Anyone have recommendations for parking in NYC. I'll be coming in to see a show on Broadway in the early afternoon (at Times Square), then shopping and a late show at Radio City Music Hall. It would be nice if we could take bags back to the car and stow in the trunk.

I'm looking for something nearby and safe. I'll have my 15 year old daughter with me so I'm being a little more cautious than usual.

Someone told me that Rockafeller Center is close by and a good parking spot as there is a lot of security. Thoughts?

What day of the week are you planning to be here? If it's a weekend, particularly Sunday, there will be plenty of on street free parking available.

And please do not just put "stuff" in your trunk and then walk away on the street. It's a general rule of city parking, in my book, to drive to another spot elsewhere, after placing something in the trunk. And as the Christmas holiday season approaches, the odds of a trunk breakin increase.

Having said that, nearly all of Manhattan is very safe, as is most of NYC.

And be aware that there is a NYC section on FT as well here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=465

So enjoy your time in wonderful NYC!

Mark

Park in a garage. Don't even bother looking for street parking. Unless you're very very lucky, you'll just be wasting your time. Plus, most of the tourist area has 1 hour limit anyways. Since you'll have a late show in Radio City Hall, park in a garage close to there. It'll be easier for you to pick it up at night.

There is alot of metered parking on the side streets near Broadway, be careful they are only in effect certain hours, generally after 6 during the week and longer hours on the weekend. Bring a ton of quarters. You may need to use 6$-10$ worth of quarters but thats better than blowing $50 in a lot. Also never go back and put things in your trunk without moving your car.
Have a good time in NYC

Plenty of lots around there, pick one and park there. Not sure you will be able to drop off packages or not easily, but it's your best bet.

I'd park near where ever you will be at night.

Also keep in mind that most garages in NYC take your keys from you, and do not take responsibility for items left in the car.

So, I'd think twice about putting bags into the car after shopping, unless you have a valet key and can lock them into the trunk such that garage attendants cannot get at them, and then drop the car off at a garage.

How much to do you want to spend to put your car in a garage? Let's start with that?

Second, if you park in a garage, do you want to go shopping in between performances, return to your car and put the bags in the car and then go off to Radio City Music Hall? If you're in a garage, that's a bit unrealistic unless you park the car yourself. Even then, if you return to your car which you parked yourself, place bags in the trunk, and then leave, you could be setting yourself up for a robbery. I've seen this kind of thing happen to people who park in garages in suburban malls so why would it not happen in the city?

Unless your teenage daughter goes off by herself while sporting low rise jeans with a tatoo on top of rear end which acts as a bull's eye to men, I wouldn't worry too much about her not being safe. She'll be with you and the theatre area is well-lit and very crowded.

It sounds like you both will have a wonderful time.

There is a parking lot on 42nd street betwen 9th and 10th avenue that is a self park lot and has very reasonable pricing. If you enter in the evening I think it is $14 and during the day I think it is about $28. If you are taking the Lincoln tunnel and go left at the end, the lot will be directly in front of you.

The good news is that it is secure and you would be able to bring packages back to your car. The bad news is that it is about a mile walk from Radio City so I don't know if the location is good for you. I have also found reasonable lots (and a lot of unreasonable ones) on 56th street but I can't give you any specifics.

During the day (Before 6/7:00pm) street parking is extreamly difficult, if not impossible in the midtown area. In the evening it is, but you will have to park a few blocks west near 11th avenue.

As mentioned above the areas are very safe and you will see a lot of police around on the main avenues.

Enjoy NYC!

Keba

As someone who today just sent the check for a $65 parking ticket for being 5 minutes late to a meter on sunday, my advice is to be on time to feed the meter.

Also don't keep stuff in your trunk unless you don't care if you ever see it again. If that is the case then you are better off leaving it by the curb so your trunk lock doesn't get broken.

Sadly, the risk of a $65 ticket makes illegal parking seem like a bargain.

You can CERTAINLY keep things in your trunk as long as you don't come back to the car and add bags to it so others can see what's in there. Now that would be a huge mistake.

As for the $65 ticket, you were lucky. That could have been MUCH worse. Your car wasn't towed. Be happy you got away with just $65.

If it is a weekend you can also find parking further away from Broadway, e.g. 1st or 2nd ave. Also, if you have any club memberships, maybe there is one with reciprocal priveleges in NYC where you can leave your bags. There are plenty of private clubs in midtown...taking this a step further they also usually validate parking.

I agree that it was good that my MIL's car didn't get towed, but I certainly am not going to be happy about it ! I have been out to the car pound on the piers to retrieve my car before, a $125 trip then so it must be $200-$300 now. At that time the city was having a cash crunch and I guess Dinkins decided that towing for ANY parking infraction would be a quick money maker.

Oh, it still is, there just wasn't a truck by your area. I have seen them line up at 7:58 in my work area, waiting for the beep on the radio for 8, and then 8 trucks get 8 cars all at once. I think they are on comission or something.

Totally. Outside my building, I have seen over and over again the agents standing right next to the meters waiting for that last minute to ticked off. And the trucks waiting on the cross streets at 7:55am to tow. These people are totally on quotas. So be serious. If you park in a 1-hour only street parking spot, you really NEED to move your car. If you use meters, make sure you're ready to come back every hour, couple minutes before the hour's up, esp if you have an out-of-town license plate. They're there to get you, not the thieves.

That's why I said, park in garage. You're in NYC, that's the way it is.