Escape From New York? For Thanksgiving, You Have to Have a Plan.
The New York Times
Getting to any of the airports that serve New York City can take too long or cost too much. Devising a way to ease the journey is its own holiday ritual.
Every year around this time, thousands of New Yorkers engage in an intricate Thanksgiving ritual that involves advanced calculations, complex analytics, risk-assessment and strategic thinking.
Their goal? Get to the airport.
New York City is served by three major airports, and there is no easy way to get to any of them. This may be the largest city in the United States, and one of the most-visited in the world, but for most residents, an expedition to LaGuardia, Kennedy or Newark Liberty (in New Jersey, an entirely different state) is a daunting endeavor requiring planning and precision.
No subway line goes directly to any of the airports, so if you want to take public transportation, you will have to transfer somewhere, somehow, at least once. The bus? Slow.
Just drive, you say? Well, most New Yorkers don’t own cars. And long-term parking at Kennedy Airport, for example, is prohibitively expensive at $40 to $80 a day.
So maybe you want to take a cab. A taxi from Manhattan to Kennedy will cost $70 before tolls, surcharges and tips. Uber and Lyft prices have increased steadily, meaning people headed to the airport often pay more than $100.
