In short
New York spans five boroughs, but most of a short stay happens in Manhattan and northern Brooklyn.
Midtown holds the skyscrapers and Times Square. Downtown — SoHo, the Village, the Lower East Side — is more human in scale. The Upper West and Upper East Sides, either side of Central Park, are residential and family areas. Williamsburg and Bushwick, in Brooklyn, are the other creative pole. Queens is the most multicultural and least visited borough.
Arriving and getting around
Three airports. JFK is reached by the AirTrain then the subway or the LIRR. Newark, in New Jersey, by AirTrain then NJ Transit. LaGuardia has neither train nor direct subway: bus or taxi only.
The subway runs twenty-four hours a day, which is rare in the world. It is now paid contactless — bank card or phone — straight at the turnstile, with an automatic weekly cap.
Watch for express and local trains: an express skips stations, and boarding the wrong one can cost twenty blocks.
What it really costs
Housing is the overwhelming item. Brooklyn, Queens or riverside New Jersey cost markedly less for twenty extra minutes on the subway.
Displayed prices exclude tax, and tipping is expected in restaurants and bars — usually between 18 and 20 per cent. A real bill runs well beyond the menu.
When to come
April–June and September–October. Summer is hot and very humid; winter is cold and windy, with snowstorms.
December is spectacular but saturated and expensive.
What nobody tells you
Many museums apply a suggested rather than fixed price for New York State residents, and several have pay-what-you-wish windows — the conditions vary and should be checked on their sites.
The Staten Island Ferry is free and passes the Statue of Liberty: the view many people pay a lot for elsewhere.
Central Park is four kilometres long: crossing it on foot is not a ten-minute stroll.
Food halls and trucks are often better than the tourist restaurants of Midtown, for a fraction of the price.
