How Do You Know Which Subway Entrance to Take for Train 1 on 34th and 7th Ave. Nyc

March 15, 2022 Post a Comment

by: Max Vishnev, founder of CityRover Walks NY and licensed NYC tour guide

Are yous intimidated by the idea of getting around NYC using the subway? Fear not! We've got your covered.

Using this detailed subway guide for beginners yous volition learn how to use the NYC subway like a local!

Read on to learn how to buy a MetroCard or use the OMNY payment system, how to navigate New York's massive subway system without getting lost, what the different subway fare options are, and how to get subway directions. We also include detailed area maps with subway stations highlighted for added convenience!

Max, founder of CityRover Walks NY, offer a gratis NYC Subway "How to"

So let'southward jump right in with some subway FAQs to answer your most pressing questions and quell some of your fears:

Tabular array of Contents

1 Subway FAQs
ii Which to use OMNY or MetroCard
- two.ane What is OMNY
iii How to purchase a MetroCard
- 3.one NYC Subway fare options
- three.2 Step-by-step guide for how to buy a MetroCard from a vending machine
- 3.3 Of import note for international visitors
four How to use the NYC subway
- four.1 How to use the Metrocard like a pro
- 4.two Figuring out "Uptown" versus "Downtown"
- 4.3 Figuring out "Local" versus "Express" subway lines
5 How to employ Google Maps for subway directions
- 5.one Two practical examples of navigating the subway
6 NYC Subway Helpful Tips For Outset-time Visitors
7 Bonus Section: NYC Area Maps With Subway Stations Highlighted
- 7.1 Map #1: Battery Park and the southern tip of Manhattan
- 7.ii Map #3: Chinatown and Piddling Italia
- seven.3 Map #four: Greenwich Village
- 7.4 Map #5: Chelsea and the High Line
- 7.five Map #6: Flatiron and Gramercy
- vii.vi Map #vii: Lower Midtown, Macy's, Empire State, MSG

Subway FAQs

Is the Subway the best fashion to get around NYC?

Generally, yes. The subway is the cheapest and nigh efficient way to become around New York City IF you know what yous are doing. It unremarkably gets you from one role of the city to another faster than taking a taxi or uber. That's because, to country the obvious, the subway is non field of study to NYC traffic lights and congestion. So, unlike sitting in a taxi in stop-and-go traffic or rush-hour gridlock, just watching the meter tick up, yous tin can ride the subway completely oblivious to what's going on above ground (though the subway does go to a higher place ground outside of the centre of Manhattan).

How late does the subway run?

The NYC subway never stops running! It runs 24 hours, 7 days a week, which can't be said for the Paris Metro or London's Tube. That means yous can go dorsum to your hotel after a night of bar-hopping without having to expect 30 minutes in a taxi line just to be rejected past a Parisian taxi driver when your turn comes, considering he doesn't feel like taking you to your hotel (yes, Pierre, I am yet bitter after all these years!).

That said, the trains run a lot less regularly at night, and so expect a longer wait time at 2am compared to 2pm. Also, even though the subway organisation equally a whole never shuts down (with very rare exceptions for astringent winter storms), some lines get shut down periodically in sections for maintenance and repair work. The MTA posts planned piece of work using station posters, every bit well as on their website.

Please annotation due to Covid-19, the subway closes from 2am to 4am each dark for cleaning until May 17th.

Is the NYC subway safe?

The curt answer is yep. The subway organization (only like city parks) reflects the overall rubber of the urban center. And when New York City violent crime is near record lows and subway ridership is at tape highs, information technology is condom to assume nothing will happen to you lot on the subway. And these days, considering the subway is generally safe and ridership is at a loftier, at that place volition often be as many people on the subway (in Manhattan) at midnight as there volition be at noon – peradventure more. You might even spot the occasional superhero (see Captain America relaxing on the subway when yous scroll downwards):

The longer reply is that you still need to exist vigilant, use common sense, and do caution.

The subway platforms and cars can get pretty crowded, especially during the morning and evening rush, so don't stay near the platform border, don't put your telephone and wallet in your back pocket (where a pickpocket can become to information technology hands on a crowded subway machine), don't stare at anyone (every bit hard as that may be, sometimes), and certainly don't become involved in any arguments (if there is a crazy or disruptive passenger on the same subway car equally yous, simply switch to some other machine at the adjacent cease).

Should I employ the subway if I'thou traveling with kids?

Yes. There are kids of all ages riding the NYC subway on any given day. In fact, for almost of us in New York City who have children the subway is the nigh practical way to become effectually — whether that's dropping our kid off with a grandparent or at school or taking them to the doctor. You lot'll run into New Yorkers (and tourists) with newborns in infant carriers, toddlers in strollers, and older kids taking the subway dwelling house from school in the afternoon — past themselves — gasp!

Does the NYC subway run well?

A lot of New Yorkers find reasons to complain about the subway fairly regularly. And we are no exception. It'southward non fun when y'all're already running late and the train you are on is stuck in the station (or worse, between stations) because of a betoken malfunction, a sick passenger on the train ahead, or just unforeseen train traffic (yes, "subway traffic" is also a "thing").

Just oftentimes, we have for granted the fact that we have an enormous, 24/7 transit system that carries up to 6 million riders a day, virtually of whom are getting in and out of the tiny island of Manhattan, which is only 2 miles wide (at its widest) and is always crammed with people, cars, and buildings. Then the fact that we have 472 stations and 22 lines (and 3 shuttles) and that near of us can afford the fare and that on MOST days, it does get us to work and home on time, is something we should appreciate, despite the occasional "commute from hell" (which can likewise happen in a car, on a bus, or on a plane).

How do I know when I should use the subway?

The Subway is generally the best manner to become effectually New York City if you're traveling more than than a mile (otherwise, just walk, yous'll live longer!). This is peculiarly truthful if y'all're going from one office of the city to another. For case, from Downtown to Midtown Manhattan, or from Brooklyn Heights to the Museum of Natural History.

Are there "all-time" and "worst" times to utilize the subway?

The best time is unremarkably "off peak" hours Mon through Friday. That ways afterwards the morning rush and before the evening rush. Simply with near half-dozen million "swipes" each weekday, the term "rush hour" is stretched over 2 to 3 hours. Morning "rush" is usually from 7am to 10am, while evening rush begins earlier 5pm and can last until 8pm.

During these times, the subway cars tin can get pretty crowded and the commute tin become somewhat stressful. On the most crowded lines, it is non uncommon for a subway auto to be so packed with commuters that you lot might be bumping into people to your left and right, with a haversack in your face and a stranger breathing down your neck with morning coffee breath — that is if yous can squeeze in at all.

So unless y'all are an experienced strap-hanger, dear crowds, or have a timed ticket somewhere, avert the busiest times – especially if you are a NYC subway rookie.

How much is it to ride the NYC subway?

Our subway fare is 1 flat charge per unit — $2.75 per ride (if you lot buy a Metrocard with at to the lowest degree 2 rides' worth or pay with your telephone through the OMNY system, otherwise it'southward $3 for a Single Ride Metrocard). If you get a weekly or monthly "unlimited" choice, the price per ride tin can be lower (nosotros volition discuss these options later in this guide).

The concept of fares past zone, so common in cities with big metro systems, does not apply. There has also never been an "exit" fare. What this ways is that information technology doesn't affair whether you lot are traveling three stops or all the way to the end of the line – yous're paying the aforementioned charge per unit to ride. It likewise ways that you don't accept to dig out the Metrocard from your pocket or tap your telephone on your way out.

Is the subway in NYC easy to use?

No. Allow's non sugarcoat it. The NYC subway system is very big, often crowded, experiences occasional delays (or frequent delays, if you mind to grumpy New Yorkers late for work), and could be very confusing for commencement-time visitors, peculiarly for those who don't take much experience with large metro systems. With more than than 22 subway lines (plus 3 shuttles), over 700 miles of tracks, and 472 subway stations, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to become intimidated, lost, or both.

This is why we wrote this guide. It is designed to give you lot some basic knowledge and confidence in using the organization correctly and to lower your stress level as y'all programme your first trip to NYC.

How old is the NYC subway?

Old. Very old. Our subway may not be every bit one-time as London's Tube, simply information technology has lots of white hairs (or white tiles?). The first official subway line, opened in 1904 and ran from Metropolis Hall Downtown to Grand Central Depot on 42nd Street. Then, information technology made a turn westward to an area that had simply been dubbed "Times Foursquare", in laurels of the New York Times, which had but moved up to 42nd street and built the Times Belfry at the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue. From Times Square, the subway ran due north upwards to Harlem.

The starting time subway was called Interborough Rapid Transit, or IRT for short. Later, we introduced BMT ("Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit") and IND ("Independent"). All iii systems were eventually consolidated nether the MTA banner. So if you retrieve the subway sounds disruptive now, imagine what tourists must have felt similar when trying to figure out three dissimilar systems?!

By the way, here is a fun piece of subway trivia for your side by side trivia night:

The original subway fare in 1904 was a nickel. And it remained a nickel for 44 years, after which time information technology went up to a dime!

Captain America rides the subway — Captain America riding the subway (on his style domicile to Brooklyn?!)

But if even later reading the Subway FAQs above you all the same don't think you can navigate the NYC subway system on your own or you desire to local guide show yous the real New York, contact us nigh a custom private tour during your visit to New York City, which would include ane or more subway rides (and an orientation). We likewise specialize in one-day NYC Highlights private tours to assistance you lot go the most out of a short visit to NYC.

To boost your confidence a bit right now, here is a graph from the NYPD showing annual murder rates from 1993 to 2015:

Even so, even if you won't get killed on the subway these days, you can still become lost. The NYC subway is the largest transit system in the world in terms of number of stations (472, including the 3 newest stations on the only-opened second Artery line), which ways that you lot have to know what you are doing before you utilize it. Because with over 700 miles of tracks, if you go the wrong style, information technology might have you a little longer to go to your destination.

Don't have time to read this detailed guide on your screen right now?

Click on the link beneath to get on our e-mail listing, and nosotros'll ship you the entire guide in a printer-friendly PDF for free!

Before you exercise annihilation else:

Y'all must download a subway map onto your phone before using the organisation. The map is something you tin can't do without if you are new to the NYC subway.

To download a high-resolution PDF, become to: http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/subwaymap.pdf

Google Maps is a corking resources, they give directions using public transportation, even incorporating service changes and delays. Nevertheless, even if you lot download a map of New York to employ offline, y'all cannot access transit directions offline. This may exist an event If you don't have cellular service in New York or once y'all're on a subway in a tunnel you lot may not take service.

Google Maps is a great resources, they requite directions using public transportation, fifty-fifty incorporating service changes and delays. However, even if you download a map of New York to use offline, yous cannot admission transit directions offline. This may be an consequence If you don't have cellular service in New York or once you're on a subway in a tunnel you may non accept service.

In improver, mta.info is a very useful website to bookmark, considering information technology provides real-time service status updates for each subway line right on the homepage. This is especially useful nights and weekends, when the MTA does most of the repair and maintenance work. You tin can also sign up for electronic mail or text alerts for service changes and the latest status updates by subway line on the same site (may not be very useful if you don't know which lines y'all will be using the nigh).

Next:

How to enter the arrangement. Y'all need a MetroCard to swipe in, or tap contactless cards or digital wallets using the new OMNY payment system.

Which to use OMNY or MetroCard

To admission the subway you tin use a MetroCard (which yous fill with coin or tin purchse a weekly pass) or with the new OMNY organisation which with a tap charges the $ii.75 fare to your credit bill of fare through a contactless bill of fare of a e-wallet.

Read virtually the MetroCard and OMNY to see which is best for yous.

What is OMNY

If you do not program on purchasing a weekly pass (discussed below), using the OMNY payment system may be your all-time option. Just tap your telephone, smart watch or credit card and you lot're in! It's really easy, you lot tin avert the lines at the MetroCard machines, and y'all salvage yourself a dollar by not purchasing a new MetroCard. A perfect selection for those taking advantage of our One Day NYC Itinerary.

Every subway turnstile has a reader that looks like this:

You tin pay your fare by touching any credit card or debit menu that has this contactless symbol on the front or back:

Or y'all can utilize an e-wallet like Apple tree Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay. Make certain as y'all agree your telephone or smart watch near the reader. Ideally, you accept data on your phone, but if not, every subway station has free wifi..

It's easy and even lets you transfer to buses like a MetroCard. If you're comfortable with engineering science, why would you ever go through the trouble of ownership a MetroCard? A couple of reasons:

If you plan to have more than 12 rides in a calendar week, it makes saves you money to purchase a weekly MetroCard for $33. OMNY does not take weekly or monthly options.
Y'all can only tap in four individuals per contactless card or e-wallet. If you are paying for a large group, it may exist easier to buy several MetroCards. There are ways to purchase MetroCards in bulk, contact u.s.a. and we'll explain how.

The next section is how to purchase a MetroCard

How to buy a MetroCard

Enter whatever subway station and look for a vending machine that looks similar this:

Using the NYC Subway vending machines is, unfortunately, non as intuitive or user-friendly as it should be. But don't fret, we wrote this guide with you, the visitor, in mind, and so we'll take you through it ane step at a time!

All machines take credit cards, but not all of them take cash. Even the ones that exercise have cash only dispense coins as change, and so keep that in mind if yous only have a $20 beak and only want a MetroCard with $11 on it – expect to go $9 in dollar coins. e machines will not give more than $9 in change.

If y'all would rather pay in cash and speak to a human beingness, each station has a berth with an MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authorization) employee in it (unremarkably!). They can answer your questions, sell you lot a MetroCard for greenbacks, give yous a paper map (if they have any on hand – which frequently they don't), and even give you change in bills instead of coins.

NYC Subway fare options

First, if you only programme to ride the subway once — 1 manner — and you are not going to use the OMNY payment, you tin get to any vending machine and purchase a single-ride card for $3. After swiping information technology through the turnstile, you tin toss it, since these paper cards are for one-time use only.

Second, if yous plan to employ the subway at least a couple of times and you're not going to utilize the OMNY payment method, and then buy a "Regular" MetroCard (more on this beneath). The minimum corporeality to put on a new card is $five.l

Tertiary, if you lot plan to use the subway several times a day and are visiting for iv days or longer, then buy a 7-twenty-four hour period "Unlimited" MetroCard. This carte allows you to employ the subway every bit many times a twenty-four hours every bit y'all please, without incurring any boosted charges. The fixed cost of this weekly card is only $33 (plus $1 for a new card).

Each ride with a "Regular" MetroCard is $2.75

So the pause-even number or rides, is 12. In other words, if you plan to ride the subway more than 12 times during your visit (which is not very hard to accomplish if you practice at least 4 trips per day for iii days), then y'all're better off just buying the 1-week "unlimited" for $33 (plus $1 for the card). Otherwise, simply use the OMNY payment organization, or go a "regular", and if you run out of coin, only refill the card.

Before you make up one's mind on "Regular" vs. "Unlimited", go along this in mind:

You can swipe a "regular" card upwardly to four times at any given time, while an "unlimited" card cannot exist used more than than once in an 18 minute catamenia.

Then if you are traveling as a couple, a group of friends, or a family of iv, and you don't call up you'll use the subway at to the lowest degree 12 times each, then you're better off getting i "Regular" MetroCard and passing it to each other (perfectly legal). Otherwise, you would have to get an unlimited card for each fellow member of your travel party. In other words, you can share a "regular" simply not an "unlimited" (unless you lot want to wait 18 minutes between swipes!).

Stride-by-footstep guide for how to buy a MetroCard from a vending machine

Come up up to any available vending auto (like the one we showed you above), and touch the "Start" button, then choose your preferred language.

Then select the "MetroCard" button.

If you lot don't already have a MetroCard, cull "Get New card"

At present choose Regular or Unlimited (based on what nosotros discussed earlier).

If you cull "Regular" yous will run into the following screen:

Before you choose an amount, apply this elementary calculation as a guide:

Given that the cost per ride is $2.75, a round trip per person will price $5.fifty. If y'all are traveling every bit a couple, y'all'd need $11 combined to make a round trip. If you lot're a family of 4, y'all'd need $22.

Information technology's very unlikely that you lot will know ahead of time exactly how many time you will ride the subway, then pick an amount that y'all think you'll definitely use up, and if you run out of money sooner than expected, just refill your carte du jour any vending machine (for this, yous'd choose "Refill card" instead of "Get New Card").

Once y'all've picked an corporeality, you lot will be prompted to choose a payment method. Recollect, not all machines accept cash, and so take a credit card handy.

Note: The epitome in a higher place reflects the old price of $31. Now, the seven-twenty-four hour period unlimited is $32 (+$i for a new bill of fare)

Bold you lot cull Credit Card, you will be prompted to dip your carte du jour. Look for the card slot on the bottom left-hand side of the motorcar.

Insert your card all the manner into the slot, then pull it out. If the machine has read the card, you will be asked to enter your billing zilch code.

Important notation for international visitors

If your credit card was not issued in the United States, y'all do not accept to enter your zero lawmaking. Simply press the # fundamental to go on. Only American card users have to enter their billing nada lawmaking, followed past the # central.

That's it! You are now the proud owner of a make-new MetroCard.

Are you finding this subway guide helpful? Want to become it as a printer-friendly PDF in your inbox right now? Click on the link below to become on our email list, and we'll ship you this entire commodity in a flash. All you lot'll have to exercise is hit "Print"!

How to utilize the NYC subway

OK, and then you're a master of the OMNY system or but bought a shiny new MetroCard. Now what?

With OMNY only tap and go. Make certain you lot're activating your e-wallet. You may need to press your thumb or blazon in a security central on your phone.

For the MetroCard, you accept to swipe your manner in, which sounds simple but tin sometimes exist tricky. The card readers installed in the turnstiles are finicky. Yous take to care for them just the correct style for them to let you in. If yous swipe too fast, try once again. If you swipe to slow, try again. If you bend the bill of fare as you swipe, you're wasting your time (and the time of the at present-angry people behind you).

So here is all you need to know to be able to swipe in similar a local:

How to use the Metrocard similar a pro

Hold the MetroCard with the give-and-take "MetroCard" facing you lot, with the blackness stripe down. Come up to a turnstile with the MetroCard in your right paw (the card reader is always to the right of the turnstile). And then swipe in a frontward motion, while keeping the card flat against the strip and straight (don't lift it as you swipe, information technology's not an airplane). Swipe information technology at a normal speed – non too slow, non too fast. And if y'all don't get it right the first time, don't panic, just try over again.

Note of caution:

In that location are two types of turnstiles. There are the regular turnstiles constitute in most stations, where the bar is horizontal and at hip level (similar the 1 below).

There are as well vertical turnstiles that are equally alpine as a professional basketball actor. When yous utilize these vertical ones (like the ane below), delight brand sure you push the bars that are the closest to where you swipe. In other words, don't reach for the next fix of confined, which would be to your slight left; otherwise, you will have wasted a swipe.

OK, assuming you've fabricated information technology successfully through the turnstiles, you are gear up to ride.

At present what?

Figuring out "Uptown" versus "Downtown"

Well, you've fabricated the rookie fault of swiping the card before checking if you're inbound on the correct side of the platform. When entering larger stations, you can swipe first then option a direction (downtown vs. uptown). Just with smaller stations (and there are many more of these in the organisation), if you lot swipe on the downtown side of the platform only want to get uptown , you will not be able to switch sides. In such a scenario, yous would either accept to take the subway in the wrong direction until the next "big" station where you tin can cross over, or you would take to exit, cross the street to the other side and swipe again.

So allow's have a footstep back and talk a bit more about this whole "Downtown" vs. "Uptown" concept:

Manhattan is a skinny isle that'south only about 2 miles broad and 13 miles long. The shape of this crowded island naturally led to a mostly linear subway organization (in Manhattan). That ways that almost of the subway lines in Manhattan by and large run in a northward-southward fashion. In NY parlance, due north is "uptown", s is "downtown". Easy. Even a pigeon can think that.

In many other cities "Downtown" implies a commercial cadre or hub, which could exist up, down, left, or right. In New York City, however, "Downtown" literally implies down town. So if you look at a map of Manhattan, Downtown would exist towards the bottom.

Given this fact, most subway stations in Manhattan will have a "Downtown" side (trains heading due south) and an "Uptown" side (trains heading n). The side you lot need depends on two factors: Where you are and where yous want to go.

To oversimplify things a bit:

If you are generally heading south, take the "Downtown" side. If you're more often than not heading north, take the "Uptown" side.

Again, nosotros are merely talking about Manhattan hither.

Look for signs above the stairs to effigy out what side of the platform you need to go down to.

Hither is what a "Downtown" sign would await like:

And on the opposite side would be the stairs to the "Uptown" platform:

But we are still not done!

To complicate things even more, there are Local trains and Express trains!

Figuring out "Local" versus "Express" subway lines

Earlier we tell you which 1 to apply, here is how you can figure out if you lot even accept the choice:

Many subway stations just have one track for each direction (one track for Uptown, one for Downtown). You can call these stations "Local", in the sense that simply trains making every stop will stop at that station.

So if you get down to the platform and you only have a wall on 1 side and one rail on the other, you don't take to worry virtually Local v. Express, because Local is your just choice at that station (though y'all might see the Express train speeding by on the 2nd rail away from the platform).

On the other hand, if you enter a bigger station and get down to the platform level, yous might see two tracks – one on your left and 1 on your right. That means you now have a option between an Limited train and a Local railroad train.

"But how will I know which one is which?"

Don't worry, each train platform is marked conspicuously with blackness banners hanging above your caput. Unfortunately, there aren't that many banners per station, so if you don't run into one in front of you lot immediately, just walk in either direction for a bit until you encounter ane. They are normally positioned close to the stairs.

Hither is what an "Express" sign might await similar:

This sign tells you two important things:

The A train on this runway is heading into Downtown Manhattan along 8^th Avenue, and then going into Brooklyn.
It is also running on the Limited track.

Here is an example of a "Local" sign:

Here, yous tin can see that this train is also going Downtown via 8^thursday Avenue, but that it is running on the Local track.

And then which one should you employ?

If you desire to play it really safety then stick to the Local to avert getting on the Limited and skipping your stop. Express trains frequently skip several stations at a time. For example, the D train goes express from 59^thursday street to 125^thursday (no stops in between), so you would not have this train to the Natural History Museum at 81^st street (just to give you ane example).

Sticking to the local track ensures that your train will make every finish.

However, if you are practiced with maps and want to shave a few minutes off your ride, you can refer to the subway map where local stations are marked with a blackness circle and express stops are marked with a white circumvolve (obviously, local trains cease at the express stops too) to meet if the Express railroad train makes sense for you on a case-by-example basis.

Are y'all enjoying this guide? Would you like to have information technology with you for reference? Click on the link below to become this as a free and printer-friendly PDF file in your inbox (with bonus maps)!

But that'due south not all:

With 22 regular subway lines plus 3 shuttle lines (these just get back and forth between two points), you lot also need to figure out which line is best to take each fourth dimension you ride the subway.

That'southward why it is very handy to have a city map with yous (ask your hotel concierge for a gratis re-create, or but employ Google Maps, salve information technology offline!). Find your electric current location on the map and determine where yous are trying to become in relation to your current position. Most metropolis maps (whether printed or online) will bear witness the closest subway stations. Wait for the stations almost y'all and check which subway line(s) would get your closest to where you need to go.

How to apply Google Maps for subway directions

Leverage your smartphone while visiting NYC for step-by-step navigation. Google Maps provides only that, including detailed subway directions.

Two practical examples of navigating the subway

Example #1: Yous want to go from your hotel, the Casablanca in Times Square, to the nine/eleven Memorial

Open up Google Maps on your telephone, tablet or computer.

Blazon in your hotel name (in our instance, the Casablanca). You volition now see the closest subway stations indicated with the "M" icon. Zoom in to see which subway lines stop at that particular station. For instance, "Times Sq – 42^nd St [1, 2, 3] tells you that the 1, two, and three lines stop there.
Now click on the Directions icon (wait for the right arrow in a white circle). Choose the railroad train icon, which represents "Transit", then click on the opposite arrows icon to reverse direction. Then blazon in "9/eleven Memorial" as your destination. Your screen should look something similar this:

5. By default, Google gives yous the "all-time road" on top, which is determined past total commute time, number of transfers, and walking distance. To view this route, click "Details" under the top choice. Here is what you will run across:

As you can see from the map, the 9/eleven Memorial is nearly all the fashion at the lesser of Manhattan island, so to get there from the Casablanca Hotel, you would demand to take the subway Downtown (not Uptown). To exist exact, the subway signage you need to look for volition say "Downtown & Brooklyn" which just means that the train is heading due south (Downtown) in Manhattan, then going into Brooklyn.

According to Google Maps, your total commute would be around 17 minutes and would combine using the subway and walking.

Quick note:

The step with the cherry line that reads: "Flatbush Av – Brooklyn College" does non mean you lot have to accept the 2 line to Brooklyn Higher. The stop y'all take to get off at is "Chambers St". "Flatbush Av – Brooklyn Higher" is simply the concluding stop in the direction you need to take the two line. The conductor (or recorded annunciation) volition say something like "Passengers, this is a 'Flatbush Av – Brooklyn College' bound 2 train. The next stop is Chambers St." That's what you desire to hear.

Example #ii: You want to go from the 9/11 Memorial to the Empire State Building

Again, pull upwardly Google Maps, utilise "nine/eleven Memorial" every bit your starting betoken, "Empire Country Edifice" as your destination, and make certain you have the "Transit" option chosen.

Walking to the R railroad train seems to be the best route, even though it's 3 minutes slower overall than the next all-time route. That's because there is less walking with this route. Of course, if y'all don't mind walking a fleck more, y'all can choose the second selection.

But for the purposes of this example, we'll cull the get-go option. The route details wait like this:

Discover that this time we are traveling north or Uptown . The "Forest Hills – 71 Ave" label is one time over again the final destination of the R train, not the stop you demand to get off at. The end you need is "34 Street – Herald Sq Station".

When you get to the R station at Cortlandt Street, look for signs that say "Uptown & Queens". Why? Considering as nosotros've established, you need to head Uptown, and the "& Queens" part just means that after going uptown, the R train will go along into Queens. The alternative direction on the R train would exist "Downtown & Brooklyn", which is in the opposite direction of the Empire Land Building.

By the way, Google Maps allows yous to email or text your called route to yourself. You lot can also print it if yous take access to a printer.

OK, last thing before we become to Subway Tips:

The NYC subway organization is pretty erstwhile. Many stations in Manhattan are a century one-time or older (the first line opened in 1904, every bit we mentioned earlier). And with nearly six million passengers a day and a system that never stops running, there is a lot of article of clothing-and-tear. Tracks need to exist replaced, switches stock-still, rats poisoned (no joke!), etc.

The Metropolitan Transit Authorisation (MTA) mainly cares virtually getting people to work and dorsum home Monday through Friday.

That ways that the best times for them to practice maintenance and repair work is weeknights and weekends. Unfortunately, that's besides the time many tourists will rely on the subway to become effectually. The good news is yous tin exist prepared before you ride.

Showtime, if yous know where y'all'll exist headed Saturday forenoon and it'due south Friday night, go to Google Maps and plug in your destination, simply instead of "Leaving now" cull "Depart at" and option a later date (say Sabbatum at 10am). Google incorporates planned service changes into their route recommendations.

2nd, yous can also check the latest status of subway service (by line) on the homepage of mta.info:

Just if you didn't do whatsoever of that before you got to the platform, look for postings that look like this:

These service alter announcements will tell you what's happening and what your route alternatives are.

Await, we know all this may sound very intimidating, but you should become the hang of it pretty apace once yous start using it. And if all else fails, ask someone who looks like a local (and isn't talking to himself). Most New Yorkers will be happy to requite you directions.

OK, if you got this far, y'all should now have the confidence to use the NYC subway without getting lost (at to the lowest degree, not completely). So in the last department of this post, we wanted to share with you a few tips that will make your subway feel more pleasant.

NYC Subway Helpful Tips For First-time Visitors

Use these tips to avert pissing off locals when using the subway

"Please Swipe Once more"

If you are new to the MetroCard and haven't figured out the correct swiping speed all the same, please be courteous during rush hour and let others pass if you can't become information technology to work. Don't go a bottleneck, or risk the wrath of angry commuters grumbling and breathing down your neck. But if you come across the evil "Delight swipe againat this turnstile " message, take a deep breath, relax, focus, and swipe at a moderate speed (not too fast, not likewise slow). Merely exercise not surrender your spot or you may lose your fare.
Don't risk it

Step abroad from the border of the platform. Platforms are often crowded and in that location are a lot of New Yorkers in a rush to go somewhere. The concluding thing you want is to accept to climb out of the tracks with an oncoming train blinding yous with its lights. "Don't get a statistic," every bit they say. Or a deer in headlights.
There is a reason that subway machine looks empty!

If y'all run across a mostly empty subway car during blitz 60 minutes, or i with all the people crowded to 1 side, there is probably a adept reason for it. So unless you have no sense of smell, then hustle over to the adjacent car before the doors close. Homelessness, poverty, and mental illness are a tragic reality for some New Yorkers, who sometimes notice shelter and respite on the subways, particularly in the colder months.
Don't block the doors

If at that place are no available seats and the train car is full, it'due south OK to stand next to the doors, but please step off at each end to permit people off. Don't become those annoying riders who cake the doors feigning ignorance while staring at their phone screens.
Relish the live music? Drib them a dollar.

There are lots of talented musicians who supplement their incomes by performing on the subway – a cappella, guitar, drums, sax, a mariachi band, the occasional cello — you name it. So if you like what you hear, feel free to tip. They are not making up a sob story or using their kids as bait; they are only there to entertain us equally we ride. And sometimes, a great song is exactly what we demand for a trivial morning time "option-me-upwards".
Whatever yous do, don't stare!

Don't stare at anyone. New York is total of interesting characters, and the subway is often the best place to spot them (because, past definition, we are all stuck in place for a while). Glancing is OK, staring is not. You never know who you might offend or set off. Plus, in New York when we see a celebrity or someone unconventional, nosotros play information technology cool!
New Yorkers detest subway small-talk

Information technology is besides not encouraged to just showtime talking to strangers on the subway,unlessyou are asking for directions. Nosotros are a city of more than 8.5 million residents, and we make it work because we follow certain unwritten rules. We are willing to wait in tiffin and coffee lines. We patiently fan ourselves waiting for trains on stifling platforms in the summer estrus. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder, or sit down hip-to-hip on rush-hour trains without uttering a word or even acknowledging each other's existence. Sometimes, nosotros accidentally impact each other, like when a subway pole is full of easily and you place yours on someone else's by accident. The nearly you will hear is "sorry", but by and large, just a quick change in paw placement will placate the other party, preferably without eye contact. Nosotros occasionally bump shoulders on crowded sidewalks full of rushed commuters and don't even bother to turn around. But the one affair many New Yorkers won't tolerate is to exist engaged in random modest-talk on the subway. Perhaps we oasis't had our morning coffee nonetheless, or peradventure it's 7pm and we've had a long day at the office, hate our boss, our job, the crowded railroad train, or life itself, and the final thing we need is to be engaged in conversation.
Be smart with your valuables!

Our last piece of NYC subway communication is the well-nigh obvious:
Brand certain you secure your valuables , which ways no wallets or smartphones in back pockets. While you lot won't get mugged or stabbed on the subway these days, information technology doesn't mean your pockets or purses can't be picked when you lot are not paying attention.

Now with all that out of the way, go out in that location and ride with confidence!

Merely if you're notwithstanding intimidated by the prospect of navigating the NYC subway on your own and wish to become a local'due south view of the metropolis, then contact us for a custom private bout, and we'll prove yous the best of New York and teach how to use the subway on your personalized sightseeing bout.