Getting to Forest Hills

Forest Hills is a neighbourhood in the Queens borough of New York City. The intersection of 71 Ave (a.k.a. Continental Ave) & Queens Boulevard could be called the center of the neighbourhood. In the context of this blog, directions to Forest Hills implies reaching this intersection.

To reach this place you could use one of the following directions depending on the mode of transport and the place of origination :

Taking the MTA (subway)
F,E,G,V,R trains stop at Forest Hills (71Ave/Continental Ave). E & F are the express lines and G,V & R are local.

• Coming from the another neighbourhood within Queens or other NYC Boroughs (Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Statn Island) -
• There could be numerous combinations depending on the station where you enter the subway system. It would be best to lookup the system map and navigate your way upto Forest Hills. The MTA Subway Maps are available at http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/index.html
  
• Try using HopStop to find the optimum route to get between two places within the city limits served by the MTA subway
  
• Coming from Jersey City, Hoboken or Newark (NJ) -
  
• If you take the PATH train to the 33rd st, then connect to the F & V (Uptown & Queens) trains at 34th st - Herald Square (there is a walkway underground that connects the PATH train stop to the subways)
  
• If you take the PATH train to the World Trade Center (WTC), then connect to the E train at WTC
• Coming from rest of NJ
• You take the NJTransit to NY Penn Station, then connect to the E (Uptown & Queens) at the Penn Station
• Coming from areas of New York and Connecticut (served by MTA Metro-North Railroad)
• Reach Grand Central Terminal, then
  
• either take the 6 line (Uptown & Bronx) and change to the E or V line at the 51st st (only one stop away on the 6 line)
• or take the 7 line (Main St Flushing bound) to Roosevelt Ave/Jackson Heights and change to F,E,G,V or R. Take the 7 express to save time. 7 express is usuallly available only during peak hours on weekdays
• else walk a couple of blocks to the Bryant Park (a very good idea in the summer season) and take the F(Uptown & Queens) at the 42nd st-Bryant Park stop
• Coming from Long Island, NY (served by MTA Long Island Rail Road(LIRR))
• There is an LIRR station at Forest Hills. Details about this station are available at http://lirr42.mta.info/stationinfo.asp?station=010
  
• However, not all lines connect to this station and it does not fall on the express line. Also I understand the frequency of the train connecting to the line, on which the Forest Hills train station falls, is rather low.
• All Manhattan bound trains terminate at the NY Penn Station. Connect to the E line (Uptown & Queens) at the Penn Station to reach Forest Hills.
• If you get off at any of the other stops in Queens, e.g. Jamaica, Woodside, Flushing, etc...., then please see the direction in the sub-section - "Coming from the another neighbourhood within Queens........"

Taking the bus
Queens is serviced by the following bus service(s) -

• MTA Buses - Lookup http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/bus/ to get details about routes, schedules and fees
• Triboro Coach Corporation - Lookup http://www.triborocoach.com/
• Green Bus Lines - Lookup http://www.greenbus.com/

Driving to Forest Hills
Use "71st ave & Queens Blvd, Queens, NY 11375" to search Google Maps, Yahoo Maps or MapQuest. The two closest expressways are the "Grand Central Parkway(GCP)" and the "I-495".

When coming from NJ, especially South and Central NJ, if one wants to avoid the city, then one could come via the Verrazano Bridge and take the I-278 (or Belt Parkway - I-278 passes over Belt Parkway for some distance) to go up towards Forest Hills.

Lookup http://web.mit.edu/smalpert/www/roads/ny/ to get deatils about all the freeways and expressways in the state of NY

Getting to Forest Hills from the Airports in the area

• from JFK

• via Taxi - just catch one at the airport and reach Forest Hills, NY. This should cost between $20 and $25. If the driver is not familiar with Forest Hills, which is highly unlikely, ask him to take Van Wyck Expy(I-678) North and take exit #9 (RT-25) and then bear right onto Queens Blvd. Alternatively continue on I-678 till you reach the Grand Central Parkway(GCP) exit and take exit #11 on GCP to Jewel Ave. Both ways you are in the neighbourhood.
• via Airtrain & Subway - Take the airtrain to Station D (Jamaica Station) and connect to the E line (WTC bound). Airtrain is $5 per ride.
• via bus -
• either take Q10 (Green Bus) from all terminals to Kew Gardens and connect to E & F (Manhattan bound)
  
• or take Q3 (MTA) from Terminal 4 and connect to the F line

• from LGA(LaGuardia)

• via Taxi - catch one from the terminal. This should cost around $15. In case the driver doesn't know the directions, ask him to take GCP East and take exit #11 (Jewel Ave) on the parkway.
• via bus and subway combine - take Q33 bus (TriBoro Coach) from all terminals except the Marine Air Terminal to Jackson Heights and connect to E,F,G,R & V