Accessibility and Convenience issues along two Subway route options

[Ganesh]

Hi 

I and my wife have to travel from JFK Airport to Exchange Place, Jersey City in June 2019.

We will each be carrying one large check-in sized wheeled suitcase and a smaller cabin-sized wheeled suitcase .

I would like to save up on taxi money for a few Broadway shows instead.

There seem to be two routes we could take:-

1. AirTrain to Jamaica Station  - Walk across to Jamaica Subway Station and catch the  E train - Get off at the WTC subway station and walk across to WTC PATH station - Get off at Exchange Place

2. AirTrain to Howard Beach Station - Walk across to Howard Beach Subway Station and catch the  A train - Get off at Fullton Street Station - Walk across to WTC PATH station and catch the PATH Train  - Get off at Exchange Place

Which of these is better from the accessibility angle ? We arent young any more and would like to avoid having to haul our suitcases up and down staircases.

One more related question. I can see that the PATH line shuts down over weekends for Hurricane Sandy related repairs. How easy would it be for us to walk across from WTC station to Brookfield Park Pier and catch the ferry instead to Paulus Hook Pier ? 

Ganesh Mahadevan. 

 

[SmallParkShuttle]

Hi,

If time is not a major concern, it would be better for you to take the train in your first option. The Sutphin Blvd station has an elevator and the World Trade Center station has a PATH Station entrance/exit past the end of the tracks that is wheelchair accessible.

If you needed to walk from from World Trade Center to the ferry, the walk is pretty straight forward. Get on Vessey St behind 1 WTC, walk across West St and continue on Vessey to the pier. The Subway and PATH stations have elevators to the street you can use.

[Ganesh]

Thank you. I notice I would have to walk from Jamaica airtrain- JFK station to Sutphin Boulevard Subway station and catch the E line. How long a walk would that be ?

 

 

[Kamen Rider]

technically, Jamaica Station is one large, interconnected structure. After exiting the Airtrain's fare control, You would simply be making a left turn and walking across the LIRR upper level concourse to get to the elevators down to the Subway station, no need to be out on the street. One elevator down to the subway fare control and a second down to the E platform, the first one of the two. 

 

As for getting to New Jersey when World Trade Center is closed for construction.

 

Getting off  the subway at World Trade Center you would just need to continue through the mall, and it will lead out to the waterfront near the dock.

 

The thing about the replacement ferry is you both have to swipe into the PATH fare control and get a ticket from a path employee for the boat, then exit back out again to head for the boat dock, or else you have to pay the three times more expensive ferry fare. (Path is pegged to the subway fare at $2.75. The boat is about $6.50. And you need to do this at Exchange Place going back into the City.

 

A second option, should you so choose if you or the Misses don't feel like taking a boat ride or dealing with the hassle, would be to switch from the E to an F train  (same track transfer at ether Union Turnpike, 71St-Continetal or Roosevelt Avenue) to 34th Street-Herald Square and get PATH at connected 33rd Street station (again, one connected structure, you don't need to go outside). There, you can take the "Journal Square-33rd Street Via Hoboken" (AKA "JSQ-33rd Via HOB" for short) train to Grove street and walk across to catch what would normally be the Newark-World Trade Center line the one stop to Exchange Place. As the name suggests, the Via Hoboken operates via Hoboken Station, changing direction mid trip in both directions so it does sit there for a minute while the crew changes ends. This line is a combination of two lines (JSQ-33rd and HOB-33rd) and only runs at nights at weekends. 

the JSQ-33rd via Hoboken is also your only option between 11:30PM and 7AM as the ferry does not operate during those hours. 

[Ganesh]

Thank you. You have been so generous of your time and attention. I will go through your suggestions in detail and get back to you if something isn't clear.

[Ganesh]

Dear Kamen,

I got the idea. Just one question, though. I see the E line subway takes nearly an hour to get to WTC from Jamaica Station. The Howard Beach A line takes 38 minutes to Fulton Avenue subway. How easy is the transfer from Fulton to WTC ?

Second question.  I will have atleast one landing at Newark Liberty, and would have to travel to Exchange Place, Jersey City  from there.

I see that I must take the AirTrain to Newark Airport Station, transfer on to a train heading for Newark Penn Station, and then transfer there to the Path train heading towards World Trade Center, and get off at  'Exchange Place' place station. How easy are the transfers , especially at Newark Penn ?

 

[Kamen Rider]

The thing about the A vs the E is that the A has lower frequency to Howard Beach, the line splits closer to Manhattan with half the service going to Lefferts Blvd instead of the Rockaways and only Rockaway trains stop at Howard beach. All but a few Rush hour E's stop at Jamaica Station. 

 

Also, Fulton Street is a touch of a hike (all indoors) but it's still several blocks, where as the E is right there. Under normal circumstances, passengers getting off the A wanting PATH would not use Fulton Street, they'd use the much closer Chambers Street-World Trade Center station

(the A and C platform is called "Chambers Street". the E platform is called "World Trade Center"

But Chambers doesn't have an elevator. The E platform doesn't need one as it's a stub end terminal and you'd exit right out into the mall, much closer to the PATH station entrance.

 

 

 

As for the Newark option, The transfer is extremely easily, provided your train arrives on the correct platform (IE, you're not caught in construction or something). City bound PATH trains operate from the main level of Newark Penn station, between two NJT/Amtrak tracks, as a cross platform transfer. it's coming back where you have to do some zigzagging through the station to get to the right platform, as arriving PATH trains have their own, upper level platform. 

 

 

 

[Ganesh]

Thank you for your warm and friendly answers. I and my wife look forward to visiting your Great city and meeting  its Great people !