Taxi: Cabs are one of the easiest ways to travel into Manhattan from any airport. The flat-rate fare from JFK is $35, plus tip and tolls. Fares from Newark Liberty International Airport are also flat-rate, but depending on zone, will run cost anywhere from $31 to $51. Trips between LaGuardia are Manhattan are metered and generally run between $18 and $26.

Shuttle: For travelers who don’t mind sharing a ride, several shuttle services, such as Airlink New York, offer reliable transportation to area airports. A one-way fare from JFK to Manhattan will cost between $13 and $17. Expect to pay $10-$15 from LaGuardia or $12-$17 from Newark.

Limousines: Taking car services to and from New York airports is standard operating practice for New York business types; in fact many companies have accounts that allow their employees to pay with vouchers. There are two options when taking a car service from any of the New York area airports. To arrange service when you land, call from the Ground Transportation Center and expect a car within ten minutes. Or, opt for the Meet and Greet service by making a reservation before your arrival. Your driver will be waiting for you in baggage claim, but do note, there is a premium charge of $15 to $25 for this service.

AirTrain:

Read all over the world, The Wall Street Journal is the world’s biggest newspaper dedicated solely to business. Published for more than 100 years, “The Journal” includes business profiles, stock tables, futures data and business headlines from around the world.

Delivered every Monday morning, Crain’s New York Business News is focused entirely on business news within New York. It includes company lists, industry reports and small business profiles.

The New York Daily News, which calls itself “New York’s picture newspaper,” has a small business section. The New York Post also includes a small daily business section.

The Benjamin
125 E. 50th St. (Lexington Ave.)
New York, NY 10022
212-320-8002 Book a room

Designed in the 1920s by famed architect Emery Roth (and captured on canvas by Georgia O'Keefe from her apartment window), this Midtown hotel is an executive's true second home. It’s located just blocks from Grand Central and the United Nations, and its larger-than-average rooms feature a trio of telephones, a fax machine, high-speed Internet, safes large enough to hold a laptop and abundant desk space with ergonomic seating. Tech-savvy staff is on hand to help guests with computer problems. If sleeping in the city that never sleeps poses a problem, the hotel's Sleep Concierge will deliver milk and cookies—we’re not kidding—and help you choose from eleven different types of pillows.

Envoy Club
377 E. 33rd St. (First & Second Aves.)
212-481-4600 Book a room

For an extended stay in Manhattan, it’s nice to have a home away from home—and the Envoy Club offers such a spot, with its luxury studios and one- and two-bedroom suites in stylish modern décor. Accommodations include a fully equipped kitchen and dining area, but more important for business travelers are the in-room faxes, two-line phones and high-speed Internet connections; a business center provides additional services and conference facilities. Need to work off that business dinner? A 24-hour health club allows guests to squeeze in a workout whenever they can; concierge services are also available around the clock.



Le Parker Meridien New York
118 W. 57th St. (Sixth & Seventh Aves.)
212-245-5000 Book a room

The pace here is smooth and efficient, the surroundings handsome and elegant. The hotel’s 730 rooms are attractively done in a modern-Swedish style, with clean lines and soft grey and blue fabrics. All rooms have numerous business amenities: Aeron chairs, free high-speed Internet access, VCRs, CD players and more. Suites also come with fully equipped kitchens and spectacular views of Central Park. One of the largest concierge staffs in the city excels at securing entry to the city's trendiest venues. For those who need more practical assistance, computers, cell phones and secretarial services are all available in the business center. Doing business in Lower Manhattan? A complimentary limousine will take you to Wall Street.


New York Palace
455 Madison Ave. (50th St.)
212-888-7000 Book a room

The heart of this hotel is the Italian Renaissance-style palace designed in 1882. Since the royal family of Brunei purchased the hotel, rooms have undergone a total renovation. Gone is the gaudy red-and-gold color scheme favored by former owner Leona Helmsley. In its place is a sophisticated palate of neutrals and earth tones. Accommodations are large and comfortable with marble baths, high-speed Internet connections, fax/copy machines and luxurious fabrics. Like many of the best New York business hotels, the Palace offers a complimentary shuttle to Wall Street, but more surprisingly, they offer complimentary gym clothes for impromptu workouts.


Holiday Inn Wall Street
15 Gold St. (Platt St.)
212-232-7700

Only three short blocks from Wall Street, this up-to-the-minute red-brick hotel is no motel. The 138 rooms and suites feature the latest technology, including high-speed Internet access and a 24-hour business center. Guest rooms are designed for the business traveler with ergonomic chairs, oversized desks, calculators, staplers, dictionaries and many other office supplies. They are comfortably furnished with easy chairs and ottomans, coffee makers and marble bathrooms. Downstairs, there’s an independently operated, light and airy restaurant. While there is an on-site fitness room, you can also have exercise equipment delivered to your room.

Aureole
34 E. 61st St. (Madison & Park Aves.)
212-319-1660 Book a table

The Four Seasons Restaurant is an official New York landmark. The Philip Johnson-designed interior alone merits a trip to the restaurant. Its metal curtains undulate seductively near the famous foliage-flanked pool. The food is good and refreshingly simple, but not as good as in years gone by; ditto the service, which a decade ago ruled as the finest in the city. And while the prices remain sky-high, so does this establishment’s popularity. Of the restaurant’s two dining areas, the famed Grill Room, remains a major power-lunch spot.

All New York Tours
VIP Heliport, Midtown Location
West 30th Street and 12th Avenue
702-233-1627

New York may be a great town to see on foot, but why not take to the air and take it all in? From the seven minute city fly-by to a fully customized tour of the Northeast, a helicopter tour will let you see as much as you can, as fast as you can. The popular Niagara Falls tour includes ground transportation to the falls but must be booked seven days in advance.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Ave. & 82nd St., 10028
212-535-7710

The greatest collection of art in the United States, the “Met” has more than two million works spanning 5,000 years, from pre-history to the present. The museum’s world-ranked collections cover so many fields, visitors are advised to concentrate on a few collections at a time. Take your pick: Browse one of the world’s largest Egyptian collections. Choose one of the European exhibits to see legendary works by Rembrandt and van Gogh. Or for something more unique, peruse The Costume Institute which displays more than 60,000 costumes and accessories.

Avenue Q
The Golden Theatre
252 W 45th St.
212-239-6200

Winner of three Tony awards in 2004, including best musical, Avenue Q is about Princeton, a young college-grad struggling to make it in New York, and his friends both real and puppet. A parody of Sesame Street, the cast includes Jim Henson-style puppets, a beautiful woman playing former child-star Gary Coleman and some not so child-like themes like sex, pornography and lost dreams.

Bridgemarket
409 E. 59th St. (First & York Aves.)

Developers eyed the cathedral-like space under the Queensboro Bridge, once the site of a farmer’s market, for decades before British designer Sir Terence Conran transformed the site into a swanky complex. With his restaurants, bar, food market and furniture store, this previously abandoned area has been legitimized and renamed Bridgemarket.

Church Lounge
TriBeCa Grand Hotel
2 Ave. of the Americas (White St.)
212-519-6677

TriBeCa Grand's renovated Church Lounge is a hip destination for a chic crowd. Its turn-of-the-century design makes for a comfy, quaint atmosphere with warm woods and neutral tones adding to the candlelit ambience. Décor may be old-fashioned, entertainment is not. This ultra-trendy hangout features the hottest DJs from around the world. Within the TriBeCa Grand's giant atrium, it’s also one of the most spacious bars in town.