The Hubs is in trouble-ish

[Green_Fairy]

anyone familiar with manhattan and new york? my hubby's flight out of NYC was canceled due to weather and the next one out isn't until wednesday. he needs to be back to work by tomorrow. luckly, he found a train out of manhattan at 3 am monday morning. he called his CO and he understands that none of this is his fault, so he's not going to get in trouble at work.

he's never been to new york. any advice i can give him?

[BookstoreEscapee]

it's gonna snow...

though NYC doesn't have the blizzard warning that I am getting here in Jersey never mind, they do. I just realized I had the wrong city on weather.com (came up as New City, not NYC) (I'm about a hour or so drive from Manhattan, though I don't actually get up there all that often so I can't really give you any ideas on what he can do to kill time)

[Jester]

Suggested alternative airports:

Newark, NJ (though it may also be snowed in if NYC is). Airport code EWR.
Washington, D.C., Dulles (IAD) or Reagan National (DCA).
Baltimore. BWI.
Logan in Boston. BOS.
Philadelphia. PHL.

All an easy train ride away, I do believe.

[trailerparkmedic]

Half the airports Jester mentioned are also snowed in. Penn Station isn't exciting but is. a fine place to wait for a few hours. Has hubby checked to see whatUSO stuff is available in the area?

[Jester]

Just found out that the Vikings-Eagles game has been rescheduled from tonight to Tuesday night due to a blizzard, so ignore Philadelphia as an option.

[Green_Fairy]

Has hubby checked to see whatUSO stuff is available in the area?

i'm not sure; he was pretty grumpy when he called this morning, so i was the sympathetic ear to his grumbling. he has to be down in norfolk, so it's not too terribly far. it's just really annoying. he was going to rent a car and just drive, but he realized that trains are cheaper. i'm think i'm mostly worried that he's going to get mugged or something. or like...wander down some dark alley and end up missing his kidneys.
...i've heard bad things about new york...

[Jester]

Maybe he can just take the train all the way to Norfolk.

And he should have no problem doing this. If he is at the airport, there should be some transpo from there to the train station, or he can take a cab. If he is at his hotel, he can take a cab to the train station. Then take the train all the way to Norfolk. He just needs to make sure he gets to the RIGHT train station, the one that AmTrak runs out of.

[trailerparkmedic]

Ok, on my computer now.

Is hubs at JFK now? I'm assuming hubs is leaving from Penn Station? If so, he can take the Air Train to Jamaica Station, and then take the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from Jamaica directly to Penn Station. The Air Train is light rail that starts right outside JFK. Buy the LIRR tickets at Jamaica, because it is cheaper than buying the ticket on the train. Be wary at Jamaica, because it's not the nicest area ever, but I had no problems when I was there.

USO--awesome organization for soldiers. They have snacks, a safe place to chill, TVs, and sometimes computers. It's probably a good place for hubby to wait. The closest one for your hubs is a 10 minute walk from Penn Station (according to Google maps). It's at 625 8th Ave, so have him find 8th ave (Penn Station is between 7th and 8th) and head north on it. They're open until 7:30 pm, and can probably give him tips on the area.

Penn Station isn't fancy, but it does the job. Hubs will encounter things that are very typical for NY, like homeless people. Normally it's super crowded (it's a huge transit hub) but it shouldn't be when hubs is there. It usually smells pretty funky, though.

Hubs will be fine. My cousin and I, two of the whitest women in our 20s alive, navigated mass transit in New York (including Jamaica station, Penn Station, LIRR, buses and the metro), alone, when we were in town for a funeral. Your hubby will be able to take care of himself, and people generally really like military.

[AccountingDrone]

Maybe he can just take the train all the way to Norfolk.

And he should have no problem doing this. If he is at the airport, there should be some transpo from there to the train station, or he can take a cab. If he is at his hotel, he can take a cab to the train station. Then take the train all the way to Norfolk. He just needs to make sure he gets to the RIGHT train station, the one that AmTrak runs out of.

IF memory serves it runs from Penn Station to Newport News VA, so he would have to call the command and see if he can talk them into sending the duty driver for him. There was a bus that used to run from the train station in Newport News to downtown Norfolk, but since I was always visiting friends they came to NN to pick me up and drop me off.

I personally would have gone with renting a car.

And as far as I know, the only Navy Lodge left in NY now is over on Staten Island...but I think the midtown USO is still there.

[Taboo]

Don't worry too much, honestly NYC isn't nearly as scary as people make it out to be (I live in Brooklyn, and I'm a barely 5ft white artsy chick, not at all intimidating, and I've only been harassed maybe twice in three years here). Penn Station or Grand Central would be a decent place to stay right now as other people have mentioned.

For NYC in general, Yelp is a good website - you can find places that are open late at night in his area for him, if he's just bored waiting at the station. I dunno how much snow they've gotten yet so he might be best just staying there til it's time to go.

[Taboo]

And as far as I know, the only Navy Lodge left in NY now is over on Staten Island...but I think the midtown USO is still there.

One on Staten Island and I think one on Long Island somewhere, so it's well over an hour from Manhattan and not worth heading out there (it'd be hard to get back into the city at that time of night).

[Squeaksmyalias]

I wish I was closer, I would have given him a ride to the train station or where ever he was going to try and head out of. Wish him luck for me.

[Green_Fairy]

update!

he's in new jersey now. he ended up paying a bum $5 to show him where the USO was.
...yeah...
apparently they helped him figure out the train system and he road one down to new jersey where his cousin lives. he'll be staying there tonight and probably most of tomorrow since apparently the entire east coast has been like...smothered in snow. he'll either wait a couple of days and take a bus down or rent an SUV and drive down there.

so he's okay. just annoyed. he's going to try to get a refund for the last leg of his flight. he also has his luggage, which is a very good thing.
le sigh.

[Jester]

I personally would have gone with renting a car.

If the weather is as bad as reports say, I think the train would be better. Let someone ELSE do the driving while he reads, snoozes, does crosswords, drinks beer, whatever. Just my opinion. After all, driving several hundred miles through bad weather can't be non-stressful, whereas sitting in a train traveling through the elements is far less stressful. Don't ya think?

he'll either wait a couple of days and take a bus down or rent an SUV and drive down there.

I highly recommend he takes the bus or the train. See above for why.

he's going to try to get a refund for the last leg of his flight.

Good luck with that. As I recall, airlines do not give refunds for "acts of God," i.e. weather-related cancellations/delays that are no fault of the airline itself.

[Chromatix]

Good luck with that. As I recall, airlines do not give refunds for "acts of God," i.e. weather-related cancellations/delays that are no fault of the airline itself.

On this side of the pond, they do have to give refunds if they don't get you to where your ticket says, whether it's weather related or not. Some airlines are actually notorious for doing that rather than helping their customers rearrange things.