I just spent the last few days there, as my GF recently moved to New Jersey for her new job in Manhattan.
The city is filthy, everything costs money, and just about everybody you deal with will try to short change you. If you pay for something, expect to get the wrong change back (less). I always count my money but my GF got suckered her first day by a taxi driver who then sped off.
I took a taxi from 26th st in Manhattan to the airport and it cost me $40.
The transit system isn't too expensive ($30 for unlimited 7 days, buses and subway), but it's a pain in the ass getting anywhere. I swear we spent the majority of the trip on a bus, walking to a bus, or waiting for a bus. Getting anywhere using bus systems is cheap but it takes forever.
TV glorifies this stuff and makes it looks so nice but in reality there is garbage all over the streets. Literally, they do not use dumpsters, they just throw bags of garbage onto the sidewalk piled 3' high and stretching as far as 15'. This is why the city has a rat infestation problem. Apparently bed bugs are a problem in the city cause there are signs in every subway station, bus, train, etc... I have to say it was shocking to see a dealership that had all new Porsche's, Maybach's, Ferrarri's, and Bentleys in Manhattan in what looked like a ghetto. It was very strange. I went all over Manhattan and did not see a single area that looked as nice as what I've seen in movies and on tv.
Everywhere is packed and you wait for everything.
I know I'm doing a lot of bitching but NYC just wasn't at all what I thought it would be. I really didn't enjoy myself all too much as it seemed like we didn't get to do much due to the time it takes to get around.
Don't get me started on Jersey. She left her car here in MI and Jersey really isn't set up for transit. A trip to Ikea on saturday consisted of catching a 1:05pm bus, connecting to another bus, which then took us right to the ikea, shopped for 2.5 hours, then got back home by 8pm.
That's right, a trip to Ikea is an all day event in Jersey if you don't have a car. On the return trip home from Ikea we took our first bus, then had to walk 3 blocks to our next bus and that is a bus that comes once per hour so we waited in the cold for 45 minutes for it and that bus took us to her street, and dropped us off about 3 blocks from her house.
I was lugging about 60 pounds of bags around the entire time.
NYC moves faster with the transit but getting anywhere is all pretty much the same as far as connecting buses and trains. You walk and wait.
I am going to see her again at the end of the month but I think I'm going to drive because she has free parking where she lives (weehawken, NJ).
I know this isn't what you asked about but I'm in the mood to rant.
I left her apartment at 10am, got to Manhattan by 11:15, ate lunch with her and left at noon to go to the airport. To ensure that I made it on time, I took a $40 taxi cab to take me 12 miles to the airport. The cab ride took 40 minutes, I checked in online, but getting to my gate took forever, I got picked out of the line by security for a search and missed my flight.
Spirit gave me another flight for free because my plane left earlier than scheduled. I got to the gate at 1pm, and they had already left even though the departure wasn't until 1:20 so I had to spend 4 hours at La Guardia airport which is filthy, so I have been in a terrible anti NY ranting mood all day.
