Transportation
New York City is the center of a network of interconnecting local, state, and interstate transportation facilities. Local transportation, including subways and buses, is managed by three agencies, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The NYCTA is responsible for operating most of the buses and subways in the city. The MTA operates several bridges and tunnels as well as some commuter trains and buses. The Port Authority is a joint New York State-New Jersey agency that directs transportation between the two states and also manages most international facilities.
John F. Kennedy International Airport at Idlewild, Queens, is one of the nation's leading international air terminals. La Guardia Airport, also in Queens, serves domestic flights. These two fields, and several heliports in Manhattan, are operated by the Port Authority.
New York City's nontoll bridges are under the jurisdiction of the Division of Bridges of the Department of Public Works. These include Brooklyn Bridge, the first large suspension bridge ever built.
Toll bridges operated by the MTA include the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. Other toil bridges are the Bronx-Whitestone, Cross Bay Veterans Memorial, Marine Parkway, Throgs Neck, and Triborough bridges.
Port Authority bridges include three connecting Staten Island and New Jersey-Bayonne, Goethals, and Outerbridge Crossing. Also under the Port Authority is the double-decked George Washington Bridge, connecting Upper Manhattan and Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Ferry lines link Manhattan with Staten Island, Liberty Island (site of the Statue of Liberty), and a few other points. The two Hudson River vehicular tunnels connecting Manhattan and New Jersey—the Holland and Lincoln tunnels-are Port Authority facilities. The Queens-Midtown Tunnel and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel are operated by the MTA.
Express highways, many of them part of the Interstate system, link various sections of the city. The Port Authority operates truck and bus terminals. The Midtown Manhattan bus terminal is one of the world's largest facilities of its kind.
New York City's subways, forming one of the longest and busiest systems in the world, are part of the rapid transit system operated by the NYCTA. While elevated tracks are used in other boroughs, Manhattan's transit lines are all under, ground. Bus lines, also managed by the NYCTA, reach virtually all parts of the city.
New York City has several railway terminals. The two largest stations are Grand Central and Pennsylvania, both in Midtown Manhattan. The Pennsylvania station is under Madison Square Garden.
The Port Authority's most extensive port facilities within New York City are in Brooklyn and Queens. They serve cargo ships. Manhattan's frontage includes docking facilities for passenger vessels.
The harbor area is the southern terminus of the New York State Barge Canal System. It is also a hub of coastwise shipping.
