New York

New York City is one of the most populated cities in the United States. Until recently, flights to this area were only made to JFK-John F. Kennedy Airport, while EWR-Newark Liberty Airport was also included in flights from Turkey to this region.

All the flights I have performed here are in my memories as the missions I encountered with extremely difficult and different events. Because generally both outbound and return flights; Flights to New York generally have a 'colorful' passenger profile, as the plane is filled with hundreds of passengers almost all over the world and our passengers depart and return from almost all parts of the world. When the approach/tower/ground-ground conversations and procedures of the landing aerodrome authority are added in addition to the ill and irregular passenger incidents, and the weather conditions, it gets rid of its feature of being an ordinary flight. Because these squares have more than one runway where many landings and take-offs are made. The large number of runways and the simultaneous need to manage the traffic require the introduction of some additional methods compared to normal squares. In this sense, New York is a different square for pilots. In addition to this different structure, the atmosphere becomes more active, in aviation terms, when the speaking styles that even Americans cannot agree among themselves from time to time are added.

Compliance with rules and instructions is extremely important and essential in our profession. In this country, where aviation was born and is already highly developed, there is a 'penalty-pad', in other words, 'penalty areas' practice, unlike other countries. Airplanes that do not properly fulfill the instructions given by the ground control unit are sent to these areas and kept on hold, so to speak, they are punished by the flight tower. The hadiths of the planes' wings or themselves colliding in the media from time to time are usually due to the failure to comply with these extremely important instructions. For this reason, I often remind my colleagues to be extremely careful on the ground and in the air, especially in order not to be penalized during my flights to this country.

After the professional information, let's talk about other areas. Flights from Turkey to this continent generally start with flights departing from Istanbul at around 14:30-15:30 in our country. According to the local time of the destination region (because it is a large continent, local times differ from region to region), landings usually take place between 16:30-19:30. In the next part of the journey, we are first greeted by the United States customs police. Following the completion of the visa and other controls (sometimes this process may take up to 2 hours depending on the passenger density), the baggage collection and transfer procedures are followed. After receiving your luggage, you go through another check at the customs exit. If an incompatibility is detected in the forms given to you on the plane, it is inevitable that the time you will spend here will be extended.

In my personal journeys, the "rental car" that I have booked in advance is very suitable for me. This preference is closely related to the city center of the place you will stay. Because driving in New York city center is both a waste of time and tiring your nerves. Especially in the central area, there are many traffic lights and heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic. For this reason, it is possible to choose a hotel far from the city center and easily visit the center and other relevant points by metro. Of course, this is entirely up to personal preference. To give an idea, it is possible to reach the center from the outermost part of the city in 30-35 minutes by metro. The city's metro network is quite developed; Compliance with the tariff is at the normal level, the fees are acceptable, but the metro vehicles used are well below the expectation.

After the transfer to the places to stay, the first evening started and it was time to encounter the phenomenon called “jetlag”. In this geography, which has an average time difference of 8-9 hours with Turkey, as of 18:00-19:00, people who come from a flight generally start to get sleepy. Because the time in the region they come from is between 02:00 and 04:00 at midnight. When the first practice is to choose to sleep at the first time when sleep comes, the person usually wakes up at 01:00 local time and somehow does not happen in the morning. In order to partially prevent this, it is useful to try to set the time to start sleeping at or after 23:00 local time with eating, shopping and sightseeing activities.

But no matter what you do, you will wake up at 04:00 local time on the first evening and you will not be able to sleep. In the following nights, you will be less affected as your body gets used to the local time pattern. You can be sure that you will experience the same situation after returning home.

New York City is extremely cosmopolitan. On the one hand, while encountering images of the wealth of the world's commercial and banking center, on the other hand,You may encounter a large number of homeless people day and night. You can observe with your own eyes the perceptions and realities that are trying to be placed in people's minds with the slogan of the land of freedom. If you wish, you can visit this city, where there are many tourists from all over the world (except during the CORONA epidemic), by using the red double-decker open-top buses called hop-in-hop. You can come across people selling the tickets you need to use these buses at almost every corner. The fee is usually around 30-40 dollars.

By the way, I think it would be useful to specify an important detail about prices. All kinds of figures such as labels, menus, price lists are tax-free figures. At the time of payment, you will witness that taxes are added, which differs from state to state. Therefore, making your calculations by adding an average of 10 percent tax for the payment will prevent you from encountering surprises later.

In this city, you can definitely find what kind of activity you want, such as cultural trips, gastronomy, nightlife, art, historical buildings, museums, outdoor excursions. The famous Central Park, located right in the middle of the city, is a place that you can visit on foot and is equipped with lakes in greenery and an area large enough to respond to all kinds of activities, including picnics. You can remember those moments again by walking for about an hour from this park, by going to the area called ZERO POINT, which was created in memory of the destroyed old World Trade Center buildings where the events of September 11 took place. While shopping in places that host famous stores such as 5th Street along the way, you can come across all kinds of brands for food and drink at almost every step. You can visit the famous Empire State Building.

You can take a break in the famous Time Square, a 20-minute walk from the central park, and take photos in this square where many people gather. From here, you can visit the large city library for free, which is a 10-minute walk away. It is an extremely large and comprehensive library that I recommend. If you want to travel, it is useful to keep in mind that you can spend at least 2 hours here. Nowadays, it is possible to find the locations of such places easily with smart phones, but if you are one of those people who ask like me, you can easily find the places you are looking for in New York by asking. The settlements in this continent consist of many parallel streets and avenues whose numbers follow each other as if they were drawn with a ruler. Therefore, when you want to learn about a place from someone with a recipe, you will encounter expressions such as 2 blocks on this side or 3 blocks down.

You can reach other settlements by train from the Great Train Station, which is also in the center of the city. I would recommend the Oyster Bar, which a friend of mine showed here, to you. My friend, who is also a colleague, is a person who enjoys traveling and exploring the places mentioned in the stories of the English books he read in his youth. When we entered this station with him, I was very impressed to see the large domed Wide Hall in the middle area and the figures on them. Oyster Bar, which has a small sign on the corner, will definitely attract your attention as a historical place on oysters that had no place in my life until then. This place, where all kinds of oyster-related products are available, is a very pleasant place in an authentic environment and the prices are extremely reasonable.

You can go to the area where tour boats depart, including the famous Statue of Liberty, within 15-20 minutes' walking distance from the area designated as Zero Point. From here, for a fee of around 20 dollars per person, you can participate in tours that take approximately 2 hours to see places such as the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge from the sea. Right next to this pier, there is also a museum with an old aircraft carrier that can be visited free of charge.

By the way, let me state it again, another fact of this country is the tipping phenomenon. It is a situation that is demanded from you as a natural extension of the service provided to you, sometimes exceeding the limit, like an unwritten legal obligation that "puts your eye" on tipping everywhere in this country. In general, a rate of 10 percent is at an acceptable level. When you ask for an account, POS devices have a 'tip' section and sometimes you are asked how much to tip. When you don't leave a tip or leave too little, some will come to you and ask, "Are you not satisfied with the service?" he may ask.

Also, in this country, you can't usually see 'empty taxis' on the roads without passengers, as in ours. When you want to call a taxi, you can use the appropriate means such as internet, telephone, etc. It sends your taxi request to your location and after waiting for a while (at least 15-20 minutes), the taxi arrives to your desired destination.

You can go. The fare increases according to the number of people using the taxis and there is a tipping expectation here as well.

I tried to tell you a short tour of New York. I hope everyone learns by visiting the places they want.

I wish you pleasant travels.