Penn Station advice

[Ronnie1a]

arriving via Lakeshore Ltd. Last time I was there I got lost and ended up in some alley looking for a taxi. Will be picking up checked luggage and want to make a B line for the taxi stand. What exit do I want and how well is it marked?

 

[Dakota 400]

You do not want to use the 8th Avenue entrance/exit. No elevators, only an escalator. No taxi stand, either.

I am sure others will be able to give you more precise directions that I can.

 

[jis]

Take a look at the following document:

http://jasongibbs.com/pennstation/

Since you will be picking up baggage on the 8th Avenue side (Amtrak side) of the station you'd be better off heading to the 8th Ave/33rd St exit to get a cab. The other taxi stand is on the 7th avenue side at 32nd St. Unlike the 8th Ave,. 33rd St exit which has only escalators, no elevators, the 7th Ave 32nd St exit does have elevators.

Anyway, take a look at the diagrams in the document pointed to above and it should become pretty clear where you pick up your baggage and where you need to go for taxis.

Hope this helps. If you have further questions feel free to ask here.

 

[Manny T]

Penn Station borders 7th Ave. & 8th Ave. 7th Ave. heads downtown (south), 8th Ave. heads uptown (north). There are cab lines on both avenues (D400 says no taxi stand on 8th--there is an attended taxi line). Decide which one you want and follow signs (or your sense of direction, which can be tough inside Penn Station), or ask someone, "Which way is 7th Ave.? (or 8th Ave., as the case may be)" and go that way. Take escalators that go up--Penn Station is basically underground 2 flights and you have to go up to the street--or the poorly located elevators; if you need them you will have to ask.

A nice feature of your LSL arrival (ha!) is that the scheduled arrival time, 6:45 PM I think, is precisely in the midst of evening rush hour, so you will be weaving in between hordes of commuters going in the opposite direction (mostly to the LIRR, some to NJT or Amtrak.) On the other hand, you may well arrive hours late, and thus miss rush hour. By the way, if you are not familiar with the layout and prone to get lost, I would not recommend making a B line (rushing) in Penn Station; go slow, check signs, and keep asking questions and correcting your course.

Finally, the above advice is only for tourists, who will need to stand in long cab lines to get a taxi. New Yorkers by-pass the lines as follows: leave the station with your luggage on the 7th Ave. side, walk south half a block, cross one street (31st St.),, stand on the curb (there is a bus stop there), and hail the first passing cab--thus by-passing the long cab line in front of Penn Station. (Btw if you're heading north you just tell the cab-driver you're going uptown). This works for me, 100% of the time. Never waited in that cab line.

Sorry the answer wasn't more direct, but NYC (incl. Penn Station) is actually a rather complicated place. And getting a cab is the quintessential NYC transportation move.

 

[PVD]

Funny how people see things in so many different ways. If I'm taking a cab, I always come up on 8th because I go to Queens through the tunnel and we take 8th North to 36th and go crosstown. The 7th Ave side points South, crosstown on 30th or 28th is usually worse. I figure we will never see the midblock feed again.

 

[Dakota 400]

I find the replies to the OP interesting in light of my experience at Penn Station. Being dropped off at the 8th Avenue Entrance by the taxi, I saw NO taxi lines/ranks of any kind. Now, I will admit that I was not standing around looking for such at the time. And, trying to hail a taxi while keeping charge of one's luggage, unless there is only one piece, might be a challenge.

 

[jis]

I think the 7th Ave side tends to have more taxis than the 8th Ave side. But that is based on just a few personal observations, which may be inappropriate to generalize from.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I'm in NYC Club Acela this very second (with 2 Slices of New York Pizza Suprema parked happily in my belly) and there is a whole string of taxis lined up on 8th Ave with an almost as long line of waiting fares. Closer to the 33rd St. corner.

 

[dballing]

I find the replies to the OP interesting in light of my experience at Penn Station. Being dropped off at the 8th Avenue Entrance by the taxi, I saw NO taxi lines/ranks of any kind. Now, I will admit that I was not standing around looking for such at the time. And, trying to hail a taxi while keeping charge of one's luggage, unless there is only one piece, might be a challenge.

If he dropped you off a 31st/8th, that would be correct. The cab stand for uptown cabs is at the north end of that superblock (33rd/8th) immediately outside the exit doors.

For downtown/south cabs, the cab stand is on the 7th avenue side between 31st and 32nd.

 

[zephyr17]

They need to take "Taxi" off of the directional signs leading to the mid-block drive. Some were still there when I was there in March. I knew better, so didn't pay attention.