All in all, a pretty successful week in New York. No major difficulties where encountered during my five days in the city; it’s comes across as a really laid
back and easy going place to visit.
If I was looking to be over awed by my first venture out of New Zealand then New York was a surprisingly gentle introduction. I have to hand it to the Americans; New York is the big city done right. The subway system is easy to use and relatively cheap while the streets are laid out and named in a manner which makes it easy to navigate on the surface.
While there are people everywhere, I never felt cramped; your bubble never gets that compromised by the surrounding people or terrain. Food is plentiful and costs about the same as it would back in New Zealand.
New York Quick Tips
* Don’t buy an overpriced subway map on the way over; they’re available free at the JFK subway terminal.
* Actually, don’t bother buying a map at all; the subway map is good enough for finding your way around on the surface.
* You can transfer between subway trains for free, so long as you don’t leave the station.
* Do buy the weekly unlimited trip subway pass for $21US. The other option is 6 trips for $10.
* Look left when crossing the street (trust me on this one – you’ll live longer).
* The locals have a lot of trouble understanding a New Zealand accent; a lot of them think we’re from Ireland. This is quite humorous the first time you encounter it; two English speakers reduced to signing and pointing.
* The staple food item is the pizza slice; available everywhere for around $2 – $3.
* Do know exactly where your hostel is and be able to get there without having to ask for directions. Carry enough local cash to get there and pay for your first weeks rent without have to find an ATM. You want to minimise the amount of time you spend flayling around with a pack on your back.
I didn’t have any luck finding any access points on my first day touring lower Manhattan. I checked three of the hot spots advertised by the Lower Manhattan promotion group and didn’t see anything. I was beginning to think that the wifi card I had brought from New Zealand hadn’t survived it’s three or four dips under the airport security x-rays.
