Hi,
I’m currently in New York City and having a great time, but I wanted to share something that happened yesterday as a reminder about planning flexibility into your itinerary.
We visited Hanami Nights at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which was beautiful with great weather and stunning blossoms. After leaving around 7:30 pm, we headed downtown, took the subway to Wall Street, ate at Los Tacos No. 1, and spent some time walking around and taking photos.
Later, we tried to take the J train to Canal Street, but that’s where delays started. There was a train breakdown near Fulton Street, although announcements were unclear. We ended up waiting around 50 minutes on the platform with trains repeatedly not arriving. Eventually, a train did come but did not depart right away. We were then told to switch to another train, and it still took over an hour before we finally got moving.
By the time we reached Canal Street and transferred again, multiple subway lines were delayed due to another breakdown and a separate incident involving a police response at Times Square.
We eventually arrived at the Empire State Building right at 10 pm. Fortunately, because we had built in extra time, our plans were not completely disrupted.
The main takeaway is that unexpected delays can happen at any time in NYC transit, so it is important to plan buffer time. If you arrive early, use the extra time to explore, rest, or enjoy the surroundings. Travel times shown online should be treated as minimum estimates with no disruptions included.
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