New York City

New York City is the largest city in New York State. Generally, when travelers say they are from or going toward "New York", they are referring to this city, which is actually made up of 5 boroughs and 3 islands: Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island (which Brooklyn and Queens are a part of). The Bronx, the fifth borough, is connected with the mainland of New York State.

Train hopping

New York City is a major hub for trains: freight trains, Amtrak, Metro-North, MTA, LIRR, NJ Transit, and PATH trains all pass in and out of this city. Although riding trains for free (train-hopping) is illegal, it is one of the most viable ways to get out of the city for free. In most passenger trains (NJ Transit, Amtrak, etc.), the only way to ride for free is to hide in a bathroom or display a "Seat Check" ticket found on the ground or from a previous ride. Generally speaking, if you are discovered to be riding without paying the proper fare, you will be asked to pay it. If you can not pay it, then you will be asked to exit the train at the next station. As long as you remain friendly and cooperative, there should not be a problem with legal issues, arrest, or fines.

Hopping freight trains is a common way to ride long distances for free. It is extremely practical to do if you have phone or internet access, because there are numbers and/or websites that will give you the direction that each freight is headed and its estimated time of arrival, based on that freight's identification number.

Heading North

Advice: Don't get stuck in Albany.

On I-95, toward New Haven, Providence, and Boston

I-95 North runs along the Eastern coast of New York State and Connecticut at this point. Leaving New York City can be very complicated, especially getting past the Bronx, a borough full of decidedly "dangerous" low-income neighborhoods. When amylin was researching on ways out, she found this quote on a website: "A hitchhiker killed in the Bronx will be referred to, by police, as a suicide victim."

So, amylin recommends taking the #2 subway train out to the last stop, Wakefield- 241st St. and walking about a mile from there to the Mount Vernon East Metro-North station, where you can take a local train a bit farther afield. To hitchhike to Providence, Rhode Island on a cold winter's day, she took the $4.75 train to Noroton Heights in Darien, CT. and officially started from there. She recommends this route for hitchhiking North, especially if you don't want to spend a lot of money* getting out of the city or time waiting outside. A local police patrol car passed her while she stood with her thumb out but did not harass her.

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• Whereas, if you take the Metro-North train from Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan, you'll pay almost double for the ticket, plus the $2 subway fare to get to the station. So, if you're already on the subway, you might as well get the most of your $2 and take it as far out as possible.

External links

• Hitchhiking New York - digihitch World
• Legendary Rob's info on New York, dated, but funny

This article is a stub. This means that the information available to us is obviously insufficient. In these places little information is available or the description is severely outdated. If you have been there, whether hitchhiking, for travel or as part of an organized tour − be sure to extend this article!

trash:New York City