LGA to Upper East Side Transportation
 

My teenage son is visiting a friend NYC this summer. We will fly him in/out of LGA. His destination is the upper east side. Which bus should he catch? Where does he catch the bus? Does he need to transfer to the subway? I am not familiar with LGA nor the NYC subways. So, details are appreciated.

All of your questions are already answered on this board. But if you tell us exactly where he's heading on the UES, we can give you step-by-step directions.

He is going to 79th and York.

2 choices:

1. Take the M60 into Manhattan to the Lexington Ave stop. Take the 6 downtown to 77th Street. He can then walk 2 blocks uptown and 4 blocks east to 79th & York.

If he wants, when he gets to 79th St., he can hop on the M79 bus to York Ave but by doing that, he'll be charged an extra metrocard fare. That's up to him. If it's pouring outside, he might want to do that if he can't find a taxi at 77th & Lex. The blocks east are longer than the ones uptown/downtown. It's not a big deal to me, but if he's got a lot of luggage, it might be.

2. Take the M60 into Manhattan and get off at 2nd Ave. He can then walk 1 block to 126th Street and catch the M15 bus to 79th Street. By doing this, his walk to 79th and York is easily halved.

Thanks Analise. I just found the LGA map showing the city bus stops at the terminals. With your instruction and the map, he is good to go.

Also note that if you/he want to spring for a cab, it'll be much faster - about 15-20 minutes - and ≈$30 including tip and toll. Ask the driver to take the Triborough (now called the RFK Bridge) to the FDR. The toll will be included on the meter and the driver must use EZ-pass at $4.57 - if the driver doesn't have an EZ-pass, he may try to charge the cash rate of $5.50, but is not supposed to do so.

(I've split this out into a separate thread /Moderator)

Maybe at 5am on a Sunday, but at other times of the day it can take a bit longer than that. :)

Not much. LGA to UES by cab is a breeze any time except morning rush hour.

That's cause who the hell wants to go to the UES? :)

Which is one more reason I avoid morning flights home ;)

Or afternoon traffic in the rain. Last Friday around 5pm it took me 30 mins to get from the cab stand to the FDR.

I would recommend the M60 to M15 option. With luggage the stairs up and down the subways are a pain, and M15 is pretty quick up there. There are local and limited. Limited does typically stop at 79 but may not these days due to the subway construction

Either way its pretty easy

I would agree with the taxi option..for that location, it will be no more than $30 including tip. The only reason I would do bus if the taxi line was extremely long. otherwise, its a no-brainer.

Well, yeah. But that's true of special circumstances anywhere. For example, if there's an accident or construction it could take longer. Or if the President is visiting East Harlem. Doesn't change the truth of the general statement.

Both of our statements are correct. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes to get to the UES from LGA by cab. Other times it takes quite a bit longer. And the latter doesn't require particularly weird scenarios to obtain.