Driving to NYC

[benjibear]

Interesting suggestions. In the past I flew into LGA or JFK and took a taxi or shuttle or black car service to my hotel. From that point on it was mostly subways and walking. One time I decided to shake things up and drive from San Antonio into Manhattan. Everyone said it was a crazy idea that would never work, which only made it more appealing. Once we got to Manhattan we looked at the absurdly expensive parking and decided to just park illegally wherever we went. Eventually on the very last day we got caught. Even though the parking ticket was expensive it was still much cheaper than parking legally would have been.

You are crazy driving into New York.

 

[Ryan]

Driving in New York is AWESOME!!!

Scared the crap out of my mother one night cutting through town - just blend in and use the horn liberally.

 

[AlanB]

You are crazy driving into New York.

I live in NYC, so of course I have driven here and continue to do so. And I can think of a few other cities that I have driven in that I would prefer not to repeat the experience. Not saying driving in NYC is a picnic; but there are worse places!

 

[SarahZ]

I've driven in Chicago. Many times. Nothing scares me.

One of these days, I want to drive through Boston. I've heard their streets and traffic are a nightmare.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

I have driven in NYC and it is nothing compared to Las Vegas Driving!

 

[trainman74]

One of these days, I want to drive through Boston. I've heard their streets and traffic are a nightmare.

I drove through Boston once on a road trip and was a little disappointed -- it didn't seem much worse than any other city in which I'd driven.

Although I stayed at a motel west of downtown along Commonwealth Ave., and was amused in the morning when I asked at the front desk "how do I get to the turnpike from here?", and they handed me a sheet of directions from a big stack they had printed up. (This was a couple years before GPS units and smartphones became relatively widespread.)

 

[SarahZ]

One of these days, I want to drive through Boston. I've heard their streets and traffic are a nightmare.

I drove through Boston once on a road trip and was a little disappointed -- it didn't seem much worse than any other city in which I'd driven.

Although I stayed at a motel west of downtown along Commonwealth Ave., and was amused in the morning when I asked at the front desk "how do I get to the turnpike from here?", and they handed me a sheet of directions from a big stack they had printed up. (This was a couple years before GPS units and smartphones became relatively widespread.)

That's awesome.

 

[Dan O]

You are crazy driving into New York.

Spent a week outside NYC and drove in every day to see the city. My wife doesn't do subways, tunnels or elevators. I loved driving in New York. It was nice to have lookouts for the crazy maneuvers we had to do occasionally--namely cutting across 3 lanes of stopped traffic right before an entrance to a tunnel so we'd avoid the tunnel. Parking was pricey, ranging from $15 (Saturday in the general area of Wall St) to $50 near Saks 5th Avenue/St Patrick's Cathedral on a Sunday AM. I didn't think the traffic was any worse than any major city. Impossible to find street parking spot in Manhattan.

 

[reppin_the_847]

Elizabethtown (E-town), PA has free parking. The Keystone will take you into New York in about 3 hours with multiple trains per day. I don't know the availability of parking and cost west of Harrisburg on the Pennsylvanian. East of Harrisburg, E-town is one of the best because all Keystone trains stop which is not true for some other stations.

I believe E-town has finished it's new long term lot but I haven't parked there in a while. It is a small town and very safe for keeping your car parked for multiple days.

In addition to Elizabethtown, I'd also consider the Middletown, PA station just after Harrisburg (along the Keystone). It is the preceding station to Elizabethtown, and I believe it also has free parking. Also another tip if you have your passport or passport card in order is to cut through Ontario (Canada) during your drive from Michigan to get to Buffalo or another upstate NY Amtrak station.