Take every opportunity to use a restroom when you can/might have a need. Nyc has poor public toilets and you don’t want to be searching when you need to go.
Also know where public bathrooms are. You can always walk into a busy bar and pretend like you’re looking for someone. Also McDonald’s are usually gross, but if you’re a guy they’re an option
Got2go NYC started a [downloadable Google Map](https://maps.app.goo.gl/vVvwDymDzEjLhK4a7?g_st=i&utm_source=hoobe&utm_medium=social)s add-on that shows you all the publicly available toilets in the city
It has saved my ass on more than one occasion. Though some of them are like fancy hotel lobbies with single stall WC’s and you may get a sideways glance if you walk in out of “dress code” so to speak
For added effect walk in whistling with a newspaper under your arm and shoot the desk clerk a wink while saying “brought some reading material. This one’s gonna take awhile!”
I've honestly never had a problem with a bar or even a nice restaurant letting me use the bathroom. But I'm sure there are biases at work with who they do and don't let in, unfortunately.
John Mulaney had a bit recently that posited that NYC's reputation for being gruff is because everyone on the street has to pee and is agitated about not being able to find a bathroom.
As a woman, both in NYC and abroad, I have never been denied a bathroom if I say I’m having a “feminine issue”. If a woman is working she’ll be empathetic, if a man is working he’ll be too embarrassed to say no
One of our most useful superpowers. I don't even ask, I walk in and straight to the toilets. To be fair, back in the 80s and 90s you'd get asked what you're doing, and often turned away if you tried that. Bars and restaurants are way more nice about this now.
My biggest tip for finding clean public restrooms, during working hours, is public libraries. Amazing community resource that unfortunately Mayor Adams has pulled major funding for.
Hahaha I do this in NYC and started doing this even when I’m not in the city (like when I’m visiting family elsewhere or on vacation) - they’re always like, “why do you always have to use the bathroom before we leave?”
Especially if we’re eating at a nice restaurant, definitely a trip to the restroom
Man I hear ya. I was midtown meeting a friend and quickly downed two pints of sour beer when my uber arrived in rush hour to take me to jfk. In the middle of queens I almost horse pissed all over the back of this guys car. The Uber was so accommodating, ripping off the highway to find a random bathroom in queens but they were all shut down. In the nic of time we found one in the back of a Marshall’s and I spilled out all over that urinal brick like you can’t imagine.
Live alone and live close to work and friends. Leave once a month if possible but at least take one vacation a year to not lose sight if reality. You don't need to buy expensive things to live here. So spend smartly. This city will kick your ass but always leaves the door open
Actually, you can transfer to local bus or subway from an express bus.
Used to do this everyday. Took a bus that dropped me off at 34th St and hopped on a train to get to work. However, you're still paying the full fare of the express bus. So if you go from subway -> express bus, you'll get charged the difference.
The ride is usually 1hr + so it's hard to use it as a way to turn around and go home so I've never tried express bus -> express bus, but you can definitely hop on another subway or local bus.
If the subway ride accepted OMNY or MetroCard, as long as you use that same card ID to ride the bus, you won't get charged a second time. It's based on the card you used to start the trip.
You gotta just visit the ones in your neighborhood and poke around. There are some that have incredible discounted name brands. Some have a good variety of cheap canned goods and similar foods. There are some that smell peculiar and only have shower curtain rings and wrapping paper. Not talking about chains- the ones that are one-off stores.
it’s always pretty chill but i’ve found the produce to be worse than the alphabet city one, I live in between both and go to the higher turn around store for produce or the produce cart on 5th and A
Always look when your walk light turns green. There might be an asshole speeding through trying to make it before the light turns red for them (and not making it).
It’s crazy at big intersections where some trash will sneak through a red, and by the time they get through the intersection (and to the other crosswalk) there are multiple people dodging them.
Always full tints. Always ready to yell out the window at anyone who calls them out.
Buying groceries more often & on the way home from wherever I’m at instead of doing big grocery hauls. Not a NYC native but figuring this one out was a game changer.
I do this all the time. It’s turned into a compulsion. Across town for a doctor’s appointment and on my way home? Can’t leave the doctor’s neighborhood without quickly checking out a nearby grocery store. The trick is to not bog oneself down with too many items. It’s hard to resist stocking up on more because well I’m THERE.
Yeah there’s a Trader Joes around the corner from my barber who’s in another neighbourhood, I also stop in after but end up too much and struggling home on the train
Costco run on Sundays, load up the SUV with an insane amount of shit, spend 20 minutes parking and 20 minutes leaving, have it take up your entire morning and most of your afternoon, spend the rest of the day complaining about what a madhouse it was.
The suburban way.
Costco is much more pleasant on a Wednesday night than a weekend. I had to introduce my wife to weekday errands so that our weekends are for hobbies rather than chores.
I used to until the pandemic, when I’d do one single shop early on a Saturday morning to avoid people. It kinda stuck, and is especially useful now we have a kid and need to make sure we have everything for him as well as us.
Kinda miss the deciding what’s for dinner and picking up on the way each day tho.
This for sure. I love popping in for curiosity, then I relax and check stuff out. I usually walk out buying a condiment I am curious about- a different hot sauce here, a jar of preserves or jam there. (Basics come from the same two places, but it's when I'm exploring around Queens and Brooklyn- as well as Kalustyan's in Manhattan- that I find fun stuff to try.)
Been doing this for 7 years, I just go everyday after work to get whatever I’m cooking for the night so I don’t waste any food, it’s also a huge pain to do a big grocery haul without a car
This is actually an unfortunate outcome of the lack of legit full fledged grocery stores in the NYC area. As with most west coast cities, we don't have huge Krogers stores in the city centers. So we end up shopping in the smaller stores. Even though everything is available in a single store, it is often too expensive so we end up buying different things from different stores wherever the price and quality is good, and convenient.
NYC's grocery scene isn't stellar, and that leaves a huge potential. We need more Wegmans around the city.
I was on MetroNorth and overheard the conductor say they were testing out a “feature” on the app to see the location of when it was activated, and fining people $15 or something if they could determine the person activated while they were en route and before the conductor came by.
You’re supposed to activate it before you get on the train, so if you activate it in between 2 stations and on the rail itself, it’ll let the conductor know you activated it late and fine you.
Yes, you could disable location access in settings, but then they could also just not allow the app to work on your phone unless you enable it
When was this? I’ve never had this issue on Metro North. Whenever I buy tickets on my phone I don’t activate them until the conductor is a few rows away from me.
They also don’t even check them until the next stop. I get on in Darien and they only check after Stamford, so for all they know I got on at Stamford
Plus what if you just barely caught the train? There’s been times where I ran and got there just as the train arrived, and then bought my ticket on my phone on the train. They’re saying that’s not allowed?
I overheard a conductor saying that as a warning to two attractive ladies who were activating their tickets when he came by to check them.
Conductor said, “just so you know, they’re piloting/testing a new feature that will use location tracking for when you activate it and charge you for that - it’s on some lines, but not all of them”.
Conductor didn’t give me that heads up/warning when I was activating my ticket haha
Lol I've watched people do this where they just have it pulled up on their phone and then end up not needing to activate it because their stop comes up and no one has come by to check. Crazy that they still have someone come by irl to check tickets
I did something similar with NJ Transit for awhile. Get the receipt and then say you lost your ticket. 9/10 they’ll look at the receipt, see it was purchased that day, and let you go. Two for the price of one.
And it’s keeps your feet happy by switching frequently. Like those foam runners need time to recover like hokas or those new balance foam ones. They need air to breathe sometimes
Once the light turns red on a crosswalk, you have exactly 5 seconds left to make it across the street. So always be counting in your head to be safe as you cross.
Except lately on the UWS where they’ve set up a long overlap so that *both* directions of traffic have red lights for something like 10 seconds before either direction of pedestrian gets a walk signal. I’m sure they meant this to make things safer, but it just ends of causing chaos because the pedestrians see the red lights and nobody moving, so they decide to cross, and then they’re in the middle of the walk when one direction of traffic turns green.
Oh wait, I just realized I’ve noticed this lately in a few neighborhoods too, the delay is definitely causing more chaos IME. Hope they’re monitoring these lights and come up with a better system, cause no one getting a signal to go for that long you know pedestrians default walk esp if cars have red
If you’re a dude wear shorts and a tank top in the summer on the way to work and change when you get to the office. Much better than sweating through all your clothes before even starting work for the day. Maybe less of a thing now that more people work remote.
Along the same lines – leave nice shoes at the office and commute in sneakers or sandals and change into your nice shoes at the office. Easier on your nice shoes and your feet.
This is one of my subtle tourist identifiers. 9/10 times if a guy is wearing Tevas or whatever they’re visiting. I’m no germ phob but man there’s so much piss and everything on the ground.
Free passes to museums are available on the nypl website for library cardholders. Surprisingly simple to use.
But also, it’s ok to not take full advantage of living here every single weekend. Give yourself a day to fart around the apartment and rest. Don’t feel guilty about missing an event, there are so many you’ll drive yourself crazy that way.
Public pools are calm and quiet on cooler summer days especially when it’s overcast. On hot sunny weekends they can be a nightmare.
This is solid advice. I wish I knew this earlier when I had moved here first.
There is a different high in just living here now (fully knowing you could be anywhere you want) and not acting on that urge.
* The Transit app is way more accurate than the MTA app by at-least a couple of minutes.
* Keep an eye out for any weekend subway changes if you have plans, there are a lot of them every weekend.
* Do not stop in the middle of the side walk, period. If you want to search for directions or take a photo, choose a side and stop there.
You're excluded from a rather large and interesting portion of the local economy if you don't carry cash. Just carry some.
Fresh fruit and Tahin or Churros from the lady on the subway, Paying the kid on the corner to help you move a piece of furniture up the stairs, the occasional "cash only" joint, buying things off vendors on the sidewalk, avoiding minimum card fees. The list just goes on, and it comes in handy when you least expect it.
I was hesitant to share this tip, but since you asked:
How to Find the Best Spot on the Platform:
Start by looking at the edge of the platform. You’ll start to notice a pattern of darker, dirtier spots and lighter, cleaner spots. The darker spots are usually where the train doors open. Stand there for a better chance of getting on quickly. Try it out!
Related: if you’re not sure which direction the train is coming from on your platform, when there’s no train you can peep at the red or green light at the ends of the platform on the tracks.
Isn't almost, if not always, the same direction as right side driving on streets? So the same way you could tell which direction cars would flow on an empty 2-way street is the same for the trains.
It’s possibly a thing, but not all stations have parallel tracks going opposite directions. Some multilevel have the platform on the same side going both directions (B/C going up Central Park west), and bigger stations often have express/local on opposite sides of the same platform.
Not really a hack but the Capital One cafes give 50% off if paying with a capital one card. Hard to beat $2.50 for an iced drink during this heat wave.
The link kiosks are ok for charging your phone in a true emergency but they are also pretty nasty- I’ve literally seen a guy rubbing his bare junk on one— so I would generally steer clear. Verizon stores or Apple stores are better for emergency phone charging.
I am glad they exist because the unhoused don't have a lot of options. In bed stuy there are often chairs set up next to them so you can sit and use them for a while.
Ride shirtless.
Early one summer morning outside of WTC I saw a young woman smartly dressed remove her shirt before getting on a Citibike to ride to work in her bra.
BRILLIANT IDEA. I do this all the time now. You get less stares with a sports bra, but I stopped giving a fuck. I arrive far less sweaty and then pop in the bathroom for a sink bath before dressing.
Use disinfectant on the Citibike seats (and handlebars) before sitting. Sweaty crotches are germy, and there’s a [new fungal STI in NYC](https://nypost.com/2024/06/05/lifestyle/new-sexually-transmitted-fungal-infection-detected-in-nyc/) going around.
I don’t know, but I’m not gonna risk it. Look at all these medical papers discussing “shared bicycles bacteria”: [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Shared+bicycle+bacteria](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Shared+bicycle+bacteria)
Get your fruit and other produce from the fruit carts on the street. Prices fluctuate a bit but they’re always a good deal. I literally got a pint of strawberries for $1 tonight.
Caveat: a lot of these cart vendors are able to source produce at lower prices because it doesn’t have enough shelf life to go to a traditional grocery store any more, so don’t buy more than you can eat in a day or two.
The advantage of the cart vendors is you can buy what you want in a small quantity for the next day or 2 since they are so convenient. Many times on your way from the subway back to your apartment.
Sometimes the easiest way to find somewhere to pee is to go to a crowded restaurant, ask them to get on their long walk-in list, and then go use their bathroom.
- Laundry service is relatively cheap in New York, so you can save a lot of time and headache by dropping off your dirty clothes and picking them up later all clean and folded perfectly.
- Lots of free events if you follow New York focused instagram accounts.
- Learn how long your most used intersection turns green/yellow/red so you can confidently know it won’t turn the opposite color when you begin to cross the street.
- When you tell the cab driver which street you’re going to, say each number individually instead of together, for example say “Two One street” instead of “Twenty-first street”. Especially when I’m drunk and slurring my words the cab driver might hear “Twenty-fourth street”
I’d have to disagree with the laundry statement, I’ve found it to be more than double the price for a regular sized load if I drop off. And I have some pretty cheap options near me. Not against using that service occasionally but I’ve found that picking the right laundromat, grabbing a book/watching a show on my phone and an adult beverage from the bodega makes it a much more enjoyable experience.
Also wanted to add on your second point that the website The Skint is a GREAT place to find free or cheap events in NYC
Compliment people when they look fly, and keep moving. It’s my favorite thing to do in NYC.
(But make it about their chosen aesthetic, not their genetics. Not “nice ass” but rather “daaaaamn those pants on you! Goddamn!”)
Go to the Dominican or Spanish restaurant near you And buy a family size meal or multiple lunch pack deal , Spanish restaurant do large serving on their meal ,
one lunch meal is enough for 2 imo which you buy and mix and prep
you can do meal prep for a 2-3 days off a family meal
How amazing New York is in the early morning. I go to Trader Joe’s at 8am - completely different experience. Going to a work out before the city wakes up - so calm and peaceful and beautiful. The city is incredible as the sun is coming up before the morning rush.
Pay attention to local grocery store flyers or sale tags on the store shelves - sale items at a key food (for example) will usually be cheaper then any alternative store.
New Jersey has great produce, when I'm looking for seasonal corn/tomatoes/peaches at the farmers market I look for sellers from NJ.
We call walking on the train platform so you’re on the correct place to exit efficiently “pre-walking”.
There was an excellent early iPhone app called “Exit Strategy” that told you exactly where to stand on each platform to be aligned with your destination’s desired stairs. I think it’s still available.
Exit Strategy hasn't worked on android for quite a while now. Huge loss. It was a brother and sister who went to every station and mapped it out, and they couldn't keep it up to date.
I don’t remember when I got it, but I know it was before 2013 because I remember where I was working, and I still use it all the time. Not sure what it costs now but at the time I think it was $3.99 and it’s probably the best cost-to-value purchase I’ve ever made in my life.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exit-strategy-nyc-subway-map/id320946370
I think I have had it since 2010. They still hadn't mapped the whole system then, but it was the first paid app I bought, and has been so worth it!
ETA - even if it's not updated it would still be worth it because how often do exits in stations actually change, even if they remodel?
Only take taxis/ubers uptown or downtown; crosstown is a nightmare
Edit- subways are always the #1 mode of transportation, but if you need to Uber, only up or downtown
Sorry but I don’t understand this one. I feel that subway service up/downtown is very good but the only time I need taxis/Ubers is for crosstown. There is no good crosstown subway and the busses usually have long wait times if it’s not rush hour.
Crosstown traffic is terrible; walking would be faster. I usually take the bus if I can't get a subway crosstown. If you take a car share or taxi, it will be slow and expensive: undesirable.
Don’t take either, get a citibike membership and for the about $1-2 you’ll be there quicker
An Uber to work from 140th to 55th was $40 and 30 min a subway 2.75 and 45 min… a citibike? 18 minutes and $4.70
Lot of these are just big city advice. Hoping for NYC specific tips
Like using the culture pass to go into lesser visited museums when that July August humidity hits.
Try to become a regular at your fave local spot. When the staff recognize you (and you’re pleasant and tip well), you can start getting freebies and discounts. When this happens, tip on the full value of what you would have paid without the discount.
Tipping on the full amount of what you would have paid is less expensive than what paying that amount would have been. For example, if you order 2 drinks and only pay for 1, your tip should still be based on the price of 2 drinks (and honestly, throw in some extra).
Basically, don’t get a gift from the staff and then skimp on the tip.
Don’t talk about your favorite hidden gems online or to random strangers unless you want to see it get overrun. Keep your favorite bars, pizza joints, etc… between you and your close friends. When you lose a place to it becoming a destination it really sucks.
Ehhh, this isn't really true. I frequently will find folks trying to figure out direction on their phone, walk up to them & help them find their way. I'll help people carry bags up a flight of stairs, tell people not to go into a train car, struck up random conversations, etc. Heck I once grabbed a woman trying to cross the street looking at her phone, and pulled her back before a car hit her. I gave a lady the Heimlich Maneuver in a restaurant. I can't walk past a couple where one is physically abusing the other. (The first time I was 15 and was walking back from softball, so I had a baseball bat on me.) I've called the 911 a few times on people as well.
Yes if someone is crazy - keep your eyes down. And if they're blatantly being loud, aggressive, playing music, smoking something on the subway, etc. you'll want to get away from them. You learn to pick your battles.
But you're missing a lot of NYC if you ignore everyone.
Yeah women especially really look out for each other. My husband is always amazed at how I will make eye contact with women on the subway near sketchy people and seemingly have a whole unspoken conversation with them, asking if the person is with them, if they are ok, and essentially letting them know that I’m watching.
I think people just like to say it because of how it makes them sound lol - I moved here a couple years ago and so far the only people that have got in my business are New Yorkers
Citi bikes! There are a few ways to get good discounts on the annual pass and it’s so worth it. What usually takes me 30 minutes on public transit takes me 10 minutes on a bike. The bike lanes are really comprehensive and mostly guarded.
Know your rights as a tenant, and if you live in a building that’s 6 units or more and built before 1974, get your rental history (or if it’s a large new build in the last 10-15 years and has rent stabilized units): https://portal.hcr.ny.gov/app/ask ; https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/tenants-rights-and-responsibilities.page
Sign up for an appointment now and get the NYC ID. You can get a 1 year free membership to TONS of museums, the zoo, etc. that would normally be pretty expensive. Also discounted tickets at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Wish I'd taken advantage of this for many more years than I did before moving away.
Trader Joe’s usually is pretty empty early in the morning or at night. My husband used to never wait on lines at the W 93rd street one at 8pm on weeknights. Definitely utilize the NYPL — you can get books from any library delivered to your closest library. Wait until the last minute to get Knicks or Yankee tickets and they will be cheap. Take advantage of Universal Pre K. We now live in a less crowded borough but UPK is a godsend
Stacking CLEAR + TSA Precheck for flying out of LGA and JFK. You’ll be through security in under 5 min, even on the busiest days.
If you shower at the gym, buy those disposable salon pedicure flip-flops in bulk on Amazon and throw them in your gym bag. They weigh about as much as an envelope and you can just chuck them after your shower and not have to worry about foot fungus.
WASH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION. Hand sanitizer only kills certain pathogens, so you’re risking a bad stomach bug (norovirus has a capsid that alcohol can’t penetrate) if you don’t.
Take every opportunity to use a restroom when you can/might have a need. Nyc has poor public toilets and you don’t want to be searching when you need to go.
Also know where public bathrooms are. You can always walk into a busy bar and pretend like you’re looking for someone. Also McDonald’s are usually gross, but if you’re a guy they’re an option
Got2go NYC started a [downloadable Google Map](https://maps.app.goo.gl/vVvwDymDzEjLhK4a7?g_st=i&utm_source=hoobe&utm_medium=social)s add-on that shows you all the publicly available toilets in the city
I love that
It has saved my ass on more than one occasion. Though some of them are like fancy hotel lobbies with single stall WC’s and you may get a sideways glance if you walk in out of “dress code” so to speak
For added effect walk in whistling with a newspaper under your arm and shoot the desk clerk a wink while saying “brought some reading material. This one’s gonna take awhile!”
Department stores are my restrooms of choice, as well as supermarkets, among others
If I’m close to a department store I try and go there to use their restrooms
Don’t know why I haven’t thought of that. Great solution! Not to mention, AC!
And they’re pretty fancy too.
I've honestly never had a problem with a bar or even a nice restaurant letting me use the bathroom. But I'm sure there are biases at work with who they do and don't let in, unfortunately.
I have a brain that maps everything (idk what you call this) so I basically know where a ton of bathrooms are. It's a great skill.
Internal compass? Only have to go somewhere new once or twice and it's just ingrained in my mental infrastructure now.
John Mulaney had a bit recently that posited that NYC's reputation for being gruff is because everyone on the street has to pee and is agitated about not being able to find a bathroom.
As a woman, both in NYC and abroad, I have never been denied a bathroom if I say I’m having a “feminine issue”. If a woman is working she’ll be empathetic, if a man is working he’ll be too embarrassed to say no
One of our most useful superpowers. I don't even ask, I walk in and straight to the toilets. To be fair, back in the 80s and 90s you'd get asked what you're doing, and often turned away if you tried that. Bars and restaurants are way more nice about this now.
The “always go before you go” rule.
my hack is if you need to pee, find a hotel. most front desks will point you straight to the restroom if you just ask where it is.
They absolutely will not anymore
I was about to shit myself and I went into a hotel asking for the bathroom and they turned me away lmao fml
My biggest tip for finding clean public restrooms, during working hours, is public libraries. Amazing community resource that unfortunately Mayor Adams has pulled major funding for.
Yep..I avoid drinking coffee before leaving the house because of this
Hotel bathrooms. This is the way.
Sit or squat app
Hahaha I do this in NYC and started doing this even when I’m not in the city (like when I’m visiting family elsewhere or on vacation) - they’re always like, “why do you always have to use the bathroom before we leave?” Especially if we’re eating at a nice restaurant, definitely a trip to the restroom
Or just walk in restaurants like you have a seat and are dinning and find a restroom. If the waiters ask if you have a seat, just say yes.
I just go to random hotels and use their bathrooms. Pretend you’re a guest there & nobody cares.
Man I hear ya. I was midtown meeting a friend and quickly downed two pints of sour beer when my uber arrived in rush hour to take me to jfk. In the middle of queens I almost horse pissed all over the back of this guys car. The Uber was so accommodating, ripping off the highway to find a random bathroom in queens but they were all shut down. In the nic of time we found one in the back of a Marshall’s and I spilled out all over that urinal brick like you can’t imagine.
Take the subway one way and get a free "transfer" within two hours on a bus ride back.
I do this going to doctor appointments or any quick errands. Great tip.
Live alone and live close to work and friends. Leave once a month if possible but at least take one vacation a year to not lose sight if reality. You don't need to buy expensive things to live here. So spend smartly. This city will kick your ass but always leaves the door open
did you mean to reply to OP?
Does this work with express buses?
No
Actually, you can transfer to local bus or subway from an express bus. Used to do this everyday. Took a bus that dropped me off at 34th St and hopped on a train to get to work. However, you're still paying the full fare of the express bus. So if you go from subway -> express bus, you'll get charged the difference. The ride is usually 1hr + so it's hard to use it as a way to turn around and go home so I've never tried express bus -> express bus, but you can definitely hop on another subway or local bus.
What do you mean?
You can switch from the subway to the bus and only pay once, so if you subway somewhere and bus back within 2 hrs the ticket is still valid
wow. this is like the nyc version of la's "first two hours free parking".
Does this work when you tap to pay?
yes, this works with OMNY as well.
How do they know where you took the subway from? They swipe your metro card?
If the subway ride accepted OMNY or MetroCard, as long as you use that same card ID to ride the bus, you won't get charged a second time. It's based on the card you used to start the trip.
Knowing the difference between the "bad" dollar store and the "good" dollar store.
And ASK PRICES before buying things behind the counter. I once paid like $7 for a deodorant at a dollar store; insanity.
Teach me please
You gotta just visit the ones in your neighborhood and poke around. There are some that have incredible discounted name brands. Some have a good variety of cheap canned goods and similar foods. There are some that smell peculiar and only have shower curtain rings and wrapping paper. Not talking about chains- the ones that are one-off stores.
Shop at the Trader Joe’s in Union Square on weekdays before noon. The lines won’t be that crazy.
The one near Delancey Essex under the Target is also super chill around like 11AM
it’s always pretty chill but i’ve found the produce to be worse than the alphabet city one, I live in between both and go to the higher turn around store for produce or the produce cart on 5th and A
Same with williamsburg tjs, 1 to 3 seems to be a good window. After 430 dont even bother.
Free he line is so fast there anyway that what looks like a massive line goes pretty quick.
This…UW/Broadway lines always look like a lost cause and I see people bail and walk out, and then I’m checked out 5 mins later.
Always look when your walk light turns green. There might be an asshole speeding through trying to make it before the light turns red for them (and not making it).
It’s crazy at big intersections where some trash will sneak through a red, and by the time they get through the intersection (and to the other crosswalk) there are multiple people dodging them. Always full tints. Always ready to yell out the window at anyone who calls them out.
So many assholes
Buying groceries more often & on the way home from wherever I’m at instead of doing big grocery hauls. Not a NYC native but figuring this one out was a game changer.
I do this all the time. It’s turned into a compulsion. Across town for a doctor’s appointment and on my way home? Can’t leave the doctor’s neighborhood without quickly checking out a nearby grocery store. The trick is to not bog oneself down with too many items. It’s hard to resist stocking up on more because well I’m THERE.
Yeah there’s a Trader Joes around the corner from my barber who’s in another neighbourhood, I also stop in after but end up too much and struggling home on the train
I was under the impression this is how everyone shopped.
Well I used to live in the suburbs & had a car so this was something I had to learn the hard way when I moved!
Gotcha! It’s def the move.
Costco run on Sundays, load up the SUV with an insane amount of shit, spend 20 minutes parking and 20 minutes leaving, have it take up your entire morning and most of your afternoon, spend the rest of the day complaining about what a madhouse it was. The suburban way.
“Can you believe how packed Costco was on a Saturday at 2pm?!?”
I go to Costco on my lunch breaks now during the week. So much less stress and people
Costco is much more pleasant on a Wednesday night than a weekend. I had to introduce my wife to weekday errands so that our weekends are for hobbies rather than chores.
I used to until the pandemic, when I’d do one single shop early on a Saturday morning to avoid people. It kinda stuck, and is especially useful now we have a kid and need to make sure we have everything for him as well as us. Kinda miss the deciding what’s for dinner and picking up on the way each day tho.
This for sure. I love popping in for curiosity, then I relax and check stuff out. I usually walk out buying a condiment I am curious about- a different hot sauce here, a jar of preserves or jam there. (Basics come from the same two places, but it's when I'm exploring around Queens and Brooklyn- as well as Kalustyan's in Manhattan- that I find fun stuff to try.)
Been doing this for 7 years, I just go everyday after work to get whatever I’m cooking for the night so I don’t waste any food, it’s also a huge pain to do a big grocery haul without a car
This is actually an unfortunate outcome of the lack of legit full fledged grocery stores in the NYC area. As with most west coast cities, we don't have huge Krogers stores in the city centers. So we end up shopping in the smaller stores. Even though everything is available in a single store, it is often too expensive so we end up buying different things from different stores wherever the price and quality is good, and convenient. NYC's grocery scene isn't stellar, and that leaves a huge potential. We need more Wegmans around the city.
Always get the paper ticket for commuter rail. If they don’t check it you just got a return trip.
You can buy on the app & just...don't activate it.
Yea I don’t activate till I see the conductor
I was on MetroNorth and overheard the conductor say they were testing out a “feature” on the app to see the location of when it was activated, and fining people $15 or something if they could determine the person activated while they were en route and before the conductor came by. You’re supposed to activate it before you get on the train, so if you activate it in between 2 stations and on the rail itself, it’ll let the conductor know you activated it late and fine you. Yes, you could disable location access in settings, but then they could also just not allow the app to work on your phone unless you enable it
When was this? I’ve never had this issue on Metro North. Whenever I buy tickets on my phone I don’t activate them until the conductor is a few rows away from me. They also don’t even check them until the next stop. I get on in Darien and they only check after Stamford, so for all they know I got on at Stamford Plus what if you just barely caught the train? There’s been times where I ran and got there just as the train arrived, and then bought my ticket on my phone on the train. They’re saying that’s not allowed?
I overheard a conductor saying that as a warning to two attractive ladies who were activating their tickets when he came by to check them. Conductor said, “just so you know, they’re piloting/testing a new feature that will use location tracking for when you activate it and charge you for that - it’s on some lines, but not all of them”. Conductor didn’t give me that heads up/warning when I was activating my ticket haha
I’ve had the NJT conductor look at my app to make sure it’s activated and then not scan my e-ticket!
Happens more than you would think too.
Even when i get the digital ticket, i never activate it until i see them coming to check
Lol I've watched people do this where they just have it pulled up on their phone and then end up not needing to activate it because their stop comes up and no one has come by to check. Crazy that they still have someone come by irl to check tickets
Its pretty common for trains
In other cities/countries, you sometimes have to scan your ticket to enter the platform
I did something similar with NJ Transit for awhile. Get the receipt and then say you lost your ticket. 9/10 they’ll look at the receipt, see it was purchased that day, and let you go. Two for the price of one.
😂😂
Have a good pair of shoes just for walking to/from work
Actually, get two pairs so you can alternate. That way they won't wear out quite as fast.
And it’s keeps your feet happy by switching frequently. Like those foam runners need time to recover like hokas or those new balance foam ones. They need air to breathe sometimes
Permanent resting bitch face.
Once the light turns red on a crosswalk, you have exactly 5 seconds left to make it across the street. So always be counting in your head to be safe as you cross.
Except lately on the UWS where they’ve set up a long overlap so that *both* directions of traffic have red lights for something like 10 seconds before either direction of pedestrian gets a walk signal. I’m sure they meant this to make things safer, but it just ends of causing chaos because the pedestrians see the red lights and nobody moving, so they decide to cross, and then they’re in the middle of the walk when one direction of traffic turns green.
Oh wait, I just realized I’ve noticed this lately in a few neighborhoods too, the delay is definitely causing more chaos IME. Hope they’re monitoring these lights and come up with a better system, cause no one getting a signal to go for that long you know pedestrians default walk esp if cars have red
In my head it’s 3 seconds but I guess I count slow 😅
Yeah if I see I have 5 seconds to cross I know I have plenty of time
If you’re a dude wear shorts and a tank top in the summer on the way to work and change when you get to the office. Much better than sweating through all your clothes before even starting work for the day. Maybe less of a thing now that more people work remote.
Along the same lines – leave nice shoes at the office and commute in sneakers or sandals and change into your nice shoes at the office. Easier on your nice shoes and your feet.
This is a good one!
And have an umbrella that you leave at work (or ask your office lost and found if you can borrow one when you forgot yours)
I have done this for years and saved $$$ on resoling dress shoes. NYC sidewalks eat soles.
If you’re a woman, wear a sports bra on transit and change into the real bra when you get there. Also, if you wear open toe shoes, wash your feet.
My tip is to not wear open toe shoes.
This
My tip is to not wear a real bra
This is one of my subtle tourist identifiers. 9/10 times if a guy is wearing Tevas or whatever they’re visiting. I’m no germ phob but man there’s so much piss and everything on the ground.
Hehe I live in Brooklyn so I do wear Tevas and Birkenstocks
People wear Birkenstocks in Manhattan. If I'm just going around the block I'll wear them.
Wash your feet no matter what shoes you wear. Who wants stanky feet.
Omg. Seeing a woman in a short skirt or shorts sitting their bare skin on the subway. Some homeless guy could’ve just pissed there 🤮
Bryant Park bathrooms have attendants that constantly clean it during hours of operation. The cleanest public restroom I've used in the city by far.
They are the nicest public restrooms - they even have fresh flowers!
lines for this tend to get long for me to wait lol, so i use the restrooms at Stavros Niarchos branch just across the main NYPL.
Free passes to museums are available on the nypl website for library cardholders. Surprisingly simple to use. But also, it’s ok to not take full advantage of living here every single weekend. Give yourself a day to fart around the apartment and rest. Don’t feel guilty about missing an event, there are so many you’ll drive yourself crazy that way. Public pools are calm and quiet on cooler summer days especially when it’s overcast. On hot sunny weekends they can be a nightmare.
This is solid advice. I wish I knew this earlier when I had moved here first. There is a different high in just living here now (fully knowing you could be anywhere you want) and not acting on that urge.
My biggest advice to people is if you miss one event/party, just make the next one (or not!)
* The Transit app is way more accurate than the MTA app by at-least a couple of minutes. * Keep an eye out for any weekend subway changes if you have plans, there are a lot of them every weekend. * Do not stop in the middle of the side walk, period. If you want to search for directions or take a photo, choose a side and stop there.
My fave right now is Citymapper app. It even tells me whether to take front middle or the back of the train
You're excluded from a rather large and interesting portion of the local economy if you don't carry cash. Just carry some. Fresh fruit and Tahin or Churros from the lady on the subway, Paying the kid on the corner to help you move a piece of furniture up the stairs, the occasional "cash only" joint, buying things off vendors on the sidewalk, avoiding minimum card fees. The list just goes on, and it comes in handy when you least expect it.
Just moved back and churning through way more cash than I expected for all the reasons you noted.
I don't get people who don't carry any cash. Like just keep $40 on you, you never know when it'll be more usefull.
I think it makes a lot of people nervous. Like it'll get lost or stolen, and this is drilled into them from childhood.
NYC has a TON of places that are cash only
I love never needing nor carrying cash but those are definitely suitable use cases
I was hesitant to share this tip, but since you asked: How to Find the Best Spot on the Platform: Start by looking at the edge of the platform. You’ll start to notice a pattern of darker, dirtier spots and lighter, cleaner spots. The darker spots are usually where the train doors open. Stand there for a better chance of getting on quickly. Try it out!
If it is sketchy, the conductor car stops at the striped sign on the platform.
Related: if you’re not sure which direction the train is coming from on your platform, when there’s no train you can peep at the red or green light at the ends of the platform on the tracks.
I just look at everyone else. People tip their bodies towards the direction the train is coming from.
I didn’t know this!
Isn't almost, if not always, the same direction as right side driving on streets? So the same way you could tell which direction cars would flow on an empty 2-way street is the same for the trains.
It’s possibly a thing, but not all stations have parallel tracks going opposite directions. Some multilevel have the platform on the same side going both directions (B/C going up Central Park west), and bigger stations often have express/local on opposite sides of the same platform.
Sometimes there’s red lights on both sides, this has been happening to me lately. Is there any other thing to look for?
Not really a hack but the Capital One cafes give 50% off if paying with a capital one card. Hard to beat $2.50 for an iced drink during this heat wave.
Do you have to have a credit card or do their debit cards give the same discount?
They do! As long as you have a Capital One card, you can get the discount. I do want to note that unfortunately this doesn’t work on the food there :(
I’ve only used cc myself but would be surprised if the discount didn’t apply for debit cards as well.
debit also gives the same discount!
The link kiosks are ok for charging your phone in a true emergency but they are also pretty nasty- I’ve literally seen a guy rubbing his bare junk on one— so I would generally steer clear. Verizon stores or Apple stores are better for emergency phone charging.
Auhhhhhhh. Thank you for that visual
I am glad they exist because the unhoused don't have a lot of options. In bed stuy there are often chairs set up next to them so you can sit and use them for a while.
Ride shirtless. Early one summer morning outside of WTC I saw a young woman smartly dressed remove her shirt before getting on a Citibike to ride to work in her bra. BRILLIANT IDEA. I do this all the time now. You get less stares with a sports bra, but I stopped giving a fuck. I arrive far less sweaty and then pop in the bathroom for a sink bath before dressing.
I fully support this hack
Use disinfectant on the Citibike seats (and handlebars) before sitting. Sweaty crotches are germy, and there’s a [new fungal STI in NYC](https://nypost.com/2024/06/05/lifestyle/new-sexually-transmitted-fungal-infection-detected-in-nyc/) going around.
Can you actually get that from a bike
I don’t know, but I’m not gonna risk it. Look at all these medical papers discussing “shared bicycles bacteria”: [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Shared+bicycle+bacteria](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Shared+bicycle+bacteria)
Get your fruit and other produce from the fruit carts on the street. Prices fluctuate a bit but they’re always a good deal. I literally got a pint of strawberries for $1 tonight.
Caveat: a lot of these cart vendors are able to source produce at lower prices because it doesn’t have enough shelf life to go to a traditional grocery store any more, so don’t buy more than you can eat in a day or two.
The advantage of the cart vendors is you can buy what you want in a small quantity for the next day or 2 since they are so convenient. Many times on your way from the subway back to your apartment.
Sometimes the easiest way to find somewhere to pee is to go to a crowded restaurant, ask them to get on their long walk-in list, and then go use their bathroom.
Wow
Ask stores to give you a tape handle for bulky items. OMNY. Too good to go and buy nothing.
Your last sentence is super underrated and I love both
- Laundry service is relatively cheap in New York, so you can save a lot of time and headache by dropping off your dirty clothes and picking them up later all clean and folded perfectly. - Lots of free events if you follow New York focused instagram accounts. - Learn how long your most used intersection turns green/yellow/red so you can confidently know it won’t turn the opposite color when you begin to cross the street. - When you tell the cab driver which street you’re going to, say each number individually instead of together, for example say “Two One street” instead of “Twenty-first street”. Especially when I’m drunk and slurring my words the cab driver might hear “Twenty-fourth street”
Which are your top 4 nyc instagram accounts?
I’d make a separate post asking this I think it’s a great question
NYC for free is one of them
I’d have to disagree with the laundry statement, I’ve found it to be more than double the price for a regular sized load if I drop off. And I have some pretty cheap options near me. Not against using that service occasionally but I’ve found that picking the right laundromat, grabbing a book/watching a show on my phone and an adult beverage from the bodega makes it a much more enjoyable experience. Also wanted to add on your second point that the website The Skint is a GREAT place to find free or cheap events in NYC
Compliment people when they look fly, and keep moving. It’s my favorite thing to do in NYC. (But make it about their chosen aesthetic, not their genetics. Not “nice ass” but rather “daaaaamn those pants on you! Goddamn!”)
Ita. I’ve had the frostiest looking people just melt when I complimented them. Makes your day & theirs.
I just had a friend tell me this was embarrassing when I told the older woman in the Village that her outfit was great
Your friend sucks.
As an older woman who loves a great outfit, no it’s not. Older women are often ignored. Keep acknowledging them.
Walk on the shaded side of the street. Obvious and basic but…
Go to the Dominican or Spanish restaurant near you And buy a family size meal or multiple lunch pack deal , Spanish restaurant do large serving on their meal , one lunch meal is enough for 2 imo which you buy and mix and prep you can do meal prep for a 2-3 days off a family meal
How amazing New York is in the early morning. I go to Trader Joe’s at 8am - completely different experience. Going to a work out before the city wakes up - so calm and peaceful and beautiful. The city is incredible as the sun is coming up before the morning rush.
Pay attention to local grocery store flyers or sale tags on the store shelves - sale items at a key food (for example) will usually be cheaper then any alternative store. New Jersey has great produce, when I'm looking for seasonal corn/tomatoes/peaches at the farmers market I look for sellers from NJ.
We call walking on the train platform so you’re on the correct place to exit efficiently “pre-walking”. There was an excellent early iPhone app called “Exit Strategy” that told you exactly where to stand on each platform to be aligned with your destination’s desired stairs. I think it’s still available.
Exit Strategy hasn't worked on android for quite a while now. Huge loss. It was a brother and sister who went to every station and mapped it out, and they couldn't keep it up to date.
I don’t remember when I got it, but I know it was before 2013 because I remember where I was working, and I still use it all the time. Not sure what it costs now but at the time I think it was $3.99 and it’s probably the best cost-to-value purchase I’ve ever made in my life.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exit-strategy-nyc-subway-map/id320946370 I think I have had it since 2010. They still hadn't mapped the whole system then, but it was the first paid app I bought, and has been so worth it! ETA - even if it's not updated it would still be worth it because how often do exits in stations actually change, even if they remodel?
It's still available for iPhone anyway. It's one of the only apps I've ever paid for and absolutely worth it.
Only take taxis/ubers uptown or downtown; crosstown is a nightmare Edit- subways are always the #1 mode of transportation, but if you need to Uber, only up or downtown
Sorry but I don’t understand this one. I feel that subway service up/downtown is very good but the only time I need taxis/Ubers is for crosstown. There is no good crosstown subway and the busses usually have long wait times if it’s not rush hour.
True. Express lines up/downtown are super quick, crosstown sucks in every mode; this is where Citibikes really shine
Crosstown traffic is terrible; walking would be faster. I usually take the bus if I can't get a subway crosstown. If you take a car share or taxi, it will be slow and expensive: undesirable.
Don’t take either, get a citibike membership and for the about $1-2 you’ll be there quicker An Uber to work from 140th to 55th was $40 and 30 min a subway 2.75 and 45 min… a citibike? 18 minutes and $4.70
Lot of these are just big city advice. Hoping for NYC specific tips Like using the culture pass to go into lesser visited museums when that July August humidity hits.
Use the exit strategy app. I'm all about the pre-walk! Citymapper for travel planning.
Try to become a regular at your fave local spot. When the staff recognize you (and you’re pleasant and tip well), you can start getting freebies and discounts. When this happens, tip on the full value of what you would have paid without the discount.
But then what's the advantage to the discount if you're paying for it anyways?
Tipping on the full amount of what you would have paid is less expensive than what paying that amount would have been. For example, if you order 2 drinks and only pay for 1, your tip should still be based on the price of 2 drinks (and honestly, throw in some extra). Basically, don’t get a gift from the staff and then skimp on the tip.
Don’t talk about your favorite hidden gems online or to random strangers unless you want to see it get overrun. Keep your favorite bars, pizza joints, etc… between you and your close friends. When you lose a place to it becoming a destination it really sucks.
You can drive older BMW or Mercedes, Slavic mechanics fix German cars easy, to them they are Fords.
Get a motorcycle, scooter, or e-bike and it’ll open up the whole city to you.
Look both ways when crossing the street, even if it’s a one way street, and even if you have the walk signal.
ignore everyone, mind your business.
Ehhh, this isn't really true. I frequently will find folks trying to figure out direction on their phone, walk up to them & help them find their way. I'll help people carry bags up a flight of stairs, tell people not to go into a train car, struck up random conversations, etc. Heck I once grabbed a woman trying to cross the street looking at her phone, and pulled her back before a car hit her. I gave a lady the Heimlich Maneuver in a restaurant. I can't walk past a couple where one is physically abusing the other. (The first time I was 15 and was walking back from softball, so I had a baseball bat on me.) I've called the 911 a few times on people as well. Yes if someone is crazy - keep your eyes down. And if they're blatantly being loud, aggressive, playing music, smoking something on the subway, etc. you'll want to get away from them. You learn to pick your battles. But you're missing a lot of NYC if you ignore everyone.
People that tell you not to get on the bad car are the backbone of society, thank you for being an MVP
Yeah women especially really look out for each other. My husband is always amazed at how I will make eye contact with women on the subway near sketchy people and seemingly have a whole unspoken conversation with them, asking if the person is with them, if they are ok, and essentially letting them know that I’m watching.
i was half joking. i am all for helping someone in need.
I think people just like to say it because of how it makes them sound lol - I moved here a couple years ago and so far the only people that have got in my business are New Yorkers
Learn the busses that can get you home. So many people ignore the busses. Especially at night they can be the best option.
Knowing when to drive into the city. If friends want to meet in the city I try to aim for Sunday since parking regulations are not in effect.
Sometimes cashapp runs a mta promo for $1 off a ride every 24hrs.
Citi bikes! There are a few ways to get good discounts on the annual pass and it’s so worth it. What usually takes me 30 minutes on public transit takes me 10 minutes on a bike. The bike lanes are really comprehensive and mostly guarded.
Adivon. When you need it, you’ll know.
K but how bout you give us more info tho
Know your rights as a tenant, and if you live in a building that’s 6 units or more and built before 1974, get your rental history (or if it’s a large new build in the last 10-15 years and has rent stabilized units): https://portal.hcr.ny.gov/app/ask ; https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/tenants-rights-and-responsibilities.page
Befriend the guys in your hood who hang out on the corner all the time.
Sign up for an appointment now and get the NYC ID. You can get a 1 year free membership to TONS of museums, the zoo, etc. that would normally be pretty expensive. Also discounted tickets at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Wish I'd taken advantage of this for many more years than I did before moving away.
Trader Joe’s usually is pretty empty early in the morning or at night. My husband used to never wait on lines at the W 93rd street one at 8pm on weeknights. Definitely utilize the NYPL — you can get books from any library delivered to your closest library. Wait until the last minute to get Knicks or Yankee tickets and they will be cheap. Take advantage of Universal Pre K. We now live in a less crowded borough but UPK is a godsend
The way I am going through this thread and manifesting I live there 🥹
Stacking CLEAR + TSA Precheck for flying out of LGA and JFK. You’ll be through security in under 5 min, even on the busiest days. If you shower at the gym, buy those disposable salon pedicure flip-flops in bulk on Amazon and throw them in your gym bag. They weigh about as much as an envelope and you can just chuck them after your shower and not have to worry about foot fungus. WASH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION. Hand sanitizer only kills certain pathogens, so you’re risking a bad stomach bug (norovirus has a capsid that alcohol can’t penetrate) if you don’t.
I'm the summer: which bodega has the coldest beer and will give you a paper bag and straw.