HuskerFlyer1

I'm a newbie to New York having just moved here a couple of months ago. I'm heading over to Europe over Thanksgiving and was looking for some advice with planning. I'll be leaving from JFK on the Wednesday evening before the holiday. Work should be done around 6:00 and I'll be coming from the NYU medical campus--will it be possible to make a 9:30 PM flight? I also live close to Grand Central, so I could walk from work back to my place and hop on the train if that makes more sense. I've heard traffic can get bad out that way, so any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Blumie

Yes, you'll make that flight, but you don't have time to dawdle. There's a good chance the intense holiday traffic will have subsided by 6pm on Wednesday, but I wouldn't take a chance. I'd hop in a taxi or Uber, but have it take you to 53rd and 3rd, where you can take a Queens-bound E train to the JFK AirTrain. The trip likely will take about an hour from the time you get in a taxi/Uber.

HuskerFlyer1

-What is the best way to get there? Cab it from work, train from Grand Central, or maybe a combo of the two (cab to the Airtrain?)?

Edit: I see your answer above, thanks!

ijgordon

Agreed - I can't imagine getting from NYU Med (we're taking like 32nd & 1st-ish, right?) to 53rd & 3rd by cab will be all that bad by 6pm that Wednesday. Then from the subway platform shouldn't be more than 45-60 minutes to the terminal, depending on which one.

sbm12

I'd just walk over to the 6 train if you're going to do that. Getting from NYU Med to JFK in 2 hours - arriving in the terminal at 8p with plenty of time to spare - should not be at all challenging.

Blumie

That's obviously an option, too. My thinking was that for a pretty inexpensive taxi/Uber ride you save a considerable amount of time. The walk to the 6 isn't all that close, and the transfer from the 6 to the E also is a bit of a pain (though not as bad from the uptown 6 as from the downtown 6). I'm also thinking that while the road traffic might have died down by 6pm, the airport might still be a zoo, so were it me I'd want to get there 20 minutes earlier rather than save the few bucks.

gfunkdave

I agree that taxi to the E is probably the best bet.

I might also consider taxi crosstown to Penn Station, then LIRR to Jamaica and AirTrain. But I think going uptown will be faster than crosstown.

AlwaysAisle

I second head to the Penn station and take LIRR to Jamaica. Take AirTrain to JFK terminal. Just this year alone I have experienced twice, one departure from LGA and another departure from JFK, where flight was delay for an hour because pilots were stuck in a traffic.

It was little sad that passengers and flight attendants could get to the airport in time for the departure but pilots were stuck in a traffic.

I don’t want to scare and I know it was more of exception than norm, but once took me three hours driving from White Plaines to JFK and it was not holiday traffic.

These days many people take off for Thanksgiving way before Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It is possible that traffic on Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving is not that heavy.

guv1976

What route would you suggest that the OP take to get from First Avenue to Penn Station? And why do you think that that would be faster than taking a taxi to 53rd and Third, and then the E train to Jamaica?

AMflier

I would avoid Penn Station on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That weekend is the busiest of the year for Amtrak's Northeast corridor. If you do want to take the LIRR, look into Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, or Long Island City or Hunterspoint Ave. in Queens. They all currently service Jamaica, but I would check schedules after the Penn Station repairs are completed.

My experience has been that traffic usually doesn't clear out of the city until after 8:00 or 9:00pm on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

The E to Jamaica would be my first choice, by a large margin. The L from First Ave. to the A at Broadway Junction to the Airtrain at Howard Beach would be my second choice.

Nugget_Oz

Living in and around the area I would say go with the walk to the 6 at Park and 34th (although I've heard that the crosstown M34 is much better now with the SBS). 6 to 53rd and then to the E. The transfer is fine.

The traffic going uptown can be hectic on 3rd and 1st on the Wednesday into early evening especially if there are issues on one of the bridges or the tunnel.