By Olivia Scheck and Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Staff
MIDTOWN — The battle to leave Manhattan is in full swing.
The day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year and the situation was no different for New Yorkers heading out of town on Wednesday.
Weather and the sheer amount of people in transit created some delays. Wind gusts of more than 35 miles per hour led to delays of nearly 40 minutes at both LaGuardia and Newark Airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's website.
Ground transportation appeared to be running more smoothly with only minor delays at area train stations.
Amtrak spokesperson Cliff Cole said 127,000 travelers were expected to use Amtrak trains for the holiday, a 70 percent increase over a regular Wednesday.
"It's the holiday rush of people going to their families," Cole said of the crowds at Penn Station. "It's what you would expect at a train station the day before Thanksgiving."
"We're supposed to get in at five. If we're an hour late, who cares?" said St. John's student Donnie Graham, 18, as he and his sister waited with the crowds at Penn Station for their train to Virginia.
"He's only a freshman so he's never done this before," said Samantha Graham, 22, a senior at Seton Hall.
Another 3.6 million travelers would use area airports, bridges, tunnels and PATH trains during the holiday, a slight increase over last year, according to the Port Authority.
Some New Yorkers were heading out with Thanksgiving fare in tow. When asked if he had any problems with the holiday rush at Penn Station, Matt Wilmott, 48, said "Not at all," as he steered his boxed Turducken through the crowds. Wilmott, who oversees the import and export of controlled substances for the Drug Enforcement Agency said his chicken inside a duck inside a turkey was cleared for travel.
"I'm not sneaking anything in today. Turducken is allowed," he said.
Despite a media frenzy leading up to the travel day, local hubs appeared to be busy but not completely overrun with people as of Wednesday morning.
"I've generally traveled later in the day so it's been more chaotic," said Chelsea resident Adam Dinwiddie, 32, on his way to Winwood, Penn. "The morning seems to be less crowded. I'm surprised that there aren't more people here avoiding airport pat-downs."
According to the Port Authority, more than 1.3 million fliers were expected to try their luck with those pat-downs as well as full-body scans and other security measures scheduled to be put in place at area airports just in time for the holidays.
"Thought I'd mention that my only problem with the #TSA patdown at JFK was deciding on how much to tip the fella," user suite44 said via Twitter.
The issues surrounding the full-body scans, which create an intimate look at travelers, lead to the creation of Wednesday's "National Opt-Out Day" urging passengers to forgo the scans in favor of pat-downs potentially leading to even longer lines at airports.
"Do you want to be on a plane with somebody sitting next to you who may be carrying a bomb and we didn't do anything to stop it?" said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in response to those concerned about the new security measures, according to NBC New York.
For many the travel day fell short of the chaos that was expected.
"At Laguardia. No body scan or patdown. What a letdown. I even dressed for the occasion," tweeted Sports Illustrated writer, Stewart Mandel.
