The museum tours don't work that way. You meet at the museum, but the actual tour takes place in another building; you walk over, up several flights of stairs, and then you tour the place where these families actually lived, going room by room. If you come late, they'll already be gone, so you have to be there at the assigned time that you book. Hopefully you can make it work for you.

Here's another option for seeing the Statue of Liberty that might not be quite so dicey in terms of time because it doesn't involve the Hudson River crossings into NYC, though of course it wouldn't get you to Manhattan if that's a priority.

Take a cab to Liberty State Park in Jersey City (New Jersey). That should less than 30 minutes and cost about $45. Unsurpassed views of downtown Manhattan! Catch a Liberty State Park Ferry from there -- they are scheduled to leave every 40 minutes starting at 8:30 a.m. $17 per person. They stop at Ellis Island and Liberty Island, and return you back to Liberty State Park. The round trip, If you don't get off at either island, is 55 minutes. If you get off at either island you have to wait til the next ferry, 40 minutes later. You could decide to get off at either island, depending on the time and your interest. (Note that the museum and statue itself on Liberty Island are closed til October, but it's still fun to be up-close-and-personal with Miss Liberty.) Ferry ticket: $17; entry to both Liberty and Ellis islands is free but you might not have the time to get off at either island anyway.

So, with luck and good timing, you would spend about $110 on this trip (+ $17 for each additional participant) and could do it in about 4 hours.

taxi -- 1 hour, round trip (be sure to arrange a taxi for pickup at Liberty State Park to return to the airport)
ferry -- 55 minutes, round trip
wait time at the ferry -- 40 minutes max
additional wait time for the next ferry if you get off at either island -- 40 minutes

You can get more information and buy tickets online at http://www.statuecruises.com/schedule.aspx

I wouldn't feel comfortable getting back to the airport less than 1 hour before reboarding. Newark's security lines can be terrible--or they can be pretty quick. Trouble is, there's no reliable way to predict!

It's not resistance, it's realism . If you had 7 hours net of exiting the airport and returning, the responses would be different.

Sorry - but it seems to me that you ar underestimating a lot of times - and taking a risk of missing your next flight.

Nowhere do I see the 20 to 30 minutes from wheels down to getting out to the curb - even if the plane lands on time you need time to taxi to the gate, time to get off the plane ( will you be in row 3 or row 25?) and then time to trek though the airport.

You seem to be talking to a lot of different ferries. Going from EWR to the Staten Island ferry makes no sense - since you will be trekking all across Staten Island and then have to take the ferry to Manhattan. this would get you a view of the statue of Liberty but would take at least 1.5 hours from when you get in a cab at the airport - so you have now used 2 of your 6.5 hours (but really 4.5 hours - since you have to leave Manhattan 2 hours before flight time - MINIMUM - to be sure of making your flight).

If your goal is to see the Statue of Liberty, then definitely go downtown. I honestly dont know if you'd get much of a view from the ferry you described in the earlier post. You definitely would not get close at all.

There is a lt to do at Liberty State Park. You could go to the Science Center there and have a nice view of the back of the statue, but you definitely do not have enough time to visit Ellis Island. But you could take the light rail back to Jersey City and get a taxi there to the airport.

The combination of theTenement Museum and the Statue of Liberty is indeed an ideal one, but you simply do not have time for both. I'm sorry I can't tell you what you want to hear. A ferry ride in itself might be nice, especially if it's a nice day. The ferries mostly cost $10 per person and do not require reservations. But they just take a direct route across the river and drop you far from most tourist sights unless you take one to the World Financial Center downtown. I think that's the one you referenced earlier. At least I think that's pier 11.

ok, right from the airport to the museum, quick lunch at one of several places you all have mentioned, stop @ Economy Candy, check on time. Either go to Art Brown's pens or head straight to Penn Station, to return to airport.

How do I get from the airport to the museum?

If you look at hopstop.com it will give you options for the whole NYC area. I put in EWR and the Tenement museums with public transit (EWR Air Train to Newark, then train to NYC Penn Station, then the subwyay downtown - and it showed a time of 1.5 hours. I think if you want to walk farther there are faster subway routes. but on Sat am you can probably do it in a cab in 45 minutes to an hour for about $85 or so (perhaps not SO much more depending onn how many of you thee are.)

If you do a taxi, definitely arrange for a car service. Reserve in advance and then call on arrival to meet the car in a few minutes. This is faster and cheaper than a regular taxi from EWR. Take a regular NYC taxi back to penn station then NJ Transit/Airtrain on the way back. You will have about 2 full hours or perhaps more before you have to head back.

We use a car service called Dial 7; you might check on that and see what the cost would be.

saccnmama a lot of tourists choose the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, we did when we visited NYC. However we had three days, not just a few hours. I loved the ride even though it was very cold, great views of Manhattan, and a good view of the Statue.

All this back-and-forth is helping me set up a decision-making tree that will really help that day! You'll have to imagine the boxes and arrows.

Question 1:Can we go standby on an earlier flight?
If yes, then proceed via car service to Tenement Museum and Katz's deli (Economy Candy and Brown's Pens if time allows). Return to EWR via Penn Station
If no, then Question 2: is the weather good?
If yes, then go to Liberty State Park
If no, then go to Science Center

In any event, allow time for slow-downs and security delays at EWR!

What competitors to Dial 7 should I also check out?

We use Carmel car service in New York, I assume they service Newark as well. They've always been reliable.

There are two major car services in the NYC area. I use Dial 7. Carmel is also fine. Skip the others.

There is a bus (think it was $15) from Newark Airport to mid-Mahattan, about W. 42 Street and 5 Avenue; NYC train station is right at the bus stop. Not sure of the name of the Newark Airport/NJ bus line -- Liberty? Cab from mid-Manhattan to Lower Eastside? Train would probably be faster.

The airport bus will be significantly slower than the Airtrain/NJ Transit into the city at that time of day. Not really a viable option. It's a wash as to which is faster to the LES from Penn Station; could be cab, but could be train depending on the traffic. But you really have only one choice of trains: the F.