How do I get from the airport to New York?

JFK's AirTrain loops through all terminals and connects to two transit hubs. Head for Jamaica Station — the AirTrain takes about 12 minutes to get there, costs $8.25, and deposits you into a covered walkway that feeds directly to the Long Island Rail Road platforms. LIRR trains to Penn Station in Midtown run every 10-20 minutes, take 22 minutes, and cost $7.75 off-peak or $11 during rush. You'll surface onto Seventh Avenue at 34th Street, hit by the warmth of street-level exhaust and the dense churn of Midtown foot traffic. Total time: about 50 minutes, under $16. The alternative AirTrain connection at Howard Beach puts you on the A subway line — cheaper ($2.90 fare) but slower by 20 minutes, and during rush hour you'll be wedged against commuters with a rolling suitcase in a car that smells like it's been sealed since morning. Take the LIRR unless you're headed to Brooklyn.

Yellow cabs from JFK to anywhere in Manhattan carry a flat fare of $70, set by New York City. On top of that expect $7-10 in tolls depending on the route, a few dollars in surcharges, and tip. Budget $90-100 all in. The ride takes 40 minutes at 2am when the Long Island Expressway is empty and you can hear the tires hum on wet pavement, or 90 minutes at 5pm on a Friday when the Midtown Tunnel backs up past the airport exit. Uber and Lyft pick up from designated lots near Terminal 5 — follow the purple signs. Off-peak fares to Midtown tend to land around $55-70 before tip. During surge pricing after a bank of wide-bodies land at once, that can jump past $100. That said, the fixed-rate yellow cab is often the better deal in the evenings because it doesn't surge. If someone inside the terminal offers you a car service before you reach the taxi stand, walk past them.

Newark (EWR) is in New Jersey but might actually be closer to your hotel than JFK, depending on where you're staying in New York. The AirTrain ($8.25) connects to NJ Transit at Newark Liberty International station; trains to Penn Station take 25 minutes and the total fare comes to about $15.25. Service runs frequently until around midnight. Taxis from Newark into Manhattan run $80-100 plus tolls and tip — no flat rate like JFK, so watch the meter. LaGuardia (LGA) is the closest airport by distance but has no rail link at all. The Q70 Select Bus Service is free and drops you at the 7 train or E/M/R at Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. From there it's a $2.90 subway ride and about 40 minutes to Times Square. Taxis from LGA to Midtown run $30-45 plus tolls. Mind you, LaGuardia's terminal road construction has been grinding on for years, and the access roads can tack 15 minutes of brake-light crawling onto any ground transport before you reach the Grand Central Parkway.

A few things that tend to catch first-timers arriving in New York off guard. Penn Station is underground and the signage is poor — when you come up from the LIRR, you step onto a Midtown sidewalk thick with halal-cart smoke and honking traffic, possibly turned around. Pick your exit on a map before you surface. If you land after midnight from JFK, the AirTrain still runs but LIRR service gets thin; a taxi or rideshare is the practical late-night choice. You don't need a MetroCard anymore — any contactless credit card or phone tap works on subways and buses through OMNY, so skip the vending machines. One more thing: the airport WiFi at JFK is usable but slow. Grab a local eSIM before you fly or activate one on landing so you can pull up transit directions without hunting for signal. Cell coverage is strong above ground but still patchy in some of the older subway tunnels between stations.