Information for International Merleau-Ponty Circle Participants

The conference will be held in the 12th Floor of the Leon Lowenstein Center on Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus in midtown Manhattan. The street address is 113 West 60th St. It is located at the Southwest corner of Central Park, near the 59th St/Columbus Circle subway station. In addition to being wheelchair accessible, this is a very well-serviced subway station: the A, C, B, D, and 1 trains stop here; E trains stop at 50th st, only one stop or a short walk away; and the N, Q, R, and W trains stop at 57th St/7th Ave, a 10 minute walk away.

Lodging

Since accommodation in New York City is expensive, especially in the fall (book early!), and a wide variety of different kinds of arrangements are needed to suit everyone, we do not have an exclusively designated hotel for the conference.

Option 1
We reserved 15 rooms at the Empire Hotel. If your institution requires a designated conference hotel for reimbursement, you may use this. Note that these rooms have one Queen bed (this is standard for the Empire). This option is expensive, even with our preferential rate ($299/night). But it is very close to campus: about a five-minute walk from the conference site. Reserve by August 9 to receive the preferential rate. Mention Fordham/International Merleau-Ponty Circle Conference when booking, or reserve rooms online.

Option 2
I recommend checking out airbnb.com or booking.com to find accommodation within your price range. Book early! It is still possible to find rooms for under $200/night for our time frame, but these prices will go up. When booking accommodations, keep in mind that the conference is located at 113 W 60th St, in midtown Manhattan near the 59th St/Columbus Circle subway station.

Travel

The following directions take you to the 59th St/Columbus Circle subway station. From the northwestern-most entrance/exit at 60th St and Columbus Circle, that station is only a block away from the conference site (just walk west on 60th St one block).

Air
Three airports service New York City: John F. Kennedy airport (JFK), LaGuardia airport (LGA), and Newark airport (EWR).

To reach the conference location from JFK, there are two options. The E train is cheaper, and the LIRR rail system is faster. If choosing the cheaper option, take the E train to the 50th St station. Transfer there to the uptown C and take it to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station. If choosing the faster option, take the LIRR train to Penn Station. From there, get on the uptown A or C and take it to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station.

To reach the conference location from LGA, take the Q70 bus to the E train. Take the E train to the 50th St station and transfer to the C. Take the C uptown one stop to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station.

To reach the conference location from EWR, take the NJ Transit train to New York Penn Station. From there, take an uptown A or C train to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station.

Train
Take an Amtrak, NJ Transit, or LIRR train to New York Penn Station. From there, take an uptown A or C train to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station.

There are two commuter rail systems that do not converge on Penn Station: the Metro-North (coming from north of New York City) and the PATH train (coming from Jersey City or Hoboken). If you are using the Metro-North, take it to Grand Central Station. From there, take the S or the 7 train to Times Sq/42nd St station. Transfer to the uptown A or C train and take it to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station. If you are using the PATH train, take it to the 33rd St station. Walk to Penn Station. from there, take the uptown B or D train to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station.

Bus
Buses arrive at 42nd St/Port Authority. From there, take an uptown A or C train to the 59th St/Columbus Circle station.

Car
It is inadvisable to travel to the conference location by car, since both driving and parking in the area are difficult and expensive. If you do choose to travel to the conference site by car, expect to pay at least $50 per day for parking. One parking option near the conference site is Regent Garage (45 W 60th St).