New York City is one of the world's most famous cities, and among the older cities in North America. Each city block is packed with restaurants, shops, and the city itself has a number of interesting attractions including the Broadway Theatre District, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island amongst many others. Keep an eye on this page for information about travel to New York, restaurants around the conference venue, and attractions that will be of interest to attendees.
In this guide you will find information about local attractions and a map of the conference venue conference hotel, and other points of interest. We recommend that you start with the map to see where everything is located. This will help you plan your trip.
There are three main locations of activities for CGO:
The conference hotels, the On-the-Ave and the Lucerne, as well as the conference venue, Columbia University, are all located on the Upper-west side of Manhattan. Other Conference events are in mid-town. The map below, shows the conference venue, hotels, and various points of interest relative to the venue. You can use the map to plan your trip, book alternate hotels close to the Conference venue, etc.
New York City is served by 3 major international airports, JFK International Airport (JFK), Newark-Liberty International Airport (EWR), and LaGuardia International Airport (LGA). To get from the airports to CGO, see the instructions below. Recall that the conference hotels and venue are all on the Upper West side. All the Mass-transit instructions will place you in a major transit hub in New York City. See the rail directions below to determine how to get to the Conference Venue from those transit hubs.
From Newark Airport (EWR): A taxi to the Upper West side will cost about $70, including tolls and tip. Texis operate on a flat-rate system; the taxi dispatcher will hand you a yellow rate card and indicate what your base flat-rate fare, before tolls and tip will be. Note that there are three terminals (A, B, and C) at Newark aiprort and there are sometimes very long taxi lines at one terminal but not at another.
New Jersey Transit also operates an airtrain from the Newark Airport station with service into New York Penn Station. The monorail to the Newark Airport train station is free; tickets from there to NY Penn Station are about $14 one-way. To get to Penn Station from the Newark Airport station, hop on a northbound Northeast Corridor NJ Transit train to New York Penn Station (the end of the line on northbound trains). From here you can catch the subway to the hotel and conference venue (see directions below). Travel time is approximately an hour.
Coach buses, under the Olympia Trails line, operates buses from Newark airport to Grand Central terminal and the Port Authority Bus Terminal; a one-way ticket is $13.
From Kennedy Airport (JFK): A taxi to the Upper West Side will cost between $60 and $70. Taxis operate on a flat-rate system; the taxi dispatcher will hand you a yellow rate card and indicate what your base flat-rate fare, before tolls and tip, will be.
There are also very good mass transit options: the "AirTrain" operates on the MetroCard system, and for $5 will get you either to the A subway line (which then will take about a 45-minute ride into Manhattan for about $2) or to the Jamaica station of the Long Island Rail Road, where trains depart frequently to New York Penn Station (taking about 30 minutes and costing less than $10).
Bus service from JFK to Grand Central Terminal, New York Penn Station, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal (all in Midtown) are about $12 one-way.
Be sure to check for flights from discount carriers such as JetBlue, as they have many inexpensive flights from many cities to JFK and are not listed by many travel agents/services.
From LaGuardia (LGA): The best option is to take a taxi, which should cost around $30 including tip and the Triboro bridge toll. Buses exist, but aren't recommended.
Beware that if you are taking the train and subway through the city, especially during rush hour, keep luggage to a minimum. It will be difficult to pull multiple large bags through the crowded train stations.
New York City has an excellent Subway system that can get you to most of the city, including the conference venue and hotels. The Metropolitan transit authority has a Subway map for the city here. The #1 train line is marked in red on the map, the S-line as grey.
The two main effective means are subways and taxis. A single subway trip costs $2; the easiest way to pay for the subway is to buy a MetroCard, which can either be time-based (flat fare for a day or week) or money-based. Taxis can be more cost-effective if you can share a cab with others; the cab fare from the hotel to the conference, or from the hotel to Times Square, should run less than $10; a cab can fit four people. The MetroCard works on buses as well, but the bus lines are better saved for scenic views or crosstown trips.
To get from the hotels to Columbia: go to the #1 Subway stop at 79th and Broadway, make sure to enter on the East side of Broadway to get an UPTOWN train, and take the subway to 116th street. Enter the main Columbia campus through the big gates to the east of the subway stop, then head diagonally northeast across campus to either the CS department or Schapiro Center. Or, go out to the street, raise your hand to hail a cab, and tell the driver "Columbia University". You may need to add "116th street entrance on Broadway". Here is a map of the Columbia Campus with Schapiro Center highlighted. The Subway stop is on the lower left-hand corner of the map (at Broadway and 116th Street). North is up on the map.
To get from Columbia to the hotels or activities: go to the #1 Subway stop at 116th and Broadway, and take a DOWNTOWN train (you can enter on either side of the street). Exit at 79th street for hotels, or 42nd street for activities.
To return from activities: There are #1 Subway stops on Broadway at 50th and 42nd streets. Make sure to use an UPTOWN entrance. Exit at 79th street for hotels.