Short Layover - Stay at airport?
 

We are passing through Kennedy Airport in March on a flight that arrives at 4:30 pm. and we leave on a flight at 10 pm that same evening. My question is whether there is anything worth doing in that amount of time besides just staying at the airport. We haven't been to NYC before.

Unless there was something really quick and specific you wanted to do, it's not worth it to try and scramble into the city and back and still make your connecting flight.

Assuming you decide on going into the city you would not have much more than 2 hours to look around. You wouldn't get to the city much earlier thn 6 PM and you have to start back to JFK by 8 PM the latest.

It's definitely worth a taxi ride thru Manhattan!!

Either take the taxi through Manhattan or have a big dinner at a restaurant in Queens, also a taxi ride. If you want to do that, you could try Don Peppe in Ozone Park, which is a real old-school Italian with good food. A few minutes by cab from JFK.

Thanks very much for your thoughts. It sounds like maybe a cab ride if we are comfortable with the time. Since it's a weekend is the traffic likely to be any better than during the week?

Before you make any plans a couple of questions.

Is either flight international? If so will you be coming in through immigration (need to leave extra time) or will you have to get to the airport early (they usually want you to check in 2 full hours in advance).

Are flights ticketed together so the airline will be transferring your luggage? Or will you have to drag it around with you (there are no luggage checks anywhere in NYC).

What is the on-time arrival rate of your incoming flight - 4:30 is a busy time - so you may not have as much time as you think.

If you have enough time I would go for getting a decent early dinner in Queens.

To pay $120 to take taxis back and forth to the city - and then do what for an hour or two at most? - I'm not sure makes sense.

I'm with nytraveler. Not worth the cost and trouble. I'd find a nicer place to have a good dinner in or around the airport instead.

And depending on the airline you use, you may buy a daypass for its airport lounge.