Transportation in New York

Hello,

We are planning a trip to NYC next week on our ';way home'; from Cleveland to KC and this is our first time in New York.

We found a hotel in our budget in Parsippany, New Jersey and we will have our own car with us, but we get the feeling that if we have a day or day and a half to see some of the sites we should take the public transportation instead of driving our own car. We are anxious about trying to navigate the city. We are planning on seeing CBGB, Central Park, Times Square, World Trade Center and Greenwich Village, etc.

Is it possible to drive and park near these areas or should we take the public transportation?

Also, we looked and the train ride from near our hotel in NJ to Greenwich Village would take 2 hours, is there a park and ride program in NYC so that we could drive there and take the subway/busses around the city?

Thank you very much for your help!

Transportation in New York

All the places you mentioned are definitely more accessible by public transportation. You will have a hard time finding parking space in these areas unless you want to pay alot for garage parking. Since you will be in NJ, you should drive the car to the nearest PATH train station to NY and park it around there and take the PATH train into Manhattan where all the places you want to see are. Once in Manhattan, you can buy a one day unlimited ride pass Metrocard which will allow you to ride the subways and buses to get where you want. I%26#39;m sorry I%26#39;m not familiar with the location of the NJ train stations. However, if you need any more info on the subways, I%26#39;ll be glad to help.

Have fun!

Transportation in New York

This is the NJ PATH train website:

http://www.panynj.gov/path/

This is New Jersey Transit:

http://www.njtransit.com/index.jsp

Here is the MTA site about the subways, buses and tourism:

http://www.mta.info/metrocard/tourism/

Thank you both for your replies and for the links. Is there somewhere in NYC that we can drive our car and park and ride the subway/busses? This way we don%26#39;t have to worry about the New Jersey/NYC connection and we just have to navigate New York city. Also, I am not sure how late we will be out and I am a bit hesitant to be on the subway later at night, but that might just be from movies.

How much is typical garage parking in Manhattan? We went to Chicago last year and their parking ranged anywhere from $15 to $25. We can%26#39;t pay too much, but the main thing is I would hate to spend all the time and headache driving and then find no place to park.

I appreciate any advise.

Thanks a lot

Parking all day in Manhattan is going to cost you about $30 or more plus the bridge or tunnel tolls from NJ (an additional $6). You are better off taking public transportation from NJ and while in Manhattan.

Please listen to the NY residents---they%26#39;re right---parking and driving in NYC are both very difficult, not to mention expensive. Truly, you are better off parking the car by a PATH train station, if at all possible. Taking the trains at night shouldn%26#39;t be a problem---at train stations, don%26#39;t stand in any deserted areas of the platforms (or stand as close as possible to the info booth) and ride in cars that have other people in them (in other words, not in an empty car).

Since the New Jersey Transit and PATH trains run infrequently (or not at all) late at night, use their schedules to determine how late you stay out. (and don%26#39;t forget to give yourself time to get to that PATH station or Penn Station and buy the tickets)

Driving in Manhattan is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. My advice would be to avoid driving during rush hour, especially in midtown. There is free on street parking or fairly reasonable metered parking in many neighborhoods (make sure you have a lot of quarters or buy a parking pass). There is a large parking lot at the Port Authority (near Times Square, which is a major subway stop as well).

I forget to mention one thing. If you do decide on taking the train, drive to Newark and take the PATH. It is cheaper and runs 24 hours.