Airlines Toll-free phone numbers of foreign airlines include: Air
India tel 1-800/223-7776; Air New Zealand tel 1-800/262-1234; British
Airways tel 1-800/247-9297; El Al tel 1-800/223-6700; Japan Air Lines tel
1-800/525-3663; Korean Airlines tel 1-800/438-5000; Kuwait Airwaystel
1-800/458-9248; Qantas Airways tel 1-800/227-4500; Virgin Atlantic Airways
tel 1-800/862-8621.
Consulates Australia, 150 E 42nd St (tel 212/351-6500); Canada,
1251 6th Ave at 50th St (tel 212/596-1628); Denmark, 1 Dag Hammarskjöld
Plaza (tel 212/223-4545); France, 934 5th Ave (tel 212/606-3600); Germany,
871 UN Plaza (tel 212/610-9700); Ireland, 345 Park Ave at 51st St (tel
212/319-2555); Italy, 690 Park Ave (tel 212/737-9100); Netherlands, 1
Rockefeller Plaza (entrance at 14 W 49th St between 5th and 6th aves) (tel
212/246-1429); New Zealand, 780 3rd Ave (tel 212/832-4038); Spain, 150 E
58th St (tel 212/355-4080); Sweden, 1 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (tel
212/583-2550); UK, 845 3rd Ave between 51st and 52nd sts (tel
212/745-0200).
Electric Current 110V AC with two-pronged plugs. Unless they're
dual voltage, all British appliances will need a voltage converter as well
as a plug adapter. Be warned, some converters may not be able to handle
certain high-wattage items, especially those with heated elements.
Emergencies For Police, Fire or Ambulance dial 911.
ID Carry some at all times, as there are any number of occasions
on which you may be asked to show it. Two pieces of ID are preferable and
one should have a photo - passport and credit card are the best bets.
Laundry Hotels do it but charge a lot. You're much better off
going to an ordinary laundromat or dry cleaner, both of which you'll find
plenty of in the Yellow Pages .
Left Luggage The most likely place to dump your stuff is Grand
Central Station (42nd St and Park Ave tel 212/340-2555), where the
luggage/lost and found department is by Track 100, on the lower level,
open Mon-Fri 7am-11pm, Sat & Sun 10am-11pm, and charges $2 per item per
calendar day. Photo ID required.
Lost Property Things lost on buses or on the subway: NYC Transit
Authority, at the 34th St/8th Ave Station at the north end on the lower
level subway mezzanine (Mon-Wed & Fri 8am-noon, Thurs 11am-6.30pm tel
212/712-4500). Things lost on Amtrak: Penn Station (Mon-Fri 7.30am-4pm tel
212/630-7389). Things lost in a cab: Taxi & Limousine Commission Lost
Property Information Dept, 40 Rector St between Washington St and the West
Side Highway (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm except national holidays tel 212/302-8294).
Noticeboards For contacts, casual work, articles for sale, etc,
it's hard to beat the noticeboard just inside the doorway of the
Village Voice office at 36 Cooper Square (just south of the Astor
Place subway stop). Otherwise there are numerous noticeboards up at
Columbia University, in the Loeb Student Center of NYU on Washington
Square, and in the groovier coffee shops, health food stores and
restaurants in the East Village.
Public Holidays You'll find all banks, most offices, some stores
and certain museums closed on the following days: January 1; Martin Luther
King's Birthday (third Mon in Jan); Presidents' Day (third Mon in Feb);
Memorial Day (last Mon in May); Independence Day (July 4 or, if it falls
on a weekend, the following Mon); Labor Day (first Mon in Sept); Columbus
Day (second Mon in Oct); Veterans Day (Nov 11); Thanksgiving (the third or
last Thurs in Nov); Christmas Day (Dec 25). Also, New York's numerous
parades mean that on certain days - St Patrick's Day, Gay Pride Day,
Easter Sunday and Columbus Day, to name a few - much of 5th Ave is closed
to traffic altogether.
Tax Within New York City you'll pay an 8.25 percent sales tax on
top of marked prices on just about everything but the very barest of
essentials, a measure brought in to help alleviate the city's 1975
economic crisis, and one that stuck.
Terminals and Transit Information Grand Central Terminal, 42nd
St and Park Ave (Metro-North commuter trains tel 212/532-4900);
Pennsylvania Station, 33rd St and 8th Ave (Amtrak tel 1-800/USA-RAIL or
212/582-6875); New Jersey Transit (tel 973/762-5100); Long Island Railroad
(LIRR tel 718/217-5477); PATH trains (tel 1-800/234-7284); Port Authority
Bus Terminal, 41st St and 8th Ave, and George Washington Bridge Bus
Terminal, W 178th St (between Broadway and Fort Washington) both tel
212/564-8484; Greyhound (tel 1-800/231-2222); Peter Pan Trailways (tel
1-800/343-9999); Bonanza (tel 1-800/556-3815).
Time Three hours ahead of West Coast North America, five hours
behind Britain and Ireland, fourteen to sixteen hours behind East Coast
Australia (variations for Daylight Savings Time), sixteen to eighteen
hours behind New Zealand (variations for Daylight Savings Time).
Tipping Expected everywhere a service is performed; in
restaurants, easiest just to double the tax.
