Before Christmas, while returning to the Czech Republic, I deliberately bought a plane ticket from New York to Budapest and arranged a layover with a trip to New York.
In the Czech Republic, everyone is completely enchanted by New York; people talk about it in superlatives even though they have never been there. So I decided to visit and assess whether it really is as glamorous as people say on every corner :).
The flight from Atlanta took roughly two hours. I was quite surprised by how easy it is to fly around America. It was the first flight in my life on which I traveled solely within the USA. I was curious how people without American documents manage it. During my stay in the USA, I gradually learned that you can fly with almost any form of identification, so I decided to try my Czech ID card.
To my surprise, even though the lady looked at it for a while, after I explained that it was an ID card from Europe, she let me through with my ticket in hand.
Of course, I had my passport and other documents prepared among the papers in the folder I was holding, but I wanted to give it a try.
The flight was great. American Airlines, which I flew with, did not disappoint, and as always, the service was first-class.
Landing in New York in the morning was magical; the sun was just rising, and the impression was absolutely amazing.
But judge for yourselves :):
I had roughly 12 hours for the entire trip; after such a long time, I had to be back at the airport, where my journey to the Czech Republic awaited me.
I flew from Atlanta to the lesser-known LaGuardia Airport, which mostly handles flights within the USA. From there, I traveled to JFK International Airport, where I left my luggage in storage.
The journey between the airports is easy. You can take the subway, but it takes more time. Or, if you leave the airport terminal, there are signs everywhere and people inviting you onto an air bus.
The bus runs frequently and costs roughly 10–12 dollars per trip. You can also take it directly to Manhattan, for example, but in my case I could not, since spending 12 hours in New York with a 15 kg backpack on my shoulder is not very pleasant. So I put it in a storage facility at JFK, which cost roughly 8 dollars for the entire day.
From JFK, the so-called “air train” runs to a subway station called Jamaica Station or Howard Station. Both stations connect to the subway, which can take you practically anywhere.
You pay for the subway with a so-called “MetroCard.” You can buy one when entering the air train, but basically also at every subway turnstile; there are special machines where you can pay not only in cash but also by credit card.
If you are going to New York for one day, it is worth buying a prepaid card. You can also buy a weekly one and similar options, but I would not have used one.
One ride costs roughly 2 dollars, and it works as follows: when entering the subway, you swipe the card at the turnstile, which deducts the money, and you can travel for as long as you like until you leave the subway.
The ride is not limited by time or even restricted to a particular section. If you leave the subway, you have to pay roughly 2 dollars again. It is nothing complicated.
Along with your MetroCard, get a subway map. You will certainly understand it immediately; it took me about a minute, and I knew right away where to go.
Just pay close attention to the line colors. Once, I accidentally got on the orange route instead of the yellow one :).
My first stop was the Brooklyn Bridge. I happened upon it by accident, completely unplanned. One stop had Brooklyn Bridge in its name, so I decided to get off the subway and take a look—after all, it is quite a landmark, right? 🙂
Even before leaving home, I had picked out an observatory in the new skyscraper “One World Center.” You can also visit a skydeck at Rockefeller Center and other skyscrapers. I chose this one.
At the entrance, I bought a ticket, waited in line for about 15 minutes, and took the elevator up. You can also buy a ticket that lets you enter through a second, priority entrance, but the price is considerably higher and the line is bearable, so I chose the first option. Regular admission cost roughly 29 dollars.
If you are in New York, I recommend visiting One World Center and its Observatory attraction. It is worth it! The impression it makes in person is truly wonderful!
Next to One World Center is a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. The memorials are like “fountains” in which the water disappears into the ground.
From the memorial, I headed through the streets toward Rockefeller Center. They had lit it up the day before my visit. Unfortunately, it was daytime, so the atmosphere around it was not quite like the photos on the internet.
From Rockefeller Center, you can walk to Times Square fairly easily and quickly. It is a street with various bars, shops, and, above all, lots of advertising space on the buildings. And plenty of people.
After a few hours on Times Square, I got back on the subway and went to Central Park. I remembered the movie Home Alone and Kevin running away from the burglars there. I even visited some of the places and remembered them.
The last places I visited were Wall Street and Broadway. Because of the time pressure and the late hour, I only briefly passed through these streets, as they say, “at a glance.” To be honest, there was not all that much to see there.
After Wall Street, I took the subway back to JFK Airport, which took a few dozen minutes, picked up my backpack from storage, and checked in.
I am looking forward to visiting New York again. There are still plenty of places I would like to see, such as the Statue of Liberty and others. Unfortunately, I did not have more time, so I would not have managed to visit them.
In any case, this city is not just the “beautiful” place you know from movies, but also a lot of dirt, occasional wading through garbage in the subway and on the streets, and, quite often, homeless people.
