Nassau County to JFK
18–25 miles, 30–40 minutes off-peak and up to 80 on a bad afternoon.
Northline Black Car
Routes
Four journeys account for most of what a black car in this region actually does. For each, this page gives the distance, the times by hour of the day, the places it goes wrong, and the point at which you would be better off on a train. Prices for these trips are on the rates page, and the airports themselves are covered under airports.
Every route page tells you
Distance, drive time by time of day, the pinch points, what it costs at the Manhattan end — and when to book something other than us.
Book: (646) 222-4444 · Notice 15 minutes airport, 15 minutes in the city, 1 hour elsewhere
The four
Two airport corridors, one seasonal run and one commuter route. Each is a flat-rate trip unless you want the car to stay with you, in which case it is priced by the hour.
Manhattan to JFK — from $185
17–19 miles and anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes. The Van Wyck, the three congestion charges, and the case for the AirTrain.
NYC to the Hamptons
90–115 miles. Two hours in March, four to six on a summer Friday afternoon, and one road east of the Shinnecock Canal that nothing can route around.
Greenwich CT to Manhattan
~30 miles. Forty minutes at six in the morning, two hours at nine — against a Metro-North express that does it in 41 either way.
Side by side
| Route | Distance | Best case | Typical | Bad day | Serious alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau → JFK | 18–25 mi | 25 min | 30–40 min | 80 min | LIRR to Jamaica + AirTrain, $8.75 to exit |
| Manhattan → JFK | 17–19 mi | 35 min | 50–70 min | 90 min+ | LIRR or subway to Jamaica + AirTrain |
| NYC → Hamptons | 90–115 mi | 1h 50m | 2h 15m–2h 45m | 4–6h summer Friday | LIRR "Cannonball", ~2h 45m |
| Greenwich → Manhattan | ~30 mi | 40 min | 45–60 min | 2h | Metro-North express, ~41 min |
Three of those four have a rail alternative that beats us in the right conditions — one person, light luggage, both ends near a station, peak traffic. We would rather tell you that here than have you discover it in a queue. What a car is genuinely for: doors rather than stations, groups, luggage, odd hours, weather, multiple stops, and a schedule that does not fit a timetable.
What these figures assume
| Assumption | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | A sedan or SUV unless stated. A group vehicle wants more notice and, at peak, a slightly earlier pickup — up to 3 hours. |
| Times | Typical observed ranges, not guarantees. Weather, incidents and construction all sit outside them. |
| Tolls | are not included in the fare and are itemized in your quote |
| Congestion charges | Anything touching Manhattan south of 96th Street carries the State surcharge; south of 60th, the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ) per-trip charge too. Full explanation. |
Common questions
Can I book a route not listed here?
Yes — these four are simply the corridors that carry most black car work in this region. Anything within our service areas is a normal booking, and anything beyond them is long-distance work.
Is the fare fixed for these routes?
A trip is quoted as a flat rate for airport transportation and set destinations, or an hourly rate when the car is at your disposal. We never charge surge prices: the price you're quoted is the price you pay — the full position is on the rates page.
Can I tell you about something on the road that day?
Please do. A school run, a street fair, a closure at your end, a building entrance that only works from one side — say it at booking and it goes on the job. The driving is ours to plan; the local detail at your address is usually yours to know.
What happens if the traffic goes badly wrong?
You get told while it is happening rather than afterwards. On airport work that is the whole point of tracking the flight and planning from the bag-drop cut-off — the slack is built in before departure, not improvised at the Van Wyck.
Do you charge for traffic?
That follows from what the quote is built from: a flat rate for airport transportation and set destinations, or an hourly rate when the car is at your disposal. Where a trip is quoted as a flat rate, traffic does not move the number — which is the reason to ask for one on a corridor with a long tail. On hourly hire the clock is the product, so time in traffic is time booked, and overrun is billed rounded up to the next full hour.
Sources: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey AirTrain JFK fare ($8.75 to exit at Jamaica or Howard Beach) · MTA Metro-North New Haven Line schedules (Greenwich express approx. 41 minutes) · LIRR Montauk Branch summer "Cannonball" express (approx. 2h 45m). Drive times are typical observed ranges as at August 2026.