FUEL REMAINING -- FLC TOLD THE APCH CTL THAT THEY WERE AT MINIMUM FUEL AND THE CTLR THEN; WISELY; DECLARED A FUEL EMER FOR THE FLC AND GAVE THEM PRIORITY HANDLING.

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WHILE INBOUND TO JFK ON THIS FLT; I WAS PUT INTO HOLDING PATTERNS AT 2 SEPARATE FIXES JUST W; THEN E OF WILKES- BARRE CLBING TO HOXIE AND JENNO; THE DURATION OF THESE HOLDS TOTALED APPROX 2 HRS. NATURALLY; FUEL BECAME A CONCERN. ORIGINAL ALTERNATE WAS YUL. I ATTEMPTED CONTACT WITH DISPATCH VIA ACARS MESSAGE; REQUESTING BETTER ALT INFO. NONE WAS RELAYED VIA ACARS ACCOMPLISHED PHONE PATCH. ALTERNATE FIRST CHANGED TO BWI; THEN LATER PHL. ADVISED ATC OF IMPENDING FUEL STATE. WAS RELEASED FROM SECOND HOLD JUST PRIOR TO BINGO FUEL FOR PHL. AFTER BEING SWITCHED TO JFK APCH CTL; I DECLARED MINIMUM FUEL 500 LBS BEFORE PHL BINGO; AT ABOUT 12000 LBS. WAS IMMEDIATELY ASKED FOR SOULS ON BOARD AND FUEL REMAINING IN MINS. I FIGURED ROUGHLY 60 MINS FUEL; AND DECIDED TO RESPOND 50 MINS TO BE CONSERVATIVE. SHORTLY THEREAFTER JFK APCH ADVISED THEY WERE DECLARING A FUEL EMER FOR ME. I AGAIN STATED THAT I DECLARED ONLY MINIMUM FUEL; ADVISORY ONLY. THE RESPONSE WAS THAT YOU HAVE 50 MINS FUEL AND ABOUT 20 MINS FLYING AHEAD; WE ARE DECLARING A FUEL EMER FOR YOU. I DECIDED THAT WAS FINE; I'D REALLY RATHER BE ON THE GND ANYWAY. WAS GIVEN TFC PRIORITY; LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. CROSSED FAF WITH EXACTLY PHL BINGO FUEL. JFK APCH SEEMS TO NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH MINIMUM FUEL CONCEPT. IN ADDITION; DFW DISPATCH WAS OF VERY LITTLE HELP IN THIS INCIDENT. NO RESPONSE VIA ACARS MESSAGES; NO PROACTIVE ASSISTANCE; LITTLE HELP IN ANALYZING JFK TERMINAL PROB.