Originally Posted by
deskover54
It's very insightful, but still leaves me scratching my head. I got to New York a lot, and it's way easier to get into the city from EWR than JFK. JFK is 1:10 on the train. EWR is like 40 mins on the NJ Transit.
You're definitely taking the wrong train from JFK then. I think actual travel time from Penn Station to both airports is roughly similar (JFK probably a few minutes shorter).
But the LIRR offers much more frequent service than NJ Transit, especially on the weekends and at off hours. I almost never bother checking the LIRR schedule, I know there will always be a train in 10-15 minutes. With NJT, it can be 40+ minutes between trains sometimes.
I used to be a die-hard CO traveler, and as an Upper West Side resident, it wasn't hard to justify that EWR wasn't really that bad to get to.
But there are just more (reasonable) options to get to/from JFK. It's easy to avoid the tolls, especially at off-hours. Even taxis are fine in a pinch, in either direction. Nobody in their right mind should take a taxi to Manhattan from EWR! And good luck finding one to take you there from Manhattan...