re: NYC Airport to Hotel

Flown into LaGuardia several times. We have only done Uber black, and it has always been great. I couldn’t tell you if I’m overspending or getting a good deal but it was convenient, easy , and I have no reason not to do it next time.

I dont mind flying to JFK and take sky train to jamaica then to penn station.

I’m not certain but you definitely need to look at the schedule. I am not sure that train runs from midnight to early AM.

Was there this last week, Uber from EWR to Midtown was $100 each way

Have you ridden the train these days in NYC?

Friend,

We also ride the subway when in the great city. Walking, biking, and the subway are the only ways to travel while in NY. We haven’t hired a car service in a decade, and that was a sit-in-traffic disaster.

For long trips, such as from any of the airports to Midtown, the subway is the quickest mode most days, unless you use Blade helicopter transport, which we did last year from LaGuardia just for the novelty. It only took 10 minutes in, but cost about $350. Otherwise, we take the bus and train from LaGuardia or AirTran and the NEC from EWR or AirTran and the subway from JFK. Getting a car service from either of those is almost always a longer ride.

The subway is a great way to meet people. Last month, we were headed to Mama’s Too and Barney Greengrass for a slice and smoked sturgeon when a man who happened to be a producer for the Broadway version of The Notebook sat next to Mother.

They began talking and before you know it, we had backstage passes for the show. The show was enthralling and the crew so friendly. But on the same subway ride, Hoda Kotb sat next to me and we carried on about New Orleans for a couple of minutes.

You never know whom you’ll meet on the subway or what great music you’ll hear in the subway corridors. I’ve heard some of the city’s best music in the subway below Times Square.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

Our flight lands around 11 pm at Newark. While the train is clearly the cheapest, I figured between have wife and young teenager, taking the train into Manhattan that late, with luggage, is probably not the safest and the most convenient thing to do, at least for arrival, is going ti be to take either a taxi or Uber to get door to door service to hotel.

That said - assuming we land at 11 pm, we likely won’t get to the hotel till shortly after mid night. We are staying in mid town Manhattan. I’m sure we will neee something to eat when we arrive, but the hotels restaurant and in-room dining closes at 11 PM. A quick scan of restaurants around the area in Yelp looks like most places close around that time or mid night at the latest. I did see the joes close to Times Square is open till 3 AM. But other than that, I didn’t really see anything else open after mid night.

It looks like we are about a mile from Times Square. Anyone have any recommendations for somewhere to eat that would be family friendly shortly after mid night in the Mid Town Manhattan area?

Friend,

The AirTran from EWR to the station and the EWR train station are perfectly safe at any hour of the day. The Northeast Corridor, the train service you catch from the airport to Penn Station, stops operating between 1 and 130 in the morning. If you land at 11, I’d hope you would be on the AirTran by 11:30-11:45, giving you plenty of time to catch the NJ transit train into Penn.

Penn Station, or at least just outside, used to be rough back in the 90s and 00s, but now I think of it as safe for the most part.

Uber isn’t a terrible option at that hour because the traffic is not bad. Uber during the day takes much more than an hour to get to Midtown, so thick is the traffic. At that hour I would hope you can get a ride for $60-80.

In February we arrived at EWR around 1am and missed the last train, so we were left with few options and ended up in an Uber. I think it was $65 and we arrived at The Plaza in about 40 minutes because there was no traffic. I forgot about that ride and the unusual music selection until a moment ago when your predicament jogged my memory.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

Friend,

In Midtown, the best late night pizza, and by a large margin, is Upside. Their dough elevates the slice arguably more than any other slice shop, Mama's Too and L'industrie included. The latest I have eaten at Upside is 1:30. NY Pizza Suprema at the southwest corner across from Madison Square Garden is open until midnight, unless their hours have changed.

Joe's to me is decent, but I honestly cannot distinguish it in a blind taste test from Famous Original Ray's. I think FOR's, at least the Times Square location, is open until 2 or 3.

Definitely go to John's of Bleecker Street -- it is a world class pizza. John's of Times Square has no relation to John's of Bleecker Street. John's of Times Square is a tourist trap serving subpar pizza, and I assume, stole the name for the purpose of confusing people.

Even if the two shared a common link, I would still tell you to go to the original in Greenwich Village. There is so much to see right around it. I love a chicken or veal parm or Italian hoagie from Faicco's. Yes, Joe's is around the corner as well, and is one of the standards in the NY slice. Bleecker Street Pizza is similar in quality as Joe's, and it too is right there. Greenwich Village has in the last five years become arguably the most condensed pizza neighborhood in America. Today, you can get pizza at the above three, as well as visit outposts for L'industrie, Mama's Too, Emily, which isn't bad if you are craving a Detroit style.

Just a couple of blocks southeast of John's of Bleecker is Song'E Napule, which is a top five Neapolitan pizza in America, and arguably top 25 in the world. Just a few feet down is Arturo's, which serves a good pie and has live jazz.

I hope this information is helpful and you enjoy your stay. If you are able, try to get a reservation at Una Pizza Napoletana. It will change your view of pizza.

Yours,
TulaneLSU