Ugh. Terrible traffic on BQE. Definitely missing my flight to San Diego.

— John Carney (@carney) February 13, 2013

There's nothing I hate more than being stuck in traffic on the way to the airport, losing minutes and the probability of catching my flight.

— felix salmon (@felixsalmon) January 31, 2013

There's an epidemic of smart people messing up their travel plans. (To be fair, Felix was not in NYC during that tweet, but he did ask "Is there a good guide for how long it takes to drive from Manhattan to JFK at various times of day/week?" the other day.) Yes, New York City [...]

CBS New York News—that's the TV station that didn't employ Sue Simmons—is going big on how JFK airport is a hotbed of thefts in checked luggage. Their claim: there are 200 thefts a day, every day, from checked bags: "Baggage handlers, jetway workers and even security people are all in on the ongoing scam to steal you blind," is what they're screaming. Their big money quote is from "JFK security lawyer Kenneth Mollins." Did you know there was a kind of lawyer who was a "JFK security lawyer"? That seems unusual! Actually, Kenneth Mollins is a "personal injury attorney." He once:

• represented a client who sued [...]

We have spent a lot of time talking about New York City's airports (down to our obsession with how to get to JFK from Williamsburg). Our experts' surprising summation here was that LaGuardia was secretly the most pleasing airport in New York: "You know what the problems are, but it’s quiet in the evenings, has a cool mural and is still the easiest to reach, all other things being equal. Ultimately, the approach up the East River, with Manhattan out the left side window, is one of the most beautiful in the world, every time." Yeah sure, while that is true, I also particularly like the [...]

New York City's airport problem is legendary. JFK is extremely far, LaGuardia is extremely small, and Newark is in New Jersey. (One secret is that in many ways Newark is the best airport for New York—depending! It all always depends.)

Sloppy thinking in New York City might tell you that the best way to go long distances is via cab. You don't have to think, you can see the speed you're making and, you know, you feel like a rich lady. But the transit systems of New York have been improving radically over the last ten years (though the improvements can destroy your weekends!) and now? No one agrees on [...]

This weekend the Times travel section wrote about frequent flier security programs, including TSA PreCheck—or, as the government likes to call it, TSA Pre✓™. Mostly it was just speculation from the writer: "I’m anticipating an expedited stroll through a special security checkpoint." Oh honey! Well, let me tell you about that expedited stroll, as a bona fide government-approved flying person who has now strolled security more expeditiously than can be believed.

Trouble. It’s out there. Sometimes you find it; sometimes it finds you.

I first met Edward T. Hall III last October at TEDxGotham, one of those independent TED offshoots that spring up around the world. A friend had invited me to attend her presentation on social robotics. Edward—Ted to his friends—distinguished himself from the rest of the speakers by reading a poem on the steps of Cooper Union after the event.

As the poem concluded, he wept openly, tears streaking his cheeks between long locks of hair. There’s a special kind of person who can authentically cry in public, bridging the gap between goony political [...]