you have to take a bus backwards for 3 stops just to get to a subway entrance So don't take the subway? I don't know where you're going to or from, but bussing

you have to take a bus backwards for 3 stops just to get to a subway entrance So don't take the subway? I don't know where you're going to or from, but bussing it to Church to get to the Financial District sounds like the most awkward way to accomplish your commute. In no reality would you ever need to ride 25 stops to get to a subway station from an outer borough in NYC. I just picked a random spot (Flushing Chinese Baptist Church, 65th Avenue, Queens) and asked for a route to Penn Station. The second route that the MTA's site spit out included 21 stops on the Q25 followed by another 3 stops (and 20 minutes!) on a rail line. Hell, getting from Ridgewood to JFK required a trek back into Manhattan even though they're both in Queens. The NY subway does not have particularly comprehensive coverage of the outer neighborhoods.