I was told to expect to have a bit of a hard time finding a taxi, have to deal with horrible traffic because of the Veteran’s Day Parade, and that it would cost a lot to get to the airport. Walked outside the hotel, got in a taxi that had just pulled up to drop someone off, there was no traffic and it cost relatively little. All of which made me about an hour early(ier) to the airport, but hey.
I recommend air travel during a recession. Most the flights were partially empty, everything was timely (5 of 6 flights landed early) and it was all generally enjoyable (for spending 12 hours in airports and planes).
Final thoughts on NY:
- Subways = genius
- Not even rock is a permanent surface there. Stone steps are worn down. They have to put metal over the curbs to keep them from falling apart. Amazing.
- A surprising number of people still smoke.
- The culture is surprisingly conformist and monolithic. At least from the outside.
- Apparently, there are no bad eating establishments. You could pick anywhere randomly and the food was good.
- Everything is small and crowded. Fun for a while, but it would drive me nuts after a while.
Not So Fast 