Getting Around New York
  New York Travel Tip

Transportation for the 21st Century

New buses, trains, airport expansions and high speed rail will make getting to and around New York City faster and more convenient than ever before.

Cruise into New York City at up to 150 miles per hour on Amtrak's Acela Express (www.amtrak.com) new high-speed train service. Beginning December 2000 plug your laptop into the electrical outlets outfitted in each seat while hurtling from Washington D.C. or Boston to New York City up to 90 minutes faster than before. Eventually the Acela Express will include nonstop trips between Washington and New York requiring less than two and half hours travel each way and from Boston to New York in fewer than three hours and 23 minutes.

The new high-speed trains will provide visitors with a dramatic entrance into the transformed Farley Post Office Building. Constructed in 1913 as a sister to the original neo-classical Penn Station (replaced in the 1960s by an underground terminal), half of the majestic James A. Farley General Post Office will be converted into a new hub for Amtrak. Scheduled for completion in 2003, the $484 million project will be highlighted by a 150-foot-high restoration of the steel and glass atrium rising 75 feet above the roof of the Beaux-Arts post office.

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is undergoing a major transformation, including Delta Air Lines' (www.delta.com ) $1.6 terminal expansion and redevelopment project and American Airlines' (www.aa.com ) new terminal, currently under construction, that will feature 220 check-in counters, more than double its gates from 23 to 56 and handle up to 14 million passengers annually. Upon completion of the projects in 2004, visitors will benefit from additional flights, more convenient service and faster access to New York City.

Meanwhile, at Newark airport, Continental Airlines' (www.continental.com ) $590 million facility enhancement project, scheduled for completion in 2002, will expedite the flow of passenger traffic in and out of the airport. The airline recently announced the plans for daily non-stop service between Newark and London/Stansted, starting May of 2001. In addition, the city is spending $2.5 billion to improve traffic flow at JFK and Newark airports with a train linking JFK to public transit, new roads and parking garages also in the works.

As for getting around in the city, New York's largest subway expansion in a generation is underway. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (www.mta.com ) five-year, $17.2 billion plan includes new trains, buses and two new subway lines, including a rail link to LaGuardia Airport. Other aspects of the program, which began in 2000, include major improvements and repairs of the city's bridges and tunnels and overhauls of the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North commuter lines.

Find out more about visiting New York City by stopping at the Official New York City Visitor Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue at 53rd Street, calling 1-800-NYC-VISIT or clicking on www.nycvisit.com.