A bit of culture: the metro and history
New York is a city extremely well served by public transport. Whether you are in NYC for a few days or for a long stay, the metro is the most efficient means of transport. The New York network makes it possible to travel quickly from north to south.
you should know that the New York subway is one of the oldest in the world, the first New York subway lines were built between 1868 and 1904. It is a monument in itself, you cannot pass a stay in New York without having to travel on the subway.
Understand how the metro works
The metro operates every day of the year, day and night. The large luminous balls (green or red) encountered in the streets indicate the entrance to a metro station whose lines served are displayed at the top of the stairs. There is a ticket office at each green ball station, from which you can get metro maps (it's free).
Good to know
- In New York, the golden rule is to always know if you are going north (Uptown) or south (downtown), remember this rule!
- The New York subway is made up of two types of subway: omnibus (Local) and Express which only serves certain stations, you shouldn't be mistaken, you could end up at the other end of New York.
- Unlike in Paris, you should not trust the colors but the line numbers and letters. the number indicates the stops made or not by the train. The same platform can serve several lines of the same color but with different letters or numbers
- Pay attention to the names of the stations, the metro stations bear the names of the streets on which they stop, which can be confusing because several stations can have the same name but have no correspondence between them.
- In some metro stations, there are specialized entrances. They will only give access to Uptown or downtown direction.
You must therefore look at the sign above the stairs to check which lines and which directions give access to the entrance you want to take.
Buy a metro ticket
Metro prices are not excessive:
Plan your trip
To plan your trip in advance, the website of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (the site is in English only)
Concerning security
Have no fear the New York subway is safe day and night however for people who would not be reassured in the stations you will find square areas circled in yellow, sit here while waiting for the subways , these are areas filmed and monitored by the police who intervene quickly enough in case of problems.
Here is a glossary that will surely help you:
