How to Get From the Financial District to the Lower East Side

The subway: J train, Fulton Street to Delancey St-Essex St

This is the trip. The J runs up the Nassau Street line from Fulton Street to Delancey St-Essex St, and the ride is about five minutes. A single fare is $3. Fulton Street is about three minutes on foot from us, so from our door to the corner of Delancey and Essex you're looking at fifteen minutes or so, most of it spent waiting on the platform rather than moving.

Delancey St-Essex St is served by the F and the J at all times, which is worth remembering on the way back: if you end up somewhere on the F line later in the evening, you can still get home through that station.

One caution. The J is not a frequent line by New York standards, particularly late at night and on weekends. If the countdown clock says twelve minutes, walking part of the way is not a bad call.

Walking it

About forty minutes, and genuinely pleasant in decent weather. Head north and you pass through Chinatown on the way, which makes the walk a trip in itself rather than just a transfer. We'd walk it going up in daylight and take the train back.

What you're going up there for

The Lower East Side is where downtown goes out at night. Where we are is the opposite: the Financial District empties out after work, which is exactly why our guests sleep well here and then go north for dinner and drinks. Fifteen minutes each way is a fair trade for a quiet block at 1am.

Getting back late

The J runs overnight but the gaps get long. A cab or a car south down the Bowery takes ten to fifteen minutes with no traffic, and after midnight there rarely is any. It's a short enough distance that the fare stays reasonable.