By Harriet Baskas

Airport essentials In this article: Ground transportation options. Grab a bite for your flight. Do some gift shopping. More info on the Web: LGA Web site LGA ground transportation page In 1929, the site of the Gala Amusement Park in Queens, New York, was transformed into a private airport. The airport was subsequently renamed North Beach Airport, New York Municipal Airport–LaGuardia Field, and finally, in 1947, LaGuardia Airport (airport code: LGA), in honor of popular Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia.

Get oriented Take care of yourself Take care of business Explore the airport Transportation

Get oriented Baggage note You can rent luggage carts for $3 in the lower-level Baggage Claim areas, in the parking lots near the walkways into the terminals, and on the upper levels of the Central Terminal Building. LaGuardia has four terminals: Terminal A serves Delta Shuttle flights out of the historic Marine Air Terminal. The six-block-long Terminal B (the Central Terminal Building, or CTB) has four concourses (A, B, C, and D) and serves American, Continental, Frontier, Midwest, United, and other airlines. Terminal C serves US Airways flights, while Terminal D is used by Northwest and Delta. You can walk between most terminals in 5 to 10 minutes, but it's much easier to take the Red and White shuttle bus that comes by approximately every 10 minutes. Don't try walking to the Delta Shuttle terminal in the Marine Air Terminal, however, as it's more than a mile from the Central Terminal Building. To get your bearings, ask for an airport map from one the information booths on the Departures level of the Central Terminal Building. You can also consult the airport Web site's terminal map. Take care of yourself Food note Best bet for a carry-on meal: Todd English's Figs restaurant, in the Central Terminal Building, will pack up their signature thin-crust pizza or anything else on their gourmet menu. Best sinful snack: Candy, by the piece or pound, from Candy Express in the LaGuardia Marketplace in the Central Terminal Building. Eat: For the widest range of choices, head to the food courts located pre-security in Terminal B (the Central Terminal Building) between Concourses B and C and by Concourse D. Highlights there include Figs Restaurant (table service), Asian Chao, Brooklyn National Deli, Coffee Beanery, and Famous Famiglia. The Cibo Express Market has great to-go options as well, and the Au Bon Pain, outside Concourse D, is open 24 hours. There are also grab-and-go options post-security, including Au Bon Pain (Gates A, B, and C), Cibo Express Market (Gates B and C), and Figs and Cosi Pronto (D Gates). In Terminal A (the Delta Shuttle/Marine Air Terminal) your best bet is the cafeteria-style Yankee Clipper Restaurant, located pre-security, in the rotunda. Be sure to take a minute to look at the historic photos on the wall as you enter. In Terminal C (US Airways Terminal), head to the post-security food court for Anton’s (table service), Greenleaf Grill, McDonalds, Sbarro, and Wok & Roll. There’s a Wolfgang Puck to-go by Gate 3. Several take-out options are located over by shuttle Gates 15–22 as well. Post-security in Delta’s Terminal (D), look for Burger King, Chili’s, the TV-rich Fox Bar and Restaurant, Nathans, Sbarro Express, and Starbucks. Relax and refresh: To escape the airport hustle and bustle, head for the center section of the Central Terminal Building, where you'll find comfortable seating areas and a nice view of the airfield. Outdoors, the area between the US Airways Terminal and the Central Terminal Building has pleasant landscaping and several benches. For an even nicer spot, take the airport shuttle bus over to the Marine Air Terminal, which also has a small landscaped area with benches. You can also relax with a movie: InMotion Pictures has several spots in the Central Terminal Building (pre-security) where you can rent a DVD player and a movie. Watch it here or return it from the road. Got a toothache? LGA has a dental office on-site. You'll find it in the Central Terminal Building, upstairs behind the American Airlines ticket counter. For more serious relaxation or exercise, several nearby hotels, including the Wyndham Garden Hotel and the Marriott LaGuardia Airport, offer day rates that include access to health clubs, pool, and exercise rooms. Use the hotel phones in Baggage Claim to ask for current rates and specific facilities. Sorry, smokers, you’ll have to head outside the terminals to light up. Take care of business Business note A full-service post office is located on the arrivals level of the Central Terminal Building. Wireless Internet access is available in the Central Terminal Building (B), in the US Airway Terminal (C), and in all airline club rooms. In the Central Terminal Building, airline club members will find lounges for United, Continental, and American. The US Airways lounge is post-security in Terminal C. Both Northwest and Delta have lounges post-security in Terminal D. (Note: Wi-Fi access is free in the Northwest lounge.) Non-club members can get work done at Laptop Lane, which rents fully-equipped offices by the minute, in the Central Terminal Building. Explore the airport Shopping note Best souvenir under $10: Chocolates wrapped in images of the Statue of Liberty and other city sights, at Candy Express, in the Central Terminal Building. Shop: Again, the Central Terminal Building (Terminal B) is where you’ll find the most choices. Highlights pre-security include Barbara’s Bestsellers and Hudson Booksellers, Discover New York (NYC museum merchandise), a Metropolitan Museum of Art store, Music Express, National Geographic, Brookstone, Taxco Sterling (jewelry), and LIDS (baseball caps). Brookstone also has branches post-security on Concourses C and D. Hudson News has nine outlets throughout the terminal as well. Highlights post-security in the US Airways Terminal (Terminal C) include Altitunes, Brooks Brothers, Hudson Booksellers, Discover New York, and a PGA Tour shop. In the Delta Terminal (Terminal D) look for a PGA Tour Shop, as well as a gift shop, bookstore, and newsstand, all post-security. Sightsee: If you have time, take the free 10-minute shuttle bus ride to the Marine Air Terminal and view the James Brooks mural Flight. Completed in 1942, this is the largest mural created under the auspices of the federally funded Works Progress Administration art program. The building's rotunda also houses a model of the Flying Boat, the Boeing 314 that Pan American World Airways operated from March 1940 through June 1945. On the wall is an exhibit detailing that airplane's layout, including the areas where pampered travelers once dined and napped. Lookout: Good views of the airfield can be had from the food and retail court located between Concourses B and C and at the end of each concourse area in the Central Terminal Building. Play around: There’s a small play area post-security on Concourse A of the Central Terminal Building, but otherwise LaGuardia offers no kid-specific play areas. For fun, settle in at the marketplace in the Central Terminal Building and watch planes come and go, then visit the National Geographic store and the bookstores for kid-friendly toys and books. Or hop on the shuttle bus to the Marine Air Terminal to see the mural. Transportation Transportation note The ground transportation phone lines are staffed weekdays, 8 AM to 6 PM. Tel. 1 (800) 247-7433. You can also stop by one of the Ground Transportation counters on the lower/arrivals level of any terminal, where staff can make reservations and offer directions. For a preview, check the airport's ground transport page. A taxi ride to Manhattan costs about $26 (plus tolls) and can take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on traffic. Alternatives to taxis include limousines or scheduled and shared van or bus services ($10–20). New York Airport Service Express Bus, for example, runs about every half-hour to Grand Central Station, Port Authority, and Penn Station for $12. Tel. 1 (718) 875-2000. SuperShuttle shared vans to Midtown hotels cost about $15. Tel. 1 (212) 258-3826. For $2, you can have a real New York experience: The M60 Bus (New York City Transit Authority) goes to Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, where you can connect with any number of subway trains. (All prices subject to change.) For more information about LaGuardia International Airport, call 1 (718) 533-3400.  Guides to more than 65 airports are available online from Expedia's Airport Information page, or buy the whole book, Stuck at the Airport: A Traveler's Survival Guide, at Amazon.com.

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