t be able to see the statue of liberty without sacrificing other things. It’s on an island off the south coast. But you should start from the north and work your way south: Central Park, Guggenheim Museum (could stand to leave it out because it’s being remodeled), Skating at Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Washington Square Park, Wall Street. You could probably see 3 or 4 of them and take a snapshot, but stay at one for like an hour. I’d recommend rockefeller center. You could go skating, eat food, and maybe see some celebs walk out.</p>
<p>I’ve only lived there for a year or so at NYU, but before winter break my roommate and I went to see all these things and more in a night, by foot. It took us probably 7 or 8 hours.</p>
<p>OK so I’m really ignorant here and need specifics. Where do we tell the taxi driver to ‘drop us off?’ Then do we just walk to all those places? Then hail a taxi on the street when we’re done and drive back to the airport?</p>
<p>What day of the week is the layover. That will matter in terms of transportation schedules and traffic patterns. If I were you, I’d come in to Rockefeller Center, walk down to lunch in Times Square, and then keep walking to the Empire State Building after lunch. Then walk across 34th Street to get the train back to the airport.</p>
<p>The layover is on a Sunday. :b Is that good or bad?</p>
<p>Sunday is good because there is much less traffic. You can could on most of the layover time for enjoyment, as opposed to traveling to/from the airport. If you’re going to take a cab, you could have it drop you off at Times Square – or even at the Metropolitan Museum and then head on down Fifth Avenue, stopping at Times Square for lunch, then the Empire State Building and whatever time you have left, you could take the train down to the Battery and see the Statue of Liberty before getting a cab back to the airport. You can do a lot in that period of time if you plan it right.</p>
<p>Honestly it really depends on your interests. You could spend the entire time at Museum of Modern Art, or the Met or the Natural History Museum. You could spend the day at Central Park. You could do Central Park and look at Art. Or Central Park and the Natural History Museum. You could see if there’s a good show at the Guggenheim. You could take a red double decker bus tour. You probably could take the ferry and see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. (But time might be tight as there are long lines where they check your bags for the ferry.) You won’t be able to go into the statue - lines are way too long for that. Although you can get anywhere with public transportation I’d probably spring for cabs if you don’t mind paying. Otherwise pick up a subway map at Grand Central.</p>
<p>You can take the bus to Grand Central Station, or a cab to anywhere in the city. I agree with Mathmom. It depends on your interests. I can spend the whole day at the Metropolitan Museum. You can start at the Empire State Building, and walk all the way up Fifth Avenue to the Met. You will be passing by all the NYC landmarks. Saks, Rockefeller, Tiffany’s, Central Park, etc. The Frick Museum is nice and not overwhelming. Getting on the doubledecker bus is also a great way to see the city.</p>
<p>The only part I’d warn about is getting back in time for JFK. Last time I went I attempted to use public transportation (subway) and there’s at the moment some big slowdown once you get into JFK between the subway and the actual terminal. And security lines once you’re there…
So whatever you do, enjoy, but don’t cut it close with the time you allot to get back to JFK.
New Yorkers are notorious for underestimating the times things take between points. If someone says, “it only takes 40 minutes to JFK by cab” (I don’t know just made up the number 40) you reaaaaaly have to know if that’s at the end of a working day or 2 a.m.
I met so many people who say they live “20 minutes from New York” which is true at 2 a.m. only.
So be careful who you ask about the return timing. Don’t miss your flight from JFK.</p>
<p>(continuing, from “Don’t miss your flight from JFK…”) This could be a good time to take a cab and forget public transpo, because the cab can get you right to the terminal door. If you take a shuttle back from the city, the NEXT shuttle you have to take inside of JFK to get to your terminal might be where the slowdown is. All I know is it took me 2 hours from midtown to JFK, because I used first the subway and then the internal shuttles of JFK. Because it was late at night, I made it through security quickly, but that could have been different and I’d have missed my flight.</p>
<p>If you end up choosing to view Battery Park and Ellis Island, you can sail past the statue and see her as the immigrants did, then contineu to Ellis Island which has a museum about the immigrant experiences. You don’t have to get off on Liberty Island, where the statue sits, at all, although most people do both because they have all day. She is amazing to see from the boat. The lines to the ferry are long, though; maybe not the very first boat out for each morning. Before 9/11 you used to be able to go up into the inside of the statue to her head; now they let you go up as far as her feet, I think. But that’s a lot of steps and time, again it’s a corner to cut. I still recommend just sailing past the statue and Liberty Island, and use the time to see Ellis Island inside.
A different way to understand the immigrant experience, without actually going to Ellis Island and getting on ferry boats, etc,. is to aim for the Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side of New York; that’s a half-day experience and you’ll see one house recreated as the immigrants lived in it, with tour leaders. Then on the streets you’ll see the newest immigrants today. But that’s kind of hard-core tourism because you’re not seeing anything famous…it’s a grittier neighborhood. </p>
<p>If you pick one of the major museums, such as the Metropolitan, it’s true you can spend the entire day there. Same with Museum of Natural History/Rose Planetarium.
The Guggenheim or Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) are more like half a day, but the Guggenhiem is near Central Park and other things, so unless you adore painting from the past 50 years (their mandate), don’t go to MOMA–it’ll eat your day and you won’t see anything else of interest in that neighborhood.
If you want to see many buildings and Central Park all from the outside, then it sounds lke one of those double-deckers would do it. I’ve never taken one myself, but they go up and down Manhattan Island.
Certainly only stay on Manhattan Island if you have a day…don’t try to also see something in Brooklyn or the other boroughs.
IF you’re down by Battery Park, you can also walk over to the site of the World Trade Center to get a sense of the spaces involved, and look at Wall Street.
Another popular thing to do is take an elevator up. Do they still let you go up to the top of the Empire state building?
A basic thing to know when you decide is that on Manhattan, the “avenues” run north and south, and the numbered “streets” run east and west. Central Park divides the East and West sides. When you get down as low as 42nd St. and Broadway, you’re at Times Square (theater district, midtown). Everything lower than that is called “Lower…” Lower West Side (the Village, NYU), Lower East Side.
You might want to decide whether to see museums and buildings on the Upper West (Natural History) and Upper East (Metropolitan) sides, which hug Central Park, but only go down as far south as Times Square (42nd St) and forget the “lower” neighborhoods.
Or you could choose a “spine” and go all up and down, starting around the 72nd St. and as far down the numbers as you get, either on either the West or the East side of the island.
If you aren’t a foodie, you can skip lunch and save time by eating on the run, from stands on the streets (hot dogs) or pull a sandwich from the thousands of take-out sandwich delis. Or just “land” for a few minutes to eat the sandwich in their shop.
I know it’s hard when you don’t know the city; I’ve been breaking my brains on the web, finally getting a handle on how to handle some time in Southern California. After days on the Web, I got a sense of the spaces, timing and now feel more comfortable.
For your situation, basically think if you want to see one major museum as your focal point; Metropolitan if you love Art and Everything Else, Natural History if you’re more sciencey, Guggenheim or Whitney (half days) if you love painting.
Then from there, you can still walk into Central Park a bit, where it touches the streets that those museums are on.
The other way is to say, I don’t want to go into a museum, I just want to get a broad sweep of the landmark sites. In that case, head for the double-decker tour or walk the piece of the Island that the web tells you is interesting for you, including within it Times Square as that’s pretty central.
If you can imagine the walk, the distance of a block when you’re on an Avenue, walking north or south, pacing across those “streets” and clocking down 77th, 76th etc…then the blocks go pretty quickly and you keep a good pace.
The distance between the avenues, in other words when you’re walking upon a numbered street, trying to leave one avenue to get to another, those blocks are about doubly long. I wish I could have said that more efficiently. That’s why I live upstate and not in the city, I guess.
Don’t worry, any part of NEw York has the experience, because it’s all abou the people-watching and the dynamic rhythm of it all. So if you see a piece of the “rock” you can feel proud that you engaged with it for a day.
Good luck, just don’t miss your flight :)</p>
<p>Finally, I think if you decide to go to the ferry boat for Ellis Island and to wave at the Statue, that’ll define your day. You’d make a beeline for Battery Park, take the ferry, and when you get back you’ll see if you have any time left for walkabouts to Wall St, World Trade Center. Eat nearby then back to the airport. I think it’ll be your whole day, because the boat timing is long and unpredictable with lines. That’ll be “all” you’d see for the day, no Times Square, etc…but you know, that’s a great thing to see. MOre people go to see the statue than any other landmark.
If she could be seen from the mainland, that’d be nice…someone else would have to chime in about that, though, I don’t know. Maybe she can be seen standing in Battery Park? </p>
<p>If you’re not mad-crazy to see the statue, then pick one museum and its surroundings, OR the two-hour double-decker tour or your own walking tour for a chunk of the isalnd, so you’re more in control of your time. </p>
<p>Watch the people, that’s what it’s all about. Talk to the cabbies, too. You’ll know in a moment if they’re grumpy or friendly; if the latter, they are part of the experience. Ask them anything about New York, how it’s been lately, and the opinions will flow.</p>
<p>doubleplay, well, you’ve gotten enough advice to fill up a week in Manhattan! 
As noted, a lot depends on your area of interest: art, shopping, sports, parks, dinosaurs, ethic food. . .? New York is nothing if it’s not diverse.</p>
<p>My six hours in Manhattan on a Sunday would go like this:
<ol>
<li><p>Walk across Central Park. Sit on a bench and have a hotdog. People watch. Hopefully, you’ll have one of those glorious fall days and all of New York will be enjoying Sunday in the Park. It’s a fashion show and cultural parade.</p></li>
<li><p>Go to the Museum of Natural History. Go directly to the dinosaurs first then choose one or two other areas that interest you – like the planetarium, the marine mammals or the gem collection.</p></li>
<li><p>Have a late lunch at a sidewalk cafe on Columbus – I’d recommend Isabellas as the menu is broad and it’s always open. </p></li>
<li><p>Grab a cab and if your wallet and time allow, ask the driver to take a loop down the Hudson so you can have a look at the Statue of Liberty.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Have fun and let us know what you see.</p>
<p>One caveat: If you’re lugging big bags or backpacks the museums may not allow you in. Check the rules first.</p>
<p>Yeah, what are you going to do with your luggage while you’re traipsing around Manhattan?</p>
<p>Most museums allow you to check a backpack, but you’re not going to want to saunter from one hot spot to the next if you’ve got 80-pound suitcases in tow.</p>
<p>Jfk has luggage storage availability</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.jfk-airport.net/luggage-storage.html[/url]”>http://www.jfk-airport.net/luggage-storage.html</a></p>
<p>which is so timely for me.</p>
<p>My brother and SIL will have a 6-hour layover at JFK tomorrow! I had planned to pick them up, drive them back here for a picnic, etc., then take them back in time for check-in (international flight; 2 hours?) My husband has convinced me that this does not make sense; we are at least an hour away. We’ve decided to hang out either at the airport or somewhere nearby instead.</p>
<p>Even though I’m in NY, I don’t know JFK or the area that well. Can anyone suggest somewhere nice to eat at the airport or, better, somewhere nice nearby to eat, talk a walk, etc.?</p>
<p>My contribution to the thread: when I lived in Manhattan, I found that walking along the avenues it took about one minute per block (e.g., 72nd to 71st). Walking on streets between avenues took about 3 times as long.</p>
<p>Hmm, I thought walking the avenues was four times longer. I think 20 short blocks is a mile and 5 long blocks is a mile. That’s how I guage whether to walk or take public transportation.</p>
<p>Wow. If this was me showing someone near to me the city I lived in and loved for 5 years…</p>
<p>I’d probably go for showing neighborhoods. First, Upper East Side. Drop off at Central Park, at the corner where the Plaza Hotel is. Walk into the park, then walk out and over to Madison. Window shop. </p>
<p>Go to MOMA. See Guernica.</p>
<p>Then take a cab down to the Village. Washington Square. Wander into the West Village. Eat lunch. </p>
<p>Then cab down through Chinatown, detour through Soho, to Wall Street. Go to the ferry and look out at the statue. See where the World Trade Centers stood. </p>
<p>Then up to Times Square, Broadway, etc. Walk around. Have a drink. Catch a cab back to the airport…</p>
<p>doubleplay, because you’ve gotten so much advice on museums I’d just like to add that in my experience, Sunday is by far the busiest day, particularly for AMNH and the Met. Not to say you shouldn’t go…they are fantastic…but plan accordingly.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think you are all being way too optimistic! It’s August, traffic will really be a guessing game. Instead I would avoid Manhattan like the plague. Go into Brooklyn and check out Coney Island, take a stroll through Park Slope, check out the Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn Heights!
PS Alummom - We just had a french exchange student stay with us and did practically the same tour you describe but added the East Village!!</p>