Airlines Toll-free
phone numbers of foreign
airlines include: Air
India tel
1-800/223-7776; Air New
Zealand tel
1-800/262-1234; British
Airways tel
1-800/247-9297; El Al
tel 1-800/223-6700;
Japan Air Lines tel
1-800/525-3663; Korean
Airlines tel
1-800/438-5000; Kuwait
Airwaystel
1-800/458-9248; Qantas
Airways tel
1-800/227-4500; Virgin
Atlantic Airways tel
1-800/862-8621.
Consulates
Australia, 150 E 42nd St
(tel 212/351-6500);
Canada, 1251 6th Ave at
50th St (tel
212/596-1628); Denmark,
1 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza
(tel 212/223-4545);
France, 934 5th Ave (tel
212/606-3600); Germany,
871 UN Plaza (tel
212/610-9700); Ireland,
345 Park Ave at 51st St
(tel 212/319-2555);
Italy, 690 Park Ave (tel
212/737-9100);
Netherlands, 1
Rockefeller Plaza (entrance
at 14 W 49th St between
5th and 6th aves) (tel
212/246-1429); New
Zealand, 780 3rd Ave (tel
212/832-4038); Spain,
150 E 58th St (tel
212/355-4080); Sweden, 1
Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (tel
212/583-2550); UK, 845
3rd Ave between 51st and
52nd sts (tel
212/745-0200).
Electric Current
110V AC with two-pronged
plugs. Unless they're
dual voltage, all
British appliances will
need a voltage converter
as well as a plug
adapter. Be warned, some
converters may not be
able to handle certain
high-wattage items,
especially those with
heated elements.
Emergencies
For Police, Fire or
Ambulance dial 911.
ID Carry some
at all times, as there
are any number of
occasions on which you
may be asked to show it.
Two pieces of ID are
preferable and one
should have a photo -
passport and credit card
are the best bets.
Laundry Hotels
do it but charge a lot.
You're much better off
going to an ordinary
laundromat or dry
cleaner, both of which
you'll find plenty of in
the Yellow Pages
.
Left Luggage
The most likely place to
dump your stuff is Grand
Central Station (42nd St
and Park Ave tel
212/340-2555), where the
luggage/lost and found
department is by Track
100, on the lower level,
open Mon-Fri 7am-11pm,
Sat & Sun 10am-11pm, and
charges $2 per item per
calendar day. Photo ID
required.
Lost Property
Things lost on buses or
on the subway: NYC
Transit Authority, at
the 34th St/8th Ave
Station at the north end
on the lower level
subway mezzanine
(Mon-Wed & Fri 8am-noon,
Thurs 11am-6.30pm tel
212/712-4500). Things
lost on Amtrak: Penn
Station (Mon-Fri
7.30am-4pm tel
212/630-7389). Things
lost in a cab: Taxi &
Limousine Commission
Lost Property
Information Dept, 40
Rector St between
Washington St and the
West Side Highway
(Mon-Fri 9am-5pm except
national holidays tel
212/302-8294).
Noticeboards
For contacts, casual
work, articles for sale,
etc, it's hard to beat
the noticeboard just
inside the doorway of
the Village Voice
office at 36 Cooper
Square (just south of
the Astor Place subway
stop). Otherwise there
are numerous
noticeboards up at
Columbia University, in
the Loeb Student Center
of NYU on Washington
Square, and in the
groovier coffee shops,
health food stores and
restaurants in the East
Village.
Public Holidays
You'll find all banks,
most offices, some
stores and certain
museums closed on the
following days: January
1; Martin Luther King's
Birthday (third Mon in
Jan); Presidents' Day
(third Mon in Feb);
Memorial Day (last Mon
in May); Independence
Day (July 4 or, if it
falls on a weekend, the
following Mon); Labor
Day (first Mon in Sept);
Columbus Day (second Mon
in Oct); Veterans Day
(Nov 11); Thanksgiving
(the third or last Thurs
in Nov); Christmas Day
(Dec 25). Also, New
York's numerous parades
mean that on certain
days - St Patrick's Day,
Gay Pride Day, Easter
Sunday and Columbus Day,
to name a few - much of
5th Ave is closed to
traffic altogether.
Tax Within New
York City you'll pay an
8.25 percent sales tax
on top of marked prices
on just about everything
but the very barest of
essentials, a measure
brought in to help
alleviate the city's
1975 economic crisis,
and one that stuck.
Terminals and
Transit Information
Grand Central Terminal,
42nd St and Park Ave
(Metro-North commuter
trains tel
212/532-4900);
Pennsylvania Station,
33rd St and 8th Ave
(Amtrak tel
1-800/USA-RAIL or
212/582-6875); New
Jersey Transit (tel
973/762-5100); Long
Island Railroad (LIRR
tel 718/217-5477); PATH
trains (tel
1-800/234-7284); Port
Authority Bus Terminal,
41st St and 8th Ave, and
George Washington Bridge
Bus Terminal, W 178th St
(between Broadway and
Fort Washington) both
tel 212/564-8484;
Greyhound (tel
1-800/231-2222); Peter
Pan Trailways (tel
1-800/343-9999); Bonanza
(tel 1-800/556-3815).
Time Three
hours ahead of West
Coast North America,
five hours behind
Britain and Ireland,
fourteen to sixteen
hours behind East Coast
Australia (variations
for Daylight Savings
Time), sixteen to
eighteen hours behind
New Zealand (variations
for Daylight Savings
Time).
Tipping
Expected everywhere a
service is performed; in
restaurants, easiest
just to double the tax.
