About Subways
First off: there's no reason to be scared or intimidated by New York's subway system. It provides a safe, mostly clean way to get anywhere in the city for $2, including transfers.
Subway maps are everywhere in the city. Most maps of Manhattan that you might purchase include subway diagrams. It can, of course, sometimes be tricky to figure out what side of the platform you need to be on, whether you want the train going to Queens or the one heading to Brooklyn, etc. But that's where the New Yorkers come in.
New Yorkers are very helpful and accommodating toward tourists. Disarmingly so. Feel free to approach one any time you're not sure where to go, which platform to stand on, or where you should go for dinner that night.
As mentioned, a subway ride costs $2. You buy rides from vending machines located in most stations. You can buy a multi-ride pass, a week-pass, or a month-pass. The vending machines dispense wallet-size cards called "MetroCard" that you have to swipe through a card reader in order to gain access to the train platforms. Sometimes you have to swipe more than once. It just happens. No one knows why. And it's not a big deal. You can later add funds to a MetroCard (though there's no advantage to doing that over just getting a new card). Keep an eye on the expieration date printed on the back (generally 12-18 months from the date of purchase).
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Manhattan Taxis
Many people prefer taking taxis to having to hoof it around town. Most rides are quick, pleasant, and, so long as you're staying in Manhattan, reasonably priced.
And, frankly, riding in a New York taxi should be considered part of the show. You haven't really been to New York until you've ridden in a taxi with a driver whose name you don't know how to pronounce who's honking like mad and screaming in a mystical language about (you presume) the car ahead of him refusing to run a red light. Ok, so that almost never happens. But on the rare occasions when it does, it's a delight.
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Need a Map?
Or, better said: You Need a Map. Getting oriented in this (or any other) city is a lot easier if you know where you're going. Maps, well, they show you where places are. They're handy that way. They're also indespensible if you plan on spending any time in the "irregular street" areas (i.e., the parts of town where the streets are named instead of numbered and don't follow the grid pattern) like Greenwich, Battery Park, or the Financial District.
Our favorite Manhattan street map:
Some other favorites:
Lonely Planet NYC Map - It's laminated! Easy to read, folds well.
Streetwise Manhattan
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