hoffmich45

There is a $1 fee for each new Metrocard. You can use one Metrocard for multiple people as long as you are purchasing a dollar amount, not a weekly or monthly pass.

progapanda

After the fourth successive entry swipe in the same station or farebox, the pay-per-use Metrocard cannot be used again in the same station or farebox for 18 minutes.

Brighton Line

In realty you can swipe a metorcard for more than four fares up to the dollar amount you placed on the card. The issue is the card only retains information for four swipes so on the fifth swipe the information used for validating transfers like where and when swiped on the first swipe is overwritten. If you have a large group that is not transferring you can use a single meterocard without issue.

Some of the limitations of the magnetic swipe system and others like the 18 minutes between use of unlimited cards comes from the 6 minute cycle the turnstile/ station computer / mainframe updates (fare boxes only update when physically connected when cash is removed or a probe is attached).

tfjim

What is the latest situation on walking through the parking lot southeast of the B terminal and then across the 94th ST bridge to catch the Q33?

ijgordon

An aggregation of a handful of pictures/tweets/videos of the nightmare at LGA.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...a-airport.html

gooselee

So I haven't had a need to go to NYC in a couple years, but will be headed up next Wednesday for a meeting. Would be leaving lower Manhattan and trying to get a 4pm flight out as I need to be back home that evening.

I can use either LGA or JFK. Given the mess, I'm considering just booking to JFK and avoiding it altogether. But would getting an Uber/Taxi to LGA be that terrible around 2pm-3pm on a Wednesday? The flight times there are slightly better once you account for JFK taxi time.

Jon of Brooklyn

Depending on where you’re headed, the JFK>Airtrain>LIRR might be a good option. I made it from touchdown to downtown Brooklyn in under two hours (on an international arrival into T1, so that includes going through JFK immigration), and if you’re going anywhere near Penn Station, you’ll be able to catch a train pretty quickly. (It also depends which JFK terminal. If you’re coming in on American, it’ll probably be a bit quicker than if you’re flying Delta.)

I can’t speak to your actual question, as I’ve been avoiding LGA like the plague.

craz

why not fly into/outof EWR? especially if youre heading to Lower Man

gooselee

Actually this is a really good point. I used to commute to an office in midtown so LGA/JFK then getting into Penn Station was always my default.

EWR actually looks like the far better option for this trip!

Blumie

Some of us would prefer to deal with the mess at LGA than voluntarily go to New Jersey.

gooselee

Hah, ain't that the truth. And now my meeting has moved up to midtown near Grand Central. So back to the LGA vs. JFK debate. I despise JFK, but the known value of E train to Airtrain is appealing...

themicah

Even with the LGA mess, E train to Q70 to LGA is going to be faster the vast majority of the time. The E to Airtrain to JFK is a little more predictable since there's no bus contending with car traffic. But if you budget the same time to get to LGA that you'd need to budget to get to JFK from the Grand Central area, you should be perfectly fine.

gooselee

FWIW I walked out of my office at 44th/Lex at around 5:20pm today. Called an Uber, was driving by 5:25, and was inside LGA D ordering sushi at Minnow by 6:10. Zero people in the clear and Pre lines.

Flight was delayed half an hour so even had time to leisurely sit and eat my dinner, too.

ijgordon

Here's the current traffic situation at 4:15pm on a Thursday. GCP a bit slow, but that seems like it's really the backup from halfway down the Van Wyck (wouldn't want to be driving to JFK now!) and the airport roads look reasonably smooth.

I wonder if they've opened another lane or something, or if the post-summer traffic just dropped off that much. I'd like to see a few more data points, however, before I declare LGA open for (my) business!

On the other hand, it looks like the Q70 is likely going to be sitting in a bit of a backup heading from B arrivals around past the AA Federal Credit Union before merging onto LaGuardia Rd on its way to term D then C. So I'd probably take a taxi or Uber from Jackson Heights if flying out on DL (or arriving into Term B).

mizzou65201

Anyone know whether taxi pickups from the new part of Terminal B will require a shuttle ride around 9am on a Friday?