Staying Connected

Telephones

Generally, hotel surcharges on long-distance and local calls are astronomical, so you're better off using your cellphone or a public pay telephone. Many convenience stores and drugstores sell prepaid calling cards in denominations up to $50; for international visitors these can be the least expensive way to call home. Many public pay phones at airports now accept American Express, MasterCard, and Visa credit cards. Local calls made from pay phones cost either 25¢ or 50¢ (no pennies, please).

That said, there aren't as many payphones on the streets of New York City as there used to be because of the prevalence of cellphones, and the ones that are there are often out-of-order.

Where to Check Your E-mail in the City That Never Sleeps

If your hotel doesn't offer free access to its business center or a terminal in the lobby to check your e-mail (and many do), where can you go to check it if you don't have a computer with you?

All branches of the New York Public Library (www.nypl.org) feature computers that offer free access to the Internet, electronic databases, library catalogs and Microsoft Office. They are also supposed to offer Wi-Fi, but we've found that having it listed on their Web site and actually having it operative can be two different things.

More free access is available at the Times Square Visitors Center, 1560 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets (tel. 212/768-1560; daily 8am-8pm), has computer terminals that you can use to send e-mails courtesy of Yahoo!; you can even send an electronic postcard, with a photo of yourself, home to Mom.

Open 24/7 in the heart of Times Square, easyInternetcafé [ST], 234 W. 42nd St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues (tel. 212/398-0775; www.easyeverything.com/map/nyc1.html), is the first stateside branch of a worldwide chain of Internet cafes. Boasting flatscreen monitors and a super-fast T3 connection, this mammoth place makes accessing the Internet cheap through the economy of scale: Access is available for as little as $1, and the length of time that buck buys you fluctuates depending on the occupancy at the time you log on. This will generally work out to the cheapest Web time you can buy in the city.

CyberCafe (www.cyber-cafe.com) -- in Times Square at 250 W. 49th St., between Broadway and Eighth Avenue (tel. 212/333-4109) -- is more expensive at $6.40 per half-hour, with a half-hour minimum (you're billed $3.20 for every subsequent 15 min.). But their T1 connectivity gives you super-fast access, and they offer a full range of other cyber, copy, fax, and printing services.

FedEx Kinko's (www.kinkos.com) charges 30¢ per minute ($15 per hour) and there are dozens of locations around town. In addition, an increasing number of delis and copy shops frequently stick an INTERNET sign in the window, and you can log on in a unit wedged into a corner next to the ATM for a couple bucks, while you drink your genuine New York City deli coffee.