NYC Port Authority to La Guardia
 

What would be the cheapest and safest way to get to La Guardia airport from the Port authority at 2 o'clock in the morning? Is a taxi my only option? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I would definitely take a taxi.

If Austine wants to save $, would it be good to take subway out to Queens - and catch a cab from there? Or too risky at any of those stations at night?

I'm thinking that catching a cab at 2AM in Queens might be a difficult thing. And public transportation at that hour is erratic enough to not be dependable. Suck it up and take a taxi. Since there will probably not be heavy traffic at that time, it may be faster/cheaper to get out there than it normally is.

You are not getting a cab in Queens at 2 AM unless you get lucky or make arrangements for one ahead of time. Most of the cabs in the boroughs are gypsy cabs anyhow. Trust me, I live in Brooklyn.

For $25 your life can be made a lot easier. Just get a cab at the airport.

which raises the question of what someone is doing in the Port authority at 2 in the morning. Not something I would care to do alone.

There is a NJ Transit bus from Port Authority to LaGuardia but it may not be running at 2am - you can check schedule on NJ Transit website. If it is running, it would be a safe option and less expensive than a taxi if you are just one person traveling - it's $10 or $15. A taxi will be $25 at the most.
Should be a pretty quick trip at that hour - not much traffic.

quote: "which raises the question of what someone is doing in the Port authority at 2 in the morning. Not something I would care to do alone".

Before I knew better, I took a Greyhound bus from DC that arrived at Port Authority at around 3am, in order to save a night of hotel. I didn't even dare walk out to the street, and just found a chair there to sleep till about 6am.

There were some other people there, including a few homeless ones. At around 5am or so, a police came, woke everybody up, and chased the homeless guys out of there...

That's something I'll never do again... :D

ttt

I would not like to be in Port Authority alone at 2 am. I'm not sure it's much safer in the building than out on the street. You will have to walk outside to get a taxi, but there should be some just outside the 8th Ave doors, even at 2am.

Austine -- the area in and around the Port Authority is certainly nicer than it used to be. So don't let everyone's responses terrify you. The building will be well-lit and there will likely be officers there. That being said, it is still not the nicest place to be alone at 2 a.m. If you can get a direct bus to La Guardia at that time of night, that would probably be okay, although I would not want to wait at the gate alone for very long.

I would definitely just take a taxi. Your peace of mind will be worth it.

NEW YORK Airport Express operates the bus service PA to LGA, not New Jersey Transit. The bus stops operating at 11 PM. There is a public transportation option but I wouldn't recommend t at 2 AM. Taxi is the best way to go, Cost will be between $25 and $30.

My guess is austine is coming from another location, and getting into Port Authority around 2am which would explain the late hour. (I was once on a Peter Pan bus from Port Authority next to a woman who had to change buses 5 times to get home, and one bus transferred at 2am, another at 5am).

I would also say take a taxi. However, if you are strapped for cash and feeling safe enough, the only other option would be to take the N or W train to Astoria Blvd and then catch the M60 bus if it's running.

If you would rather catch a cab from the train, I do recall there being cabs outside the train station at Ditmars Blvd. which is one stop after Astoria Blvd. I used to live a block away from there and there were cabs at all hours, plus Port Authority always has police around, since one of the police stations is inside that area, and 2am is when they change shifts.

taxi.

How early is your flight? I "crashed" at LGA once for a somewhat early flight, and said "never again". (I drove from Albany to Poughkeepsie & took evening MetroNorth train)

What I've done since is to stay at the hostel (hiayh.org) on Amsterdam/103rd then taken the M60 bus to LGA in the a.m.

I've never been around PABT at 2am, so locals may advise against this, but if it's safe to get to the #1/#9 subway stop from PABT, you could take it to 103rd (& Broadway) and walk 2 short blocks east to the hostel (price ~$29 shared bedroom). In the AM, walk to Broadway & 106th & take M60 bus to LGA.

I found the hostel clean, relatively quiet, and the bed EXTREMELY comfortable compared to "lawn furniture" at the airport.