Practical Information for visiting New York State

Phone coverage is comprehensive in the city and along the populated corridors, and genuinely patchy in the Adirondacks, where large areas have none.

Wi-Fi is universal in lodging and cafés, and the city has extensive free public access including in the subway stations.

Download offline maps before heading into the mountains, where a lost signal is a practical problem rather than an inconvenience.

New York City is statistically among the safer large American cities, and ordinary urban awareness is enough. Late-night subway platforms and unfamiliar neighbourhoods warrant the usual care.

The genuine hazards are upstate and environmental: winter driving in lake-effect snow, and the Adirondack High Peaks, where weather changes fast, trails are rough, and rescues take hours.

Common scams in the city cluster around Times Square — costumed characters expecting payment, unlicensed tour sellers, and ticket resellers. None are dangerous; all are avoidable.

No vaccinations or precautions are required, and tap water is safe — the city's is unfiltered and well regarded.

Ticks are widespread and Lyme disease is common, particularly in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island, which have among the highest rates in the country. Check after any time in grass or woodland.

Black flies in the mountains in late spring are severe enough to affect plans.

Summer heat in the city is amplified by the buildings and the subway platforms. Healthcare is excellent and very expensive; insurance is essential for non-US visitors.

Tipping is expected and not optional: 18–20% in restaurants and bars, a dollar or two a drink at a bar, and customary for taxis and hotel staff.

Sales tax is added at the till and varies by county — roughly 8.875% in the city. Clothing and footwear under $110 are exempt from the state portion.

The drinking age is 21 and identification is checked as routine. Open containers of alcohol in public are prohibited.

City etiquette is mostly about pace: keep right on the pavement, stand right on escalators, let people off the train first, and do not stop abruptly in a doorway. None of this is hostility.

911 reaches police, fire and ambulance anywhere in the state.

The city has world-class hospitals throughout. Upstate, major facilities are in the larger cities, and the Adirondacks rely on small hospitals with transfers out — a real consideration given how far from a road some of that terrain is.

Backcountry rescue in the Adirondacks is coordinated by state forest rangers. Response is measured in hours; carry what you need to wait.

311 is the city's non-emergency line and genuinely useful for anything that is not urgent.