Brooklyn Bridge and the Lower Manhattan skyline

Destination

New York

New York is a grid until it is downtown, and the subway will put you on an express you did not mean to take.

Before you land

JFK and Newark are AirTrain plus a train or a flat-rate taxi. Install on the plane. Airport wifi will not hold still long enough for an eSIM install and a maps search.

Getting around

OMNY takes your contactless card. Google Maps is good at the subway and optimistic about walk times in summer. Uptown and downtown expresses skip the stop you wanted; the phone is how you notice before 96th Street.

Practical notes

Plugs are type A and B. Tipping and tax make menu prices a suggestion; that is not a data problem, but the reservation app is. The same US plan covers a Boston or DC add-on.