JFK Layover

Charles ,Only attempt this if you have either suicidal or excessively manic tendencies . Just one comment to make my point clear ; Figuring on leaving Manhattan at , say , 4:30 to be there at 5:30 puts you for one thing , squarely in the middle of one of the world's worst rush hours .Traffic ,both on the roads and mass transit as well is awful . In addition , one of the worst areas of Greater NYC is escaping to the south shore of Long Island ,where JFK is located . Do yourself a BIG favor , come here to pay a visit and stay awhile , I'm sure you would love NYC , it's a great place ( of course , I'm very biased about that ) but don't attempt this plan . Stay at JFK , read , relax , anything but this , My best , Steve . P.S. In addition to being a lifelong resident and spending my working years in midtown Manhattan , I also made my living by driving a cab here in my younger days . EDIT , Sorry , I just re read your post . Even though this is a Saturday , it doesn't change my comments . Evidently , rush hour wouldn't be an issue , but things wouldn't be that much better .

Hi Charles, I have to agree with the previous post. I know it sounds intriguing, but I wouldn't attempt it. Gambling against the odds with your flight to Europe on the line. No way.

Thanks Steve & Paul!! I really was hoping for some NYC locals to chime in. I had a feeling that is what you guys would say. I am leaning more towards not doing it and enjoying some stress free time at JFK. Anyone else want to vote and/or provide their perspective?

The tickets for the memorial are timed entry AND then you still have to stand in line to get through (which took about a 1/2 hour in my case). It's not the kind of thing you rush through in an hour - I suppose you can, but I spent a long time there just contemplating what happened there and looking at many names of the perished...incredible diversity of nationalities, like NYC itself. Short answer... save the memorial and NYC for another time, when you can actually digest it and have time to reflect on it (if you're contemplative person, that is). Wouldn't you want to go to Europe feeling upbeat? Enjoy a leisurely meal at JFK instead - 5 hours isn't that bad, although I'd rather spend it at a different airport than JFK.

Hey Charles, A few years ago we had a 4.5 hour layover at CDG and thought... a quick look at Paris maybe. We didn't and while it got boring, at least there was no stress and we made our flight. Your flight to Europe is the priority, don't jeopardize it.

if your 5 1/2 is solid...you can jump onto NYC subway and get that underground experience and get off subway at 42nd St subway (a great experience in itself) and you are right in Time Sq...packed with people at all hours and especially on Sat with theatre activity. NY is always people to people and the people more or less direct how fast (actually how slow) you move about....taxi to and from Jfk...costly and frustrating.....maybe plan NYC when you can wander about and get "lost" in the city that never sleeps...

Don't do it!!

Thanks everyone!! I really appreciate your honest opinions. I broke the news to my wife today. You guys are right, it would be a 5 hour time crunch stress fest if we tried to do it. We would not be able to enjoy the memorial and would just be constantly looking at our watches. We will just plan another trip to NYC some day and enjoy our 5 hour layover in the brand new JFK T4 before heading over to T1 for our flight. Thanks again!!

One additional point: counting on catching a cab at that time of day, even on a Saturday, can be a bad idea. I've almost missed flights out of JFK a couple of times because of the difficulty of catching a cab in early evening. Both times, I finally ended up walking to a major hotel to have the doorman get me a cab and barely made my flight.