That time I slept on the streets of NY

This story takes us to a time when I was playing video games competitively. I believe I was about 16-17 years old when this story took place. I had a stint during my high school and college years where I was pretty heavily into competitive gaming and I was traveling all over the US to compete in these tournaments. For this particular tournament I was going with a team that I had been practicing with for some time which even included a female teammate (a rare occurrence in the gaming world). The game we were playing was Halo which involves a number of game types played with teams of 4. Some teams even have a coach standing behind them barking call-outs and weapon spawn times. For this tournament I would be attending MLG (Major League Gaming) Meadowlands which took place in New Jersey. I had one other teammate coming from California and the other two would be traveling from the east coast. This would be my second time going to New York for a gaming tournament although the first time I was lucky enough to have my sister set up most of my accommodations and travel. She happens to live in New York and had a black car ready and waiting for me when I landed which made everything pretty easy during that trip. This time around I was on my own for the accommodations and local transit.

Anyhow, my teammate had actually offered in advance to pick me up from the airport which was pretty helpful as she’d have her car with her. I had booked my flight and our hotel room was sponsored. The plan was to land in New York at midnight on Thursday and have my teammate pick me up soon after; allowing me to sleep in the hotel for a few hours before registration and warm-ups around 7:00am.

Skip ahead a bit and I was landing in at JFK Airport which is kind of on the east side of New York. I called my teammate to come pick me up but we’d made one small flaw in our communications. She thought I was flying into Newark Airport which is located pretty close to the Meadowlands, but I was actually on the whole other side of New York City. She wasn’t having any of that and basically said “good luck getting here” which was a bit intense but fair given driving across NY isn’t much of a joy ride. So now my convenient travel plans were a bit in the air and I had to figure out how I would get from JFK to the Meadowlands. Keep in mind this story takes place before Uber and Lyft were popular… I did have a cell phone but if I recall, google maps and travel apps weren’t really that useful at the time.

I exited the terminal and made my way to the lobby waiting area just outside the gates. I quickly realized that this was the last plane that would be touching down for the evening and this entire part of the airport would be closing for the night. I didn’t waste any time as I made my way to an airport staff who was in the middle of helping another passenger find their way with a huge map sprawled on a small table. I waited patiently for my turn and finally began my interrogation on how I could get to the Meadowlands by morning. The attendant was obviously trying his best to help a number of us stranded travelers but presented me with a puzzled expression after my inquiry. Once he realized that I was serious, he began his explanation of how I could slowly creep my way across New York throughout the evening and eventually arrive to the Meadowlands by morning. I personally wasn’t too concerned with the travel time and although I wanted to sleep before the tournament, I’ve functioned often on sleepless nights.

The final instructions consisted of taking the airport tram the main station where I could walk a little and get a ticket for the subway which would allow me to cross most of New York through the underground. Once I got to whatever station it was I needed I would exit and need to walk a few block to the New Jersey Transit were I could catch a bus bound for the Meadowlands. All in all the instructions didn’t seem too hard but the attendant ensured me it would take quite some time especially given that it was nearly 1am and only certain transportation options would be available.

I stepped away to take a minute to think over my options during which time one of the very aggressive Italian taxi drivers crept over and began inquiring where I needed to go. I explained to him I was trying to get to the Meadowlands and he quickly quoted me $105 for the full trip there. I nearly dropped my jaw at that quote and without saying a word, went back to the airport attendant and asked him what it would cost collectively for me to take public transit to the Meadowlands. His answer was that it would roughly cost me about $7. Now, it’s important to recall that I was a pretty poor student at this point and had a very tight budget. While I had enough to take the $100 taxi ride, it just didn’t seem reasonable. While I’m not a stingy person, I can’t stand the idea of ever overpaying or being ripped off for something. I decided I’d take the public transit regardless of the amount of travel time, as long as I could get to the Meadowlands by 7am. On my way out of the lobby and off to the air tram, the taxi driver ran me down again and was in shock by my denial of his offer. Frustrated with my stubbornness, he explained that it was quite far and difficult to get to at this time of night. He then proceeded to reevaluate his offer and adjusted his asking price to something along the lines of $75 in which I’d have to pay the bridge tolls myself. While the offer was only slightly more appealing, it was too late, I’d already made my mind up; fantasizing about the things I could do with the $100 I’d be saving while partaking on a bit of an adventure for the evening, I began my journey.

I headed onto the tram which was mildly busy collecting passengers from each of the terminals on the way to the station where everyone would transfer to the subway in an attempt to get home before the night slipped away from them. I eventually rolled into the station and luckily was able to manage the kiosk well enough to get the ticket I needed to proceed to my next destination in which the attendant had instructed. I was slightly excited to be doing this journey on my own and also a bit scared of what things New York at night had in store for me. I continued onto the subway where I was able to get a good seat in the middle of the car without many civilians in the proximity. I had no one sitting across from me but did notice an interesting bunch overall on the train. A few that looked homeless but one guy in particular caught my attention who was in a full blue camo jumper. He looked to be Mexican or Columbian and was just staring in my direction – like wide-eyed no blinking type of stare. I tried to avoid eye contact and keep to myself. I usually packed pretty light for these tournaments so all I really had was a small bag which carried my controller and some extra sweats, socks & undies – nothing that would be all too appealing to a snatcher. The subway continued on and as we slowly approached my final destination the guy came over and sat right across from me and proceeded to just stare in my direction. I was literally frozen in fear. He wasn’t saying anything and really didn’t look that scary but I couldn’t understand his infatuation with looking my direction.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for me to arrive at the stop in which I needed to get off the train and make my way to the street level. I knew I had to walk a few blocks to get the New Jersey Transit Center. I made sure I wasn’t being followed as I strolled along the street past some homeless people and a late night DVD store. I had finally made it to the Transit Center and shockingly realized that it doesn’t actually open until 6am or so. Given it was something like 3am in the morning at this point, I still had a few hours before I would be able to access the transit center and bus system. I did notice though that the Grey Hound terminal was open throughout the night. That would at least give me somewhere warm and somewhat safe to chill for a few hours. I made my way to into the Grey Hound transit area where there were a ton of people lining up for soon-to-be departing busses. I also noticed that there were some seats available while most had been slightly converted into small encampments by homeless residents. I was beginning to hurt for some rest and knew there would be limited opportunities for me to sleep going forward. I decided to take a second to observe my situation and surroundings. I noted that the homeless people and and others sleeping at the transit center had turned their bags to their front and slept hugging them so that it would difficult to take anything out without waking the person. I finally decided to settle down into one of the available corners and took my bag and hugged it myself as I laid my head against the wall and slowly dozed off.

When I finally woke, it was a little before 6am and I knew that the transit would be opening up for the first buses soon. I quickly made my way upstairs and found that the vast transit center was still quite deserted. The ticketing counters weren’t open and I wasn’t quite sure yet which bus I needed to take. With over 230 different gates, the New Jersey Transit can be quite overwhelming. I must’ve had a pretty puzzled look on my face as it didn’t take long before I was approached by a kind of shady looking guy. He had a little bit of a limp and his first words to me were “yo, you lost?!”. I explained to him that I was indeed lost and I just wanted to get to the Meadowlands. Before we exchanged anymore conversation he was quick to ask “You tip?!”. I was a bit caught off guard and had to have him repeat it a few times before I understood what he meant. Basically he was implying that he would take me to the bus I needed if I would tip him for his services. Coincidentally the subway ticketing machine from earlier in evening had changed me out with several $1 coins and I figured I could get a few of those off my hands by giving them to him as his tip. I ensured him that I’d tip him for helping me and he gave me a little sideways look before bluntly commanding me to follow him. The main areas of the transit center were beginning to get pretty busy and pick up. He proceeded to lead me all over the transit center which included occasionally wandering through some pretty desolate parts of the station. I made sure to walk a few steps behind him just to be cautious but I think he could feel my unease and occasionally turned around to assure me that these areas usually have people in them and he’s not trying to lure me to a random isolated place. Not sure him mentioning that was actually comforting or not.

After about 30 minutes of wandering to nearly every corner of the transit center and ironically getting a pretty detailed tour, he admitted he wasn’t sure which bus I was meant to get on and decided to take me to the ticket counter which he assured me would be opening within the next 10 minutes or so. He had talked me into buying some ticket along our journey which he now told me I would probably have to exchange for a different one at the window. He even had the gull to stand there after dropping me off back near my starting point to hold out his hand requesting his tip. While we had made absolutely no progress in me getting to the Meadowlands, I had been somewhat satisfied with the tour and was able to burn some time instead of just idling for the ticket counter to open. I decided to give him a few of the $1 coins which he seemed content with and watched him disappear into the growing crowds in search of his next customer. I was now positioned about 10 yards from the numerous ticket windows just waiting for them to become operational so that I could get proper directions and onto the correct bus. The clock was slowly creeping closer to 7am but I knew I could skip some of the warm-ups and shower or sleep at the hotel if I needed. While waiting patiently for the windows to open up a taller gentleman came and stood next to me. I quickly took a glance to my side and noticed he was a bonafide pimp. This taller, lanky man was standing and holding out a wad of cash in front of him. He was dressed in a full purple suit and even had a feather in his purple hat. At this point it was just the icing on the cake for how this evening had turned out.

Finally, I could see the curtains rustling and both the pimp and myself waited anxious to make our way to the windows. Just before the first blinds were raised, another female customer had the audacity to move forward and step between us. She had paid no mind to us patiently waiting as she made her way to the window. Before I could even react, the pimp reached out and grabbed the ladies shoulder, turning her around, and then calmly and quietly told her “The kid and I been here first”. I honestly was in shock as I’d officially been grouped together with this stylish stranger. I gave a slow nod and the girl and she simply answered with a “tsk” and stepped behind us. As the first window officially opened the pimp motioned for me to go on ahead. Confidently and boldly I made my way to the window and there sat this jolly lady behind the window more than happy to welcome me as her first customer. I explained the situation and gave her the ticket that my ephemeral guide had encouraged me to purchase. As he had already suggested, it was the wrong ticket. The ticket I needed was slightly cheaper so I actually got some money back from it which was a small win. The lady set me up with the correct ticket and told me the gate number which surprisingly, I didn’t need directions to as I’d just all but memorized the entire layout of the transit center during my “tour”. It got even better when I realized I’d have a little extra time before the bus which meant I could get myself some much needed breakfast and coffee.

As I made my way towards the gate, I noticed a mom fighting vigorously to keep hold on her 2 children while looking around in a confused manner. A bit delusional from my lack of sleep and the events that had transpired, I approached her and asked if she was lost. It turned out she indeed was and she needed to find a specific gate. Utilizing my recent journey through the transit center I was able to give her some details directions to lead her to her destination. Without even requesting a tip, I continued towards my gate wearing a large smile. She thanked me and appeared grateful as she continued to drag the kids while following my instruction.

Now feeling pretty good about helping a stranger, I awarded myself with a nice breakfast and put a close on what would be the last piece of my overnight adventure in New York.

As a bonus to this story, I’ll note that I missed my return flight from New York after the tournament and had to stay at the airport for a night. As it turns out, the International Terminal of JFK stays open all night and has some open space where people can sleep. It’s a much better option than sleeping with some random homeless people in the Grey Hound terminal.