Taxi

In the movies, New York City cab drivers are a cross between Jeff Gordon and Saddam Hussein. People are often ignored by the first ten cabs they see. It becomes a movie in of itself to find a taxi who will stop and take them in. Movie cab drivers run red lights, drive in the wrong direction, barely miss hitting pedestrians. They have to run with other asshole drivers, and deal with them by being assholes right back. They manage to know every shortcut, and can get to any location in the city in mere minutes, but their passengers are often terrified and/or angry by the end of the ride.

In reality, it's pretty easy to find a cab. Outside of the airport or train station, there's a line of taxis waiting for you. And if you're on any major intersection, it only takes a few minutes to flag down a cab. Anyone who has been in grade school and has experience raising his or her hand in the air should have no problem finding transportation.

Another myth is how cab drivers know where everything is. This may be true in Manhattan, but if you're traveling to the outer boroughs, it might take a minute or two to explain where you're going. Luckily, some cabs are equipped with GPS where they can just punch in the address. Otherwise, they call some mysterious person who knows where everything is in the city, and they get directions from them. Sometimes though, they will get lost, and drive in the wrong direction. They will actually slow down and look at the street signs to see where they are. You may actually have to lean over and say "We need to turn around" or "You don't have to cry, I'll tell you where to go."

From there, it's actually a smooth ride. It's New York City, so there's inevitably traffic and asshole drivers and pedestrians who are jerks, but the New York City cab driver is unaffected by his surroundings. He's too busy laughing at some Jamaican, Italian, or Arabic comedian on the radio. Or he's listening to his iPod, singing along to Katy Perry. Yes, Katy Perry is popular among New York City cab drivers. If you're lucky, you can ignore the driver's vocalizing because there's a touch screen TV in the cab. It's especially great if you like watching Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa talk about touch screen TVs in cabs.

I've taken cabs in almost every city I've visited, and no one comes ahead of New York in terms of service. Unless you're drunk, then you'll pay $100 for a 1 hour cab ride from 42nd Street to 40th.