Tap, do not buy. Every turnstile and bus has an OMNY reader that takes a contactless bank card or phone. A ride is $3 and includes a bus transfer within two hours. Tap the same card every time and after 12 paid rides within seven days of your first tap ($35) the rest of that week is free. MetroCard sales ended on December 31, 2025; old cards work until a date the MTA says it will announce later in 2026.
Express and local. Local trains stop everywhere; express trains skip the small stations and often share the platform. Read the letter or number on the train, not the platform sign, and check the strip map in the car; nights and weekends the pattern changes.
Tipping. Table service: 18 to 20 percent of the pre-tax bill. Bars: $1 to $2 a drink. Taxis and rideshares: 15 to 20 percent from the screen or app. Hotel housekeeping: $2 to $5 a night. Bags carried: $2 each. Counter screens ask for 15 to 25 percent; nobody minds zero for a coffee.
The tickets that sell out. Statue City Cruises is the only official ferry to the Statue of Liberty, from Battery Park or Liberty State Park, $26. Crown tickets go months ahead, pedestal tickets weeks. The 9/11 Museum is $36, timed and closed Tuesday; its free Monday 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. slot is released online each Monday at 7 a.m. ET and goes within minutes. Summit One Vanderbilt is from $44, Edge from $42 (from $34 booked 14 days out) and Top of the Rock from $42; sunset slots cost more and sell first. Broadway digital lotteries run the day before for $35 to $55 seats; the TKTS booth in Times Square sells same-day discounts in the afternoon.
Closed days and pay what you wish. The Met closes Wednesday; adults pay $30 and pay what you wish is only for New York State residents and students from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut with ID. MoMA opens daily 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday to 8:30 p.m., $30; its free Friday evening is for New York State residents only. The Natural History Museum is $37 for visitors from outside the state, pay what you wish for New York State residents, daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
On the day. Put the Met on Tuesday and the 9/11 Museum on Wednesday and you never lose a morning. Tap the same card all week so the cap counts, carry small bills for tips, and save the ferry and deck QR codes in Waystop’s Documents; the Statue City Cruises security tent is the one line to arrive early for.