Subway ride from JFK to Yankee Stadium and back

February 26, 2008 10:58 AM

Subway ride from JFK to Yankee Stadium and back... how long and is it safe?

I'm flying to Berlin and I'll more than likely have an extended layover at JFK (up to 10 hours). I'd like to take the subway out to Yankee Stadium just so I can see it at least once. I'd like to see a game before it's closed, but at this point as long as I can see it and take some pictures I'll be happy. Is the subway ride from JFK to Yankee Stadium safe? I've looked at the subway map and it looks pretty long, so I was curious if it's more trouble than it's worth. In my eyes, I might never be able to see the place again before the end of this season, so I may as well make the extra effort. Any advice? Thanks for any help!

posted by Joseppi to travel & transportation (27 comments total)

According to www.hopstop.com, that will take 1 hour and 27 minutes each way. And you only have to transfer once, from the Blue line to the Orange line. As for the safety, I have never really felt unsafe on the subway in NYC, so I wouldn't worry about it. People will probably be quite willing to help you find your way too, if you look lost.
posted by Grither at 11:01 AM on February 26

Unless you're blindfolded, naked and carrying a big canvas bag with a dollar sign printed on it, there's very little of the New York City subway system that could be considered dangerous anymore.
posted by JaredSeth at 11:12 AM on February 26 [3 favorites]

Agreeing with Grither, but don't call them the Blue or the Orange lines, or you might get mistaken for a Red Sox fan.
posted by mkb at 11:15 AM on February 26

The ride is definitely long. However, it is very safe and worth it.
posted by josher71 at 11:27 AM on February 26

If you want more of a cost:time compromise, you can get an express shuttle from JFK to Bryant Park for <$30, round trip. From there, take the D to the stadium. It cuts out the trip on the A, which is both the long and boring part of your trip.
posted by mkultra at 11:38 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

Theres multiple ways to do it, all perfectly safe.
1) Take the AirTrain to Jamaica Station, get a City Ticket (if its a weekend, else its $5) for the LIRR and take that to Penn Station. Get on the A at Penn and transfer to the D at 145th Street. Get off at Yankee Stadium:
Price: $5 AirTrain, $3 LIRR city ticket, $2 subway
Advantage: WAY faster, LIRR is pretty nice, get to see Penn Station and Herald Sq. on the way.

2) Take the AIrTrain to Howard Beach, transfer to the A and take it all the way into Manhattan, transfer at 145th St. like above.
Price: $5 AirTrain, $2 Subway
Advantage: Less transfers, fun long subway ride through a lot of NYC, but tack on another 30min to 1hour in travel time.

I'm eventually riding every single subway to its terminus in the system for fun, and not once have I felt unsafe.
posted by Mach5 at 11:38 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

That's an easy route for NYC. To connect with the subway system from the airport, you'll need to take the AirTrain, a short monorail ride, which costs $5. The AirTrain can connect you with the subway at either the A-train at Howard Beach or the E-train at Sutphin Blvd/Archer Avenue. I don't know if one would be faster than the other. My guess is that they would take a similar amount of time.

From the A or the E trains, you'll need to transfer to a Bronx-bound D train once you get into Manhattan. You can see on the subway map where the A, E and D connect.

Also, once you get to the 161st St/Yankee Stadium stop on the D-train, if you follow the signs to connect to the downtown/Manhattan bound 4 train, you'll end up on an elevated subway platform that has a view directly into the stadium through a gap in the outfield wall.
posted by otolith at 11:52 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah, if you do end up taking the A train back to JFK, remember that there are two different A train routes. One A train goes to Lefferts Blvd/Ozone Park: DON'T take that one. It won't take you to the Howard Beach station.

Take an A train that is going to Far Rockaway. It says on the outside of the subway car, and on lighted signs inside, which route the train is taking.
posted by otolith at 12:12 PM on February 26

I suspect the E is much faster than the A. I think the AirTrain ride is longer, but the E to 7th Ave is shorter than taking the A the length of Brooklyn.
posted by dame at 12:16 PM on February 26

Slightly off topic, but while you're there, you can tour the stadium (for a cost). Also keep in mind that the Yankee Stadium of today is not the House That Ruth Built.
posted by ootsocsid at 12:21 PM on February 26

very long, but reasonably safe. you might do better to take the long island railroad from jfk to grand central and then take the subway.
posted by thinkingwoman at 12:36 PM on February 26

LIRR does not go to Grand Central, it only goes to Penn. Only Metro-North goes to Grand Cental, and from the opposite direction that JFK is.
posted by GreenTentacle at 12:46 PM on February 26

As everyone said, completely safe. I agree with dame; taking the E from Jamaica is faster than the A from Howard Beach. It's hard to tell on the subway map, which isn't 100% geographically accurate, but if you look at a real map, you can see that the E is much shorter.
posted by equalpants at 1:22 PM on February 26

Completely safe, but the A is loooong. I'd definitely take Airtrain to Jamaica station, LIRR to Penn, and then walk one block to 6th Ave and take the D. If this is too much then yeah, take the 'A' to 59th and then transfer to the 'D'.

Caveats

You don't mention what days, but on week-ends both A & D run local often on the West side, so you might want to factor that in to travel time.

According to www.hopstop.com, that will take 1 hour and 27 minutes each way. And you only have to transfer once, from the Blue line to the Orange line.

but don't call them the Blue or the Orange lines, or you might get mistaken for a Red Sox fan.

Actually don't call them the blue or orange lines because in New York, the lines have letters and numbers, the colors are coded so that all trains of a color will go on the same track through midtown or downtown Manhattan, but can and do widely diverge throughout the rest of the city. Many tourists get hopelessly lost because of this.
posted by xetere at 1:43 PM on February 26

Thanks for all the advice. The day I'd be in New York would be a Saturday. Would a cab be too much?
posted by Joseppi at 2:32 PM on February 26

Don't know your budget, but a cab ride wouldn't be as interesting as the subway.
And please do not call them the orange or blue lines when you pass through.
posted by stachemaster at 2:58 PM on February 26

From this page, estimated cab fares from JFK to where you're headed in the Bronx are around $38-42, not including tip and tolls, which would likely add around $10-15 total. That sounds like a likely estimate to me, based on my experience with New York cabs. With most yellow cabs now, you can pay with a credit card, which is really bizarre to me.

I think that cab ride would actually be pretty interesting. You'd get a look at a lot of the city as you passed through.
posted by otolith at 3:17 PM on February 26

If you want to see the city, definitely take a cab. It will be worth it just for the view of Manahattan coming in from Brooklyn. Once you get into Manhattan, take the train to Yankee Stadium (have the cab drop you at 34th St. and 6th Ave where you can catch the D train uptown). You will be getting a nice New York experience taking the train up there. You can also take the train back to JFK or take a cab.

I love doing this kind of thing when I have a long layover (did it in Japan and Frankfurt) and sometimes build a long layover into my trips for for this purpose. Have fun!
posted by kenzi23 at 3:55 PM on February 26

> I love doing this kind of thing when I have a long layover (did it in Japan and Frankfurt) and sometimes build a long layover into my trips for for this purpose. Have fun! <>
This is exactly why I'm going to New York; there's three or four other flights that I can take during the day, but if I take the earliest one I get a nice long layover!
posted by Joseppi at 4:36 PM on February 26

Seconding doing the stadium tour thing, I think it costs $20. Subway is more than fine and safe . Taxi ride would run about 50 dollars each way, but you definitely get to see a lot of neighborhoods on the way, and cross the Triborough bridge over the east river. Considering that the double decker buses that do a 3 hour loop in manhattan charge like around 50-60, cabbing it might not be such an outrageous idea.
posted by stavx at 4:36 PM on February 26

One assumes that this chap is traveling in daylight hours only. OK. But, really, folks. The A train through the bowels of Brooklyn at night can be unnerving. I had to take the L to the A to the Airtrain at 6 AM, still night. At Bwy Junction I was waiting for the A. Several hoodlums sauntered around on the platform and weirdly stared at people as they went right by their faces. I was on guard, hoping that there would not be a sudden violent crime, or confrontation. Don't you all go "oh, what's a hoodlum? Just boyz who wear their pants down to their ankles and flash signs to each other as they talk on cell phones, while they cart their backpacks around??? Just America's playful, stylish youth." Posh.
So... if you're traveling at odd hours, DON'T look like a tourist or have tourist items. Dress in an ugly fashion, and put a mean scowl on your face.
posted by yazi at 4:45 PM on February 26

As a bonus, you'll also see the new Yankee Stadium going up next door.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:32 PM on February 26

The cab sounds like a good idea considering how much I'd see, even if it is a little more expensive. Now I've never been to New York... is the area surrounding Yankee Stadium easy to catch a cab at? Or is there another spot which would be easier to get a ride back to the airport? Sorry if that sounded dumb; I'm just trying to cover all my bases. Thanks for all the advice!
posted by Joseppi at 7:56 AM on February 27

...now there is a game that afternoon so maybe that means catching a cab will be easier than on an off-day?
posted by Joseppi at 8:13 AM on February 27

Ah, a game day. That's a different story. Traffic around the stadium can be horrible on a game day. Especially if you would be getting to the stadium anywhere near the start or end of the game, a cab might be a bad idea. Traffic jams all throughout the south Bronx. I would also guess you would have a hell of a time getting a cab if you're there around the end of the game.

In this case I might do what Kenzi23 suggested and take a cab to a place in Manhattan where you could catch the subway. Then take the subway back into Manhattan to catch a cab. Here's another suggestion: do what Kenzi said to get to the game. Then, for the way back, take the 4 train from Yankee Stadium downtown to 59th St/Grand Central Station. That way you can check out Grand Central, which is amazing and a great place to sit and people-watch. Then you can get a good bite to eat in the restaurants on the lower level of the station. The Oyster Bar at Grand Central is legendary in New York and they have fantastic seafood if you're into that, but there are plenty of other great options.

It will be ridiculously easy to catch a cab at Grand Central.
posted by otolith at 10:43 AM on February 27

Good to know! My flight would get into New York just before 9, so ideally I'd be at the stadium to shoot some photos of it well before game time (which is 1:30 I believe; typicaly Saturday afternoon time). If I'm lucky I might see if I can buy a bleacher ticket to just get myself into the stadium even for just five minutes. I guess my main concern is that I don't want to get stuck somewhere and miss my connecting flight. I've really only done the subways in Boston which isn't nearly as dense as New York. I just don't want to get onto the wrong train and end up in Jersey by accident or something. Are the subways generally easy to navigate?
posted by Joseppi at 11:14 AM on February 27

I can't speak from personal experience, but it seems like your time frame will get you to the stadium before it gets really crazy. The trip from the airport in a cab will probably take 45 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic.

As far as taking the subway from Yankee Stadium, it's pretty easy. There are two main tracks that run by the stadium. The D train (and the local B train) run underground and the 4 and 5 trains run on an elevated track. Any subway entrance at Yankee Stadium will allow you to go to any of these lines. For any train you take, just be sure to take the one that is headed to Manhattan/downtown/Brooklyn.

Transfers within stations in New York can sometimes be confusing, especially for someone who is not accustomed to the stations, but what you're doing is pretty straightforward. If you have a 10 hour layover, you should easily be able to navigate back to the airport in time. If you're worried that you got onto the wrong train, just check out the window when you pull into a station and see what stop you're at and check it against the map in the subway car (every car has at least a couple of maps on the walls). If you're confused, almost anybody you ask will be glad to help you. I think New Yorkers like helping people decipher the subway system.

Also, should you happen to get lost somehow on the subway and you're worried about time, there will be yellow cabs just about anywhere you get off the subway in Manhattan. There are tons of them, everywhere. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it. This might all sound complicated but once you're there it will make sense.
posted by otolith at 1:21 PM on February 27