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Tag Archives for new york.

Bypass LaGuardia: Seaplane Service Will Challenge New York-Boston Shuttle

by Gary Leff on February 20, 2020

Feb 20 2020

Cape Air won approval to start flights from Boston Harbor to New York City, at East 23rd St. in Manhattan. This is a one year pilot program for four flights a day.

Currently Amtrak is desirable for its downtown-to-downtown service, making up for slow train speeds by avoiding commutes for passengers looking to travel between city centers. This service offers to cut out the airport transit while retaining the speed of flying, though of course is subject to weather more than train travel. The major limitation, however, is frequency.

American Airlines: “We Do Love New York, I Know It Doesn’t Seem Like That With What We’ve Done”

by Gary Leff on November 23, 2019

Nov 23 2019

At this month’s American Airlines employee question and answer session with senior executives, the airline’s downward spiral in New York came up. The response to this was “We do love New York, I know it doesn’t seem like that with what we’ve done.”

By reducing flying out of New York, American becomes less relevant to New Yorkers and has fewer customers to support the flying that’s left.

Mayor Bill de Blasio Wants Your Next New York Hotel Stay To Be More Expensive

by Gary Leff on October 18, 2019

Oct 18 2019

De Blasio is proposing to eliminate the ability for new hotels to be built ‘by right’ as long as they conform to zoning laws, and instead require a special permit in “a process that would effectively grant the local City Council member veto power over any new hotel room.”

The largest hotel owners in the city say “they’ll rest easier if the city severely restricts the construction of competing accommodations.”

Your Credit Cards are Dirtier than the Bathrooms at New York’s Penn Station

by Gary Leff on May 25, 2019

May 25 2019

A new study looked at germs on different forms of payment mechanisms and how they compare to some of the more disgusting things we can think of. And while little compared to a door handle of a McDonald’s in New York, or to a city parking meter, the credit cards, bills, and coins we use may be more germ-laden even than the bathrooms at New York Penn Station or a New York subway pole.

Testing “40 debit and credit cards, 27 different bill denominations, and 10 coins for germs” each surface “was swabbed with a handheld germ testing device and assigned a ‘germ score’ to rank the item on the disgusting scale.”

Miami Airport is Getting a Big Makeover and the Fastest Way Between New York and DC

by Gary Leff on May 15, 2019

May 15 2019

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

Is the Port Authority of New York New Jersey Stealing Money from Newark Airport (and United)?

by Gary Leff on May 14, 2019

May 14 2019

Back in September United threatened to pull out of Newark over $20 million in fuel taxes targeted at its operations. They were never going to leave, but made their (perfectly reasonable) point about New Jersey trying to extract revenue from just them.

United has also complained that Newark airport is overcharging them, and the FAA agrees. This past fall the FAA found that the Port Authority of New York New Jersey which manages the airport “routinely diverted airport revenue to non-airport activities.” There’s a law that lets them do this, but the airport appears to be going well beyond it.

Grand Hyatt New York Will Be Torn Down

by Gary Leff on February 7, 2019

Feb 07 2019

The best thing about the property is that it’s often available less expensively than other full service properties in the area. Indeed searching for a room later in the month it was pricing at $171. The second best thing is the club lounge which features a large outdoor seating area.

Drama-Laden Parker Meridien New York Rebrands Again, Now a Hyatt

by Gary Leff on January 23, 2019

Jan 23 2019

When Starwood picked up Le Meridien hotels they integrated most properties into Starwood Preferred Guest but the Parker Meridien properties in New York and Palm Springs were noticeably absent (presumably not wanting to pay the 5% fee).

During the depths of the Great Recession though they realized they needed the marketing muscle and joined the program in late 2008. They allegedly began stealing from Starwood Preferred Guest almost immediately.

Trump Wants to Sell DC Airports and That’s a Good Idea

by Gary Leff on February 14, 2018

Feb 14 2018

There’s a lot of pushback to the Trump administration suggestion to sell off DC area airports.

I’d like to leave aside the particular proposal and make a few points about the concept, both selling the DC airports and federal assets generally. Even if you’re not a fan of the President or of ‘privatizing’ see if you can disagree with these.

$40 Buys Etihad Residence Lounge Access at New York JFK

by Gary Leff on January 18, 2018

Jan 18 2018

Etihad has been on a crash course lately to stop the bleeding from unprofitable airline investments, cut costs, and monetize premium services where they can.

Now they’re selling Residence lounge access at New York JFK even though Etihad offers double-daily A380 service between New York and Abu Dhabi.