LFCS 07 Conference Venues

These are the main sites of LFCS; most of them are located in Midtown Manhattan (Google Maps by default show all subway stops, marked by white M's in blue squares. Zooming in you can find the list of subway lines that serve a specific station. Train stations on the map, including New York Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, and 33rd Street PATH Station are indicated by black train pictograms).

1.   CUNY Graduate Center. The Graduate Center is located on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets. There are several subway stations nearby (in order of increasing distance):
  1. 34th Street-Herald Square (at Sixth Avenue (aka Avenue of the Americas) and Broadway) served by orange lines B, D, F, V and yellow lines N, Q, R, W.
  2. 33rd Street (at Park Avenue South) served by green line 6 (warning: local stop, see subway miniguide).
  3. 34th Street-Penn Station (at Seventh Avenue) served by red lines 1, 2, and 3.
  4. Another 34th Street-Penn Station (at Eighth Avenue) served by blue lines A, C, and E.
2.   Midtown hotels (i.e., all except International House, see 3 below) are within walking distance of the Graduate Center. You can locate the subway station closest to the hotel of your choice by checking the conference map. Be advised that the 33rd Street station of green line 6 is not equipped with elevators or escalators; if your luggage is heavy, you might want to use the 34th Street-Herald Square station instead.

3.   International House is further away. It is served by red line 1. Unfortunately, neither 116th Street-Columbia University station nor 125th Street station, the two subway stations closest to International House, is equipped with elevators; there are escalators for part of the descent from the elevated 125th Street station. More detailed information on getting there can be found below.

4.   Welcome reception will take place at O'Reilly's on Sunday, June 3 at 7-9 PM. O'Reilly's is within walking distance from all midtown hotels (you can find them and O'Reilly's on this map). If you stay at International House, you can take red subway line 1 to 34th Street-Penn Station (marked "34th St-Penn Station [1,2,3]" on the map) and then walk to the restaurant.

5.   Conference dinner will take place at the Jewel of India restaurant on Monday, June 4 at 7 PM. The restaurant is within walking distance from the Graduate Center and all midtown hotels. On the map you can find a suggested walking route to the restaurant from the Graduate Center past the renowned New York Public Library building lined with lions. You will also find there a host of subway stations in the close vicinity of the restaurant.


Airport Information

New York City is served by three major airports, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and LaGuardia Airport (LGA). See the instructions below for transportation to Midtown Manhattan. We suggest to keep your luggage to a minimum if you plan on taking the subway through the city, especially during rush hour, as it will be difficult to pull multiple large bags through the crowded train stations. You may also wish to avoid the subway late at night for safety reasons.

Arriving by train or bus

Both major train stations, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, as well as the Port Authority Bus Terminal are within walking distance from most hotels (see conference map).

For those who are staying in International House

Attending talks. This dorm-like housing is the furthest from the main site. Be prepared to take subway at least twice a day and reserve about 45 minutes to get to/from Graduate Center. The closest subway station is 125th Street on the red 1 line. You can either take the 1 train all the way to 34th Street-Penn Station and walk to the Graduate Center or, to save some time, you can use a convenient across-the-platform transfer between the local 1 train and the express 2 or 3 trains at the 96th Street station.
Getting there from an airport. Most probably you will follow the general directions to Midtown Manhattan and then hop onto a 1 train at 34th Street-Penn Station or at Times Square-42nd Street for an extra $2 (unless you take a taxi in the first place or transfer from another subway line). Unfortunately, neither the 116th Street-Columbia University nor the 125th Street 1 train station of the is equipped with elevators (125th Street platform is high above ground level; there is an escalator that takes you most of the way down... when it works, of course). So expect some physical exercise. The only better alternative exists if you fly into LaGuardia Airport. Then you should take M60 bus (see LaGuardia option 3 above). But instead of getting off at St. Nicholas Avenue, proceed till the bus turns left onto Broadway (that will be the second left turn after 125th Street, see the map). Get off at the first stop after that, go uptown to 122nd Street, turn left and walk until you reach Riverside Drive, then turn right and walk to International House, which will be the first building on your right after the park.

Miniguide to New York City Subway and Buses

Being one of the largest subway systems in the world, the New York City subway may differ from other subways with which you are familiar. Most conference sites are within walking distance from each other. So you may end up not using the subway at all. Here are some tips for those willing to do it:

1.   The word "train" is often used instead of "line." You may well hear "Downtown R train is arriving..."
2.   Not all lines run at all times; some lines run differently depending on the time of the day and day of the week. Lines may not run on weekends (including B, V, and W trains). Lines may not run evenings/late nights or have shorter routes then (these include B, C, R, V, W, and 3 trains). For more information, pick up a free subway map from any booth agent at a subway entrance or download it here; at the bottom of the map you will find details on how lines are running at different times of day on weekdays and on weekends. You may also have noted that each mention of a subway line in these instructions is a link to a page with a full description of how the line operates.
3.   Some trains run express, i.e., they skip the stations marked by black dots on the map; other trains are local and stop everywhere. For example, 4 and 5 trains typically do not stop at 33rd Street Station because they run express. All lines that stop at a station are listed under the station's name on the map. Lines with boldface letters/numbers in such a list serve the station at all times; non-boldface ones only serve the station at certain periods: be sure to check the bottom of the map.
4.   Pay attention to signs directing you to subway platforms and subway entrances: sometimes express and local trains stop at different platforms. More importantly, sometimes opposite direction trains have separate entrances: you may have to pay extra $2 if you get into a wrong one. In all such cases the entrance will be marked "Downtown" (southbound) or "Uptown" (northbound). In particular, 33rd Street 6 train station has separate uptown and downtown entrances.
5.   If you arrive Saturday, June 2 or Sunday, June 3 or if you travel late at night, pay special attention to posters and flyers at the stations and on the platforms alerting you to reroutings due to maintenance work. These reroutings differ from week to week and may drastically change (or eliminate) the line you are going to take. A complete list of weekend changes can be found here. Line-by-line service changes during the week can be found here.
6.   Try to avoid taking buses because they are extremely slow. The only possible exception to this rule are buses from LaGuardia Airport that are more or less the only type of public transportation there (see LaGuardia option 3 above).
7.   Bus number consists of a letter followed by a number, e.g., Q37 and X37 are different buses. The letter refers to the borough mainly served by the bus: M means Manhattan, B means Brooklyn, Q means Queens, Bx means Bronx, S means Staten Island. Finally, X means express. The express buses are more expensive ($5 instead of $2); also $24 weekly passes are not valid for them.

Paying for subway or bus.
There are two types of Metrocards that can be used to pay for both subways and buses:
1)   Pay-per-Ride ($2 per a subway or bus ride). Transfer between subway and a bus and from bus to another bus is free (minor restrictions apply that most probably will not affect you; you can find the fine print here.
You can charge a pay-per-ride card with any sum between $4 and $80. But it is beneficial to buy in multiples of $10 as you get a 20% bonus, for example $12 instead of $10 (if you anticipate frequent use).
2)   Unlimited Ride. ($24 for 7 days or $7 for 1 day).
Both types of Metrocards can be bought from vending machines at the stations (cash or credit card) and some newsstands at the airport. Further information about fares can be found here.
3)   Exact change can be used to pay for a bus: no bills are accepted. You may not get a free transfer.
4)  Needless to say, you should only buy a Metrocard from a vending machine or a station booth agent.

Miniguide to New York City Grid

In Manhattan, "Downtown" is considered a direction not just a destination; it's South, or rather what New Yorkers refer to as South, that is, SSW along Manhattan's major axis. Similarly Uptown is North. As you can see in the maps, Manhattan is roughly a grid of numbered streets running East-West and avenues running North-South. The numbers of the streets increase as you go uptown (North) while the building numbers on each street increase from Fifth Avenue. Fifth Avenue is the spine of the island splitting streets into "East" and "West." For example, 1 East 34th Street and 500 East 34 Street are both East of Fifth Avenue with 500 E 34 St being approx. 0.7 miles further east. 500 E 34 St and 500 W 34 St are actually different places approx. 1.5 miles apart. Many avenues are also numbered, increasing Westward. Building numbers on avenues increase as you head uptown. The grid helps make New York a very walkable city as it is hard to get lost on a Cartesian plane; 1 mile is approximately 20 streets or 6-8 avenues.
Warning: all this discussion is applicable to Manhattan only, excluding Lower Manhattan. In particular, there is yet another 500 East 34th Street in Brooklyn; Downtown in Brooklyn means North; 65th Avenue in Queens is followed by 65th Road, and only then by 66th Avenue, etc.