Dear Fodorites,

This coming weekend I am meeting our son in NYC; he for just the weekend, whereas I will enjoy the city for a week. DS is arriving LGA (domestic); I am arriving JFK (international) within an hour of one another. What is the best public transportation route for him to reach the Parsons Blvd. station (nearest our apartment rental)? He is well-traveled, and this is perhaps our sixth or seventh visit to NYC. Once upon a time our visits to NYC originated in DC, and thus we had no need for airport transfers as we traveled by train, so this is a first. If a taxi is best, that's fine with us--I just need to know what to tell him. Thank you, in advance.

Google map will give the information if you enter the two locations and ask for a public transportation itinerary.

hopstop.com provides details on all alternates for getting from one place to another in NYC - but you must use exact addresses (except obviously for airports). LGA is IN Queens - but that borough is semi-suburban so although there are subways and buses getting from one place to another can be quite onerous.

Without knowing the exact address of your apartment (and is it legal?) it's impossible to tell if he will need a cab or not. If he does he should have a detailed map as well as the address since many cabbies don't know their way around the outer boroughs.

Separately, you need to understand that you are NOT near Manhattan and getting to and fro - esp in the evening - can be a major PIA and might well take more than an hour. Also, since I'm not sure exactly where you are staying I can't tell you what kind of neighborhood you are in - it may be marginal or it may have substantial criminal activity.

nytraveler, thank you for the website and the additional travel information. Our son has the address and a street map in case he needs it; the apartment is but a couple of blocks from the aforementioned station. I've asked the owner for explicit directions to and from the airports.

I do realize the apartment is NOT near Manhattan and that my transit times will be longer than an average tourist might want to contend with, and I'm quite fine with that. This is but a partial holiday; I have projects to be working on in the evenings, so quiet evenings in the suburbs will be suitable. I am returning with our teenage daughter and her best friend (first visit to the US) early next year for full-on touristy sightseeing; for that holiday I have a midtown hotel suite so that we "can be a part of it" all.

He will need to take the Q70 Limited bus and get off at Roosevelt Avenue. Then he has to transfer to the F Train to Parsons Blvd. (I assume it's this one and not Parsons-Archer?)

Boy, this is a horribly inconvenient location and not in the best area, so just keep aware of your surroundings and be prepared for a very long subway ride into Manhattan.

But just to be clear, this is NOT the suburbs, nor is it quiet. It's a fairly congested and not terribly nice neighborhood. Not exactly inner city but certainly not suburban.

Wow - this area is definitely NOT suburban. And I would definitely not want to be out on the streets at night. Has been some years since I have been there and it was not a place I felt safe. (And I moved to the upper west side many years ago when there were drug dealers on the corner at midnight - and felt safe there.)

Q70 Limited from LGA to Jackson-Heights Roosevelt Ave subway station, where he will take the F train going to 179th-Jamaica, and get off at Parsons Blvd. The station is at Parsons and Hillside Avenue. This is a busy commercial intersection.

Doug and maxima, thank you for the transit information. Yes, the transit station is Parsons Blvd., not Parsons-Archer.

Thank you, everyone, for the neighborhood and long-transit warnings. I'll report out after the trip to share my thoughts.

Hints:

NY'ers call it the subway station and we call it the subway or the train. We do not call it the Metro or the underground. It is just custom and usage. It is confusing because you need a Metrocard to gain entry to the subway or bus. The agency who runs the subway and buses gave it that name much to the chagrin of NY'ers and the confusion of visitors.

Additionally we do not identify the subway line by color but by either the number of letter assigned. Although there are different colors on the subway map, there are multiple lines for each color. Some lines also have long standing names, especially the Lex (Lexington) Express also known as the 4 or 5 and the Lex Local, the 6.

IMDonehere, thanks. We're familiar with the NYC Metro vernacular and the need for the Metrocard. Our son will purchase a Pay-Per-Ride card at LGA, and I will purchase the 7-day unlimited at JFK. Neither of us have been to NYC since 2011, and we're looking forward to seeing the city once again.

" and I will purchase the 7-day unlimited at JFK"

I am sure you are aware of this but I will mention it for others who might not be:

The Unlimited 7 day card is not valid for use in the AirTrain turnstiles. You will have to purchase a regular (or AirTrain + Subway) MetroCard for $8.75 ($5.00 AirTrain fee, $2.75 subway fare and $1.00 fee for a new MetroCard) in order to exit the AirTrain system and enter the subway.

@nycguy10002. That's not true. At the Airtrain station you can purchase a 7-day metro card and add $5 extra value for the Airtrain fare, then exit. You do not have to purchase a trip for an additional $2.75. But you do have to pay $1 for the card if you don't have one already. (If you are just paying for the Airtrain and that alone, you don't have to pay $1 for the card.)

Doug, that would only be true for the AirTrain turnstiles at Jamaica since the subway turnstiles are completely separate.

At Howard Beach that would not work in the AirTrain to Subway turnstiles. A person would have to use the AirTrain to Street exit turnstiles and then use the subway turnstiles to re-enter the subway. These 2 sets of tunrstiles are very near each other.

In any event, it would require 2 separate transactions at the MetroCard Vending Machine (MVM) - 1 transaction to get the Unlimited 7 day and then another transaction to add the $5.00 AirTrain fee.

"If you are just paying for the Airtrain and that alone, you don't have to pay $1 for the card.)"

That isn't correct - the MTA wants that $1.00 for a new card regardless of whether you are getting just the $5.00 AirTrain fee or a combination AirTrain + Subway.

Note that AirTrain MetroCards can be refilled the same as a standard MetroCard. I quote from this page: http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-airtrain.html

'A $1 new card fee will apply to new MetroCard purchases from the vending machines.'
If you buy the pre-valued (and wrapped in plastic) card from an authorized vendore, then and only then will the $1.00 new card fee not apply.

As you are arriving at JFK, the Airtrain will take you to Jamaica. However, the nearest subway there is the E. If you do not have a lot of luggage and its day time, you can exit the air train and walk about 2 long blocks on Sutphin Blvd to Hillside Ave where you can take the F train one stop to Parsons. This is a commercial area with two courthouses along the way.

Traveling to Manhattan on the F train from Parsons is about 40-45 minutes to midtown. Lots of people do it every day. You should check the MTA website for service changes, especially on the weekends

Thank you again, everyone! I'm sure I'll be able to figure out the airport transit; though, in looking ahead at the weather for arrival, if the forecast thunderstorms come to fruition then DS and I will use taxis from our respective airports.

Regardless of the Airtrain station, you can put both a value and a time amount on any Metrocard, and you can do that in the same machine. You get the initial Metrocard and stick in back in the machine and add the time value of a 7-day Metrocard (two transactions, but one machine).

If you only pay the Airtrain fare, you get a paper card that doesn't carry the $1 cost, but you'd need a regular Metrocard to use the subway, hence the $1 fee.

You do not have to do two different transactions on two different Metrocard vending machines. I've done this many times.

I realize you have to exit the Airtrain station and reenter the subway, but that doesn't change the way you use the vending machine. You use the 7-day Metrocard you purchased at the Airtrain station to enter the subway. You really are wrong @nycguy10002.

I have returned from my incredible NYC week; though, the weather could have been just a little cooler. I'm returning in February and expect my wish for cooler weather will be granted.

Doug is correct in that one does not have to do different transactions on different Metrocard machines; two transactions with one card at one machine, to account for AirTrain and subway, worked perfectly on the inbound; on the outbound I added the AirTrain fare to my card. Since I'm returning in a few months, I've kept the card and will just add another 7-day fare when I arrive.

Now for the neighborhood. My apartment was in a house owned by the person from whom I rented, and was a few minutes walk from the subway station. Surprisingly the evenings were very quiet, save for an occasional siren or loud auto. In the walk from the station to the house were numerous small markets and eateries (Guatemalan, Halal, Indian, Jamaican, and so on.) but no real sit-down restaurants. Adjacent to the house was a market that could have been a Whole Foods pop-up, and seemed to be a popular stop for locals as well as high schoolers from the nearby school (which has higher than NYCPS percentages for graduation, test scores, and college acceptances--I took that to be a positive sign about the neighborhood.)

While the area was definitely not for a Xenophobe, I felt safe walking home alone on the couple of evenings that ran past sunset. The streets were lively; the downside being that there was a great deal of litter, something I don't understand. The commute to Manhattan ran about 35 minutes, so it's not really an ideal place for a first-time visitor to NYC, but I am not a first-time visitor, and I knew that when I rented.

Was not suggesting that the area was crime central. But it's not a place I would want to walk around the streets coming home at midnight - as we often do in our neighborhood.

And yes, but sorry - trash in the street is unfortunately common in a good many residential areas.

nytraveler, my comments were only written to inform, and nothing more. On those occasions when I travel solo or stay outside the usual tourist area, I generally offer commentary on the neighborhood conditions if I am out after dark.