Traffic Leaving NYC on a Friday evening
Jun 21, 2011, 10:48 pm
#1
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Traffic Leaving NYC on a Friday evening
We are headed from the Boston area to see relatives in Middletown, NJ. We are going to stay overnight at a friend's house in CT, then want to spend the day in NYC before arriving in NJ in the evening. We want to take the kids to the Intrepid museum (and other stuff). Since we are passing through we are thinking of driving in and parking by the museum, but I'm concerned about traffic leaving Manhattan on a Friday evening.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how late I would have to leave to avoid the worst of it? The museum is not far from the lincoln tunnel, would that be a mistake to try to go that way? Any suggestions on how to manage it?
Edited to add: I'm talking about this friday, so we would be dealing with summer friday traffic.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how late I would have to leave to avoid the worst of it? The museum is not far from the lincoln tunnel, would that be a mistake to try to go that way? Any suggestions on how to manage it?
Edited to add: I'm talking about this friday, so we would be dealing with summer friday traffic.
Jun 22, 2011, 3:56 am
#2
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Traffic will be bad, throughout the day. The Intrepid is less than 10 blocks from the tunnel, it could be quick, or it could take up to an hour to get through depending on conditions. I would guess on average 30-45min wait to cross after 4pm.
Did you consider parking in NJ and taking the ferry across? NY Waterway has service between Port Imperial / Weehawken and Midtown / 39th Street, which is seven blocks from the Intrepid. Parking at Port Imperial is $10/day. Traffic on the NJ side should be less aggravating than Manhattan, plus you'll get nice views on the ferry.
http://www.nywaterway.com/PortImperi...nTerminal.aspx
If there are multiple adults another option might be to drop off the museum goers at the Intrepid, with the driver meeting them later in Belford NJ, which is a few miles from Middletown, and has NY Waterway service from Midtown / 39th Street.
http://www.nywaterway.com/BelfordHarborWayTerminal.aspx
Did you consider parking in NJ and taking the ferry across? NY Waterway has service between Port Imperial / Weehawken and Midtown / 39th Street, which is seven blocks from the Intrepid. Parking at Port Imperial is $10/day. Traffic on the NJ side should be less aggravating than Manhattan, plus you'll get nice views on the ferry.
http://www.nywaterway.com/PortImperi...nTerminal.aspx
If there are multiple adults another option might be to drop off the museum goers at the Intrepid, with the driver meeting them later in Belford NJ, which is a few miles from Middletown, and has NY Waterway service from Midtown / 39th Street.
http://www.nywaterway.com/BelfordHarborWayTerminal.aspx
Last edited by nycflyer; Jun 22, 2011 at 3:58 am Reason: grammar
Jun 22, 2011, 3:59 am
#3
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We are headed from the Boston area to see relatives in Middletown, NJ. We are going to stay overnight at a friend's house in CT, then want to spend the day in NYC before arriving in NJ in the evening. We want to take the kids to the Intrepid museum (and other stuff). Since we are passing through we are thinking of driving in and parking by the museum, but I'm concerned about traffic leaving Manhattan on a Friday evening.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how late I would have to leave to avoid the worst of it? The museum is not far from the lincoln tunnel, would that be a mistake to try to go that way? Any suggestions on how to manage it?
Edited to add: I'm talking about this friday, so we would be dealing with summer friday traffic.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how late I would have to leave to avoid the worst of it? The museum is not far from the lincoln tunnel, would that be a mistake to try to go that way? Any suggestions on how to manage it?
Edited to add: I'm talking about this friday, so we would be dealing with summer friday traffic.
Jun 22, 2011, 5:59 am
#4
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From my days of schleping out to Fire Island on Fridays. Now in summer, the rush hour tends to be really bad from 3PM-7PM and begins to taper off quickly as commuters in summer time want to get home early. I would say that anytime after 7:30PM-8PM you should be ok. Stay in Manhattan and have an early dinner then leave the city.
Jun 22, 2011, 6:21 am
#5
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I was looking at NY Waterway, my biggest problem with going to belford and taking hte ferry from there is it appears the last one leaves at 9:30am (until the afternoon), so to get there where we are in Connecticut we would have to leave extremely early and still might hit traffic going around NYC and still might end up missing it.
I will look into one of the closer NY waterway ferries though, if the main problem is literally just getting over the hudson, then that would work, if there is enough parking at the ferry terminal.
I will look into one of the closer NY waterway ferries though, if the main problem is literally just getting over the hudson, then that would work, if there is enough parking at the ferry terminal.
Jun 22, 2011, 6:30 am
#6
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I went out of NYC on a friday night in dec. 2009 at about 9 or 10pm and it was a lot of traffic in town. The tunnel was ok.
Visited MoMA (parking round the corner) and had some dinner after.
Visited MoMA (parking round the corner) and had some dinner after.
Jun 22, 2011, 6:30 am
#7
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So I have another question then, does anyone know if the parking at the lincoln harbor/weehawken ferry terminal is plentiful or does it fill up to capacity? If its a big commuter ferry I could see this being a problem, all the lots around the commuter trains into boston often are full by 9-10am.
And if we were going to weehawken, in the morning, would you recommend still going up and around by the Tappanzee bridge (our usual route) rather than the GW bridge, or would it not be worth going that far around to avoid the traffic on the highway through bronx and on the gw bridge?
And if we were going to weehawken, in the morning, would you recommend still going up and around by the Tappanzee bridge (our usual route) rather than the GW bridge, or would it not be worth going that far around to avoid the traffic on the highway through bronx and on the gw bridge?
Last edited by cb2020; Jun 22, 2011 at 6:41 am
Jun 22, 2011, 10:55 am
#8
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Traffic will be bad, but parking in NJ and riding the ferry back and forth will almost certainly take longer than sitting in traffic (although it will be more pleasant!).
Jun 22, 2011, 11:16 am
#9
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It's only a 6 minute boat ride, I've read on here that you can wait sometimes hours just to get into the lincoln tunnel on a friday night
Jun 22, 2011, 12:01 pm
#10
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It may be a 6-minute boat ride, but you have to drive there first and wait for the boat (in both directions). I'd bet that the entire process would take longer than just driving. (Except in the most extreme cases, it does not take "hours just to get into the lincoln tunnel on a friday night." It can take a frustratingly long time, but not hours.)
Jun 22, 2011, 12:06 pm
#11
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It may be a 6-minute boat ride, but you have to drive there first and wait for the boat (in both directions). I'd bet that the entire process would take longer than just driving. (Except in the most extreme cases, it does not take "hours just to get into the lincoln tunnel on a friday night." It can take a frustratingly long time, but not hours.)
Jun 22, 2011, 9:31 pm
#12
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So I have another question then, does anyone know if the parking at the lincoln harbor/weehawken ferry terminal is plentiful or does it fill up to capacity? If its a big commuter ferry I could see this being a problem, all the lots around the commuter trains into boston often are full by 9-10am.
And if we were going to weehawken, in the morning, would you recommend still going up and around by the Tappanzee bridge (our usual route) rather than the GW bridge, or would it not be worth going that far around to avoid the traffic on the highway through bronx and on the gw bridge?
And if we were going to weehawken, in the morning, would you recommend still going up and around by the Tappanzee bridge (our usual route) rather than the GW bridge, or would it not be worth going that far around to avoid the traffic on the highway through bronx and on the gw bridge?
i live in jersey city and i drive every other week back and forth to new england, so i can tell you from my own experience, i would DEFINITELY park in weekhawken (if you are still going to the intrepid) and take the ferry back and forth. regarding the parking lots - there are many - they have really built the place up, so there are now parking lots across the street and all along the river - no worries there.
and yes, still plan on taking the tappen zee vs. the GWB!! i regret every time i give in to temptation to take the GWB....
Jun 23, 2011, 4:23 am
#14
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I was wondering if anyone could tell me how late I would have to leave to avoid the worst of it? The museum is not far from the lincoln tunnel, would that be a mistake to try to go that way? Any suggestions on how to manage it?
Edited to add: I'm talking about this friday, so we would be dealing with summer friday traffic.
Edited to add: I'm talking about this friday, so we would be dealing with summer friday traffic.
Otherwise, stay the night and leave early Saturday morning and I mean EARLY.
Jun 23, 2011, 4:58 am
#15
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Park at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. $28 for 12 hours is not bad for the area, it is not far from the Intrepid, and gives the easiest access to the Lincoln Tunnel in the evening.