The Graduate Center is located at 365 Fifth Avenue (or see map above), on the northeast corner of 34th St. and Fifth Avenue. Most New York City subway lines stop within a few blocks of the Graduate Center. The closest subway stop is the 34th/Herald Square stop on 34th St. and 6th Avenue, which is one block (a little under four minutes) from the Graduate Center. For those of you coming from the Jane, the quickest route is probably to walk 15 minutes to the West 4th St. stop, then take the F, V, B, or D (B and D are fastest) to 34th/Herald Square, then walk to the Graduate Center. You can also take a cab, which will cost around $10 plus tip and take about ten-fifteen minutes, with no traffic. With traffic, the fare and time could be a bit more. For those staying at the Chandler, it's a short five minute walk to the Graduate Center.
There also nearby subway stops for various other lines at 33rd and Park, 34th and 7th, and 34th and 8th. Note that Penn Station is only a few blocks away, on 34th between 7th and 8th, and that there is a Path Train stop at 33rd and 6th as well.
This provides a pretty good overview of getting to and from JFK and LaGuardia via public transportation. Note that for those of you staying at the Jane, the E train from JFK may be a good option since it stops quite near the Jane (see map). For some others, the LIRR train to Penn Station may be a good option (see more information on Penn Station below). You can get more information about both of these methods here. You can get a little more detail on getting to the subway or LIRR via AirTrain here.
A cab from JFK to anywhere in Manhattan will cost a flat fee of $45 plus toll and tip. A cab from LaGuardia will cost a bit less -- the exact fare will depend upon your location
The MTA home page is a good resource, including numerous subway maps.
For those interested in checking out the city, Yelp and Menu Pages are pretty good for food information, while the New Yorker, New York Times, and Time Out New York have numerous cultural listings. See also the listiings we have created here.