Take the taxis, but steer clear of the black cars.

I grew up in the land of cars. There are no subways, very few people use our limited train service. That’s for two reasons…everything in Southern California is spaced really, really far. Then, there’s the occasional earthquake, which makes folks on the West Coast too scared of being buried alive. That said, I am thoroughly confused by New York City subways and transit systems. I like the taxi, and if it’s close, walking is nice. But just STAY AWAY from those black sedans and SUV’s–they’re the mustache twirlers of New York transportation. They charge double, even triple the amount of a regular cab fare. Note also that the absolute worst time to find a taxi is when it’s raining and when it’s dinner time, so plan accordingly.

Know your airports.

No, seriously. Maxi Me and I made it to our flight only by the skin of our teeth because I mistakenly told the cabbie to drive us to Laguardia airport instead of Newark, which is like, an hour outside of the city. Luckily all that crazy driving they teach those cabbies to do paid off and we got to our flight with 15 minutes to spare. Thanks, Habib, wherever you are.