sms9cjc

Hi,
We're visiting from thurs the 30th of April to the 3rd of May, staying around 22nd and 8th st.

We'll be driving from Newport, RI in a hire car (proportedly a Dodge Grand Caravan which should just get in as not being an oversize vehicle?).

My first thought would be to park and ride from somewhere outside, however we'll have our 4 month old baby with us on the way in, then on the evening of the 1st day, relatives, including a 3 yr old fly in from Norway to JFK to stay with us in NYC then travel back with us to visit Newport.
With all the baggage and children, parking within walking distance seems like a potentialy good idea.

On the cost side we're 2 adults on the way in and 4 adults on the way out so between the train tickets and parking cost outside NYC i am assuming the difference is negligeable (the nearest lot in the city wants $129 if i get away with not being oversized).

Time wise, according to google maps, so long as we take an express train from Newhaven or Stamford, there is again little in it (potentialy until you factor in waiting for the train etc)

So with that background:

1) Am I (who has been to NYC a few times but never driven there and who has very limited driving experience in the USA) crazy to drive into and park in one of the lots near where we're staying? We can time it to arrive and leave mid afternoon when google maps tells me there is a lull in the traffic. I don't plan to use the car while we're in the city, apart from potentially as described in #4

2) If i am crazy, (This is covered in some older threads but i assume that things may have changed) Where is the best palce to park and ride from, driving from Newport? I'm worried that arriving on a Thursday mid afternoon the parking lots at for example Stamford will be already filled up by people at work in the city.

3) I was almost convinced by driving in until i read about how the cars are parked in the lots in town and the chances of getting some damage in the process - is this a real problem?

4) If i do drive in to the city centre, I've promised to meet the relatives at JFK to guide them to where we're staying and help with suitcases etc - they land at 19:00, would i be even crazier to go and pick them up in the car? Initialy i planned just to take public transport out there and bring them back the same way.

Thanks for any help, insights, comments or pre-emptive abuse for when i cause a major traffic jam!

Chris

RooseveltL

OK..I'll try tackle from your shoes...

IF you already have a vehicle and traveling with an infant you will drive into Manhattan (it won't make sense to transport everything to a train in the suburbs). Also, train service is opposite side of town to CT so will be difficult for you.

The area you are staying Chelsea has street parking but you must be VERY VERY careful with signs as there is street cleaning rules and some streets have overnight restrictions. I might suggest you find a cheap parking lot on 9th or 10th Ave (near upper 20s) and simply leave the car there when unnecessary for two days. On weekends street parking is a little more relaxed so in general you can find a spot depending how much effort you want to put into it. I think others will give opinions but there is adequate street parking in the 20s between 8th and 9th Ave but requires effort to find a legal spot. I can't speak to safety of vehicle but common sense should apply do NOT leave anything valuable in your vehicle whether GSP, Radar, electronics, etc.

Again, as you already have a vehicle probably easier for you to drive to JFK to pick up the relatives but you must learn the best route to avoid traffic as you need to get to airport by 19:30 which is rush hour. The difference is by subway $7.75 * 3 plus your outbound trip to airport another 7.75. The subway stops at the corner of your lodging at 23rd & 8th Ave. I think it will take the same time either way at that hour but with the infant and such a long flight they want relaxation.

Summary - Drive into Manhattan, drive to JFK (get advice how to avoid traffic or allocate time to deal with traffic driving there) and park your car the remainder of the time until you are ready to drive North.

SJC AA

I would DEFINITELY recommend against driving to JFK for an airport pickup if you are not intimately familiar with NYC. Especially if the relatives' destination is Chelsea. They can just take the Airtrain to the E train to 23rd & 8th, one block away from where you're staying.

You would also get stuck in rush hour traffic and have to deal with parking the car at JFK while you go in to wait for them to emerge from customs, which is an unpredictably long process.

I suggest you go to JFK by transit (E + Airtrain) and then bring them back either the same way or by taxi/Uber. (It won't be rush hour coming back into the city around 7-8pm.)

themicah

I agree that you should drive in, but should NOT try to pick up the relatives at JFK by car if you've never driven in NYC before.

A few tips:

• If you're in a rental car, unless they give you a toll pass that you decide to use for the whole trip (and pay the associated service charges), you want to avoid the Henry Hudson Bridge. That bridge only has cashless tolls and you will get nailed with service charges by your rental car company if you go over it even if you pay cash for all other tolls. All other crossings into Manhattan are either toll-free or have cash lanes.
• Street parking is generally pretty safe, but hard to find in Chelsea outside of weekends and you absolutely must read the signs carefully because tickets are very expensive if you mess up (or you can get towed). If you don't (or don't want to) find street parking, use http://nyc.bestparking.com to find good garage rates. The cost can vary widely between garages so it's good to research in advance.
• Most (but not all) garages WILL charge you the extra "oversize vehicle" charge if you are in a minivan, so be sure to compare those charges when looking at rates on BestParking.

Analise

Why pay for a car you're not going to use for a few days? What about one way rentals? The cost of parking alone (don't park at JFK) should make 2 one ways a better option.

As for the relatives you've promised to meet at JFK, meet them by taking public transportation. It's easy.

erik123

Use waze as your gps if your phone works in the US.

Use bestparking.com to find the cheapest garage (it also shows street parking). I see some $40/24 hrs in the 20s. It's a good deal.

Consider having the relatives take a yellow cab from JFK - it is not that expensive and seeing the manhattan skyline is a nice intro to NYC,

erik123

Use waze as your gps if your phone works in the US.

Use bestparking.com to find the cheapest garage (it also shows street parking). I see some $30+$10/24 hrs in the 20s. It's a good deal. With a pre-printed coupon they sometimes don't charge the oversize fee.

Consider having the relatives take a yellow cab from JFK - it is not that expensive and seeing the manhattan skyline is a nice intro to NYC,

sms9cjc

Thanks fo rthe input everyone - -some divided opinions, but i'd like to think i wouldn't be asking the question if the answer was obvious!
I'm thinkng now that i'll prebook parking for the entire stay in the lot on the block we're staying in and use pubic transport to fetch the relatives one way or another - if we come back in a yellow cab i'll have to take the child seat out of the hirecar and carry it to JFK, so that's not going to work, otherwise i'd have taken that option, (you can prebook cars with child seats, but we're starting to get pretty expensive there.)
Bestparking was a good tip, shows that the one nearest to us is at least competitively priced.
I've got a US Cellphone (we're here for 3.5 months with my wife's work) and will have waze on for the drive down, annoyingly while trying to install it on the new phone i managed to delete my account....( don't ask how!)
One way rentals were considered but i'm renting the car for 9 days in total and think it worked out better that way, but must admit that i just assumed the one way charges would be prohibitively expensive.
Again thanks for the help!
Chris

NYCAIR1234

People from the suburbs and other parts of the US drive into Manhattan all the the time! Anyone used to city driving should be fine! Frankly it is Americans from rural areas who are afraid of it and blow it way out of proportion.

Yes, there can be terrible traffic at times - both in the city and on the highways to JFK. Use the bathroom before you get in the car Also you should avoid major business / tourist intersections (ex. Times Square).

Other than that the main issue is that street parking is extremely difficult and garages are $$$, but if you're willing to pay for a garage there is no issue. And yes, be prepared for tolls at many bridges and tunnels.

Lastly, I suppose Waze is nice but it isn't a necessity. Google Maps works fine and it also shows traffic.

themicah

You can prebook a car from JFK to Manhattan using Eastern (easterncarservice.com) or Legends (http://www.legendslimousine.com/) with a child seat for only marginally more than you'd pay for a yellow cab (total price should be within $10-20). You can also get an Uber with a child seat for $10 over the regular UberX price if you enter promo code "FAMILY" in your Uber account.

RooseveltL

I do think folks are making a bigger deal vs. necessary on the pick up at JFK. I'm a huge proponent of public transportation but once you include an infant and long journey - car offers relaxation and opportunities.

Uber or car service makes it easier for you but see how comfortable you are after driving into town.

On driving your bigger challenge in NYC is bigger vehicle vs. what you are use to at home and smaller lanes on parkways (e.g. FDR is curvy, hilly and minimum clearance). I find NYC drivers are professional and much better vs. other urban areas as long as you pay attention.

At airport if they have a phone or other device to SMS you after they arrive , clear customs and pick up bags it is easiesr as parking is expensive hourly. On return - you will encounter traffic but lighter vs. trip to airport as it will be later in the evening (post rush hour).

sms9cjc

I though i'd let you and future readers of the thread know how it went:

We went for parking in town and collecting the relatives via public transport.

We used Waze to find the best route, this worked well until we came to get on to Manhattan island, with themicah's advice in mind i tried to keep an eye out for getting re routed over the HH bridge, but didn't catch this happening and by the time i realised was beyond the point of no return, I'm waiting to hear from Hertz regarding the toll plus admin charge. On the way home Waze tried the same trick but we switched to google which is easier to change routes on.

On arrival at myc arefully chosen parking lot i was told in no uncertain terms that they were full.... i'd printed out a coupon but not actualy booked a space - big mistake, i dropped of the wife and baby outside the accomodation and tried no fewer than 5 lots before finding one that would take me - surprisingly (for me) a couple of hours would have been ok at most of the lots, but over the weekend was only available for monthly customers, so after half an hour of manouvering the rather large minivan in and out of rather small entrances across busy sidewalks, i was ready to pay anything to get rid of it! Therefore the $165 price (about $30 more than if i'd had a coupon) was accepted gladly.

So finaly unencumbered of the car i soon had to set off to the airport - easy and relatively quick ride on the LIRR from Penn. station to Jamaica and on to JFK.

However, as the relatives came out of the baggage area and tried to find me, a horrible truth dawned on me - they had arrived at EWR, Icelandair flys to both airports arriving at about the same time (i considered ommiting this part of the story, for a frequent flier it is after all rather embarassing, but i thought that at least if someone gets a laugh out of it, it wasn't totaly wasted )

This mistake has it's roots in a conversation several months ago, as the tickets were booked, where i recomended an arrival aiport after research on Flyer Talk, which left me believing that they had booked for JFK. Despite having recieved copies of their tickets which clearly stated EWR, this belief continued right up until their arrival........

The relatives got a cab and arrived back before i did.

So summed up:
Waze needs an avoid option (or i need to pay more attention)
Driving in Manhattan isn't actualy all that scary or difficult, but not something i'd want to do every day
Book parking in advance
and finaly; there are several airports around NYC, try to go to the correct one

themicah

Sounds like you have a great sense of humor about the frustrations.

You probably won't get the bill for the toll for a few months. They take their sweet time and then one day out of the blue after you've forgotten all about it your credit card will get charged and you'll get an invoice in the mail.

Thanks for reporting back!