How to Spend an 8 Hour Layover in New York: JFK to Chinatown and Katz's
Updated October 3, 2026
An 8 hour layover in NYC from JFK leaves time to ride to the Lower East Side for pastrami at Katz's, then walk through Little Italy to Chinatown for dim sum and a golden Buddha.
Downtown Manhattan's immigrant history is best understood by eating it. One train from Jamaica takes you to the Lower East Side, where Jewish delis once fed a neighborhood of tenements and Katz's still slices pastrami by hand. A short walk west, Italian bakeries hold on along Grand Street, and a few blocks south the bend of Doyers Street leads to a dim sum parlor that's been there since 1920. Pace yourself; this plan is built on three famous meals.
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Is it worth leaving the airport?
Yes, if your flight arrives on time and you are comfortable on the subway. The J train runs straight from Jamaica to the Lower East Side with no transfer, and none of these stops needs a reservation. On a delayed arrival, choose the shorter Jackson Heights food plan instead, which is much closer to the airport.
Getting from JFK into the city
Board any AirTrain marked for Jamaica; the platform there funnels everyone through the fare gates, where your card or phone covers the AirTrain charge. Walk down to the J line platform beneath Sutphin Boulevard, tap in again and stay aboard the elevated ride across Queens and Brooklyn until Essex Street on the Lower East Side. Katz's sits a few blocks north near Houston Street.
Plan on about 2 hr 24 min for the round trip between John F. Kennedy International Airport and the first and last stops.
This plan also keeps 45 min to get out of the airport and 1 hr 30 min to get back through security before your flight. You can customize these buffers with Navi through text.
Times are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm your boarding time with your airline and check entry requirements before leaving the airport. You are responsible for getting back in time for your flight.
Visa and entry
There's no way to change planes in the US without entering the country, so foreign visitors clear immigration at JFK with their visa or travel authorization. That same entry covers a walk around Manhattan. If you're continuing overseas, start back sooner than this schedule implies, since international check-in counters shut well ahead of departure.
What to do with your bags
Hand your bag to a Bounce partner downtown; the app shows shops on the Lower East Side and in Chinatown, so reserve the closest one before you board the train. As of October 2026, those shops charge from $2.90 a day. Smarte Carte at JFK Terminals 1 and 4 is the backup if you want to leave the airport empty-handed.
The 8 hour plan, stop by stop
About 3 hr 21 min in the city
Time to head out from John F. Kennedy International Airport for Katz's Delicatessen. It's a 1 hr 10 min transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
Katz's has been on the Lower East Side since 1888, and the hand-carved pastrami on rye is still one of the great New York meals. You take a paper ticket at the door and order at the counter, and the cutter will usually hand you a slice to taste while he builds your sandwich. Yes, the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally was filmed here, and a sign hangs over the table.
Tip: Don't lose your ticket; you hand it in on the way out, and a lost one costs you. A tip for the cutter earns a thicker sandwich.
- Time here
- 40 min to 1 hr
- Website
- katzsdelicatessen.com
NaviTime to head out from Katz's Delicatessen for Ferrara Bakery & Cafe. It's a 19 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Ferrara has been making Italian pastries on Grand Street since 1892, when Little Italy stretched for blocks around it. Today it is one of the last old-school bakeries in the area, with glass cases full of cannoli, sfogliatelle, lobster tails and cakes, and it even claims credit for the phrase Holy Cannoli. Take a pastry and espresso at a café table, or ask for a cannoli filled to order and eat it on the walk south.
Tip: If the café tables are full, order at the pastry counter to go; that line moves faster, and you can eat on the walk down Mulberry Street.
- Time here
- 20 to 30 min
NaviTime to head out from Ferrara Bakery & Cafe for Columbus Park. It's a 7 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
This park sits on what was once Mulberry Bend, the heart of the notorious Five Points slum that reformer Jacob Riis photographed. Calvert Vaux, co-designer of Central Park, planned the park that replaced it, and it opened in the summer of 1897. Today it is Chinatown's busiest gathering place, where older residents play Chinese chess and cards at the tables, musicians play erhu under the trees and tai chi groups move together in the morning.
Tip: Walk slowly past the card tables on the north side; players welcome quiet spectators but not photos in their faces.
- Time here
- 15 to 25 min
- Website
- nycgovparks.org
NaviTime to head out from Columbus Park for Nom Wah Tea Parlor. It's a 4 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Nom Wah opened on crooked Doyers Street in 1920 and bills itself as the city's oldest dim sum parlor, with checkered floors, red booths and old photos on the walls. Dim sum is ordered from a menu rather than carts, which suits a layover. Share a few plates if Katz's is still with you; the original egg roll and the shrimp dumplings are the ones to start with.
Tip: Doyers Street's sharp bend was once called the Bloody Angle, after the tong wars fought around it a century ago; look back at the curve as you leave.
- Time here
- 35 to 50 min
- Website
- nomwah.com
NaviTime to head out from Nom Wah Tea Parlor for Mahayana Buddhist Temple. It's a 7 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Beside the Manhattan Bridge on Canal Street, two golden lions guard the entrance to one of the largest Buddhist temples in the city. Inside, a gold Buddha about sixteen feet tall sits on a lotus, lit with candles and surrounded by offerings, and panels around the hall tell the story of the Buddha's life. Visitors are welcome to come in and sit quietly.
Tip: Make a small donation for a fortune slip at the entrance, a ritual many visitors enjoy.
- Time here
- 15 to 25 min
- Website
- en.mahayana.us
NaviTime to head out from Mahayana Buddhist Temple for John F. Kennedy International Airport. It's a 1 hr 14 min transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
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