Top 13+ unwritten rules to know before visiting New York City

There are ways to behave in New York City. It used to be that New Yorkers knew them and enforced them with hutzpah, a la "I'm walking here!" Increasingly, it seems, tourists and New Yorkers alike are unsure of the rules. This is a big city, some say the best city, and with that comes a lot of noise and a lot of bodies. But beneath the chaos, some semblance of order can be established and maintained if we all just work together. We're talking about etiquette, people. The city runs more smoothly when visitors and locals alike observe it, so we're going to tell you how to use a sidewalk and board a subway car.

Below, a smattering of local CNT editors, as well as a few of our favorite Big Apple-based tastemakers, weigh in on the unwritten rules of visiting New York City.

This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

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New York City has 472 subway stations and 28 routes covering all 5 boroughs.

Plan for traffic and delays

“As a native New Yorker, this one was a tough lesson to learn—and one that I learned the hard way oh so many times—especially when hailing a cab can feel so convenient. When you’re running late for that Broadway show you booked weeks in advance, do not rely on above-ground transportation to get you there in time,” says Emily Adler, our associate social media manager who grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Delays—construction, parades, protests, street fairs, movie shoots—are the rule on these streets, not the exception, and so using the subway is almost always your best bet. And even when you're using the train, be sure to bake in a ton of extra time to allow for an incident or two.

Use public transportation

As mentioned above, public transportation is the best way to explore the city. New York has one of the best transit systems in the world, including trains, buses, ferries, and even a tram. With 472 stations and 28 routes covering all 5 boroughs, the subway is the most convenient option. To plan your route, plug in your destination into the New York Subway MTA Map app, or use the transit option on Apple Maps or Google Maps. Always make sure to pick the correct entrance based on the direction you’re traveling (in Manhattan, this will be uptown or downtown for the most part) to avoid ending up on the wrong side of the tracks. You can tap-to-pay with your phone, contactless credit card, or MetroCard. If you're in a subway desert, there's a bus that will either take you where you need to go or to the nearest subway. At times, it may seem that there is no rhyme or reason to their schedule, but one will come eventually.

Time for the rules. When the subway arrives, stand to the side of (not in front of) the door to let passengers off the train first. Once everyone gets off, then you can board. If the doors are closing right when you get there, don’t panic—and please don't hold them open. There’s likely another train right behind it. If there are lots of people packed into one car, move to the center to make room for riders filing in behind you. And if you get stuck standing right in front of the door, you'll need to exit at the next stop to let folks out (just stand to the right or left, and then you can hop back on).

Now for the seating etiquette: They are reserved for butts, not for bags—so don’t hog a spot with your purse. Offer your seat if you see someone who needs it more. If you’re standing and wearing a backpack like a tall schoolchild on a crowded train, take it off and hold it in your hands or place it by your feet so you don’t whack the people behind you. When you’ve finally arrived at your destination and are climbing up the stairs back to life above ground, real New Yorkers will always offer to help carry strollers or heavy suitcases—we're all in this together.

That subway car is empty for a reason

"Never get on an empty subway car," says Global Digital Director Arati Menon, “because there’s probably a good reason for it.” Perhaps it's summer, and the air conditioning broke, or a big spill has sent a carton of fragrant fish soup trickling down the length of the car. Take the cue and go where the other people are, even if it means you don't get a seat—there's safety in numbers.

Jaywalking is a precise art

One of the first things you might notice when visiting New York City is that we don’t wait for the crosswalk signal to cross. I mean, really, who has time for that? In fact, jaywalking is so commonplace that it's now officially legal in New York City—so there's no need to worry about getting a ticket. However, this does not mean you should blindly follow the person in front of you and cross the street with your phone directions in front of your face. “Locals will mentally time the gap between traffic to a millisecond and it may no longer be safe for you to cross once it's your turn,” explains our associate editor Hannah Towey, “Before taking the leap, look in the direction that traffic is coming from—both ways if you’re not sure—and then look again for any e-bikes in the bike lane—they are more likely to hit you than a car.”

The sidewalk has similar rules to traffic

Walking is a form of commuting for New Yorkers. Until she moved to Ridgewood earlier this year, Global Features Editor Erin Florio frequently walked to work from Carroll Gardens. “You will see so much city life doing so,” she says. It's ok to go slow as a tourist and take in the sights, but if you're going to move glacially, do so with mindfulness. Think of the sidewalk as a two-lane highway. Keep right, first of all. Two pedestrians across, maximum (more on that in a minute). You're not wearing horse blinders, so try to keep tabs on whether or not someone is trying to get around you—and let them. The faster walker always has the right of way. Why would you cut someone off only to trap them?

Just as you should not text and drive, texting while walking in New York City is potentially perilous to the inexperienced tourist. “Don't slam the brakes, pull over,” says creator Matthew Bass, “If you need to check directions or read that important text, slowly veer to the edge of the sidewalk. Don't stop on a dime and quickly 180º without warning; it's hazardous. This can cause someone with a piping hot cup of coffee to crash right into you. You can take calls, but the bare minimum is eyes on the road."

Don’t take up the whole sidewalk

“Often, when I’m charging up the block in a dense part of the city—from subway to restaurant; from office to bar—I find myself mind-blown at how challenging it is for some pedestrians to walk a straight line at a speedy clip,” writes associate articles director Megan Spurrell, “People, surely from out of town, are walking like a chorus line, commandeering the entire sidewalk, forcing me to weave around and step onto the street to pass.” The problem has become so pronounced that Instagram creators like Bass are roaming the city, Apple Glasses on, rating walkers—it's part observational comedy, part public service tutorial on how to take up space. A group of four should not cascade across the sidewalk in a diagonal Connect-4, but rather get in formation as a two-by-two to the right. The flow works when we all cooperate.

If you want to eat at a buzzy restaurant in NYC without a reservation, try walking in early or sit at the bar.

Tables can be tough, but they don't always have to be

If you’re looking to snag a table at one of the best restaurants in New York City, try to book as far in advance as you possibly can. Resy is one of the city’s top booking platforms, and its Notify feature (to be used when a reservation isn’t available on a date you want) is easy to have a love-hate relationship with—that being said, be sure to use it for multiple restaurants on multiple dates for your best chances of success, and you’ll get a reservation notification if a table becomes available.

For more low-key spots, there’s much more wiggle room, but it can never hurt to book somewhere in advance, even if you might cancel it later on (don’t ignore cancellation policies). Pro tip: if you’re struggling like the rest of the city to get into some of the buzziest new restaurants, try walking in as early as 4 p.m. and requesting a table—oftentimes you will be able to grab seats at the bar or be put on a waitlist.

Carry cash

A lot of the really good places—the old school red sauce joints, the crazy mile-high sandwich delis, the best NYC dive bars where you’re grateful the walls can’t speak but you never want to leave—don’t care about your credit card. Some of these spots will have an ATM in the back corner where, for a fee, you can pull out a stack of $20s. It's better to have cold, hard cash on you at all times—$40 at least, but if you’re going to be bopping around a ton, make it $100. Just in case. Having cash also means you're equipped to tip street performers should you be so moved. (Easy way to rack up good city karma? Spot someone panicking to pay for that martini, and let them pay you on Zelle or Venmo, if you can spare it.)

Yellow cabs are still used just as frequently, if not more so, than Uber or Lyft.

Taxis over Uber, all day everyday

The yellow taxi is a New York City icon, and it's more endangered than ever thanks to the rise of Uber. Brynn Wallner of Dimepeace had this spelled out for her once, on a long trip between JFK and her apartment: “First of all, a taxi is generally cheaper—no surge pricing, set prices including on tips. Then there's the fact that a taxi is regulated by the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission rather than the tech overlords at Uber. I'm not really sure what the fine points are here (my driver mentioned something about insurance), but I'd rather deal with a New York enterprise than whatever's going on in Silicon Valley if an issue arose.” If you're not in Manhattan, where cabs still whiz by on demand, or need to schedule a ride, the Curb app lets you order a taxi in the same way you would an Uber. Consider a download.

Mind your business

In New York City, you will often find yourself in jam-packed public spaces, like a rush-hour subway car or crowded sidewalk. In order to create a faux-sense of anonymity and privacy whilst getting up close and personal with strangers, it’s common etiquette to avoid direct eye contact to help create a mental barrier of space when it’s not physically possible. This also applies to dramatic scenes or celebrity sightings that may attract stares in your hometown. If there’s one thing New Yorkers are good at, it’s minding our business.

While in the suburbs it’s more common to smile and say hello to everyone who passes, this is quite literally impossible in highly dense NYC neighborhoods. This doesn’t mean you shouldn't offer polite smiles and greetings when it makes sense—while engaging in conversation, or saying hello to your friendly neighborhood doorman or bodega cashier, for example. When in social environments, please go forth and shoot your shot, but you’re guaranteed an odd look if you randomly say hello to every stranger you see on the street. As for the reverse, if someone approaches you on the street and says, “Can I ask you a question?” or something of the like, just keep walking unless you’re willing to buy something, hand over your email for a petition, or end up on TikTok.

The Staten Island ferry is the best way to see the Statue of Liberty—and it's free.

If you’re only spending time in Manhattan, you’re doing it wrong

New York City is not just Manhattan. Manhattan has much of what you know from film and television—Carrie’s West Village apartment, Eloise’s penthouse, etc., etc., etc.—but New Yorkers don’t stay in one borough. “There are five, and beyond the fact that we live throughout them, we travel by subway or ferry or bicycle to the others,” says Spurrell. Even on a short trip to the city, it’s worth traveling to Queens for food from every corner of the world, or Rockaway Beach in the summer; Brooklyn is arguably just an extension of Manhattan, with some of the best restaurants in the city—and the nightlife is arguably even better (check out our guide to the best bars for live music in Brooklyn). The Bronx is where you’ll find Yankee Stadium, and an underrated Little Italy; and hey, Staten Island gets a lot of flak, but the free ferry is the best way to see the Statue of Liberty (and you can eat killer Italian and Sri Lankan food on the other side).

New York can be a ferry tale

“The most important thing? F-E-R-R-Y. The ferry gives me the sense [of Capri]," says veteran real estate agent Laurie Cooper. “New York is looking its best. It takes you where you need to go in a different way. It's great for families with children.” That's right, when the weather is nice (or even when it isn't—there are ample interior seats), the New York City Ferry Service offers the most pleasant public transportation this city has. It's an activity in and of itself for the views, but moving on the water also quickly zips you between such disparate places as Williamsburg and the Financial District, Midtown East, and Governors Island. Check out the routes .

Do not overthink your outfit

Florio sums it up best: “New York is where you can let your personal style shine—on any given night, you'll see models and fashion execs flaunting the latest designer trends alongside deceivingly casual fits. New Yorkers are masters of making dressing down appear like they’ve dressed up (yes, that t-shirt that kid is wearing at Casino probably cost a few hundred dollars). Some rules of thumb: When in doubt, wear black; good skin is way more important than good makeup; sneakers will work in almost any situation where you assume you should be wearing heels; and, in summer, you will not need to bring a jacket or cardigan of any kind with you if staying out from day to night.”