OMNY has mostly replaced the MetroCard
You can now tap a contactless credit card, debit card, or phone wallet directly at the turnstile — this is OMNY, and it automatically caps your fares (12 taps in a week and the rest of the week is free, roughly matching the old 7-day unlimited price). Unless you specifically want a physical card as a souvenir or don't have a contactless card, you likely don't need to buy a MetroCard at all anymore.
| Fare type | Cost |
|---|---|
| Single subway or bus ride | $2.90 |
| 7-day unlimited (OMNY fare cap or MetroCard) | ~$34 |
| Airport express bus / AirTrain + subway | Varies by airport — see below |
Reading the map without panicking
Each subway line has a letter or number and a color. Local trains stop at every station on their line; express trains skip stops and are marked with a different symbol on the map (usually a white circle vs. a filled one, or noted directly). The single most useful habit: always check which direction — uptown/Manhattan-bound or downtown/Brooklyn-bound — before you go through the turnstile, since some stations have separate entrances for each direction and there's no easy way to cross over once you're on the platform.
Buses, for when the subway doesn't reach
Buses run the same OMNY/fare system and are genuinely useful for crosstown trips (east-west), since most subway lines run north-south. Slower than the subway but you get a street-level view, which is its own kind of sightseeing.
Getting from the airports
JFK: AirTrain connects to the subway (A train) and LIRR. EWR (Newark): AirTrain connects to NJ Transit and Amtrak. LaGuardia: no train link yet — it's bus or car service into the city. Budget 60–90 minutes from any of the three to central Manhattan outside of rush hour, more during it.