Having spent the entirety of my PR career in NYC, there are a number of idiosyncrasies about this town that can sometimes plague a newbie or someone trying to plan a media tour or new business pitch from out of town. For this edition of NYC PR MythBusters, a couple of logistical sticking points and some insight on why your news may not be sticking.

MYTH: Cabs are faster than subways

False. Seemingly, you would think that taking a cab is safer and more controllable option if you’re on your way to a new business meeting. Truthfully, this isn’t always the case. NYC is largely a grid system (until it isn’t. I’m looking at you Greenwich Village). Most of the streets are one way, which means if you’re on an avenue that’s going the wrong way, your cab is going to have to do a loop that can take up precious minutes. Also, with the added security around Trump Tower, there’s are additional (literal) roadblocks.

The subways may seem complex (and yes, don’t run on a publicized timetable), but often they are a much quicker way of getting from point A to point B.

Pro tip – Shift change for cabbie is 4:00 p.m., so you may have an issue hailing a cab at this point as their availability goes down.

MYTH: Five minutes ahead of a meeting is ample time

False. The security in NYC buildings can be somewhat challenging. It’s never consistent. Sometimes you’ll just need to sign in. Other times you’ll need to present ID, have your picture taken, have your contact come down and collect you, scan your pass into a turnstile and have an elevator selected for you. (Then assume whomever you are meeting has a reception area at their office, so there might be redundant checking in.)

A good rule of thumb is to plan on getting to your destination about 15 minutes ahead of schedule to make sure you are actually “on time” for your briefing/new business/client meeting.

MYTH: NYC-centered news is enough to get NYC reporter attention

False. The double-edged sword from NYC media and PR is our local/regional outlets are in many cases the outlets for the nation (i.e: NYT, WSJ).

So while NYC has on-the-ground access to some of the nation’s most visible pubs, the rub here is specifically local coverage may not be enough to break through the noise given the expansiveness of the publication’s coverage.

The good news is there are plenty of publications whose beats are solidly NYC (Crain’s NY Business, NY Post, NY Daily News, NY1) that have huge local visibility. Also, don’t forget that there’s a huge commuter population in NYC, so targeting publications like NJ.com (New Jersey) or Newsday (Long Island) could be just as influential.

Any NYC PR myths we missed? Don’t worry – Part 2 is on its way!

Justin Finnegan
Account Director

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